Chapter 3: Calm Yourself
"That no fair!" DJ cried as he stomped on the grass in annoyance. Though he was young, DJ was quick to get angry with others and was known to throw tantrums to get his way which was usually how things went with the servants who took care of him as well as the other children. This was a fact that often annoyed the others who found it unfair that he always got what he wanted, which often led to multiple complaints, fights and tattle telling, something Danny hated dealing with on a daily bases.
"Go away, DJ" Trevor said as he and Heather floated off the ground. The two Masters children. Though only six years of age, were showing high potential to be great fighters and prodigies with the development of their powers earlier then their father had expected them to. Not to mention that the two were constantly trying to use their powers, and even though it had the effect of living them extremely tired at the end of the day, it also allowed them to develop them better and learn more about themselves.
"But I wanna pway!" DJ screamed as he pouted from his spot on the ground. "I'm telwing my daddy on you!"
"So! We don't care," Heather said with a smile on her face as she tried to move higher in an attempt to best her younger sibling. "Our daddy says that we're special and that when we gets big, we gets even specialer and that we'll get to change how we look like he and your daddy do!"
"But that no fair!"
Danny sighed as he stood upon the balcony of the playroom that Vlad had supplied for all of the children. It was no big secret that his eldest child had a problem with dealing with others who had things that he didn't or were better than him at something.
"I sweat, this is Vlad's fault," he mumbled quietly as he could in an attempt to prevent the sleeping child in his arms from waking. The even sounds of her breathing and the light grip she held onto his shirt had a calming effect on Danny, though of all his children, he worried about her the most.
On the day of her birth, Courtney Marie Fenton was born with hair as white as freshly fallen snow. Danny was horrified by this when he first saw her, and broke down crying thinking that this young baby had been born a ghost, and that her life was truly over before it even began. Try as Vlad did, he couldn't convince Danny to calm down until the blood results came back that the doctors always do to ensure that the baby has no medical problems. To Danny's surprise, it came back AB Negative. The rarest blood type there is. There was no mention of ectoplasm in her system, just like there was none in DJ's. This came as a relief to Danny because if there was blood in her veins and not ectoplasm, that meant she was human and not ghost, and that meant she was alive. As if he needed more proof that she was truly alive though, when she opened her eyes and stared up at him, his blue eyes met a beautiful shade of hazel, a color he has never seen in the eyes of any ghost he's come across.
Even though it all seemed to work out, Danny constantly kicked himself for never thinking about the possibility that a physical mutation could occur, and it left him wondering if any of his other children would suffer a similar fate. This little girl, his little girl, would have more to deal with then the other kids, and it was all his fault. Sure, he could blame biology and the random factors that are a part of reproduction, but even so, he was to blame for this. But he'd make it up to her. And not just her, but all of his children. He would make up for everything that they were going to have to go through, even if it took the rest of his natural born life.
As he looked down at her, he left out a sigh of relief at the fact she was now quietly sucked on her purple pacifier in her sleep, and started to stroke her hair as it came to her small shoulders. The minimal sucking noises were a reliving alternative to the screaming she had been doing not even an hour ago because she had gotten into a fight with one of her brothers. Even though she was two years old and getting a bit big for a pacifier in Danny's eyes, he was really reconsidering keeping it. As his mind wandered to the fact that she was the only girl old enough right now to play with the boys, he could foresee many more fights happening. No, he was definitely keeping the pacifier.
Turning around, he smiled as he watched two of his other sons, Scott and Thomas, or Tommy as everyone called him, play with some blocks that were of various shapes and sizes, and attempt to build a castle. For reasons unknown to him, Danny always found the two together, whether they were playing, napping or even eating, they were always together. Of course, that also made it easier for them to get into trouble. Danny had a suspicion that the reason because Scott was a shy child, often keeping quiet, even when he wanted something. I was never a surprise whenever he found the small, dark haired child clutching onto his younger brother who was much more outspoken and adventurous. Danny hoped that Scott would grow out of his shyness as he got older and hoped that the young blonde Tommy would calm down as he got older.
The door creaked a little as it was opened behind him, catching his attention. A servant bowed her head to Danny as she made her way over to Danny.
"Master Danny, Master Vlad has requested your presence in his office," she said.
"Thank you, Sandra, but please, I've told you before, just call me Danny," he said with a smile at the young girl who was probably no older then he was. Many of Vald's servants had brought along their families when he had given them jobs, and so many of Danny's servants were teenagers and young adults around his age. Vlad had done this on purpose because he saw how lonely Danny would get, especially when he would reminisce on the past, and felt that it wouldn't hurt to surround him with people his age that he could communicate with on a daily bases. Danny was grateful that he had done this, and took full advantage of trying to make friends with all his servants.
"My apologies. It just seems so improper to do so," she smiled back. Upon reaching him, she gingerly pried Courtney from her father, and held her to herself. They toddler groaned a little, but made no other indication that she knew she was being transferred to someone else. "Where would you like me to put her?"
"You can just put her in her room with Victoria-Anne. And can you please change them both?"
"Of course. It's no-"
"Daddy!" DJ screamed as he ran into the room. "Heavor and Trevor are being meanies!"
"Calm down, DJ," Danny said as he kneeled in front of his son. "You're going to wake your sister if you keep yelling like that."
"But theys was mean to me," he continued to insist.
"It's ok, buddy. Here, play with Scotty and Tommy for a bit, and then you guys get to have a nice snack. Doesn't that sound good?"
DJ's face lit up like a Christmas tree. If there was one thing he loved about the day, it was always snack time. It was always something tasty that the chef's made for them, his favorites being homemade baked goods. He nodded his head vigorously and ran past his father to the miniature castle his younger brothers were building, and proceeded to help them.
Danny turned around to Sandra who had a smile on her face as she watched him before turning and exiting the room, headed toward the girl's room. Danny smiled back and as he headed in the opposite direction toward Vlad's office, found a small bit of peace and calm in himself.
Sam jumped up from her bed where she had fallen asleep earlier in the day after putting her daughter down for a nap. Unfortunately, if the sudden burst of crying was any indication, she hadn't slept very long, and probably wouldn't be going back to it anytime soon.
With an exhausted sigh, she stood up and let her feet sink into the soft white carpet that was in every room in her apartment, and headed out of the master bedroom where she resided and into the smaller one next to it. Having left the door open after she left, she shuffled into the mess bedroom with blue walls and glow in the dark painted stars on the ceiling that Tucker had done for her, and went over to the crying child who was on her bed.
As she came upon her, the child finally saw her mother, and stretched out her hands, her universal sign that she wanted to be held. Sam bent down and picked her up, rubbing her back and making soothing noises to try and calm the girl. Looking down, Sam saw the reason for the girl's distress and sighed again.
'God, this bedwetting thing is getting out of hand. I thought we finally had beaten this. I didn't want to believe it, but if this keeps up, I might have to start putting diapers in her bag for when she's at preschool during the week. I'm pretty sure her teacher's tired of having to change her pants everyday.' Sam thought as she feared for her daughter's reacquiring problem, another trait she received from her father.
"Shh…sweetie, it's ok. It's not that big a deal," she said as she rubbed her daughter's back.
"Bu-but…Tammy says-that big girls-don't wet-their-beds," she said between breaths as she held onto her mother tightly.
"Everybody has accidents, sweetie. You know, I bet if you ask Grandma Maddie, she'll tell you all types of stories about how Auntie Jazz used to do that, and she's a big girl."
"She..she did?" she asked, looking up at her mother with her big blue eyes that always seemed to have a sparkle in them.
"Of course. Just because you had a little accident doesn't mean you're not a big girl. And don't let Tammy or anybody else tell you that, ok?"
Danielle sighed and smiled at Sam before rubbing her nose against Sam's, a special little ritual that they had gotten into when Danielle was just a baby. It always gave her closure and made her feel better about everything because it showed that her mother was always there for her and would always have love for her.
"Now, let's go get you into a bath and then we can have a snack," Sam said to which Danielle nodded happily. Once she had be situated into a bath with plenty of bubbles and her favorite bath toys, Sam went back into her room and removed her sheets and comforter which she took and placed into the washing machine. As she came back into the bathroom to check on Danielle, she found a trail of water leading out of it and toward the master bedroom. Sam rolled her eyes and sighed before a smile came to her face.
"And here I thought we had gotten past the streaking phase," she said as she grabbed a towel and when on the hunt for the toddler. "Oh my, where oh were did Dani go?" As she stepped into the room, she could hear giggling coming from under her bed and smiled at the small feet sticking out. "I wonder where she could be. Maybe she's in the closet," she said as she walked over and pretended to look in there. "No? Well maybe she's under behind the curtain." Again, she looked but quickly turned to the bed. "Not there either? Oh well. Maybe she's in her room. But where ever she is, I hope I find her. Who else is gonna eat all those apples and peanut butter with me?" She quickly crept up to her bed, and grabbed Danielle's ankles, pulling her from under it with a squeal of delight as her daughter's laughter filled her heart with delight.
She placed her on the bed and took the towel she had thrown over her shoulder, and proceeded to dry the wet toddler's body and hair before picking her back up and kissing her all over her face. Danielle laughed, and returned the kisses to Sam's face, and though they were sloppy and wet, Sam couldn't have been and happier with the peace of mind of knowing that this little girl, her little girl, would always love her just as much as she loved her, and it was that fact that calmed her.
