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TIM FINALLY BROUGHT JANE into the room and set her on the bed, where she took Arpeggio into her arms and planted a kiss on Arpeggio's head.
The bedroom door opened, and Bethany carried in plates full of food. She used her hips to shut the bedroom door, before she put the plates onto her bed. Each plate had something different on it and Bethany took it upon herself to point out what everything was.
"So, that's brisket on that plate; my mom makes the best brisket here in town. That's falafel, one of my personal favorites," she explained. "That's kugel, and it's super sweet. That last thing is tahdig, which is just an excuse for my mom to serve burnt rice to the customers."
"We've never had any of these things before," the first twin said.
"We had meatloaf," the second one added. ". . . Sometimes."
"My mom's a cook, and she's real good at it," Bethany claimed. "She moved here from Boston, and she wanted to 'share the world of Jewish cuisine' with everyone. Whatever that meant."
"Jewish cuisine?" Jane asked. "Is that different than meatloaf?"
Jane laid Arpeggio down at her side and picked up the plate of kugel, before she took the fork and took a bite of the food. She let off a soft 'Mm!' when she tasted the cinnamon and sugar that was mixed in the pasta.
"Your baby needs to eat too, right?" Bethany asked. "I'm sure Zach, Ruth, and Noah could spare some formula, clothes, and diapers."
The siblings looked at her in confusion.
"My brothers and sister," Bethany clarified. "Well, adoptive sister. We found her in a booth a few days back. She eats like a damn horse. Nevermind, let me go get you the things."
The twins picked up the falafel and tahdig, before they began to eat as well.
Tim picked up the brisket and picked at it, before he put some of the meat into his mouth. He sighed in enjoyment as this had been the first meal he had in a while.
The door opened again, before Sabrina brought in a bag, along with some baby clothes, and a bottle that she shook in her hands. She gave the bottle to Jane, before she laid the clothes out on the bed.
"They're all stuff that my brothers and sister are too big for anymore," Bethany explained. "And here's a diaper bag, it has diapers, formula, bottles, diaper rash cream, binkies . . . all the baby stuff you know. So, tell me, why are a bunch of kids carrying around a baby at night?"
"We're going to visit our aunt in Hawai'i," Tim explained. "And our parents can't come with us."
"They're sleeping," The second twin claimed.
"They fell down the stairs, then they fell asleep," The first one verified.
"They never got back up?" Bethany asked. "Are you sure their necks didn't break?"
"You can break your neck by doing that?" the second twin asked.
"Yeah," Bethany claimed. "It kills you."
She put her hand in her hoodie pocket, before she pulled out a small box with a spout attached. She put the spout to her mouth, before she sucked smoke from the spout and blew it out her mouth.
"Tim, did they -" the second twin asked.
"But Mommy, she fell by accident," the first one insisted. "She couldn't have!"
Tim shrugged before he continued to eat the brisket.
"You guys might need some wine coolers," Bethany claimed. "Hang on, let me get some. Does anyone else want something to drink?"
"Waters?" Jane asked.
"Waters," Bethany confirmed. "Got it."
Jane put down the empty plate of kugel, before she pulled Arpeggio towards herself. She used the towel to wipe of the blood and fluids that still covered the baby, before she took one of the diapers from the bag, and looked at the front and back. Luckily, the front and back were labeled, so Jane knew which way to put the diaper on the baby, before she took the grey, star printed footie pajamas and put them onto the baby.
Bethany soon returned with the cans of wine coolers and bottles of water that she handed to everyone. She cracked open the can she had in her hands before she slurped from the opening. She opened the cans for the rest of them, but upon the smell, Jane rejected one.
She knew what that was.
"My sister just got in trouble for bringing her boyfriend home," Bethany claimed. "I like her boyfriend. He's hot. His name's John, has blue eyes, brown hair β not really good at much."
"Did you put him out?" the second twin asked.
"Put him out?" Bethany asked.
"You said he was on fire," the second twin reasoned. "Did you put him out? Maybe that might help."
Bethany then realized what he meant and started to laugh at his sheer ignorance of what she meant. She shook her head before she flicked him in the nose.
"Ow!" he exclaimed.
"You're stupid," she giggled. "I like that."
"Hey, don't call him that !" Jane defended.
"I mean it in a good way," Bethany insisted. "Do you guys want to get piercings?"
"Piercings?" the first twin asked.
"What's that?" the second one inquired.
Bethany brushed her hair back to expose her ear to the twins, and then she pointed at her nose.
"These," she claimed. "You want one?"
"Are kids supposed to have them?" the second twin asked.
"You worry too much, let me give you one," Bethany said. "It's not like your parents are even alive to notice, or give a shit."
"I'll get one," the first twin said.
"Ooo, lay back, let me go and get my stuff," Bethany said.
The first twin laid back on the bed, before he looked to face Jane and Tim. Jane held Arpeggio in her arms as she drank the bottle full of whatever 'formula' was, and Tim held both the wine coolers that Bethany had given both him and Jane. He sipped from both wine coolers simultaneously as he watched his brothers.
Bethany then came back into the room with a set of sewing needles, a lighter, and a small little bar. She got back onto the bed and used the lighter to heat up one of the sewing needles, before she pinched the first twin's eyebrow and poked the needle into his skin.
"Ouch!" the first twin exclaimed.
"Sh, stop your whining," Bethany scolded. "It didn't hurt that bad."
"He's bleeding!" the second twin exclaimed.
"Sh, don't make him panic!" Bethany exclaimed.
"I'm bleeding?" the first twin asked. "I'm bleeding!"
"It's not a lot of blood, you baby bitch!" Bethany hissed. "Stay still."
She jammed the small bar into the wound in his eyebrow, before she sat him up, so he could see in her vanity mirror. She pointed to the small bar in his eyebrow and gave a smirk at her work. She was the one to do all except her lobe piercing, which she got as a gift from her bubbe and zayde for her fifth birthday.
"Bitchin', right?" she asked.
The first twin wiped the blood away from his face, before he looked to see the two little balls on the top and bottom of his eyebrow. He managed to laugh quietly and smile at her.
"Yes," he agreed. "Bitchin'."
"So, I got a question," Bethany asked. "Does this aunt of yours know you're coming?"
Tim's eyes widened at that question. She had a point. They never mailed her a letter to let her know that they were on their way, and apparently Hawai'i was very far. They didn't even know how they were going to get out of town. They had money, of course, but where was one hundred twenty dollars and a little bit of loose change going to get them?
"I uh . . . I never mailed her a letter," Tim commented.
"Mailed her a letter?" Bethany snickered. "Okay boomer. Did your parents live under a rock or something?"
Tim furrowed his eyebrows at her question before he looked to Jane, who had paused Arpeggio's feeding since she stopped eating, and bounced the baby in her arms and pat the baby's back, in an attempt to burp her.
"No, we lived in that house down the street," Tim answered.
"Is it haunted?" Bethany asked.
"It's not haunted," Tim stated. "What are you trying to say?"
"That place is so old!" Bethany laughed. "Did you guys even have a phone there?"
"Phone?" Jane asked. "Well, we did, but it hasn't worked since the nineteen β hundreds. Our great β great grandpa Stevenson used it to call relatives from far away."
"Do they make phones anymore?" the second twin asked.
Bethany pinched his cheek and snickered at the second twin's question.
"You guys are all so far behind on the times, it's cute," she giggled. "Yeah, they make phones still, but you can put them in your pocket and play games on them. Not like those rotary phones my bubbe has in the living room, next to her candy jar."
"You can put phones in your pockets?" The first twin gasped. "Do you have a phone in one of your pockets ?"
Bethany dove her hand into her hoodie pocket before she handed it to Tim. She bit the inside of her cheek, before she looked away from him. Her face brightened into a hot red blush as she looked towards her window.
"You should . . ." she started. "You should call your aunt, to let her know you're coming."
"Call her?" Tim asked. "How do I work this thing ?"
He examined the phone, before he saw a thing at the bottom that said 'Swipe Right To Unlock'.
"You use your finger to touch things," she explained. "And you move your fingers to move things."
Tim touched his finger to the lock bar, before he picked his finger up and moved it to the other side of the screen. He squinted as it didn't move to unlock the phone, like Bethany said it would.
She took her phone back after she sighed at how clueless he was when it came to modern technology.
"Like this," she said.
She showed Tim how to unlock her phone, before she took him to the phone's dial, so he could call their aunt on the postcard.
"Then you just touch the numbers and press the green button when you're ready to call her," Bethany explained.
Tim took the postcard from his pocket, before he looked at the long number, which he assumed was the number he was supposed to put into the phone to dial. He pressed on the numbers, before he hit the green button and put the phone to his ear to hear the sound better. He gave a confused look as he heard a ringing on the other side of the line and pulled the phone from his face.
"Is it supposed to make that noise?" he asked.
"That means your aunt hasn't picked up the phone yet," Bethany explained. "You'll hear another message that tells you if she is or isn't available β it kind of sounds like a robot about to get killed."
The second twin laughed at her joke, though he wasn't quite sure why he found it funny. Maybe it was the morbidness altogether β murder, and what not.
She scooted closer to the second twin and scratched at his chin, which he also kind of giggled at the sensation. He had never felt this kind of affection from anyone, so it was . . . nice in a sense.
Jane leaned in, after she giggled at Apeggio, since her baby let off a burp, before she nuzzled into Jane's neck and fell asleep. She attempted to listen in to the call, so she could also have an idea of what was going on.
Finally a man on the other side picked up.
"House of Madame Imogen Willoughby," he answered. "Who is this?"
Tim gasped at the sound of the man on the other side, more in awe of how clear his voice was, and how he could hear someone from Hawai'i in the little rectangle.
"Uhm, uh -" Tim hesitated.
Jane took the phone from her brother, before she used her free hand to hold the phone to her face.
"We're her niece and nephew," Jane answered.
Tim took the phone from Jane after she managed to get whoever this guy was to pay attention to them.
"We're her brother's kids," he explained. "Walter's?"
"I'm sure that Madame Willoughby would love to hear from you kids," the man explained. "She hasn't heard from her brother in a very long time."
"Can we speak to her right now?" Tim asked.
"I'll see if she's out of the shower," the man said.
Tim waited for the man to hand off the phone to their aunt Imogen. He could hear muffle speech and laughter on the other side of the line, and he did his best to listen in to the conversation. He still couldn't hear the exact words, but he could make out two different voices.
"Hello?"
It was a woman this time. Her voice was soft, and soothing, unlike the shrillness of their mother's voice. He furrowed his eyebrows and cleared his throat.
"Uhm, uh, Miss Imogen β I'm Timothy Willoughby, Walter's son -" Tim introduced.
"You're my brother's son?" she asked. "Well then, tell me, Timothy β does baldness run in the Willoughby family? Only a Willoughby would know the answer."
"In the men, yes," Tim answered. "But most Willoughbys can grow a mustache, e β even the women. It's a sign of our greatness!"
"You are a Willoughby!" Imogen exclaimed. "I mean, I was just pulling your leg, but at least I know you're my brother's kids. C β Can you put your mom or dad on the phone, I β I'd love to talk to them."
"Uhm, they're . . . not here right now, but, we were planning on trying to come to Hawai'i for a visit," He claimed.
"Do you need me to buy your plane tickets?" Imogen asked. "I mean, I've been sending your parents money for a while now β Oh, I probably shouldn't have mentioned that . . ."
"Money?" Tim asked.
"Yes, well, he always would spend money faster than he'd make it," Imogen admitted. "I worried about my brother, and his wife. I feel like I should've sent more. I . . . I never knew he had kids, he never told me, but I understand if he didn't want to tell me. We didn't talk very much anymore."
"He didn't talk to a lot of people," Tim reassured.
He felt a familiar heat rise in him. His father never talked to anyone outside their mother, he barely even knew that Jane and the Barnabys existed. Maybe if their father actually cared, Jane could've been taken to the hospital when she first started getting sick, and they could've terminated the pregnancy right then and there. Jane would've never had to go through nine months of pregnancy, and she wouldn't have had to cut herself open on the floor of the library with a Willoughby artifact. She wouldn't be in this predicament. As distant and cold as he was from Jane outwardly, inwardly, he cared so fucking deeply for her, but he knew . . . he knew his feelings towards her were wrong. He loved her in more than a million ways, and it hurt him to know that she went through pain that he directly caused.
"It wasn't just you, Miss Imogen," he finished.
"Please, Timothy, it's Aunt Imogen to you," she corrected.
He smiled at the sound of her voice.
"Tim," he corrected.
"Okay, Tim," she chuckled. "Do you need me to come and get you from New York? I could always come and get you three."
"N - No!" Tim exclaimed. "W - We wouldn't want to be a bother, besides, there's myself, my sister, twin brothers, and a baby."
"Wow, they must've had their hands full !" Imogen exclaimed. "I'm assuming you're driving to the Los Angeles airport, right?"
"Y - Yeah," Tim lied. "W - We'll let you know when we get there. We might need you to buy our plane tickets."
"Of course, I'll buy the tickets," Imogen reassured. "So, we need tickets for you, your parents, sisters, and twin brothers?"
"Y - Yeah," he lied.
"I hope to see you soon, Tim," Imogen said. "I have to talk to my agent about some of the movies I have to do, but if I can't pick your family up from the airport, Lanakila will be there. He'll have a sign for you three."
"Lanakila?" Tim asked.
"The man you were just talking to," Imogen laughed. "My boyfriend."
"Oh, I thought he was your butler," Tim laughed.
"Oh no, I don't have a butler, who do you think I am?" she laughed. "Anyways, stay safe on your drive, Tim. Let your parents know that I'm excited to see you guys."
"I will," he said.
"Bye kiddo," she dismissed.
She hung up the phone and he gave the phone back to Bethany. He smiled at the kid and nodded.
"Thank you," he said.
"Don't make a big deal out of it," Sabrina huffed. "It's whatever."
"So what did she say ?" Jane asked.
"We need to go to the Los Angeles airport," Tim said. "She said that we're going to get on a plane there, and then fly to Hawai'i."
That was the basics of what was going to happen. The problem was, Tim didn't know where Los Angeles was, or how far it was from where they were. He didn't know where they were. Nobody ever told him, he had only seen old maps from when America was first settled. He was clueless of where to go next.
"All the way to Los Angeles?" Bethany asked. "That's really far away. It's in California and that's states away. It will take you almost a week to get there by car."
Tim felt himself sweat because they didn't have a car either. They'd have to make it on foot, unless they just so happened to stumble upon a car, even then, it wasn't like Tim knew how to drive. He started to drink one of the wine coolers in his hand, as his mouth became dry at the nervousness that settled in his body.
"Whoa, holy shit!" Bethany exclaimed. "Chug! Chug! Chug!"
Tim stopped drinking before he looked at her in confusion. He started to feel a bit woozy, but . . . he didn't feel as nervous. That was a good thing. He couldn't sleep when he was nervous and he knew he needed to sleep that night, because he had to wake up tomorrow and figure out how they were going to get from wherever they were to Los Angeles in California.
"Why'd you stop?" Bethany asked. "You were about to finish that thing in one fell swoop!"
"Is that a good thing?" Tim asked.
"Yes, that's a good thing, it's wine," Bethany said. "The faster you can drink alcohol, the cooler you are. Eva's boyfriend told me that."
Tim put the can to his mouth again and drank the rest of the strawberry β watermelon mixed liquor before he set the can on the nightstand and did the same thing with the other.
"Tim, I don't think you should be drinking all of that as fast as you are," Jane warned. "You might need to use the bathroom later, and I don't think Bethany wants us to walk around her house."
"Yeah, if anything, my bubbe could catch you guys," she said. "She's always watching her weird soap operas on the T.V in the living room."
"Soap opera?" The second twin inquired.
"It's a T.V show about old ladies and old men, and they bitch and cry about everything," Bethany explained. "It's so boring, but my dad says to leave the T.V alone while bubbe is watching her shows, even if she's asleep."
"T.V?" The first twin asked.
"Oh god, you guys really did live under a rock before all of this," she groaned. "Did your parents never teach you anything?"
"Our parents didn't really talk to us, unless it was to yell at us," Jane sighed. "They liked eachother way more than they liked any of us."
"I wouldn't be surprised if my parents got a divorce," Bethany claimed. "They fight all the time. Weird thing is that they screw like rabbits. Ivanna thinks they stay together because of the sex."
"What's that?" Jane asked.
"A rabbit?" Bethany asked.
"No," Jane answered. "Sex."
"Okay, I think I'll put an end to that conversation there," Tim commented. "You'll learn about that some other time, and I'd rather not have you learn from an eight β year β old who probably doesn't know the first thing of what they're talking about."
He hiccupped at the end, before he felt himself get light β headed for a moment. Maybe he shouldn't of drank those wine coolers so fast. He started to feel the same way that one night that he . . . the night Arpeggio was . . . you know ?
"Okay," Jane sighed. "Fine."
"Obviously you know," Bethany pointed out. "You had a baby, and babies come from it."
"Oh, shut up," Tim said. "Stop talking about that. Anyways, we should sleep, so we can leave in the morning, you know?"
"Good point," Jane agreed. "We had a long day, and tomorrow might be even longer."
"Let me get you guys some blankets and you guys can sleep on my floor," Bethany said. "I'll be right back."
She left the room once again to get blankets and pillows for the Willoughby siblings, before they all settled on the cramped floor of the bedroom.
Both of the Barnabys laid at the foot of Bethany's queen bed, while Tim, Jane, and Arpeggio laid on the ground next to the window. Jane allowed for Arpeggio to lay on her chest, before Jane started to hum to Arpeggio a song she always hummed to herself. It clicked in her head that Arpeggio had more than likely heard the song too, since she was in Jane's belly for a good few months, which meant she had heard a lot of things.
Tim turned to face Jane, and looked at the baby on her chest. He shuttered quietly as he thought about how that baby was his too. He hated that thought, because he wasn't ready to be a father. He was twelve for Christ's sake. He didn't understand how Jane was comfortable with being a mom at ten years old. She must've had something he didn't.
"Why d'you always hum that?" he asked.
The feeling of wooziness settled on him as his body processed some of the alcohol he drank. He put one arm around Jane's waist and scooted closer to her. He squeezed her hip and put his head atop hers.
"It's just . . ." she started. "It's the song from my heart."
"Mm." he muttered in acknowledgement.
The bedroom door opened and shut again, before the lock of the door clicked. Bethany came back with four pillows and five blankets. She handed two of the pillows and blankets down to the twins, before she handed the other pillows and blankets to Jane and Tim.
Jane wrapped the blankets around the three of them, before she placed Arpeggio between the both of them. She looked down at the baby and smiled, before she looked up at Tim, who had brushed hair from her face.
"Tim?"
"Y'know, I love you, right?"
She furrowed her eyebrows and truly considered the question. Did she know that he did? He never seemed to show it. The last time he did was about nine months ago, but ever since then, he hadn't really paid much mind to her unless it was to tell her to stop talking, singing, humming, making noise.
"It doesn't seem like you do," she said.
"C'mere," he sighed.
Their noses touched and he nuzzled them together, before he leaned in a little further.
"I wish I could show you that I love you . . ." he whispered. "I really do."
"Then why don't you?" she asked.
"I can't."
"What do you mean 'you can't'?"
"I mean, I can't. It's not okay, you know?"
"It is okay, Tim," she soothed. "It's just me."
She reached up and touched his cheek. She gave him a smile and rubbed her thumb along his cheek.
"It's just me," she repeated.
He leaned into her touch, savored it. He leaned over Arpeggio and planted his lips against Jane's.
Jane shut her eyes and squeaked as he shifted to lay on top of her. She held her hands against his face as they kissed and she shivered as his soft kisses trailed down her neck, to her chest, before he rested his face on her chest and nuzzled.
"I love you . . ." he whispered.
She put her hands on his head and ran her fingers through his hair, before she placed a soft kiss on his head too.
"I love you too," she responded.
She looked out at the stars and back at both her sleeping brother and baby, before she laid back and looked up at the ceiling. They would have to head out of Bethany's the next morning, before they overstayed their welcome. Besides, their aunt from very far away was expecting them to visit her in Hawai'i.
Jane shut her eyes and held on tight to Tim. This is the nicest that he had been to her in a while, and she wanted to soak up every ounce of attention she had gotten in that moment. It was nice, after the day they all had, especially Jane. It wasn't even a day ago that she had Arpeggio, and she was laying on the floor of House Willoughby in a puddle of her own blood.
Speaking of blood, she knew they would all need a change of clothes sometime soon, because she has a feeling people would have questions if she was walking around in a blood β soaked dress, and they didn't have any adults around.
That was a problem for tomorrow's Willoughby siblings.