Disclaimer: I do not own it.

Seven chapters to go.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

A/N: Reviews are like eggs; some are white, others are brown, some even blue. But no one puts the shell in the mix when they're making scrambled eggs. Please, watch out for bits of shell. Be the good chef.

Origins: The Journey Begins

Chapter 23: One At A Time

STARDATE: 2236.290 (Mon, Oct 17th, 2236) [Five Months, 19 Days old]

Ahadi and Miotep were going away for a few days. They had been summoned to an important conference in the heart of San Francisco. They were to represent the United States of Africa. So they had packed their royal garments, which only came out on very important occasions and decorated themselves in the royal jewels.

Nanenna had wanted to help dress her Mama and left the room sulking when Miotep had said no.

Ashantis picked up Nanenna and calmed her down before taking her out onto the front porch to say goodbye to Mama and Baba. Nanenna, forgetting all about why she was sulking, pushed herself out of Ashantis' arms and ran after the hover car along with the boys.

The boys were laughing hard. Denahi had been waiting a long time for his younger brother to grow so he could compete with him. Now with Sehale's fifth birthday only four days away, Denahi thought it was time to test his brother's running capability.

The hover car gained speed the further down the driveway it went. Denahi was in the lead. At seven, Denahi was older, taller and therefore faster than Sehale. However, Denahi was also short and stocky whereas Sehale was long and lanky.

Sehale giggled as he sped past his brother. His long dark legs kicking up the dirt as he continued to run at full pelt after the car.

Denahi wasn't upset. In fact, a smile came across his face. A challenge.

Ashantis watched from the porch. She was quite impressed with Sehale's speed. She must tell her sister about this when she returned tomorrow evening. Maybe it was time for the boys to join a sports team. They'd both be good at soccer, but Sehale would enjoy it more. Sehale thrived on team building. Denahi was more of a personal sports person. He might enjoy boxing.

Ashantis smiled at young Nanenna as her small muscular legs led her in the direction of her brothers. She's definitely going to be a swimmer. Ashantis thought to herself.

The twins were inside having their morning sleep in the playpen in the lounge room. The pen was pressed up against the window. Ashantis turned her head and looked through the window to see two small babies sleeping peacefully in their nappies.

It was incredibly hot where Ahadi and Miotep lived. The house, although out of town, was sitting in a valley. Tall, rocky mountains surrounded them. Although the sight was amazing, and the wildlife surrounded them, the valley was always hot.

After a while, you would grow accustomed to the heat, but at times you would feel as if you were suffocating. Although October was considered the 'cool season' for Kenya, the lack of rains made things very dry and somewhat hot. Thank God for air conditioning.

When the hovercar had vanished from Ashantis' view she called out to the kids who were still running fast down the dusty driveway.

Nanenna was the first to stop. She loved Aunty Ash, so she wouldn't want to do anything that made her upset. Nanenna looked back at Aunty Ash then turned her head to see her brother's still racing further ahead of her.

"Boys stop!" She called from her spot on the driveway. The boys didn't hear her.

"Stop!" She tried again, louder this time. "BOYS!" She screamed, stamping her right leg for emphasis.

Denahi, being closer to Nanenna, heard her first. He stopped and noticed the panic on her face. "Sehale!" he called for his brother after he caught his breath.

Sehale almost tripped over his own lanky legs trying to look back and run at the same time. He came to a sudden halt and ran back to his brother. "What?" He puffed in reply.

Nanenna, realising that the boys were no longer running, started to run towards them shouting, "Aunty Ash said stop." She said once she had reached her brothers.

"Come, come." She said and put herself between her brothers and grasp their hands in hers. She then marched out ahead of them, dragging them behind her. She would bring them back to Aunty Ash.

Sehale wasn't too pleased to be bossed around by his little sister. He looked over at Denahi and saw that he was smiling broadly.

"Why are you smiling?" Sehale questioned his brother. Denahi looked back at Sehale with a wide smile, his white teeth were almost blinding in the African sun.

"Run," Denahi said softly to his brother. Sehale's face went from annoyed to happy instantly.

Sehale managed to free his hand from his sister's grasp and run out in front of her.

She almost started to cry, yelling out, "Stop, 'hale!"

Denahi held onto her hand tightly and started to run with her. "Come on, 'nenna. Run. Let's get him." He was rewarded with a high pitch squeal of delight. Her little stocky legs running at maximum speed. To Denahi, it wasn't that fast but at least his brother and his sister were both having fun.

Sehale reached the porch first and jumped into the arms of Aunty Ash. Denahi and Nanenna were not far behind.

"You got here first!" Nanenna exclaimed as Denahi helped her up the steps.

"Ah-ha." Sehale jumped out of Aunty Ash's arms and ran around the porch making 'zoom' sound effects.

Denahi had fun running with his brother, perhaps he should compete with him more often.

By the time five o'clock came around Ahadi's parents had arrived ready to assist Ashantis with dinner. Masamba, known as 'Babu' to the kids and his wife, Zahra, known as 'Bibi', had offered to stay the night to help with all five children.

Denahi helped Babu prepare dinner for everyone else, Sehale played patty-cake with Nanenna in the lounge room while Ashantis and Zahra gave the twins their bottles.

Once the twins were burped, changed and put down to sleep in their cribs the rest of the household were gathered to the table ready to share the evening meal.

Denahi looked over at Sehale, who was sitting next to Bibi. Denahi caught his eye and lifted his spoon so that Sehale could see. Sehale cocked his head to the side in confusion. Denahi scooped up his mash potato showed it to Sehale then brought the spoon to his mouth and shoved the mash inside.

After realising that Sehale had not caught on, Denahi tried again. Only this time he put more mash on his spoon. He showed it to Sehale. Sehale's eyes went wide with comprehension and begun to shovel mash onto his own spoon.

The silent competition went unnoticed by the other occupants at the table. Nanenna had the others in stitches as she recalled stories. Most of them were make-believe or exaggerated, but it seemed to keep the attention of Babu, Bibi and Aunty Ash.

The boys were so engrossed with their little in-house competition that they did not hear the murmurs of the others.

"Masamba, look." Zahra motioned to her husband to remain quite. Masamba looked in the direction of his wife's pointed finger and noticed Sehale's spoon heaped with potato. Masamba watched on silently. Sehale then tried to force the spoon of potato into his mouth.

When the potato fell off of Sehale's spoon and on the floor Sehale silently got off his chair. He picked up the fallen mash, got back up onto his chair, placed the potato back onto the spoon and proceeded to place the dirty mash into his mouth.

"Sehale, no!" Bibi shouted at him. She was shocked. Sehale was startled at first then smiled back at Bibi when she scrunched up her face. Sehale would have been tempted to shove the mash into his mouth to prove how bold he was if it wasn't for Babu.

Babu reached over and took the spoon of mash away from him. Babu was chuckling, mentioning something about Ahadi when he was younger as he hid the dirty spoon under the side of his plate.

Sehale looked defeated. He had wanted to beat Denahi. He wanted to see how much food he could stuff in his mouth. Denahi won this time. The game was on.

The evening was coming to an end and the children were bathed and clothed ready for bed. Ashantis had taken Denahi's bed and Denahi was moved to Sehale's bedroom. Ashantis pulled out the singular trundle that was stowed under the bed and dressed it with a couple of thin blankets and a pillow.

Masamba and Zahra had taken the master bedroom. Even though the twins were over five months old, they were still sleeping in the master bedroom with their parents. However, they had grown too large to share one cot.

The room was getting cramped; having to accommodate for two cribs and a small change table. Ahadi and Miotep had considered moving the twins into a room of their own but the only room left in the house, that was big enough to accommodate them both, was the office.

The office was not really an office. It was more like the official dumping ground for things that were never used. Like Miotep's candle collection. Over the years Miotep had gathered different types of scented candles of different sizes and shapes. After displaying as many candles as she could around the house, the rest of them went into storage… in the office.

Many different piles of items filled the room to the brim. The door barely opened and when it did useless artefacts would tumble out. Most of the time it was used to store baskets of unironed clothes. Eventually, when Miotep saw her children running around the backyard in nothing but a pair of undies and one sock, she knew it was time to venture into the office and sort through the clothes.

So the twins remained in the master bedroom for now. They no longer woke during the night and they didn't need a feed until six o'clock the next morning. Babu and Bibi would have a peaceful night sleep.

The twins and Nanenna were already asleep when Ashantis declared it bedtime for the boys.

The boys were quietly playing with their toys in the lounge room and let out a groan when they had to stop what they were playing and go to bed. The boys had promised Baba and Mama that they would behave. Mama even gave them the famous 'Mama Bear Glare.'

The boys slowly got up and began to walk towards the stairs, dragging their feet as they went.

Sehale slowly started to climb the stairs; one step at a time. Denahi, thinking of one last game, stretched his legs until they reached over two stairs. Managing to pull himself up he turned to see what his little brother's next move would be.

Sehale, being lankier than his brother, actually managed to spread his legs over three steps. He bent down and used his hands to help himself climb up.

Denahi, now two stairs behind him, looked at his brother in awe. Denahi struggled to spread his legs over four steps. He eventually did it but he didn't have enough strength in his legs to pull him up. He looked down. If he tried to go back, he could slip and fall down the stairs. He was stuck.

Denahi looked up at Sehale. The latter had a huge smile plastered on his face.

"Alright, Sehale. You win this time." Denahi admitted.

"Ah-ha," Sehale said with a smile.

"Can you help me up?" Denahi asked with his hand extended towards his brother, who was standing with his arms crossed, a smirk on his face.

"Uh-uh." Sehale shook his head, turned and ran up the rest of the stairs. He ran into his room, dove on the bed and pulled the covers up over his head.

Denahi was left doing the splits on the stairs. Babu and Bibi were on their way to come and tuck the boys in. They stopped as they reached the stairs.

Denahi froze. He was supposed to be in bed. Seeing his Babu and Bibi standing at the bottom of the stairs just staring up at him almost made him want to cry. His Mama had told him to behave. He rarely got into trouble and from the looks on his grandparent's faces he thought he was about to witness their wrath. Surprisingly, they both broke into laughter.

"What happened here, 'Nahi?" Bibi asked as Babu came to assist Denahi.

"I tried to walk up the stairs." Denahi tried to explain.

"Ever tried walking normally?" Babu asked with a chuckle.

"I was racing Sehale."

"Racing? You're meant to be winding down. Now go on. Get to bed." Bibi ushered Denahi up the stairs. "We'll be in to say 'goodnight' shortly." Denahi quickly escaped; running up the stairs and into the room where Sehale slept.

The next day Ashantis made pancakes for breakfast. Denahi helped, of course. Babu and Bibi left after lunch leaving Ashantis alone with the kids once more. Ahadi and Miotep were due home late in the afternoon. This gave Denahi and Sehale a couple more hours of healthy competition before their parents returned home.

"What are we doing in Mama and Baba's room?" Sehale asked his brother as they tiptoed into the master bedroom.

"We need socks," Denahi answered quietly. There was no need for whispering. Ashantis was down stair with Nanenna and the twins. Besides, Aunty Ash was deaf, she wouldn't hear them anyway.

"Socks?" Sehale said loudly but was quickly shushed by Denahi.

"Yeah. Baba's socks." Denahi whispered.

"Why Baba's?" Sehale halted as he questioned Denahi.

"Because they're the biggest socks in the house."

"But why socks?" Sehale asked.

"You'll see," Denahi answered as he pulled out the drawer which contained Baba's socks.

After stuffing a pair of socks into each of his pockets Denahi grabbed two more pairs and shoved them into Sehale's pant pockets.

"Okay. Now back downstairs." Denahi ushered his younger brother back out of the room.

Once in the lounge room. The boys were bombarded by Nanenna. She came bouncing up to them with a holo-vid in her hands. She was smiling.

"This one, 'Nahi," Nanenna said and handed it to him. It was the same holo-vid she chose every time. The Pirate Princess and the Dancing Unicorns.

"No, not again," Sehale grumbled.

"Yes!" Denahi's face was lit with enthusiasm. He definitely had an idea. He grabbed the holo-vid from his sister and walked over to the player.

Ashantis was on the floor in front of the holovision, cleaning up the blocks that she and Nanenna had just finished playing with.

The twins were in their playpen, playing with their toes, spluttering and giggling.

Denahi set up the holovision so that Nanenna would be satisfied. After seeing the first scene appear on the holovision Nanenna clapped her hands and squealed in delight, causing Ashantis to adjust her hearing aids.

Nanenna grabbed Ashantis' hands and pulled her to the couch. Nanenna sat in the arms of her beloved Aunty, watching her favourite holo-vid. She was content. Mission accomplished.

The boys then snuck towards the playpen. Denahi was tall enough to step over the small wall that contained his twin sisters. He grabbed the first twin and gently placed her on the outside of the wall. Soon both of the twins were outside of the playpen. He was surprised that they hadn't started crying. He motioned for his brother to help him. Sehale didn't know what his brother was up to but decided to help him and lead the twins away from the playpen, out of Aunty Ash's sight.

Not long after the boys helped the twins escaped, Ahadi and Miotep returned from their short trip to San Francisco. As soon as they passed through the entry door. Nanenna bombarded them both.

She crashed into her Mama's legs before begging her Baba to do 'Starship.' Ahadi couldn't help himself. He secretly loved it when his children asked him to do 'Starship.' Even though it left him feeling weak and sore, he loved hearing his kids laugh wholeheartedly.

Ahadi bent down, picked up Nanenna and tossed her into the air before twisting her around and 'flying' her around the room. Ear-splitting squeals of laughter filled the room. Ahadi continued to fly his daughter around the room. Surely her screams would alert the boys of their arrival. He waited for a couple of minutes before he realised that his boys were not going to come and greet them.

Ashantis had packed up the holo-vid before coming to greet her sister with a hug.

"Where are the boys?" Miotep asked her sister, using her hands to sign the words.

Out of habit, Ashantis responded using her hands instead of speaking, "The boys are playing outside. The twins are in the playpen." Her hands signed.

Miotep told her husband that the boys were outside. Ahadi raised Nanenna above his head and 'flew' her outside, towards where the boys were.

Miotep went to the playpen to find that her twin girls were not there. She approached her sister. Without speaking, she signed to her, "The twins are not in the playpen, Ash."

Before Ashantis had any time to react, Ahadi burst through the back door. He was in hysterics.

"They're crawling, Mio! Crawling!" He exclaimed with laughter. "Come see." He said as he crossed the floor, grabbed his wife by the wrist and dragged her out through the back door.

Miotep stood plastered to the back veranda. Her mouth was agape and her eyes glued to the scene in front of her.

Not far from the back veranda, Denahi and Sehale stood at one end of the home-made, dirt track. They must have made it while they were in San Francisco. They were jumping and cheering.

At the other end of the five-metre track were the twins. Not only were they wearing nappies, they were also wearing Ahadi's socks. A pair of socks ran up each arm, and a pair of socks covered the legs of both twins.

It was a vision to behold.

Miotep laughed hysterically. The boys were racing the twins, and the twins were actually crawling… and giggling.

Nanenna had made her way back into the arms of Aunty Ash. The two were under the cover of the veranda, out of the sun.

"Come on, Zanny!" Sehale called out. "Beat her!"

"Don't listen to them, Nyta! I know you can do it!" Denahi screamed over the top of his brother.

Ahadi looked at his wife with a massive smile etched on his face, "My bet is Zantiri. She's got the legs worked out." He said as he looked back at the race. Zantiri was out in front, but not by much. They weren't even travelling in a straight line.

Ahadi thought if he joined the boys it might spur the twins on to finish the race. He ran to join Sehale at the finish line. "Come on, Zanny. Come to Baba." He urged Zantiri on.

Upon seeing the face of her Baba, Zantiri managed to set herself back on track. She had to make it to Baba. She was smiling widely with her tongue out. Her legs starting to moved forward. She moved both of her legs forward before moving her hands. She was going to win.

Nyota looked at her twin than to her Baba. His attention was focused on Zantiri. Nyota sat back on her legs and pouted.

Seeing the look on Nyota's face. Miotep stormed down to the makeshift track and bent down next to Denahi.

"Come on, Nyota. Mama's here. You won't get what you want if you just sit there!" Miotep called, making Ahadi burst into laughter.

"Laugh all you want, 'Hadi. My little pep talk worked." Miotep pointed to Nyota who had now caught up to her twin.

"Come on, Zanny!" Sehale and Ahadi called out together.

"You can do it, Nyta!" Denahi and Miotep chimed simultaneously.

Nyota's small muscular legs powered her on past her twin towards her goal. As she crossed the finish line Miotep picked her up and rejoiced in her victory.

Ahadi walked forward and picked up Zantiri. "It's okay, Zanny. You did your best. I'm proud of you. Unlike your mother, who seems to favour Nyota." Ahadi spoke to Zantiri.

"That's not true. I love them equally. As for them, they favour me over you." Miotep said as she came to stand by Ahadi, she had Nyota on her hip.

As she came closer to Ahadi, Zantiri lunged herself forward towards Miotep. Ahadi managed to contain her before she fell out of his grasp.

"See. They love me more." Miotep jested as she swapped babies with her husband.

"That's because you give them things I can't," Ahadi commented.

"Yeah, and what's that?" She asked smiling.

"Breasts."