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Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Suzanne Collins.
Different would have been a massive understatement.
Life was no longer life. Life in Panem - that was what they called this world - wasn't quite like living to me. It was more like trying to walk through a lake or a pond. Slow. Sluggish. The days meshed with each other, with terms and names and places that I did not know. Everything was just a grey blur.
It didn't feel like life when the air was so muddled and thick. It wasn't life when we were cooped up all day; no longer able to play in the snow or hide in the forest. Everything was just dull, metallic, unfeeling, cold.
The first ray of light in this grey world came a few months after our arrival. We had unsteadily gotten on our own feet, no longer living in Mayor Delan's large house. We had a small house of our own, and our life was acquiring a pattern.
Papa and mama told us about it over dinner one day, bright smiles on their faces.
"Snowflakes, your mama and I have some very exciting news for the two of you." Papa smiled; not the small sad smile that he so often wore nowadays. He looked to our mama, eyes sparkling with happiness; the most elated I've ever seen him in my life.
"You may do the honours, Sylvei."
Our mama turned to us, cheeks rosy and a bright beam on her face.
"Enkol, Anxol," she beamed, "you're going to have a baby sister or brother. I'm going to have a baby!"
We sat there in a second of dazed silence. With our mouths open wide, we turned to each other in unison, our identical faces matched our identical expressions. Then we turned back to our parents.
"What?"
"Oh, snowflakes, isn't it wonderful? It's going to be a family of five!" Papa grabbed us into a hug, and our mother wrapped her arms around us.
"Is it going to be a boy or a girl?" Anxol asked, muffled through the arms of our parents squeezing us together.
"Oh, angel, we don't know yet." Mama smiled, patting her stomach. "I hope we'll know soon, though."
"What would you name him? Or her?" I looked at her with wide, shocked eyes.
Mama and papa shared a glance before answering us.
"Well, snowflakes, here's where you two come in. " Papa ruffled the hair on our heads. "You two can pick the names for us."
"Really?" Anxol asked, a small smile tugging on her lips. "Enkol and I get to pick?"
"Really." Mama laughed. "We want you two to decide for us."
"So we can have any name at all? Even something like..." I scrunch my nose up, trying to come up with a name. "...Askell-Sylvei-Enkol-Anxol?"
Papa laughs loudly; a real, booming laugh filled with warmth.
"If you wish so, Enkol." He stares at me with laughter and amusement in his eyes. "Though if you decide to pick that name, I would prefer to call the baby 'Asea' instead of the variation you have so thoughtfully provided."
"But," mama adds, "the two of you must both agree on the name. That is our only rule."
Anxol and I turn to each other again, devious smiles on our faces.
.
Throughout the months, we would help out mama as much as possible, making sure she did the least amount of work. Anxol cooked and I cleaned, and papa continued to work. We would support her everywhere, and made sure she always ate. Sometimes, she would ask for certain foods that were hard to acquire, or ask for multiple blankets throughout the night. Sometimes, all she asked for was for us to curl up next to her and just keep her company.
"It's going to be a girl." Anxol said absent-mindedly, toying with her hair. "I can just see it."
"Nu-uh. It's obviously a boy." I countered back stubbornly.
"Girl." She proclaimed.
"Boy." I shouted, trying to best her with my opinion.
"Girl!" Anxol shrieked happily.
"Boy!" I yelled gleefully.
"Children!" Papa shouted from the kitchen, strict though I could detect the amusement in his voice. "Quiet, now. We don't want to expose the baby to such loud noises."
Anxol and I quieted down, sitting in silence. Then we turned to each other at the same time, merriment in our eyes; reflecting each other.
"Twins!" We shouted at the exact same time, bursting into a fit of uncontrollable giggles and hysterical laughter together.
Thanks for reading!
Argh, super short chapter, I know. I am really, really sorry. Everything's just been really hectic these past few days and I haven't had the chance to sit down and write a proper length chapter. Sorry ):
Anyways, what did you think? Just a happy-ish chapter after everything's that happened - just to brighten up the mood a bit.
Any questions? Comments? Feedback? Suggestions? Feel free to leave it as a review!
Next chapter up tomorrow!
