Hey guys! I'm back! Thanks to all my awesome reviewers:
Peregrin Took the Falcon: Oh, I'm glad my story is enhancing the character of Nellas for you!(I love her so much, she is just so cool, and there's so much possibility there...) I'm glad you continue to enjoy it, and find my characterizations satisfying! :DD
NirCele: Your welcome! :DD She hasn't figured it out...yet... AS DO I! If you ever find a Glorfy plushie, please tell me so that I can obtain one as well! XDXD Yeah maybe I'll have dear little cute Nellas develop a little crush for Maedhros that she shows via affectionate punches, lol. Oh, thank you so much! Your review is so nice! :DDD
AdvisorOfImladris: Thank you! :D I'm glad you find my OC believable, what a relief... I hope you enjoy the next chapter!
Laurel was too surprised to answer for a moment. Mom? They were calling her mom now?
"It's alright if we call you that, isn't it?" Glorfindel asked in concern at her long spell of stunned silence, "In the show the odd animal children were calling the lady that took care of them mom, and we thought that we could call you that too, isn't that what you are now? Our mother?"
Laurel was about to explain that a mother was usually the person who gave birth to you, but decided against it, whispering instead: "Yes, I suppose that would be alright. But my friend is here right now, and she can't know you guys are here. Please, try to be quiet." she instructed, turning down the volume of her computer and ruffling Maglor's hair fondly in spite of herself, before turning and hurrying out, closing the door lightly behind her.
"What was that about?" Maura asked curiously as she reappeared, cocking her head in confusion, "I didn't know you even had a boyfriend? And what were you whispering about?"
"I was...um...being cross at him for clogging the toilet again." Laurel mumbled lamely, focusing intently on cubing the small block of cheese on the cutting-board before her.
"Oh, boyfriends can be such a pain." Maura laughed, though she clearly was still confused at Laurel's strange behavior, "I guess I'll just take the car back now, I have to pick up takeout on my way home."
"Oh, right! Sorry, here you go." Laurel said embarrassedly, handing Maura the car keys as she placed the now empty cup in Laurel's open dishwasher.
"You gonna be at work tomorrow?" Maura asked on a second thought as she opened the door to leave.
"I don't know, probably not." Laurel sighed in defeat, scrunching her eyebrows together as the desperateness of her situation began to fully reveal itself before her eyes. She needed to work full-time to get money to keep the children fed and clothed, but she couldn't just leave them alone at home all day, and then the schools and the police would eventually find out they weren't in school...
"Laurel, if you need help-" Maura offered again, a worried look in her large brown eyes.
"I know, I'm fine." Laurel muttered sullenly as she began to chop up an apple angrily.
"What are you making anyway?" her friend asked in curiosity, looking over her shoulder at the random assortment of food she was preparing.
"I don't even know." Laurel whispered, but it came out as a whine.
"Has your boyfriend been mis-treating you?" Maura asked suspiciously, looking as if she was ready to go find this imaginary boyfriend and teach him a lesson.
"No!" Laurel protested quickly, grabbing Maura's arm as she tried to go do just that, pulling her back, "He's great, really great!"
"Fine, but I know something is the matter, Laurel, and I wish you would just tell me what it is."
"I'm fine."
"No you're not. Here, let me help you with this directionless dinner, then I'll leave." Maura decided, opening Laurel's small fridge and scanning its contents, "Goodness, you barely have anything left in here! Let's see...ice cream...apples...bread...yogurt...I can't make a good dinner out of this, and I doubt you can either, unless you want to have apple sandwiches. How about you come have takeout with me at my house? You can bring your boyfriend if you want, or leave him to fend for himself."
"That's really nice of you, really, but I'll be just fine."
"Apple sandwiches it is then. Would you put some toast in the toaster while I cut the apples?"
"Alright."
To tell the truth, Laurel didn't mind Maura's help at all. In fact, it felt good just to have a regular old evening with her friend, as if nothing at all had changed.
"Would you cut all the apples in that bag? I want to be able to have these tomorrow too." actually, Laurel wanted to have dinner made for the children too, but Maura didn't need to know that.
"Sure! You'd better put all that bread in the toaster oven to cook, then we can go sit outside and relax a bit."
The two girls worked in silence for some time, popping toast in the toaster, and chopping apples. When everything was taken care of they went out front, pulling the two lawn chairs off the porch and onto Laurel's small grassy yard, leaning back with contentment.
"What a nice day it is." Maura sighed happily and closed her eyes, sweeping a lock of her messy auburn hair behind her ear.
"That it is."
"I wonder what all those characters that live in your imagination are doing today." Maura laughed, as she was used to hearing about the many elves from Tolkien's world that had taken up very permanent residences as muses in Laurel's head.
"I don't know, I guess I just haven't thought about them yet today." Laurel hadn't had time to think about anything other than her new charges, which had been more than enough.
"I'm shocked! You must have been pretty busy today."
"Yeah, I guess I was."
"Momma!" called a youthful and miffed voice from out of Laurel's bedroom window, causing both girls to look up in surprise, "Your friend must be gone by now! If not, tell her to leave, I'm hungry and Nellas is being cross!" Celegorm cried in impatience, small blonde head poking out of the window.
"What?" Maura breathed in confusion, getting up and hurrying over to the window. Laurel hurried after her, and they were greeted with the faces of six very bored looking elflings, who smiled at them with relief.
"Children?! You have six children? What?!" Maura cried in confusion, glancing from Laurel to the children and back again, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
"I am Maitimo, greetings. Sorry mother, I told Turko not to do it, but Laurefindil couldn't subdue him in time." Maedhros explained apologetically, smiling at Maura as he introduced himself.
"Hello, I am Maura, but Laurel?! What?! How do you have six children?" she cried again in disbelief, turning to Laurel with a look that demanded answers.
"Yes, well, um, they aren't actually biologically mine...I'm sort of their adoptive mother."
"Oh. That makes more sense. But why on earth did you adopt six children?"
"Come inside, we have a lot to tell you."
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"How much do you know about Middle Earth?" Laurel asked Maura once they were all seated in various places around the living room, Maura on one end of the couch, Laurel on the other, Celegorm in her lap, Glorfindel on the arm of the couch, Fingon on the coffee table, Maedhros and Maglor on the rug, and Nellas hiding above the couch in the drapes.
"You know I've watched the Peter Jackson movies and endured hours of your banter about the Silmawhatever, but that's about it."
"Alright, brace yourself. These children are all from the Silmarillion."
Maura made a sort of choking sound before composing herself, looking at all the children in a new and slightly traumatized way. It must be appreciated that all Maura could remember from the Silmarillion banter was a lot of blood, betrayal, tragic ends, and fire.
There followed a very long and thorough explanation, with the children popping in to contribute at all the appropriate and inappropriate times, Maura listening silently the entire time, wide-eyed.
"I see," she finally murmured at the end, taking a drink from the glass of water Fingon had politely handed to her, "your behavior, Laurel, all makes sense now. But children, would you remind me of your names again?"
"I am Maitimo."
"Findekano, but you can call me Finde."
"Makalaure."
"Laurefindil."
"Tyelkormo."
"Nellas."
"Wonderful names." Maura remarked, casting Laurel a desperate glance, there would be no way she could remember, much less pronounce all of their very foreign sounding names.
"Children, is there anything simpler you would like to be known by? Like maybe your nicknames?"
"Sure! I am Nelyo."
"Finde."
"Kano."
"Laure."
"Turko."
"Still Nellas."
"That's better, I think I can remember that. Children, your mother and I have been making apple sandwiches in the kitchen, and it is dinnertime, would you like some?"
"Yes!" Fingon cried as he and the others hurried into the kitchen/dining room, where they were served some lovingly homemade apple sandwiches before sitting down to feast on them.
"Laurel," Maura whispered urgently, drawing her friend into the hallway while the children were busy eating, "there is no way you can do this on your own, you must let me help you."
"I know, but I do not want to inconvenience you."
"It would be no inconvenience, honestly, I have nothing else to spice up my life right now, just work and the occasional vacation, I, like you, am at one of the boring transition parts of my life."
"Thank you."
"It will be no problem. Are they here to stay?"
"I don't know, but it would be best to assume for the moment that they are."
"Ok. I think you should quit one or even both of your jobs, you need to homeschool them."
"What?!"
"You can't just put children like that in school, Laurel! Imagine what would happen!"
Maura was right. Laurel knew that the minute she enrolled the children in school, Nellas would have a nervous-breakdown, Fingon would get diagnosed with ADHD, and Celegorm would be sent to the principal's office. Even if these things didn't happen, the children would all be confused, singled out, bullied, and probably have a pretty miserable time of it. Besides, Laurel had been homeschooled herself, it wasn't a foreign concept to her, but still...
"I guess you're right, but where am I to start?"
"Google the Vermont homeschooling laws, enroll them legally as homeschoolers, and start teaching them. I think you should quit your frozen yogurt job, and only work part-time, maybe night and evening shifts at Mario's. I can work full-time, and take care of them when you're at the restaurant. We can make this work, Laurel, I know we can."
Laurel smiled. Maura had always been such a good organizer, she knew how to get everything under control, and was at the moment just the type of friend Laurel needed.
"Thanks so much, you're a lifesaver!"
"No problem! Let's see if there are any sandwiches left for us, and then put the kids to bed."
"But what about your takeout?"
"Oh, I forgot about it. I'll call them and tell them to deliver some here in an hour or so, and to sell whatever they had ready for me."
"Ok, that's a good idea, because I think those ravenous elflings will finish off every one of those sandwiches, now that I think about it, I think we forgot to have lunch today...I wonder how I managed that..."
Maura laughed at this before putting a companionable arm around Laurel's shoulder. "You, my friend, have a lot to learn about being a mother."
"I suppose I do, but so do you."
"I'll admit that I do have a lot to learn, but still, not as much as you."
"I guess you're right. Come on, let's get them washed up and ready for bed."
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It turned out that the children did not want to sleep scattered about in separate rooms, and that evening they all found themselves together in the living room.
Laurel and Maura had taken all the beds made up for the children in the other rooms, and turned the living room into slumber-party heaven, where they all were now, curled up underneath an assortment of quilts and towels in the now dark room, lit only by a glowing nightlight.
"Maura," Fingon asked sleepily from where he sat leaning on Maedhros' shoulder, swathed in blankets like a mummy, "why is your skin so dark?"
Maura's skin wasn't actually that dark, she was of mixed latino ancestry, and it was more of a light brown cinnamony color, but it was still completely foreign to little Fingon.
"Finde," Laurel explained from where she lay slouched on one side of the couch, Celegorm dozing off in her lap, "I know that in aman most everyone tends to have peach to very pale skin, but it is not so here, or in Middle Earth either. I do not know about elves, but humans come in a wide range of skin colors, you will soon see that people have all sorts of different colored skin here, and that it is commonplace."
Glorfindel's eyes got very wide at this, and he asked, "Do you mean we will see people walking around with purple skin? Or green? Or bright red?"
"No! Sorry, I should have been more clear. Skin colors here range from whites, creams, and pinks to medium brown, nearly black, and even yellowish."
Glorfindel nodded, satisfied. "I'm glad, it would be so very odd to see purple people walking about..." he murmured disconcertedly into his pillow, Nellas giggling from where she was hiding wrapped in a sheet up on the windowsill, amongst the curtains. Now that Laurel thought about it, Nellas spent most of her time hiding in curtains. Maybe they reminded her of trees, or maybe she just liked to see and not be seen, and found Laurels thick and shadowy curtains the perfect place to do so.
"Momma," Celegorm whispered softly after yawning enormously, gazing up at her with big worried eyes, "do you think Amme is worried about me?"
"I don't know, Turko, but there is nothing we can do about it at the moment, and worrying won't help, it will only make us more upset."
"You are right, but I still miss her. And Atto, and my friends, and grandfather and grandmother. Even though Atto does not like grandmother, I still do." he yawned again, revealing two rows of perfect little white teeth, making Laurel remember that she had no toiletries for the children. She inwardly sighed, before combing through the quickly falling asleep Celegorm's messy hair as Maglor launched into a quiet but persistent little lullaby, a rather bittersweet song which seemed to fit the evening perfectly. Laurel listened as his strong voice gradually grew weaker and weaker, quieter and quieter, listened as he started missing notes, and jumbling words, listened quietly until he dropped off in the middle of a garbled line, more than forty minutes later, and by then all the children were fast asleep, lost in elvish dreams.
"Laurel," Maura whispered hesitantly after several minutes of the calm silence of children sleeping, "you said they were all characters from the Silmarillion. How...how do they all...die... I don't really want to know, but I have to, I can't stand it otherwise, knowing that something terrible happens to these sweet little children, but not being able to remember what."
"Nellas' fate is uncertain," Laurel began quietly, focusing intently on the opposite pale blue wall dancing with shadows from the cars going by through the night outside, stroking Celegorm's soft hair as she did so, "it is likely she was killed by either dwarves or elves, when Doriath, the kingdom who's forest she lived in, fell. She may have escaped, but probably was killed by orcs or bandits or was drowned in the war of wrath, or maybe just faded from memory. Nelyo...he throws himself into a fiery chasm of the earth with his father's Silmaril, and Kano either throws himself into the sea at the same time with the other Silmaril, or throws it into the sea and wanders the desolate beaches forevermore singing songs mourning the loss of the Silmaril until he has faded from memory, Tolkien couldn't decide which, and neither can I. Laure takes on a balrog and they both die when they fall off a precipice, his valiant sacrifice to protect the rest of the refugees from Gondolin is one of my favorites in the entire Silmarillion."
"Isn't he the one who gets pulled off by his hair?" Maura interrupted, a flash of memory from one of Laurel's past rants glinting in her soft brown eyes.
"Yes." Laurel replied, and they both glanced at said balrog-slayer, wrapped up in the floral comforter and sleeping with his mouth hanging open, bright golden hair tied thoughtfully up in a bun by a very paranoid Laurel earlier that day.
"Finde gets surrounded and killed by balrogs, and they break his body and trample it into the ground. And Turko..." Laurel paused, rubbing her knuckle along the little boy's pale cheek, feeling as if her heart would break, "was killed personally by Dior in a violent episode of kinslaying, because Turko was in love with his mother, and even though she would not have him at all, Dior was mad at him because he and his brother impeded her, and his brother even tried to kill her."
"Thank you for telling me." Maura murmured after a long, sad silence, in which the girls took turns gazing at the wall, the floor, and the children, trying not to imagine their violent and sad ends.
They both jumped a moment later as a knock at the door interrupted the tragically peaceful silence, and a muffled voice called through the front door, "Pizza delivery!"
"Oh!" Maura gasped quietly, getting up and hurrying to the door. Laurel heard the muffled noises of thank-you's and crinkly dollar bills changing hands, before Maura was back again with a small box of Mellow Mushroom cheese pizza, which they ate in a contemplative silence, Maura trying not to imagine young Fingon being cruelly slaughtered by balrogs, and Laurel trying not to drip hot greasy cheese on Celegorm's head.
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So what did you guys think?
Next chappie will be up soon, we promises...
Thanks and have a marvelous day,
~Thurin
