Mother's Insight, a Building Faith Side Job
By Ellf
Chapter Two

Disclaimer: Dresden Files is a series by Jim Butcher. I own neither it nor any of the other series mentioned in this fanfiction.

That morning I woke to the increasingly familiar feeling of tiny hands poking and prodding at my body. Two pairs of identically tiny hands lightly touched, poked and prodded at my arms, shoulders, and my stomach. I intentionally kept my eyes closed as I felt them poke and prod; I wasn't quite ready to give them the satisfaction of waking me up on their own. I took a bit of mental stock. Judging from the body warmth and locations of their hands, they had climbed into the bed with me. Their father, my husband, once again served the duty of a Knight, going off where the Lord led him, leaving me with our daughters and son. As said daughters continued to prod at my sides, I let out a small moan and opened my eyes, smiling as I heard the twin giggles of delight coming from my girls.

Then, one by one, I saw two identical tow-headed faces peeking into my view. My two girls, Molly and Faith, smiled widely, their blue eyes twinkling with mirth. That… actually made me sit up. While them being in a good mood wasn't exactly a bad thing, it was something I needed to pay attention to. The girls were very intelligent for their age, and there was the chance that they did something they weren't supposed to. Of course, given that they were… Oh. Right. Now they were three. Three years old today, to be precise.

"Mama!" they said together, and they giggled. My eyes flicked to their clothing, and I nodded. Faith had the powder blue pajamas on while her sister, Molly, had the light green. Neither seemed to have any preference for pink, which Michael and I learned quickly. They wrapped their arms around me, and I did the same, bringing them into a hug.

"Good morning, you two." I released the hug and stood up. I needed to go check on Daniel as well. My children were probably hungry. "So, do you two know what day it is?"

Molly shook her head. "No, Mama. Is it Tuesday?"

Faith snorted. "Monday. Church was yesterday. Right, Mama?"

"Well, yes, it's Monday," I said, leading the way toward where Daniel's room was. "But that's not what I was talking about, girls. What makes today special?"

"Umm…." Molly scratched her head, and then Faith nudged her with her hip. Something wordless seemed to pass between my daughters as we entered Daniel's room. I assumed this probably had something to do with them being twins, but I couldn't be too sure. A look of understanding came to both of their faces, followed by another smile.

"It's our birthday!" they exclaimed together, in unison. They linked arms, and they giggled, which seemed to wake Daniel up as well. My eighteen-month old dark-haired son stood up in his crib and joined in on the giggling. "Danny! We're three now."

"Free?" My son looked confused, and I reached in to pick him up.

"Three, Daniel." I ran a hand through his hair and clutched him against my body. "Let's go make you three some breakfast. It's a big day, after all."

"Party?" Faith asked. "Mama, are we going to have a party?"

"And cake?" Molly asked. "And is Daddy going to be there?"

"Party, yes. We sent out invitations two weeks ago," I said, leading my girls downstairs. "Cake too, but I'm not sure about your father. We'll just have to have faith that he'll get here in time."

Daniel started squirming in my arms as his sisters started to giggle.

"Here I am! We have me!" Faith pointed at herself. "So Daddy will be here for the party. Because we have me, right?"

I smiled and adjusted their brother in my arms. "Not exactly the type of faith I was talking about, Sweetie. Let's get you three some breakfast while I explain."

Listening to me, my girls got into their seats at the table, using the booster seats I had set out for them to be able to reach it. I placed Daniel in the high chair, and I started making their breakfast. While I cooked, I gave them a small theology lesson about what I meant with faith, something I learned primarily from their father. Daniel seemed to focus on the lesson, but obviously he wouldn't be able to take it in at his age. However, my twin girls definitely were paying attention, and I know I saw a look of contemplation on Faith's face. I said it before. They're smart.

I set a peeled half of banana next to Daniel, and I turned to finish up cooking at the stove when Faith spoke up. "Mama, are we going to have another brother?"

"Now why do you think that?" I plated our breakfasts and brought theirs to them while I left mine on the counter so I could feed Daniel.

Faith shrugged, and Molly spoke up. "She wants another baby to play with. I think Danny's enough though. He gets smelly."

"Nuh-uh, Moll, Danny needs a brother too. Maybe two." Faith smiled at me, nudging her sister once. "And we want more sisters, right?"

"Ugh, but you're enough!" Molly said, grabbing Faith. I had to hide my smile as I fed their brother, but I think they knew.

The rest of the morning passed relatively uneventfully as I finished the remaining party preparations. My little girls had turned three years old that day, and I wanted to make sure that the party that they were going to have would be great with or without their father present. I knew Michael wanted to be there, but I also knew that whatever he was doing currently was important.

The party's theme was inspired by the Little Mermaid, which had come out two years prior. The cake I'd made was a picturesque shape and icing of Castle Atlantica, and there were toys that I'd stuck in to represent the various characters along with candied shells to represent Triton's daughters singing. While I knew my daughters probably were too young to appreciate the work done now, I knew their memory of the event would be great.

The first of the guests started to arrive a little after lunch time. Janice Saratoga arrived with her five-year-old daughter, Cecelia, who quickly made her way over to meet up with Molly and Faith. Cecelia had the deepest red hair that I'd ever seen on a little girl, matching her mother's lighter, rust-colored locks. Janice grabbed some soda and came in. Not long after Janice and Cecelia showed up, more fellow parishioners and their children showed up to the party. Soon enough, Faith and Molly were playing around with a total of about ten children, and a total of seven parents accompanied them.

We stood around watching our kids as they enjoyed the party. They played games like Pin the Tail On the Eel, and a game of tag in the yard which switched to Hide and Seek after a bit. We had this huge oak tree in our yard that the kids loved to play around and hide behind. The tree was the kind of tree that would be a lovely one for a treehouse one day, and I noted that I should speak to my husband about it.

We actually were going to use one of the hanging branches for a final game before the cake. The piñata that I'd obtained was in the shape of the villain from Disney's Little Mermaid, Ursula. The children all lined up to get a blindfolded swing at the sea witch, and I couldn't help but smile at how considerate my daughters were to let others go before them, despite them being the birthday girls. I watched them waiting patiently in line as Andrew Warren's father, Marcus, manned the rope, adjusting the piñata for the kids.

Faith and Molly watched, each time the children ahead of them swung, they seemed to take note of how the kids missed. Marcus was fair; he didn't pull the rope so that the Ursula piñata was out of the children's range or anything, but my daughters seemed to be paying attention to how things moved and where things were. Or maybe I was ascribing more to them than I should be given that this was their third birthday. Still, it was interesting to watch them and their determined faces. Finally, they'd reached the front of the line, and Faith was the first at bat.

I tied the blindfold around her eyes and helped her spin around four times. I guided her in the general direction of the piñata, and I stepped back.

"Go ahead, Faith… Swing when ready."

Faith stood still for a second, and she lightly moved the stick forward and back. She hadn't actually swung yet, as we watched.

"Jesus, that's creepy," another mother said, and I frowned. Her name was… What was it? Dana. Dark-haired woman, fair-skinned and skinnier than me. I guess she was pretty, but it really seemed mostly superficial to me, just like her tacky polka dot dress. I wasn't going to jump to conclusions here. She might have just misspoken.

"What is?" I said, trying not to let any anger color my voice. She wasn't calling my daughter creepy. I was sure of that. At least she better not have been. No, I was going to hear her out.

"Look at both of them." Dana gestured at Molly, and Faith, who seemed to be moving in synchronization, while Molly looked at the piñata. I noted that Faith's head turned in the same way. Adorable. Probably a twin thing, but it was in no way creepy. "That isn't natural."

It had to be natural. I swear I'd seen it in other twins before.

"Those are my daughters, Dana." I forced a smile onto my face. She clearly didn't know any better. "The birthday girls."

Cheering erupted from the children as the piñata broke open, distracting me from Dana. The smile on my face became a lot more genuine as I moved over to help Faith remove the blindfold.

"I did it!" Faith looked to me and then back to her sister. "We did it! The candy's ours!"

"Yes, you did, sweetie. Don't forget to share."

"Uh huh. If I don't share, I'll end up big and heavy and unemployed for some time and then—" Molly cut Faith off by placing a hand over her mouth.

"Mama, thank you for the candy…" Molly said, and then she turned toward everyone else. "Candy for everyone!"

A chorus of cheering children echoed out before they attacked the candy like ravenous beasts. I started toward Dana again, still smiling.

"Charity, I—"

"Dana," I said, cutting her off. "Please refrain from commenting about my daughters again. They're twins. Occasionally twins will do things simultaneously. This isn't fully understood, and I look forward to learning more about it as they grow."

"But—"

"I appreciate you bringing Sarah to the party, and I know my girls do as well. They really enjoy their time with their friends." I stepped closer to her, and I lowered my voice. I restrained myself from gathering any of my will. My talent had withered away completely anyway, but I still felt tempted even now. "Be glad they didn't hear you. If they had, friend of theirs or not, you and your daughter would be leaving before cake. I would prefer if you left right afterward."

"Okay." Dana had the grace to look abashed.

"Good," I said, a smile forming on my face. Then I heard the familiar sound of a pickup truck approaching and parking in the driveway, even over the noise the kids made as they picked up candy. My heart did a little flutter as I stepped away from Dana, toward the gate. A short while after I heard the truck's door open and shut, I could see dark hair approaching around the bend, hauling a bag with clearly wrapped boxes inside.

"Daddy's here!" Molly cried, quickly joined by Faith. "Come on, Danny, Daddy's here!"

Faith and Molly helped Daniel to his feet and they walked with him toward the gate just as Michael got to it. Michael came into the yard, placed the bag down against the fence and he quickly wrapped an arm around me, kissing me soundly. After pulling away, he turned toward our children, and he knelt down, wrapping all three of them into a hug.

"Happy birthday girls," Michael said. "And hello Daniel."

"Da!" Daniel laughed out, and we all joined him.

"So, this is the party then? Tell me, did I miss the cake?"

"Not yet," Faith said. "We had to beat the Sea Witch first! I cut her tentacles off with my sword of Faith and Molly!"

"You did?" Michael looked at the twins. "Such a mighty feat, my princesses. This calls for celebration."

Yes, my husband was home. My disagreement with Dana seemed much less important now. Of course, it would by no means be forgotten.

My children's safety comes first. Even if they don't know what I'm keeping them safe from.