So far, I am loving the positive feedback I'm getting with this story. I know some of you have questions, but don't worry, they will eventually get answered.
Any mistakes that you see are my own.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga.
"UNCLE SEFF!" the twins scream loudly as they drop their backpacks and run towards their uncle, who crouches down and opens his arms wide for them to run into. He gives them both a big hug, but when he tries to pull away, they cling to him. He laughs and lifts them up, carrying them toward the couch and sitting down with them on his lap.
Charlotte and Susannah, both four years old, know how to pronounce Seth's name, but when they were two, they could only say, "Seff," and since then, it's stuck. Seth doesn't mind, though. He still answers to "Uncle Seff," or even "Uncle Seffy."
It turns out, Seth took an earlier flight and landed in Seattle the night before. He surprised me by letting himself in my apartment—having known where I kept the spare key—while I had gone to drop the twins off at school. I came back home to find him sitting on the couch, watching TV. I was excited to see him, but also surprised, considering he still had classes to attend at Stanford. When I mentioned this to him, he told me they let him have the rest of the week off because it was his birthday. Lucky guy, but weird that they did that. Emily and Leah already knew Seth was in town because he texted them right after his plane landed at the airport and they went to pick him up.
The twins know their uncle's birthday is today, but they didn't know he was visiting for the weekend. So Seth and I—Leah and Emily were both busy with school—took the opportunity to plan a surprise for them. I was working a three-hour lunch shift, but Seth was driving Leah's car—which explained how he got to my apartment in the first place—so he wasn't sequestered in the apartment. Once my shift was over, the twins were just about to get out of school so I drove over there to pick them up. Seth had been out having lunch by himself—at a different restaurant—but he texted me to let me know he was on his way back to my apartment because that was how we were going to surprise the twins. He was going to be there, waiting for them.
From the looks on both their faces, Charlotte and Susannah are really happy Uncle Seff's here.
"How are my nieces doing?" Seth coos, tickling both their tummies, making them laugh. The twins start to babble about their day and Seth watches with fascination at how animate they're being, trying to understand what they're saying.
While the girls are occupied with their uncle, I head to the kitchen to prepare their favorite after-school snack, gathering the ingredients to make "ants on a log." I once made the snack using peanut butter but after the twins ate a few, Susannah suddenly couldn't breathe. After she was rushed to the hospital, it was at that point that I found out she had an allergic reaction to peanuts. She was then prescribed an EpiPen and since then, peanuts, and other types of nuts, have been banned from the apartment and even Leah's apartment and Emily's house. So instead of peanut butter, I use cream cheese.
I think back to my run-in with Jake yesterday. He wasn't kidding when he said he'll send me cute text messages with emojis. So far, I've received twenty of them. I don't know what I was thinking giving my phone number to Jake. Sure, he's handsome and all, but my children come first. But while a part of me puts my children first, another part does need to get out there and find someone. Someone who is loyal, trustworthy, and can be a great father figure to my girls. I've only known Jake a couple days and I can already see him being a father to Charlotte and Susannah, and any other future children we may have—that is if I decide I want to be with him.
So far, Charlotte and Susannah have not asked about their father, and I'm happy about that. After the girls were born, he'd come over every day to see them, but stopped after two months. I received a text from him, saying he couldn't be a father anymore because it was too much of a responsibility for him. A week later, he signed away his parental rights and I never heard from him again.
I head back to the living room where Seth and the twins are now play-wrestling, setting the plate of celery sticks on the coffee table. Charlotte and Susannah stop wrestling their uncle to the ground and get up to go enjoy their snack. Seth also gets up and goes over to sit down on the couch, catching his breath.
"Do you want some water?" I ask, laughingly.
He waves his hand. "I'm fine. Thanks, though."
I sit down beside him and turn on the TV to the children's cartoon channel, the remote sitting on the armrest of the couch. The twins join us, sitting on the floor by our feet, the plate of celery sticks between them.
"I went to go see them," Seth blurts out. I know exactly who he's talking about. "Before I came here, I stopped by the cemetery. It was actually the first thing I wanted to do once I arrived in Seattle, but it was late and I was tired. I saw the flowers were dying so I replaced them with fresh ones."
I turn my head and see Seth's eyes start to water, taking his hand in mine. He wipes his eyes with the back of his other hand.
"I think I made a mistake moving away and leaving you girls alone. I worry about you, Leah, and Emily when I'm at school. Hell, I even worry about Charlotte and Susannah. I still have nightmares about that night, but this time, it's only me that survives."
What happened eight years ago had left us all traumatized, Seth more than the rest of us. After all, he was just ten years old when our parents died.
"Do you remember what Emily told you when we were saying goodbye to you at the airport?" I ask.
"'If you ever get scared or lonely or just want to talk, don't hesitate to call either of us,'" Seth sighs. "'Even if it's the middle of the night.'"
"You can still do that," I tell him, wrapping an arm around him. "You didn't make a mistake, Sethy. You made a choice and a really good one. We weren't happy when you decided to leave us and attend college out of state, but we knew we couldn't stop you because it was what you wanted. We worry about you as well. You're the youngest, after all. There were even times when Emily wanted to fly over to California just to see how you were doing. Being the oldest, of course she'd be the overprotective one."
That brings a smile to his face. "I thought Leah was the overprotective one, but I guess not." We both laugh at that. Thankfully, the twins are too engrossed in their snack and watching cartoons to notice.
"I didn't get a chance to say this before," I say after we've calmed down, "but happy birthday, Sethy."
Seth turns to smile at me in a way of thanks before laying his head on my shoulder as we go back to watching cartoons with the twins, who by now have finished their snack.