Lucy sat herself way too hard in the chair in the hospital's waiting room. She was simply fuming and had to take some time before she could be a nice person for Margo and Agnes while the psychologist talked with Edith.
She had not been prepared for that call. She had not been prepared for an angry mother of the attacked boy approaching her as soon as she entered the school yard. She had certainly not been prepared for her telling her Edith had attacked and broke his nose and bruised him very hard –
And she wasn't happy hearing a snide remark from Edith's teacher that maybe he should take this with someone less emotional than a high pregnant woman that wasn't even the girl's legal guardian. The twit had barely talked five minutes with her in total since she had introduced herself to the school! And now, after nearly two months, Edith was still not allowed to attend certain classes until she had spoken to the therapist – which had no time for them AT ALL to this day.
Fighting back tears, Lucy looked out the window to the playground where Margo and Agnes were in the sunshine. Agnes was playing around with the kids there, but Margo... urgh, not again. It was another day of her having her face glued to the phone and being antisocial with her family.
Not having the energy to walk over and be mad, Lucy pulled out her own phone.
"Put the phone down and play with your little sister. Please. We'll be with you in half an hour", she wrote, and pressed 'send'.
"Come on Margo, lets play!" Agnes whined to her sister. She didn't like waiting, but these doctor times with Edith was apparently very important and Lucy hadn't had time to drop her and Margo off at home first.
Margo cringed a bit as she saw the message popping up on her screen that was sent by Lucy. Looking at Agnes and back to the windows of the building where Edith was.
She didn't want to play with her sister, to be honest. She had this cute conversation with Avery going, and she wouldn't like to be disturbed.
"Come on, Margo, let's play!" she tugged on her sisters sleeve.
"Agnes, stop it!" she hissed back. "I'll play with you in a minute!"
"But i want now!" - "Oh, shut up!"
About twenty seconds later, tears ran down Agnes' red face and she ran away from her. "Agnes, stay here!" she shouted and ran after her, but Agnes tried to elude her on purpose.
Until she grabbed her wrist. "Agnes, cut this bullshit!"
Edith heard her sister crying outside and she looked through the window to see Margo arguing with Agnes.
"Edith, look at me…" the psychologist said in a calm, but firm voice. Edith didn't listen.
"Edith!"
She finally looked back at him, angrily.
"Good... So, will you tell me why you attacked that boy in class?" - "He deserved it! This idiot was poking me with a pen, all the time, while i was speaking! And then he took my beanie away!"
"Mh-hmh, but don't you think you simply could have asked him to stop it instead of attacking him?"
"He wouldn't have stopped anyway..." she mumbled. "Nobody listens to me!"
After about ten minutes, the door opened and Edith stepped outside, her beanie pulled over her eyes, and the psychologist turned to Lucy.
"Miss Wilde, may I have a talk with you?"
"Me? Get inside? Talk?" Lucy was totally flabbergasted by the request. There had been issues at the start of Edith's hours, her guardian and father not being present and he had to sign all kinds of papers saying Lucy was allowed to make decisions for his daughters. She looked down at the pleading girl.
"Can i go outside now...?" Asked Edith and looked at Lucy.
"Sure Edith, go out and play, your sisters are by the playground. And be nice, all of you, please? I was planning on making batter pudding for dinner." The little girl ran off without a word, and Lucy's shoulders dropped. The odds were high that she had disregarded everything after the word "sure". Lucy turned towards the psychologist and gave him a weak smile.
"Kids huh? They won't even listen to you when you're doing something nice to them. Now, what did you want to talk about?"
Giving the younger woman a skeptical glance, he turned around, and closed the door behind them. He certainly wasn't that type of man to laugh about the term "kids"
"So..." he sat down at the table. "You're her mother?"
"Oh, uh, no...just the guardian. Her father is on a business-trip and I, his girfriend, have decided to take care of them until he has returned."
The man nodded absently-minded, before looking down at the already mightily swollen belly of hers. She was now in her eighth month, and wow - their baby apparently needed a whole lot of space. It was active as it ever could be, kicked, moved, made her run to the bathroom every ten minutes...
"Miss Wilde..." he started again, collecting some of the notes he had made.
"I was expecting her rightful father here, but as i heard that you took in the place for Mister Gru at the moment, I may grant an exemption."
With a deep sigh, he looked outside to see Edith trying to comfort her little sister a bit while Margo seemed to complain about how childish Agnes was acting.
"Miss Wilde, the reason why she attacked her classmates at school is a stress-included reaction towards her surrounding and the periphery she lives in. She shows clearly a lack of endurance, patience and powers of concentrations..."
Looking at his table for a second, he seemed to look for something.
"Uh, due to this she also sees her classmates as a potential danger of her privacy. You see - i have worked with many children who seem to have problems with their others, but I can provide you information for a therapy for children with ADHD." he shoved a leaflet over the desk and into her direction. It was the leaflet of a clinic for children. "And also, I'd suggest to take her off school for a couple of days."
Lucy was shocked! ADHD? That would explain her lashing out on her classmates.
"But, why haven't they noticed this before? Didn't the orphanage have her checked? Oh, how will I tell her father?" She'd let her face fall into her head, staring down at the floor.
"Well, from what Edith has told me, her orphanage wasn't the very best establishment to be raised or diagnosed with any...well." he gave a little shrug.
"Do you need more meetings to determine if it's ADHD? And...and what can we do to help her?"
"As for next meetings - it won't be necessary. She seems to get along with her problems better than normal ADHD-children her age, and the next step would be, indeed, the therapy in the clinic on a daily base. It is not like school, but it would give her the opportunity to live among children with the same problems. I see that she has issues with finding friends as well, and perhaps she'll have the opportunity to find friends there."
This terrified Lucy. Not really the diagnose, she had heard of it before, it wasn't a death sentence, just an explanation on why some have harder to focus in a school enviroment with a bunch of other kids their age. But why did it have to come now, when Lucy was pre-
"Did I trigger it? With, the baby I mean?" She didn't know if it was possible, but she needed to know.
He could see the anxiety in her eyes. "Miss Wilde, ADHD is not the end of the world. In fact, many children nowadays have ADHD, even adults and they never have been diagnosed with it. They live a normal live, of course with some barriers, if you know what I mean. Just tell her that she has a special kind of temperament and that she has to learn to keep it under control.
About the baby..." he looked at her belly again. "I am pretty sure that has nothing to do with that in particular. But as well as for children with the Asperger syndrome, she is not used to sudden changes. She sees them as a endangerment, more than a joy. I think it has been triggered through the news that there was going to be a huge change now and that affects her intentional powers."
The doc had his chin rested in his folded hands, looking back at her. "In case you ask - we will not provide her any medication, it will not be necessary. As mentioned, she appears to keep her temper under control most of the time."
"Good, I was really hoping she wouldn't need medication. I'm not the best at reminding anyone to do anything." She took a breath before continuing.
"So, special kind of temperament, that will be easy to tell her. How should I deal with school? That clinic, is that an afternoon thing? Or I should just read these pamphlets and get back to you, I guess?" She lauged a bit. It wasn't a jolly laugh, it was tired and annoyed and frustrated. Not at Edith, at the whole day. And on top of that, Robin was now awake and kicked into the insides of Lucy, which was so much more painful than when kicking out.
"In terms of school - You should inform her teacher and principal. You should give her some space, away from school, about three or four days. In case the clinic wants her to stay off school longer than three days, then you should consider her repeating a class perhaps. The clinic is starting at 9 and goes to 4 in the afternoon. She can stay as long as she wants and as long as you want her to stay. We cannot offer you an entire cure, but she'll learn how to deal with her problems."
He nodded towards the window. "Edith always can come to me as well, if she wants to talk."
Suddenly the door opened and Agnes stood in the doorframe, holding Ediths hand, dirt and tears on her face but she acted as nothing really happened.
"Lucy, can we go home now...? I'm cold and Margo won't play with me...!"
"Agn- Urgh!" Lucy sighed. And now Agnes had been crying. "What happened kitten?" Rather awkwardly, Lucy got down on her knees to embrace Agnes in a hug.
"Margo won't play with me!"
"Was she on her phone?"
"Yeah..." Lucy felt a growl emerging from her troat. She did leave Margo with a lot of liberty, but there could have happened thing while Lucy was in the hospital, and she simply didn't trust Margo to notice Agnes running out on the street if she was busy with a flirt on the phone.
She looked back at the doc, but he just gave her a nod that granted her to leave this conversation."
"Alright girls, lets find your sister."
"Is she gonna get punished?" Agnes asked.
"Well, she sure is looking on a grounding", Lucy muttered. "Thank you so much doctor, I'll read trough everything and I'll call you if we need your help."
Walking out with quick steps, she soon reached the playground with firm steps and the two small girls in tow. Before Margo could do anything, Lucy nicked the phone from her hands and glared at the girl. She was never used to be mad at Margo, she was the mature one, the adult one that always did what she was told, seeing Agnes cry over her behavior had never occurred.
"Whatever you're writing can wait until you're home."
"Hey!" she snarled back at her.
"I asked you to play with Agnes while I was waiting for Edith. Now lets go, you'll get your phone back when I say so." She put the phone into her handbag and led all of them to the small car, just hoping everything could go smooth until they were home and she could let them do whatever they wanted while she was doing dinner.
"I did play with her!"
"No, you didn't!" Agnes cried out. "Liar!" - "I'm not a liar! You just wouldn't let me finish my message and then you started to whine like a baby and ran off!"
"I' y!" She cried out louder, fresh tears rolling over her cheeks.
Edith pressed her beanie over her eyes, holding her ears closed. They hurt, every time Agnes was crying in that high-pitched voice and it was horrible.
Through the entire ride, Agnes wouldn't stop fighting with Margo, and even as Edith complained a thousand times they should stop acting like babys, they continued to argue.
"Shut up, both of you!" she yelled at them. "No, you shut up, Edith!" Margo yelled back, and within seconds, all three kids started to argue loudly.
"YOU ALL SHUT UP!" Lucy shouted once they hit the last red light before the house. "I won't hear a single word from any one of you until I've parked the car back home, or so help me, it's bed after dinner the rest of the week until your father is home!" She really didn't want to shout at anyone of them, Edith in particular, but right now, she just needed them to be quiet. "I need to be able to focus on driving, girls, and if you continue bicker, there can be accidents. PLEASE, just stay shut until we all are home and we can sort everything out then."
It wasn't usual for them to be yelled at, Gru never yelled at them pretty loud. But the shout she roared was menacing enough for them all to hush instantly, staring back at Lucy and at each other.
She was stressed, they noticed.
Agnes instinctively clutched to Margo arm, and she didn't pull back this time. Giving them both a glance, they knew they certainly have overstepped the mark.
Don't cry Lucy, don't cry, she chanted for herself. This day just got worse and worse. At least she had been able to see Gru's face during a video conference with Silas to know that he was alright even though there had been an attack on the mansion he was infiltrating. But ever since Gru was gone, everything just went worse and worse.
...
Lucy wouldn't admit it in front of the girls - but she missed Gru just the most. With a cup of tea in her hand, she sat on the chair in the kitchen while she watched the lasagna bake in the oven, recollecting the events of today. How should she tell him? He apparently wasn't aware of Edith's condition before, after all, he would have told her! However - taking her off school was easy, but making sure the other two would understand that it was important for Edith to stay away from classes without them suggesting to stay home was well would be probably a bit harder. Gru hasn't been with her for a while now. The last four weeks had been too stressful and busy for him to return home, but now that she knew he was going to come home this weekend was a huge relief to her - there were many things to talk about - and start doing. For example; the nursery for Robin. While living alone here, Lucy had been stating to wander around a bit - and found out that this house was way bigger than she had thought. The several locked doors in the upstairs' hallway, which Gru never seemed to open, at least not often. The many hidden rooms and floors. Way upstairs was his own office and he had promised while Lucy would still work from home the next few months, also after Robin was born, that next to him, she would have her very own office.
She had been pondering a lot. It was of course a done deal that she had now been officially moved in with him. Her stuff was still in her tiny apartment back on the other side of town - but she would make sure to sell this tiny two-room-flat as soon as possible. But after all this time, she had found out that apparently, the job of being a mother for the kids was harder than supposed - and that she sucked at it quite much.
Today was just a really bad day. She missed Gru, and it was only a Tuesday. She wanted to crawl up in a hot bath and just cry and then go to sleep, but the girls needed her to pull it trough and be the mom they required. First this hard punch in her face about Edith's condition, then Margo not playing with her sister - it made her feel just worse and worse. And now other images popped up, how the teachers always threw skeptical glances at her, the harsh comments over her not even being Gru's wife or guardian of the kids - somebody even made a comment behind her back about her being some Russian or Hungarian immigrant, only hooking up with Gru and making sure to become pregnant so she could get married with him and receive a greencard. That was completely rubbish, and she didn't even bother to explain these that she was neither of this and that she was an official citizen of america.
However - sticks and stones breaks her bones. But it hurt. It hurt having other people judge her wrongly by her belly.
It felt like she wasn't wanted, and neither was Robin. Her hand glided down over her belly which had grown a whole lot now. The baby sensed her stress and started kicking. "Shhh, it's okay, I'm sorry...Mommy's just a bit upset." she mumbled, caressing the surface.
Once dinner was ready, Lucy called the kids back into the house - Only to be shocked about seeing Edith and Agnes covered in mud, carrying their dirty shoes through the hallways and polluting the entire floor.
"EDITH, AGNES!" she shouted and the two of them winced, seeing Lucy marching towards them to examine the mess they had left. The entire corridor looked like a swamp-monster emerged and ran over the red carpet. "Shoes off, now!" she hissed, pointing down at them. "And take off that overall too, Agnes! Edith, bring your stockings upstairs into the bathroom!"
She then turned to Margo. "Margo -"
"What?!" she hissed back. Lucy opened her mouth to respond, but honestly, she was a bit surprised over Margo snapping back at her. She was, compared to her sisters, still spared from any dirt.
"Sit down, we'll have dinner now... and hands off of my purse!" she just had turned around and saw Margo reaching for Lucy's bag. As if she was that blind to not notice her secretly taking her phone again. But once Lucy yelled at her, she pulled her hand away like she touched fire. Edith and Agnes vanished upstairs to get their clothes off, while Margo sat down at the table, arms crossed and a pout on her face. Lucy was present in this household long enough to know that this wasn't working on her. She just turned her back on her to get the meatloaf out of the oven and put them on a plate, cut them into small pieces for Edith and Agnes and left half of it on the plate, if any of them wanted second serving. Her head was pounding, her back killed her, and the baby wouldn't stop stirring and moving and kicking against the surface of her belly. If only Gru were here - he would take care of the girls so she would have a break.
"There..." Lucy put the plate in front of Margo. But she looked away. "I'm not hungry." she muttered.
"I don't care, you'll eat it!"
"I said, I'm not hungry...!" she snapped back. "Margo, I'm not gonna argue with you - either you'll eat up, or you won't get your phone for the entire week!"
Margo opened her mouth in a shocked state, but closed it again with an insulting mutter - Lucy ignored it.
Edith and Agnes came back, wearing nothing but their underwear, and Edith still had her dirty hat on. No matter what Lucy did to convince her, she wouldn't give it up.
"Sit down, your food gets cold!" Lucy growled and the youngest two nodded and swiftly made their way to their seats, starting to eat slowly ad without saying a word.
Lucy sighed deeply, holding her head in her hands. This was a disaster...How was Gru gonna react once he found out they were just arguing, all the time, and Edith had ADHD and needed treatment? How was she gonna do all that? She wasn't their mother, lawfully just their babysitter. And even if she was their mom - she would suck at her job.
"Margo..." Lucy looked back at the eldest, who still refused to touch her food. She just stared back at the redhead with a piercing glance. "Margo, please eat."
"No." Margo replied. "Margo, i said eat!"
"Make me!" she muttered, eyes narrowing.
That was the moment when Lucy snapped.
"Fine!" she said in a calm, yet angry voice, reached for her purse and held up Margo's phone on the small heart-shaped pendant. "Then this will vanish for the rest of the week." Lucy stood up, only to feel her head aching and spinning, but she nevertheless moved to the living room.
"No!" Margo called. "Stop!"
"Margo, will you eat now, or not-?"
"I don't wanna eat this! This tastes like garbage!" Edith pushed her plate away from her, and Agnes did the same, leaving half of their meal on the plate.
"Can we have pizza...?"
"P-Pizza...?" Lucy uttered under her breath. This was it. She quit. Tears of anger, frustration and helplessness formed in her eyes and with a sob, she dropped the cellphone on the carpet to run away, into the living room and closed the doors behind her. Then, she leaned against the wall to slide down until she was sitting, her head on her knees and her arms around her legs.
Everything was Lucy's fault. Even triggering Edith's ADHD to get worse was thanks to her, and thanks to her being pregnant, their father had to go on this mission instead of her. The family had been better of if she had never joined them.
"I'm a lousy mom! I'll never be good at this!" She moaned into her hands, not even sure if someone could hear her, the girls probably still in the kitchen, rejecting their meal.
"My cooking stinks and I can't even deal with the teachers! Gru would never screw up like this!" Did she just swore? Lucy didn't really pay mind to what she said out loud right now, being so caught up in her emotions.
"They hate me and with good reason! I should simply not be in charge of them." She continued crying, tiring herself out. The kids all have instantly jumped up from their seat, but Margo stopped them to follow her. She knew that Lucy probably needed a few moments. For a second everything was quiet, until they heard a loud cry, muffled words, but they could hear one sentence clearly
"I'm a lousy mom"
"Oh no..." Agnes breathed, quickly ran away from Edith's side, down the hallway.
Agnes was small and wasn't very strong, Gru always had to help her opening the door to the living room, but this time Agnes used all her power to push the door open and seeing their mom sitting on the floor, crying insider her hands. "Lucy...!" She carefully approached her. "I-I-I'm sorry we were mean to you...!" She sat next to her and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry we made you cry, we didn't mean to..."
Continuing crying, she felt a distant feeling of preassure on her skin. She heard a voice, and recognized that Agnes was trying to talk to her. Then another little body was close to her, diving her face into her side. Peeking trough her fingers, she saw Edith look up to her.
Edith had followed Agnes and saw her hugging Lucy, sitting on the floor and sobbing loudly.
Without a word, she sat next to Lucy too and hugged her too, burying her face into her side.
"Lucy, please don't cry." Agnes begged. "We're sorry - we didn't mean to upset you." said Edith now. "Please, don't cry."
She wasn't prepared for Edith to beg her not to cry. Not after she had been so horrible to all of them and Edith being the least forgiving of the girls.
"I'm horrible", she wheezed out to the little blond girl, still sobbing, but she pulled them both in a big embrace. Margo still stood in the doorframe, ashamed of herself and her behavior. She never intended to make their mother cry... "I can't even make the three of you be nice to each other without shouting. Your teachers won't talk to me, your doctor doesn't want to talk to me really, and everything is just going down the drain. Edith, I'm so sorry I shouted at you. You deserve so much better than me. You all do."
"Lucy, don't say that!" they blurted out. "You're a great mother, we love you!"
Lucy smiled briefly, before moaning slightly. Moving her hands to the side of her face, she tried to just focus on not passing out.
"Is the room spinning...? I...I think i need some water..."
"Spinning? What are you talking abou-"
"Agnes, get her some water!" Margo had scooted over to them,noticing that Lucy had turned pale instantly. Agnes and Margo switched places and Agnes quickly made her way to the kitchen to get her a glass of water.
"Lucy, you are not horrible." Margo caressed her arm. "We are horrible, the people around us are horrible. Lucy, we do fight sometimes, but its normal! Do you even know how often we fight in Grus presence? He even has given up shouting at us to be quiet."
"Right." Edith snuggled her as good as she could. "Also, its fine you shouted at us. It nothing compared what Hattie did to us!"
Lucy sobbed again, brushing away her tears. "I'm...I'm not as bad as Miss Hattie?"
"Oh, goodness, no!" they shook their heads.
Agnes returned with the glass of water, but being very clumsy and quite in a hurry, she spilled half of it on the floor and the carpet, but she handed it to her anyway.
"Look, I got you water." She said proudly. "Here, drink. And please don't cry anymore, Lucy."
Lucy took the glass from Agnes hands with a weak smile. Slowly drinking the half filled glass, she calmed herself down enough to listen to the girls.
"So, I'm not doing a bad job?" She asked weakly.
"No!" they all shook their heads. "No, you're not doing a bad job at all Lucy." Agnes hugged her once more. "You're a great parent, right?"
"Yeah!" Edith nodded. "Who has a Kung fu fighting agent as a mom? I bet nobody!"
"And I have seen you taking care for us when you had to babysit us for one night or two - and you were great."
Margo added and they all three gave her another tight hug. Breathing slowly, sipping on the water, she felt better. It warmed her heart to see the three girls getting along and hugging her. "You're not a lousy mom, really..."
"I just want to be a good parent to you, and I'm afraid Gru has set the bar too high, he's amazing with you." Lucy sighed, finishing her glass, before smiling warmly a the three of them. "But...thank you guys...this really helped me. I'm sorry I snapped, and yelled at you...
And I'm sorry for getting so mad, Margo. I have no right getting that mad at any of you." She kissed the three kittens foreheads. "I love you. All three. You're such wonderful and sweet and smart, all in your own way." She smiled, looking at her three girls.
Hers. Her girls...
"We love you too, Lucy. We really do."
And once again, the small family shared some tight hugs, kisses and smiles.
"Can we watch a movie?" The kids sat on the couch, each of them holding a sandwich in their hands. Even Lucy had to admit - her dinner this time tasted horrible. Like, well, garbage, as Edith had described it. So, she quickly fixed some bread, salad and whatever the girls wanted on their sandwiches, all sitting on the couch now and watching some TV shows. "Oh can we watch happy feet?" Asked Agnes. "Ugh, I wanna watch spirited away!"
"But these monsters scare me..." Said Agnes in a small voice. "No they are cool, come on."
"What do you wanna watch, Lucy?" The two of them turned to look at the redhead. Lucy laughed - she had no idea what movie she wanted to watch, she barely watched any movies at all. "Well, as I said, it's Edith's choice tonight Agnes. You can sit next to me and talk to the baby when it's scary, does that sound good?"
Agnes fumbled with her fingers, but nodded then. They were happy they wouldn't have to argue anymore. Lucy was calm and that was all they wanted for now...
The movie started with a calming piano music, Agnes leaned her head against Lucy's big belly to try and hear anything inside. Lucy herself nearly didn't pay attention to the movie as well, she just watched her little Agnes trying to bond with the baby, and that was simply adorable.
"Hey little baby. We're watching Spirited away." she whispered against the surface.
Lucy giggled a little, Agnes pressed her lips against her sin and it tickled slightly when she spoke. "Have you father and I told you we've given the baby a name? It's gonna be Robin. What do you think about that?"
"Robin?" Edith looked up at her. "So it is a boy?"
"No, Robin is a name for both, Girl and boys, isn't it?"
"Yes, Robin is a girl's name as well. You know the girl I listen to on the radio sometimes? Her name is Robyn." Lucy knew the girls had listened to her old cds, even though they didn't know the name of all the musicians. "Robin is also a girls name?" Agnes whispered to her sister. "Didn't know that either, actually...does that mean the sidekick of Batman has also a girls name?" And they both started to snicker.
"Well - We thought it would suit the rest of your names in flow and length. So the baby won't be the odd one out, girl or boy." Lucy answered with a shrug and smiled.
"But I assume you both still don't know the gender of the baby?" Margo looked at Lucy.
"No, we still don't wanna know the gender yet. We could have gotten to know about which chromosomes the baby have during the last test, but I don't want to assume stuff, you know? We'll see when Robin arrives."
Agnes and Edith honestly didn't understand why Gru and Lucy would like to keep the gender a secret until it has arived. It was so much more fun referring to it as "baby-sister" or "baby-brother", but apparently, they had to wait as well.
"But one thing is for sure..." Lucy patted her belly gently. "Robin is gonna be a strong little fellow. The baby is always kicking around every waking moment."
"Hehe, of course he will be strong!" Edith said, deciding to call the baby a he. She still was sure it was going to be a male. "He has a superagent and an ex-supervillain as his parents, he's going to be the strongest in the family! Oh, we could work out together!" she suggested.
"I think Robin is a pretty name for a girl." Agnes said and finished her meal as well.
"I bet she wants to get outside of you quickly! She wants to walk around and play with us, and I am pretty sure she would like to watch Happy feet rather than Spirited away."
She looked back at Edith with a slight glare. "And when do you think is the baby coming?" Margo asked. "Around September or October?"
"Oh, I'm not that far yet." Lucy chuckled. It did feel like it was time soon, the belly was big. " entered the third trimester Margo. The doctor says it's due to the beginning of December, or the end of November, just a few weeks before Christmas. And the baby seems to be growing fine. I do hope it's sooner rather than later, it starts to get heavy." Agnes looked at the roundness in Lucy's lap. It was already big! Huge, actually! How could her belly become even bigger?
A few moments passed with Agnes talking to Robin, Edith watching and Margo slowly dozing off during the film. "I really don't wanna see spirited away..."Agnes mumbled with crossed arms.
"Come on, now, you never even have seen it in the first place, how do you know you'll dislike it, heh? Hey, there will be-uhm...oh there will be unicorns in the movie! And frogs and mice! You like frogs and mice, do you?"
"Yeah i do!" she said and smiled. "You think Robin will like Frogs and Mice and Unicorn too?"
"Pff! No, he'll like Teenage Mutant ninja turtles and Dinosaurs and all that, just like a real boy!"
"But she's not going to be a boy, I'm sure about that!" Agnes looked back at Lucy in the kitchen. "Lucy, what do you wanna have rather? A boy or a girl?"
"Aw, sweetheart." Lucy patted Agnes head. Wwe've been over this, I'm happy whatever we get. Robin might end up liking both unicorns and dinosaurs when it's a boy, just like Edith likes teenage mutant ninja turtles and she's still a girl. Whatever Robin turns out to be, it doesn't really limit what they would become."
"Whatever he or she will be..." Agnes muttered, with a horrified expression on her face as Chihiro's parents turned into pigs. "Robin, I swear I'll never let you watch that movie! We'll always just watch Happy Feet, okay?" She looked up at Lucy. "Can i talk to her a bit more?"
"That's alright sweetheart, you talk as much as you want. It actually helps Robin recognize voices, so the baby will feel safe around you when he or she arrives." She started to feel tired herself, not really being able to get into the movie tonight. Agnes tilted her head. "Really? She can recognize voices?"
Pressing her ears on her belly, she tried to hear something. There wasn't much to hear, sadly, but suddenly she raised her head again, eyes wide open.
"She kicked me!" she blurted, more happy than upset. "Lucy, she kicked! She's moving!"
Holding her tiny hand on the spot she had felt the movement, some seconds later another kick was felt. "Lookit that, Lucy, she's communicating with me! She knew i had my hand on your belly and she kicked right inside my palm!" Lucy broke out in a grin from seeing Agnes' cheerful face. It was always so special when the little girl tried to be all sisterly with the baby that was inside.
Margo held her hand against her belly on the spot where Agnes had felt the baby moving.
"Does it hurt when she kicks you?" asked Margo, looking at Lucy. "Hurts? Not really, as long as they kicks out. When they hit the bladder though, yikes, that hurts. Or when they is stretching out and it pressures the lungs, but then I just need to sit down until it's alright again. But you know...It's not really the kicking that hurts, it's everything else. I get headaches, lightheaded as you noticed earlier, an-" She was about to confess how randy she got, but bit her lip, blushing in the face. "-and my feet hurt. They are swollen and I can't have my favourite shoes." She was going to crack a joke about the first thing she was going to do after the birth was to grab a drink since she'd been missing going out, but she remembered that there was no alcohol in this household except for the rubbing kind for wounds.
"She kicks against her bladder?" Agnes stared at Margo in shock.
"It's fine Agnes, she just then has to go to the toilet that all-"
"He pressures against her lungs?" Edith had turned around with wide eyes, just as shocked as Agnes was.
"Guys, calm down, she's fine, and she hasn't died from it yet!"
"D i e d?! Y-you can die from carrying a baby?!"
"No, that's not what i meant-!"
"Ugh, I'll never, ever get pregnant!" Edth turned around again, pulling her hoodie back over her eyes. "M-me neither i think..." Agnes added.
"Ugh...fine, I give up...!" she said and looked back at the screen, finally watching the movie.
Later that evening, the credits rolled and Edith and Margo felt themselves yawning and exhausted from the day. Agnes has fallen asleep, her head resting agains Lucy's belly and even Robin seemed to be asleep by now. The baby didn't kick for over an hour now.
Picking up the youngest, she looked at the res of them.
"Alright guys, time for you to go to bed! I'll tuck you in."
"Mhh...Okay!"
They went upstairs, brushing their teeth, getting dressed and Edith kept talking about how cool the movie was with the dragon boy and the water spirit and so on, while Margo didn't really seem to listen to her. She was constantly thinking about Avery and kind of wished to grab her phone and continue to chat with him...
Margo already headed to bed, a bit developing a kind of angry and tenses attitude, but Edith turned around before she could get back to her bedroom to see Lucy leaving after she made sure Agnes was in bed and asleep.
"Uhm...Lucy..." she mumbled. "Uhm...so, what did the doc say? Is it...is it something serious? I mean, that I act like i act. He made me feel like a big mistake, and...do you think I am a mistake...?"
"Oh honey!" She was about to bend down to the little girl, but realized her weight balance just in time. Instead, she slowly knelt down. She hugged the girl and put her forehead against the blond one.
"Listen, I talked to the doctor, and it's nothing serious. You haven't done anything wrong, and you are not a mistake. You just have a different way to handle stress and distractions, and we need to work a bit on that. It's called ADHD sweetheart, and we're gonna go and see a clinic tomorrow morning. Good news is, you're gonna be off school for the rest of the week. Doesn't that sound good? I know the doctor probably asked a bunch of weird questions but he needs to know everything to do a fair estimation." She hugged Edith another time, trying to make sure she didn't appear mad. Edith was oddly relieved that Lucy was going to let her stay off school the next days. She had to be honest, she hated school, just out of the reason se had to meet all these idiotic other kids again.
"Do you wanna sleep in tomorrow? I'll talk to your teachers and the principal, you don't have to get up..."
She nodded slowly while hugging her. "I-i... don't wanna go to school tomorrow, I-if that's okay to you..."
Gru never would let her stay off school. Just when she was feeling sick, and that happened to be actually...never. She was a healthy little chap and even if Gru was encouraging her to like her classmates and teachers - she simply didn't.
"That's totally understandable, honey..."
She gave her another tight hug, carefully so she won't press against her belly and Edith nuzzled her face into the crook of her neck.
"Goodnight Lucy...see you tomorrow." - "Goodnight, Edith."
She let go of her and walked back into the bedroom.
Slipping beneath her blanket, resting her head on her pillow, she sighed, seeing Margo rolling around in her sleep, restlessly.
Waiting a couple of minutes she closed her eyes. ADHD...
What if Gru heard about her disorder? He didn't like hyperactive children, what if he would tell her he wouldn't like her anymore too...
Lucy walked into the master bedroom, leaving the door a little bit open. She looked around the room to make sure she was alone and then slowly undressed herself.
Getting her nightgown on, she turned on the light of the nightstand and turned off the light of the roof, leaving a light source if any of the girls got up in the night. Crawling into the bed, she sighed, slamming her arm over the empty spot where Gru usually was lying.
Feeling a slight kick again, Lucy smiled into the pillow, thinking of Gru. Some months from now, their child would be born, and she would be a lot more relaxed. Thinking back to her panic attack months ago, she blushed over how he had proposed to her within a heartbeat. When she still was an outsider to the family. How different things were now. Now they were a family. A team. And soon, the family of five would be a family of six. Lucy still remembered how shocked she was to hear that she was going to be a mother. But now, she couldn't await to hold her little baby in her arms, to give Gru an offspring - something that would make their bonds unbreakable. Right now, she wished nothing else but being with Gru, with him holding her and caressing her belly like he always did. To him, it was a big deal. Of course it was - their baby, their very own baby, was growing inside her and he was excited to have her be the mother of his first biological child. a warm smile formed on her face. How she loved this man - how she loved the child inside her...
The door opened, barely, and footsteps echoed over the hallway. It would have been either one of the girls of the minions, the stumping of a child of the chubby henchmen was undeniable. They walked across the corridor, passing the door to the bathroom.
Edith couldn't sleep and wasn't even feeling tired. She was worried, her head filled with so many things...
She wouldn't even know how to find peace with them swirling in her head.
Usually, none of the girls was allowed to share the bed with Gru. Everytime they had a nightmare, he granted them to sleep in the big bed with him, just so they wouldn't feel restless and scared.
But Edith hoped that Lucy would make an exception in her case.
Hoping she was asleep anyway and wouldn't notice her intrusion into her's and her fathers bedroom, she carefully opened the door, slipping through the gap between the frame and the door and walked toward the big bed. With a jump, she climbed up on the sheets, keeping herself quiet, just like she had learned from her ninja-skills. She laid down, crawling closer to Lucy.
Her eyes were fixed on her belly. She didn't know why, but...out of the three of them, she never had been talking to her sibling before, never made any bondings to them.
"Hey, Robin..." she mumbled, scooting a bit closer to the big bulge.
"I can't sleep, Margo's talking in her sleep and Agnes won't keep still, she's turning around all the time..." She paused for a minute.
"I, uhm...I know the others think that you'll be a girl, and...well, maybe they're right. But i really want you then to become an awesome baby-sister, okay? I can show you how to handle the nunchucks and you can watch Naruto with me..."
Placing her hand on Lucy's belly, she sighed. "I'm sorry i treated your mom so bad as i heard you was going to grow inside her. I was scared Daddy wouldn't love me anymore...I still am kinda scared now, after i heard I was having ADHD...what if Daddy won't like me anymore then? He's all i have, you know..."
Sighing a bit, she rested her forehead against her hand. "I am also scared that the clinic isn't going to help me...I wanna be normal. I wanna be a normal child...i wana be the perfect daughter for mom and dad...Please, promise me...be what i can't do: Don't be troublesome...be a good son or daughter to Mom and Dad...be the child Mom deserves - she's so cool, and awesome and strong and i admire her so much..."
She felt her eyes becoming heavier and heavier.
Hearing the little girl apologise to the baby inside of her, Lucy had to bite her lip not to begin to cry. That sweet little girl was so afraid. Lucy reminded herself, she really needed to take this with Gru in private, and with enough time so he could relax before meeting Edith. He was an amazing father, but his patience with his middle daughter was starting to wear thin.
"I can't...wait...to see how you'll...be...little one..." she muttered, finally falling asleep.
"Edith..." Lucy breathed, but Edith was sleeping. She scooted herself up to have the power to pull Edith up to her chest and snuggle her gently. Hugging her daughter tight, Lucy kissed her several times, crying silently into her hat while falling asleep.