CHAPTER 5 – COGNIZANCE
I apologize for any grammatical errors.
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Liz sat in her office in Villa Taverna, the United States Ambassador's residence located in Rome, Italy, reflecting on a report she received regarding her daughters. The girls are six years old and impossible to tell apart. Their personalities are the dominant characteristic in distinguishing Raven and Emily. Raven is very outgoing and by all appearances seems to reach every milestone first. However, Emily is calm, secretive and introspective. Raven would constantly pull herself up and hold onto furniture taking beginning steps around the rooms. Emily showed no interest in walking; she would sit and observe. I was worried that Emily had developmental issues because she was quiet and did not attempt to walk. I almost had heart failure when Emily stood up and walked to the bookcase to get a book.
Raven and Emily have always achieved developmental milestones before other kids their age. As twins they had their unique language that we understood as baby talk but they comprehended each other's words. The girls were reading before the age of three. They were always into something and wore out five nannies by the age of four. Emily is hyper focused and determined. Raven and Emily are so unique and they have their dad's (Sally) and my gift for languages. I've had the girls tested by ORIG3N to see if they are gifted when they were three. For very young children under 6 years old, IQ tests aren't as accurate as school aged kids. For that reason we retested the twins with a formal IQ test.
The conclusion of the report states that the girls need services and activities not normally provided by the school in order to develop their capabilities. Raven and Emily are each individually unique and require appropriate stimulation and their talents channeled. The girls are invited to participate in various Mensa gifted youth programs throughout the world. Reading about the programs Mensa Serbia appears to be a good fit for Raven and Prague for Emily.
I don't want the twins to grow up co-dependent so a little separation may do them some good.
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Raven and Emily loved spending the winters with their grandparents. The twins excelled on the slopes and participated in local skiing competitions. Raven enjoyed whitewater rafting and Emily preferred fly fishing. Sally visited his girls frequently. If the truth be known he spent more time with his girls than their mother and he was dead.
It is a Saturday, Raven and Emily are going to Chamonix to ski with friends of their grandparents. Raven was laying in her bed thinking she needed to get up and prepare for their trip and her papa. She is definitely a daddy's girl. I question why we have been raised to not talk about our papa and why Emily and I must not appear identical. When we are out in public Emily and I take turns wearing a wig to hide the fact that we are identical twins. It's crazy how no one can tell us apart in our family. We've had so much fun switching back and forth. The distinguishing feature between Emily and I is our smile. We have studied each other for the longest and that is the only distinguishing feature besides personalities. When Emily smiles her whole face is aglow like the sun just came out. My smile lacks that glow. We've had plenty of discussions on what makes our smile different to no avail.
Ugh! It's my turn to wear the wig today. This sucks! Time to get up and start the day.
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While Raven remains in bed Emily is packing for the trip. I'm so excited. I love my sister but I like to meet new people and study human nature. Our father says I take after our mother while Raven takes after him since she is an adrenaline junkie. I like to do the same things only not to the extent of Raven and our father. I prefer to read and predict someone's behavior or background. One of the reasons I am excited about this trip is because Clyde is going. Clyde is my grandfather's accountant nephew. His parents died a few years ago in a boating accident off the coast of Italy. Clyde and his special needs older brother were taken in by their father's brother. Clyde and Raven are both adrenaline junkies so they can keep each other company while I stay in the lodge reading and observing people. Time to get Raven moving…she is probably in the bed dreading wearing the wig.
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Sally is at Liz father's chateau waiting downstairs to surprise his girls. His babies are a joy. Raven is a little mini me in female form, an adrenaline junkie. Emily has a wicked sense of humor, smart, observant and introspective. He taught the girls how to ski from the age of three. He could not tell the girls apart unless they were smiling and even that was iffy. Raven and Emily are always happy to see him but his youngest daughter had a way of looking at him lately as if she was trying to work out a puzzle. Raven could be easily distracted but not his baby girl.
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Emily walked across the hall and entered Raven's room to find her in the bed. Raven gave her sister a cheeky smile. "Em, I was about to get up. Help me pack and we can be on our way that much sooner."
"Okay, we have a month left before we return to our mother. I can't wait to see Russia. I've been learning a little Russian so I can get an idea of who's mean and who's nice on staff. I want to see the Kremlin, GUM, Red Square, VDNKh, and attend the Bolshoi Theatre. What do you want to do when we get there?"
"I want to ski, attend an ice hockey game, and compete at the Palace of Water Sports, and also see a football game at Luzhniki Stadium."
Emily shook her head, "Raven you are such a jock." Emily enjoyed sports but not to the extent of her sister.
Raven finishes packing and bumps her sister's shoulder, "and you are such a nerd." The girls laugh at their running joke as they head downstairs to eat breakfast before leaving.
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Sally could hear his girls laughing as they made their way to the kitchen. Seeing Raven and Emily's faces light up when they catch sight of him never gets old. The girls scream, "Papa!"
His girls are beauties, they have Liz's dark hair, dark eyes, and body type but ears, nose, and mouth are all me. Raven broke away from the group hug first. "Papa are you joining us at Chamonix to ski?"
"No sweetheart, you know my work prevents me from joining you for your protection and mine. I wish I could."
"I know papa but we see you less and less and when we do it's for a few hours. Why can't you quit your job? Isn't over six years for your country enough? Don't you want to spend more time with us?"
It broke Sally's heart to see the disillusionment and tears in Raven's eyes. I expected this day to come knowing not only did he sacrifice his life for his country but his girls are sacrificing their papa. If I was a stronger man I would disappear, so that they could live without knowing their papa was alive but unavailable to them. However, I can't because they are my reason for trying to make the world a safer place.
Emily consoled her sister, "Rave we discussed this remember. Papa needs to remain anonymous because he is making the world a better place for us. Remember we agreed that we would rather have moments with papa than none at all. We even discussed that we would have days like this in which our family's sacrifice would be unbearable and we agreed to help each other through it." Emily whispered in her sister's ear, "Most importantly, we would never let papa leave us unhappy. We will give him good memories to take with him in case the worst happens. Now smile and let's make good memories."
Emily felt Raven nodding her head on her shoulder. "Papa, forgive me, I know how much you want to join us and the sacrifices you've made for your country and family. Em and I love you all the more. We may have days when we wish otherwise but we never have days in which we do not love you with all our heart." Em nodded her head in agreement.
Sally bowed his head in prayer thankful for the blessings the Holy Father bestowed upon him.
Em, feeling the need to lighten the mood. "Papa guess who is going on the skiing trip with us? A hint, he is the bane of Raven's existence."
"Pasqua!"
"The one and only."
"I can't wait to hear the stories."
The three proceeded to joke around before they departed. Each left with happy memories.
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Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm feeling my way through. There are so many directions this story could go. I have two outlines of the completed story.
BTW use Google Translate for "Pasqua."
Peace.
