Sister, Sister

"Now, are you sure you'll be alright?" A brown-haired young man stands over a bed. The fear in his voice is all too present.

"I'll be just fine." The voice of the young woman in the bed is calm, if a little strained.

"Really?" He leans in closer. "Are you comfortable enough? I could get more pillows if--"

"Tim, I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself." Given her expanded stomach, the phrase 'big girl' seems like an understatement.

The young man brushes some loose strands of raven hair from the woman's face. He gives her a smile. "I just want to make sure you're fine."

The woman plants her palms on the mattress and, as best as she can, lifts herself against the backboard. "I'm as fine as ever. Now, you go to work." She shoos him away. "Someone's got to keep us in the black."

Tim exhales and rushes out of the bedroom door. The woman pouts a little. The young man re-appears in the doorway, a bemused look on his face. He hurries to her side and kisses her on the lips. "I love you, Virginia." He rubs her stomach and, once again, leaves out the door.

"I love you, Tim." Virginia tugs a little at her sweater. For the last few months, she has really been out of it. Cravings like Italian sausage and marshmallow fluff and occasional bouts of sickness have been the routine. It wasn't a year ago that her father walked her down the aisle and gave her away to the man of her dreams - Tim(my) Turner. It was more like a year and a half.

Throughout college, Tim worked to save enough so that he and Virginia would be able to afford their own place once school was over. The apartment had always seemed a little big for just the two of them...one more reason why they wanted children.

Virginia looks at her stomach. From her vantage point, it looks like a basketball wrapped in wool. "Oh. Why do you mock me so?" She puts a hand on it and feels a bump. "Oooh. Well, you're a spirited one, aren't you?" Her palm caresses the area where she was kicked. "Ahhh!" Another bump from the other end. "You sure do move fast." At that moment, two simultaneous bumps strike her stomach. "Ow! Oh!"

A look of utter shock fills her face. "Oh, my God." She insisted to Tim that they not get an ultra sound; when her baby is born, she wants its gender to be a surprise. However, neither she nor her husband considered the possibility of...

"Twins." The young woman struggles to get up, but can only make it onto her knees. She closes her eyes and wraps her arms around her stomach.

Keeping this from Tim is going to make for an interesting three months.

XxXxXxXxX

The apartment has changed greatly in the last year. The room where a lot of their old stuff had been was converted into a nursery, leaving the many odds and ends stranded in various rooms. One of these days, they need to go through the boxes and figure out what stays. More than likely, a good portion of it will need to go.

Virginia is crouched down by the playpen. A baby girl sleeps. Next to her, a baby boy does the same. The dark-haired woman cherishes these times...these quiet times. As much as she and her husband love their children, they can be real noisemakers.

She reaches into the pen and scoops up the little ones. A knock at the door interrupts the peaceful moment.

Virginia walks to the door. She peers through the peephole. With a sigh, she moves the little girl to her right arm on which her brother rests. She turns and removes the locks and latches.

The door opens. The woman who walks inside looks to be in her early 30s. A smile dresses her face, but her close-cropped red hair and business attire alerts that she is not a woman with whom people trifle.

"Hi, little sister!" There is extra sugar in the woman's tone, just like when she was a girl.

"Hello, Vicky." ...and Virginia sees right through the act. She shifts the little girl to her free arm and kicks the door closed.

The redhead notices the little bundles in Virginia's arms. She gives a little wave. "Hello. Hello, there."

The younger woman turns suddenly, blocking Vicky's view. "The twins are sleeping."

"Okay. Okay. I can wait." She strolls past her sister.

"Wait? Are you staying here?"

"I came to see my niece and nephew and that's what I'm gonna do."

"You've seen them." Virginia jerks her head toward the door. "Now leave."

Vicky puts her hands up. "Hey, I come in peace. What's with the attitude?"

The dark-haired woman stumbles a little at this. She approaches her sister, her furor steadily growing. "What's with the...? I can't believe you... I did not just hear that. You've spent years making children miserable. You're not gonna add my kids to that list."

"Virginia...that's in my past. A long time ago, I was a surly teenager. We all go through a phase like that."

The woman walks her babies toward their bedroom. "I don't think that's a good excuse."

"But I--"

"Not reason. Excuse."

A tear falls from Vicky's face, but she steels herself. "Okay. I guess I deserve that."

The younger woman stops but does not turn around. "And much more."

"Yeah", she states with a fair amount of resignation.

Virginia continues to the bedroom. "I'm sure you know the way out."

The redhead takes a breath. "I was almost hit by a bus." This statement gains the mother's attention. She starts toward the living room.

"I was about to cross the street. The parking at work, you know..." Vicky sits on the couch. "I guess I wasn't paying attention to the lights. I took a couple of steps off the curb. I felt a hand yank me onto the sidewalk. All I wanted to do was go home. Just as I started to yell at the guy, I felt this 'whoosh' behind me." Virginia, her children in her arms, sits next to her sister. "I was so pi..." The older woman remembers the children near her. "...ticked off at the guy, I didn't notice anything else. A couple minutes later, I finish yelling and the guy hugs me." She laughs a little. "The guy pulled me out of the way moments before becoming a stain on the number 33 and I just yelled at him."

"Wow."

"Yeah." A half-smile is on the businesswoman's face. "That was about two months ago."

"And why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"I didn't know how to tell you." Vicky mimes a telephone with her hand and talks into it. "'Hey, sis. How's it hangin'? By the way, I was almost hit by a bus after work.' Something like that doesn't exactly reek of sincerity. That experience taught me something."

"Look both ways before crossing the street."

A scowl develops on the redhead's face, and almost as quickly as it appears, it melts away. "Yes. That and that life is fragile; not something to be wasted. I've been wasting my life. I can't remember the last time I was truly happy."

"But there were so many times when you were younger..."

"Making others miserable doesn't count. That was like such a drug; fun while you're doing it, but it leaves you empty inside. That's why I want to make amends to you."

"Really, why are you doing this? Is Dad dying?"

"No. No, he's not."

Virginia gasps. "Is Mom dying?"

"No one's dying. I just feel that this is something I need to do."

"Are you dying?"

"No one's...!" She lowers her tone so as not to disturb the children. "No one is dying. I promise you."

"And you haven't told me about this in two months?"

"Like I said, I didn't know how to tell you." Vicky glances at the children held by her sister. "Your arms must be tired. Let me hold one of them." Virginia hands her the dark-haired baby boy. "Ohhh." She looks down at the sleeping child and rocks him a little. "What's his name?"

"Oh. I forgot you weren't there that night." She holds up the little girl. "This is Violet, and the little guy you're holding is Thomas."

"Little Thomas and Violet." Her cooing tone shifts to as accusatory one. "You couldn't have named her after me?"

"That's just what we need: another Vicky screaming at us."

"Ha-ha." The redhead resumes rocking the child.

Virginia shakes her head a little. "I'd have never figured you for the maternal type."

"That's 'cause they're too small to manhandle at this age." Vicky meets her sister's fierce gaze. "Kid-ding!"

Virginia's expression softens. "Wait. Shouldn't you be at work?"

"Took a personal day. Those guys will survive without me. They managed to do pretty well before I got there. So, tell me something."

Virginia rocks the baby girl in her arm. "What?"

"What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"Married life. Kids. The whole thing."

The dark-haired woman stops rocking. "Well...I don't know, Vicky. It doesn't seem like it would suit you very much."

"Please." This greatly stuns the younger woman. She had never known her older sister to use the magic word, even by accident. Still, her gently curious phrasing is enough to encourage the dark-haired lady.

"Okay." She takes a breath. "It can be loud, pretty mundane and a little annoying, all at once. But knowing that you've chosen the right person to jump in with and knowing that they'll be there for you, no matter what, makes it worthwhile."

Vicky gazes at her quizzically.

"You asked."

"I know it's been your dream for, like, ever, but why Timmy?"

"It's Tim, and he makes me happy, he takes care of me and he loves me. I'm only glad you kept quiet during the 'if there's anyone who thinks this couple should not be joined' bit of the wedding."

"I had something in my throat."

Virginia gives her sister a skeptical look. "I know you did."

"I really did. Besides, that's the best wedding present a person could possibly give to their sister." Vicky punctuates the statement with a playful smile.

"I guess it beats a toaster." Virginia starts to laugh a little. Vicky soon joins her. Even though they realize the cheesiness of the joke, their laughter seems like a sort of bonding.

Virginia glances at her sister intently. "Vicky?"

"What is it?"

"Why didn't we ever do this when we were younger?"

"I don't know. We probably wouldn't have ended up at this point. We could've been nicer to each other...Well, I could've been nicer to you, but, after a while, we end up getting sick of each other and around this time in our lives, we'd only see each other during the holidays. And even then, we couldn't even be in the same room."

"You know, I'm glad we ended up like this."

Vicky outstretches her arm and places it on her sister's shoulder. "I am too, Virginia. I am too."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Once more, a piece of fan art has inspired me to write a story. The piece, in general, can be found at http/ www. deviant art. com/ view/ 22428087/ (minus the spaces, of course). Like the wonderful artist, I like to think that I watch the show and imagine what it can be instead of regurgitating what it is.

Have a nice day.