It was late afternoon, when the doorbell rang, which caused my attention to perk up. We rarely had any visitors. Maybe it was my papa, who finally decided to show up? Alas, the thought was dispersed as I head a female's voice that didn't belong to my mother. A sigh escaped my lips and I stretched hoping to get the stiffness out of my limbs, even though I knew it would not help. My limbs were stiff all the time, even when I was allowed to take a few steps on my own.
Then I heard something that caused dread to appear in my organism. Cooing. Cooing that was not directed at me. Sure, I disliked to be cooed, but if it was directed at someone else, it meant that there was another baby in the facility. A stinking, drooling and, most of all, loud baby. It seemed like I will finally see other 'peers' again. The previous time I saw a baby was in the hospital, which was a year ago. Yes, you head right, a year ago. All this year, I had been cooped up in this house, mainly in my own room, with the only contact being my mother and the handsome, blond ghost.
To tell the truth, I was not looking forward to this meeting. I don't recall ever liking small children. They were too loud for me. That and I lacked the maternal instinct to find them cute. They were too… chubby for my liking. I liked better when they were more grown, slimmer and could keep their mouth shut.
My mother came into my room and picked me up, only to take me to the living room. There I saw a woman with wavy shoulder length blond hair and sparkling blue eyes. But her face was gaunt and her body was not better. In her arms she held a chubby baby with very short hair. For my eyes, the only indication that the baby was a girl was the plain green dress she wore.
Did that family have little money? That was the only explanation that came into my mind, but then I noted that the mother was not so plainly dressed. That confused me. An anorexic woman in quite expensive looking clothes, yet the child was plainly dressed. Could it be that the mother didn't have money for fancy looking clothes for her daughter to wear for the occasion? Or that she cared more about her own looks? But if she cared more about her own looks, she would put some meat on her bones, because she looked starved. Or was this the period were female models were all skin-and-bones and shallow women followed them? All those questions and assumptions popped into my head one after another, making me tilt my head to the side.
"Eva say hi to aunt Jesey and Gabriel." My mother said in an overly happy voice, while holding my hand and slightly shaking it, so that my palm would make greeting gesture. But I only started with big, wondering eyes. What's with the religious names? I'm Evangelina, she is Gabriel. Did they agree on it beforehand? I looked closer at Gabriel and noted that above blue eyes there was a pair of brown eyebrows. Huh, so the short hair on the child's head was brown.
Now that I think about it, I don't know how I look, not my hair color, not my eye color. It gave me a slight depression, causing my eyes to become sad and wonder down to the floor.
"What's the matter with Evangelina? She seems sad." Jesey asked in a worried tone, which sounded fake to my ears.
"Oh, don't worry. She is just a quiet child. I'm sure it's nothing. Let's leave them on the carpet and talk over a cup of coffee." My mother said in a dismissive tone, waving her hand as to shoo the question away. Now that made me frown for good. I did not mind being put down, since it meant I could walk around, but I did not want to be near the salivating baby, who would most certainly cry the moment she wanted attention.
When the females left for the kitchen, to talk their own big-folk talking, I stood up as soon as I could, only to fall on my bum. Great, my legs are again too weak to walk. I tried to stand up again, only to fall down. The baby, Gabriel, only looked at my with inquisitive eyes and clapped her tiny hands with a laugh every time I fell down. Just great. My failure amused the child. I suppose it is better than wailing…
With few more tries I succeeded without falling down. I stood tall in triumph for a few moments, letting the legs adjust to the weight of my body, and carefully took a step forward, hands stretched to the sides for more balance. Slowly I took step-by-step towards the exit of the room. Even though I was in the hurry of getting out of the room where Gabriel was, I didn't hurry since I didn't want to fall over. I stopped by the kitchen's door to take a peek in the said room to see what the 2 females were doing. My mother was making something while Jesay was sitting by the table, both immersed in their own conversation. I decided to take the chance and get past the room without them noticing. My goal was my room.
I narrowed my eyes in determination and took a step one after another, praising the carpet beneath my feet muffling the sound of my steps. Once I was in the safety of my room, I carefully closed the door, till a small part of it was open, because the click of the door would have alerted the adults. I let out a sigh and started humming Silent Scream again. I walked over to the bookshelf in my room and carefully pulled out a book from the lowest shelf. The book was heavy, however, its small fall was muffled by the carpet. I looked at the cover to discover a latin origin language but the picture made me realize that it was Snowwhite and the Seven Dwarves. At least, I will be making some sense of what I will read.
I was half-way through the book, when I hear a photo snap, which caused my head to snap in the sound's direction. There was my mother and her friend standing in the doorway, mother holding a photo camera.
"See? I told you she would be fine on her own. Eva is a smart girl and doesn't do anything naughty." My mother gushed making me want to roll my eyes, however, I resisted the temptation. It wouldn't be nice if I did that. That, and babies don't roll their eyes about the antics of their parents. Usually, it is the other way around. But, then again, my mind was probably older than hers', and, unlike her, I dislike children and don't find their actions cute.
Deeming their attention was not worth my time, I returned to slowly skimming through the pages, in hopes to learn the language, which's name I have yet to learn. At least, I've grown to understand it a bit. Alas, I wanted a dictionary in the said language to English and back again. It would really help me learn. But who would give one-year-old a dictionary? Everyone would be afraid that the child would rip the pages out.
Mother started to say something else about me, but I was saved by the bell ringing at our entrance door. Both women went to see who it was, taking Gabriel with them. Odd. Today we sure have a lot of guests. Maybe it really is my birthday? Alas, my pondering was interrupted by a high-pitched wail, making me cringe at the sound. Why did babies have to be so loud and their voices high-pitched? I decided not to be a curious child and continued trying to read Snowwhite, while looking at the pictures, trying to make sense of the foreign language.
After a couple more rings by the door, mother finally decided to pay attention to me. She picked me up and took me to the living room. Dread filled my body seeing six peers on the carpet. I clutched my mother's clothes, not wanting to let go. Unfortunately, mother would have none of it and pried away from her clothes and set me down next to Gabriel.
I stood up and tried to walk away, but mother pushed me back down. I stood up again, only to be pushed down.
"Stay here." Mother said firmly, causing me to frown.
"No." I said back and tried to stand up again. This time I was allowed to stand up, but, as I was about to start leaving, mother picked me up and sat me in her lap.
"What has gone into you today, Eva? Usually, you do as you are told." Mother said with a huff in her voice. I only pointed at the group of babies and hid my face in her clothes.
"Oh, you must be afraid of them. Don't worry, dear, they won't harm you." She tried to reason with me. I suppose it is better for her to think that I was afraid of them rather than knowing I despised their drooling and loudness. I shook my head, still hiding my face in her clothes.
"Now, now. Give them a chance. I'm sure you'll become friends with them." Mother tried to soothe my nerves by petting my head. I still shook my head.
"I'm sorry, this is the first time she's seeing other people. She's just shy." Mother told the adults. "Usually, she is a very quiet and obedient child. She doesn't cry and doesn't break or rip things."
Mother put me back on the carpet, hoping that I would stay, however, I stood back up and took my baby steps towards my room, arm stretched up to the sides to hold balance. I was allowed to take few steps away before I was picked up again and put next to one of the babies whose name I didn't know, and didn't even want to know.
"Wait here and I will bring the cake out." Mother bribed me. Cake? This caught my attention. I really hope it's chocolate.
"Cake! Cake!" I exclaimed, clapping my hands. This time I remained in my spot. I was getting hungry and wouldn't say 'no' to a cake. Seeing that I wasn't moving to get up, mother went to the kitchen, taking the adults with her, leaving me alone with the six babies.
I waited patiently for mother to bring the cake out, however, after few minutes of waiting, I decided to go and see where she had disappeared to. Standing up and my wobbling legs, I took a step by step towards the kitchen. Once there, I peeked in the room, while hiding half of my body behind the door frame. What I saw made me frown. Mother was sitting by the table along with the other adults, chatting.
"Cake! Lin-lin cake! Mama! Cake!" I cried out with the frown adorning my baby face. The adults looked at me with mixed feelings. Some with a frown, some with a surprised expression, while the rest had a smile on their faces.
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear. You'll have to wait for the cake a while longer. The cake isn't ready yet." Mother said in an apologetic voice. A deeper frown adorned my face and I went to my room, stomping my tiny feet on the carpet. A chuckle came from behind me, which caused me to look back only to see no one. This confused me, but decided not to ponder long about it, so I continued my way.
In my room I saw that the Snowwhite book was put back in its place in the bookshelf. Seeing that I had almost finished with it, I paid no attention to it and took out the next book from the lowest shelf. It was Red Riding Hood. All it took was a glance at the cover to tell it. But, then again, all of the shelves held similar books, ones meant for children, as far as I could tell. I should really learn to read the language. However, I couldn't suddenly start speaking a lot all of a sudden, and in long sentences.
While I was glancing at the pictures, while trying to read the text in the pages, I noticed someone at my room's door, so I looked at that person. It was a child who appeared to be older than the other guests. He had blue hair, which seemed unnatural to me. Who had blue hair? But it didn't look dyed either. In addition, it seemed bruised. Probably from a fight.
"Hello." The boy said with a small smile on his lips, which caused a surprise to appear on my face.
"Hello." I said back. I saw no reason why to say anything more.
"Your name is Eva. Am I right?" The boy asked.
"Lin-lin." I said back the nickname I preferred better.
"My name is Mukuro. I'm happy to meet you, Lin-lin." He introduced himself politely, as if he had been taught to introduce himself like that.
"Mukuro hair strange." I told him, which caused his unharmed eye to twitch. Hmmm... maybe I shouldn't have said that. However, now it was too late to take it back.
"Kufufufu... Your's not much better." The boy said back.
"Explain." I asked him, hoping that he would tell me what my hair looked like.
"I could, but I doubt that you would understand." Mukuro told me.
"Try me." I rebuked, which caused surprise to appear on his face.
"Kufufufu... seems like someone is hiding some secrets." The blue haired boy teased.
"Tell me how I look like." I asked, hoping that he would oblige.
"Your hair is lavender color, while your eyes are green." He told me and then chuckled at my expression.
"You're joking." I told him with a dead-pan voice.
"The same way my hair is blue." He replied back. "I was surprised to see my hair color for the first time. Don't worry, you'll get used to it after a while."
"Why aren't you surprised at my behavior?" I asked him.
"Because this isn't my 1st life, either." He replied with as knowing smile that bordered with a smirk.
"Will I forget my previous life, later?" I wanted to know.
"No. Not completely. If you remember your previous life even now, it means you won't forget it. The memories will sink deeper into your mind, seemingly disappearing. However, they will be only shadowed by this life's memories, still surfacing from time to time." Mukuro explained.
"Which life is this for you?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Curiosity killed the cat." He answered with a smirk.
"But satisfaction brought it back." I rebuked.
"Maybe I'll tell you, if we meet again." He replied and left the room, leaving me pondering about his words. After a little while, I decided not to think about it, guessing that it would only bring a headache, so I returned to the book.
After some time mother came into the room and picked me up, saying that the cake was ready. I decided to forgive her her lies and deceive the moment was the cake. It was chocolate. I clapped my tiny hands in happiness. I looked at my surrounding people to see Mukuro by the table, as well. He was the oldest of the children. On one hand, I liked to know that I wasn't the only one with older mind than the body. On the other hand, I didn't know how to feel about the stranger knowing about it.
Mother cut the cake and put a piece of it in front of me with a spoon, right out of my reach, and continued cutting the cake and giving out the pieces to the guests. I reached for the spoon next to my cake, but mother took it for me and offered cake from it. I frowned and tried to take the spoon from her but to now avail. However, with the corner of my eye I saw that Mukuro was watching it with amusement. I frowned deeper.
Another person having fun at my expense. It was already the second person today! First Gabriel, now Mukuro. How was that fair? I didn't have any fun on other ones expense, or even my own. With a huff I opened my mouth and let the chocolately treat enter it. I really loved chocolate too much. Maybe it wouldn't have been so embarrassing to let myself be fed in front of adults, if there wouldn't be a certain child that knew that I was older than I looked like.
Once I was done with my piece of cake, I saw that I wasn't the only one fed. All of the children were, except for Mukuro. Unfortunately, it didn't save m dignity, since the blue haired buy had an amused expression on his face while looking at me. I knew I should have pretended to be a regular baby in front of him. Eh... Now it was too late, either way. Best to concentrate on the present, and, speaking of the present, it was time to open my presents.
"Gifts!" I exclaimed greedily. I wanted a new toy to sleep with, since the bear was too scary. Mother looked at me in surprise.
"Where did you learn that word?" She asked.
"Lin-lin! Lin-lin!" Was my answer, which caused her to pout.
"Alright. We will open the presents now." Mother huffed, while I clapped my small hand and jumped in my seat. Hearing a chuckle, again, I turned my head to see who was laughing, already guessing who it was. Mukuro had a hand in front of his mouth, all while looking at me, so I looked at him with a look in my eye that said "what? I'm a baby." Seeing it made the boy shake in laughter, trying to hold it in.
Deciding to let him be, I turned to my mother expectantly waiting for her to start giving my presents or take me to them. She picked me up and sat me in the sofa and told me to wait right there and left to the kitchen with other adults. Mukuro took his chance an climbed in the sofa next to me.
"You sure know how to hide your true age." He mused with a smirk on his lips.
"A baby has to be, or at least act, innocent." I replied with a smile on my lips. However, I frowned since I saw my blond ghost appear and see him frown at the blue haired boy.
"What's wrong?" Mukuro asked and then looked in the direction I was looking but gave no indication that he could see the ghost.
"Nothing. Just a memory." I lied, however, when he opened his mouth to say something, he closed it and looked at the door, so I looked as well to see my mother with two boxes in her arms, while the rest had only one. But what caught my attention was that on top of the two boxes in mothers hands was a white fox toy. It made me clap my hands and jump in my seat in true happiness. Finally I'll get a decent toy to sleep with and hide tears within! Yes, I cried sometimes with no apparent reason, but usually was from humming sad yet beautiful songs and melodies.
I wanted to demand the fox and ignore the rest of the presents, since, most likely, they would be baby stuff. If my blond ghost hadn't smuggled the fox in the presents, I wouldn't be getting it either. However, I couldn't say things that babies didn't know to tell in front of the adults. Mukuro was different. He knew I wasn't a baby, well, true baby. So, I did the only thing I could do. I reached my tiny hands towards it.
„Here they are, your presents." Mother said with a smile and put the boxes on the sofa next to me. I was quick to reach for the fox and, once it was in my hands, hug it to mu body, not wanting to let go.
„What about the rest of the presents, dear? Won't you open them?" Mother asked, not expecting an answer, however, I surprised her by shaking my head and hugging the toy closer.
„Now, now, Eva. It is not nice to ignore other presents like that." Mother admonished me. I looked at her, blinked and looked at the presents, then at mother, back at the presents, and then at Mukuro who still had an amused expression on his face. He was clearly having fun. I huffed and turned back to the presents. I was not looking forward to opening them, now that I had my white foxy. I put the plush toy in my lap and reached for the first box, however, it was too big for my tiny hands to hold it properly. I looked at mother who was looking at me expectedly.
„Do you need help, dear?" She asked and I nodded my head but then I paused. Wasn't I too young for opening my own presents? Do one-year-olds open their own presents? Deciding that it didn't matter anymore, I continued looking at mama, waiting for her to open my presents for me. The first thing she did was take away my foxy. I quickly reached for it, since I didn't want to part with it. Seeing my reaction, mother put the toy next to me and put the first box in my lap. I was in a yellow wrapping and an orange ribbon. From which end I was supposed to open it? Do I untie the ribbon first or rip the wrapping? I was a dilemma between my mind and body.
Seeing my hesitation, mama took my hand and wrapped my fingers around the ribbons end and gave a tug, letting me know what she wanted me to do. Now that mother dispersed by dilemma, I gave a harder tug at the ribbon, and it gave in by starting to move. With a harder tug the ribbon untied itself, leaving the wrapping between me and the opening of the box. I inwardly sighed. I was no other way to open it without ripping it, so that was what I did, leaving the box naked. It was a simple carton box with no decorations or anything. I didn't pay attention to it and opened the box. Inside there were large plastic blocks in different shapes and sizes. I stared with dull eyes at them, no excitement in them. I wanted to sigh but couldn't, so instead I simply pushed the box out of my lap and took the white fox toy back in my arms.
„Eva!"Mother exclaimed in surprise. I only stared at her with a bored expression. „You don't do that with presents! Pick them up!"
I gave no indication that I would do what she told me to do. Instead, I hugged the white toy closer to my body. It was all I needed, all I wanted. The other things seemed trivial. Besides, do one-year olds clean after themselves? I knew nothing of being a baby, how to act and behave other than being loud and obnoxious when they wanted something, and I already ignored it, by being a quiet child. Seeing my reaction, mother sighed and kneeled on her knees to pick everything up. Part of me wanted to get off the sofa and help her, but the other half of me wanted to stop being such and obedient child, since nothing interesting had happened in my previous life, while being one, except getting the cello. I fully intended to get one in this life, as well. I would be thrilled to get my previous life's cello, however, it was too big to be smuggled in between the presents, like the fox had been.
„Do you want to open any of the presents?" Mother asked once she had picked up the scattered blocks from the floor. I looked at the remaining boxes, then at mother, paused a minute and then shook my head in denial, after which I hid my face in my fox. Another sigh escaped mother's lips.
„What will I ever do with you now?" She asked not expecting an answer. She had mused out-load, so I made no indication of hearing her words. Instead, I turned my head to Mukuro to see him still having an amused smile on his lips. I decided to smile at him. Being annoyed at things out of your control would be no good, since they wouldn't change just because I wanted them to.
„Oh my... could it be that my little Eva has already found someone who she likes?" Mother gushed after seeing my behavior towards the blue haired boy. This made both Mukuro's and me to frown and our eyebrows to twitch for a second. In addition, we both looked at her with an expression that asked if she was sane.
„Gyah! Even their expressions are the same! They must have been meant for each other." Mother seemed not to notice, or simply ignore, the accusations in our eyes in favor of being an annoyingly over-excited mother. With the corner of my eye, I saw that Mukuro had an expression on his face that wanted to say something to the woman that would not be anything nice. I had similar wishes, but decided to hide my face in the white fox toy. I think, I'm starting to get embarrassed about her behavior; she was starting to act like a child more than me.
Suddenly, I felt someone pat my head. It was a small hand and the patting was light. I looked up to see Mukuro. He was the one patting my head, all while having a sympathetic look in his eyes and an amused smile on his lips. I looked at him in confusion in my eyes, however, his reply was continuing patting my head with a smile on his lips.
"Where is my camera? I want to film it!" Mother exclaimed in an overly excited voice, bringing Mukuro and me out of our little bubble. He retreated his hand, while I returned my head back in the white toy. Was she going to act like that all day long? I hope not. What brought by head back up was a sudden stench and a cry. I looked at the source to see a baby dressed in cotton pants and a shirt. He was crying. I glanced at Mukuro who had a look of disgust on his face. Mine probably had the same expression, only a baby version of it, since I had a lot more baby-fat on my face than he had. The worse thing was that the rest of the babies joined into a chorus of wailing.
It took me only a short moment to decide to try and get away from the guests. Those loud babies were giving me a head-ache. I moved to the edge of the sofa and peered down to see how long the fall would be. Quite high for a baby, probably around my current height. Nodding my head, I put the white fox to in front of me to cushion the fall and let myself slide down the edge. The top of my body landed on the toy, however, the knees didn't. The strung quite painfully, which made tears want to enter my eyes, however, I pushed them back as much as I could. Looking around, I saw that the adults were too busy with their babies, trying to calm them down, and that Mukuro was also moving to the edge of the sofa to get off. Guessing that he was going to follow me to escape the loudness, I stood up, taking the white fox toy with me, and went back to my room, balancing myself so that I wouldn't topple over due to the additional weight. For a baby the toy seemed quite heavy. It took longer than usually, but I reached my goal with the blue-haired boy on my heels.
"Kufufufu..." the boy let out his unusual chuckle, causing me to look at him in confusion. I did not understand what was so funny.
"Why are you laughing?" I decided to ask.
"One second you act like a spoiled baby, the second you act obedient, while the third you act like an adult." He replied.
"I don't exactly know how to act. I'm a baby, yet my mind is a lot older. In addition, the last time I saw someone, other than mama, was a doctor months ago, when he had been called to take a look at me, since I was too quiet for mother's liking. She feared that there was something wrong with me. Other than that, the last time I saw someone else was in the hospital, when I was born." I explained him.
"Kufufufu…" The boy only chuckled.
"By the way, I have been wondering all this time, what language are we, exactly, speaking in? All I can tell is that it is Latin origin." I decided to ask him.
"Italian." Was the boy's reply, causing me to smile. Finally! Finally I'll know the language I had always wanted to know.
"Why are you smiling?" He asked.
"In my previous life all I knew was English, however, I had always wanted to learn Italian, but I died before I could start learning it." I replied smiling, however, the smile turned sour when the memories of the kidnapping surfaced. The smile became a bit less sour at the thought that, at least, I had died while being free, not captive.
"Why so sour all of a sudden?" Mukuro questioned.
"Just a memory." I dismissed and the blue haired boy decided not to press further, guessing that it was a skeleton in the closet.
"What's your full name, Eva?" He decided to ask instead, since he remembered that my mother had called me Eva, while I called myself Lin-lin.
"It's Evangelina, however, I don't like that name, and neither do I like being called Eva." I replied with a frown, daring the boy to call me Eva again.
"Then how I am to call you?" He asked.
"Lin-lin!" I exclaimed in a full-blown baby voice. Mukuro looked at me in question of my behavior, but then hear my mother call for me. Soon the room's door was opened by mother.
"There you are, Eva." She exclaimed, but then paused, as she noticed another presence in the room.
"Lin-lin! Lin-lin!" I replied to her, while making a baby-frown. I really hoped that soon she would understand that I didn't want or like being called Eva.
"What are you doing her, boy, not with the rest of the guests?" Mother asked.
"I was talking to Lin-lin." He replied politely.
"And what did you talk about?" Mother asked curiously.
"About how we did not like loud noises and that she did not like being called Eva." Mukuro replied truthfully, well, half-truthfully, since only half of it was the worded truth.
"How did you talk with her?" Mother pressed on.
"With words." Was the boy's reply, which caused mother to blink in surprise. Before they could exchange any other words, a male's voice called from the hallway.
"Mukuro! It's time to go to the doctor for him to see to your eye!" Hearing these words made the blue-haired boy to tense up, which surprised me. Why would a doctor's visit unnerve him? Him, for whom this was not the first life. Surely, he must know that doctor's weren't scary.
"It was nice talking to you, madam, and with you as well, Lin-lin." Mukuro said with a small bow and left the room. Mama picked me up and took me to the house's entrance to see both Mukuro and his father off. I waved goodbye to Mukuro on my own, sad that he had to leave. It made me remain alone with babies who had no manners, were too young to know them, and adults that treated me like one of those babies.
The rest of the day was uneventful. From time to time mother coaxed me into opening a present, only for me to dump it on the ground once opened, since it was baby stuff. In addition, I used every opportunity to retreat to my room away from the ruckus, all while holding my white fox toy close to my body.
A/N: As you can see, I finally have found out the time setting for this story. However, I don't know what the next chapter holds, so I can't say that they will meet again for certain. Or, at least, in the closest years.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. ^^