Chapter 90: Welcome in the family

"…Vicky?" Laila asked quietly as she entered her sister's room late at night. The last day had been hell for both of them and she wanted to speak with her younger sister who seemed sometimes so far away. Laila, however, didn't envy Victoria for her many talents. She knew that her little sister had her own problems even though it was just not her to ask for help. Laila walked over to Victoria's bed and sat down next to her. "I know that you are still awake, Vicky."

The redhead turned around to face her. "Tell me, Laila, do you think that my scar is ugly?" she asked.

"Are you crazy?" the blonde shook her gently. "The scar is splendid! Mommy and daddy have a lot of scars to but most of them were made by fire! Your scar looks way better than theirs!"

"Thanks, Lai-Lai," Victoria smiled while she sat up. "Well, why did you come over that late at night? You know that Riza won't be happy if she catches you up at that hour…"

"If she comes over, I will feign sleep," the older girl winked at her. "So, I just wanted to check on you. I mean … you were up all the time last night. I heard you walking around in your room … the same way daddy walked around in the living room. I wanted to check on you but when I came, you weren't here any longer. I believe you talked with daddy all night long, right?"

Victoria nodded. "I couldn't sleep," she admitted while she bit her lower lip. "I was too angry with Jacqueline. She successfully annoyed me to death and I just wanted to hit her … but when I break her again, I am sure that I will get in serious trouble, so I have to keep myself together."

Laila patted her shoulder. "I believe she annoys all of us to death … but she seems to hate you more than anyone else," she said. "Did she really ask you if you are doing something to keep your hair that red? Honestly, it is ridiculous that she acts that way … and should she ever bother you again, she will have to answer to me. And Jun-Jun showed me some really amazing moves today in the training you skipped. Where have you been? We waited for you until daddy called and said that you wouldn't come. Nick and I were worried and Cai called Elicia if she knows where you are."

"I am leaving the town straight after the exams," Victoria said. "Dad suggested that I should spend more time out of town. The smog here is terrible for my lungs … and since Knox fears that could develop asthma if I stay in the city." She bit her lower lip. "I travel through the East with Aunty Jade and Claudio while you will stay in town with Nick, Eli and Cai."

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "And you are sure that you will really leave?" she asked. "Is mommy okay with that? I mean … you can heal … but your hand-to-hand isn't the best." She grinned. "I have an idea: you won't study for the exam tomorrow. Instead we go to Jun-Jun for more training."

"Do you think that she will be happy if we barge in right after school?" Victoria asked.

"It's important that you learn to protect yourself," the older sister said while she grabbed the book on Victoria's nightstand. "Don't tell me that you are so obsessed with mathematics that you read this book before going to bed," she sighed while she looked at her sister. "My dear sister, you need a best friend. I hate to be so blunt but it is necessary." She sighed while she gently patted her sister's head. "And since I am such a good big sister…"

"…you don't forget that I am taller than you, right?"

"Sssh, who cares?" Laila grinned broadly. "Well, what I was about to say … it's my duty to take care of you because you are younger and vulnerable."

Victoria rolled her eyes. "You know that I am perfectly able to take care of myself?" she asked.

"Of course I know … I just sometimes wonder why exactly you always get away with everything…" Laila pouted.

"I don't know it myself … but Nick always gets away too … so maybe it's a twin-thing."

The sisters laid awake for a moment and stared at the ceiling above the bed. They were close after all even though Laila knew that Victoria and Nick had a much closer bond, being twins. She had seen how Nick had blown up on people who had annoyed Victoria and Victoria hissing at girls who got too close to her little brother. Nick hated people who came to close to her. Laila sometimes envied Victoria for being able to read the boy like an open book. She always knew what he felt and that made her always the first to comfort him when everything came crashing down around him.

They heard the phone ringing and exchanged a frown through the darkness. It was rare that people called the chancellor late at night. Usually they waited until the daybreak or stopped by personally.

"Hey, girls?" Nick closed the door behind him. "Are you still awake?"

Victoria sat up again. "You knew it even before you came in," she muttered. "Well, do you know what's going on? We just heard the phone ringing…"

"It rung once before … but that was just Jun-Jun, complaining about Cai's behaviour and asking for an advice of mom," their brother replied. "But this time it seemed to be Uncle Ben … and he sounded pretty excited…" He looked at the girls. "Do you think what I think?"

Laila looked at Victoria who had her eyes closed while her lips vibrated. "I think so too," she said.

"It would – after all – make sense," Victoria agreed with her siblings. "Honestly, I am not joking."

"Leave it to Vicky to recalculate everything in seconds," Laila sighed. "Well, what now?"

"There are two options," Nick said. "Receive further conformation by asking our parents or waiting until the morning before we decide what we will do."

The twins would just pass their eighth birthday before the start of their next year of school while Laila was a flower of the early spring, half a year older than her siblings. She was, however, shorter than both of them, especially compared to Victoria who was the tallest out of them. The girl beat her twin by one centimetre – and she was very proud of this centimetre.

Riza smiled as she looked at her husband who had just finished the call. "The only real question right now is if we should wake up the kids," she said. "Helena will wake up in one minute anyway and when she demands our attention, she will wake up Rachel…"

"One day, Lena will be as much of a perfectionist as you," Roy sighed while he rubbed his forehead. "I mean, we always know when she will wake up at night."

She smirked. "It's a Hawkeye-thing," she said with a smirk. "You have to know that we have many mysterious skills – and awaking every day at the same time is one of them."

"I have to admit, this is really useful," he said. "But my family has some special abilities too! My Gran and my aunt created a special method to ease pain temporarily. I am, however, too impatient for this so I have to rely on Jade who is patient enough to study this stuff every day."

"You should be ashamed that your younger cousin works harder than you," his wife scolded with a wink before she left the room to check on the toddlers. "Oh, and go and wake up the kids, will you?"

"I am on my way," he said before he hurried upstairs. He first opened the door to Nick's room because his son was usually the only one who could wake up his sisters without getting seriously hurt. But the bed was empty and Roy sighed. It was nothing new that the children would meet up in Laila's room before their bedtime and fall asleep there. He went over to his oldest daughter's bedroom but it was as empty as the previous one. Finally, he opened the door of Victoria's room and found the three kids. They seemed to be asleep and the girls surrounded Nick who smiled innocently in his sleep.

Roy crossed the room while he nearly tripped over a book on the floor and sat down on the chair next to the bed. "Kids," he said gently. "It would be good if you would wake up. You just got a new cousin…"

He remembered how Olivier had gone into labour during their last meeting before the break of the parliament and how Bendix had brought her to the hospital. Jade had skipped the meeting to be in the hospital with her brother and her boyfriend who hadn't left Bea's bedside since the attack.

Victoria snapped into consciousness and tilted her head. "Is the baby there?" she asked excited.

"It is," Roy replied. "We are going to the hospital … and if you want to, you can come with us."

The hospital room was nearly empty when the Mustang-Hawkeye-family appeared. Charlotte and Leroy weren't the youngest anymore and had left to get the terrible yet strong coffee of the hospital. Alex had been thrown out by Olivier three seconds after his arrival and sat sulking in front of the door – guarding the HEIR OF THE WONDERFUL ARMSTRONG-FAMILY! – and was comforted by his little sister, Catherine. Jade had stopped by for a moment before she had returned to her hurt sister-in-law.

"Mustang," Olivier growled while she held her daughter. "One wrong move and you can keep Alex a little bit of company, am I understood? I am not in the mood for your childish behaviour."

"Princess…" Bendix smiled and patted her shoulder before he took their firstborn son. The little boy was called Lars after one of their favourite characters from An Eternal Love. He had very pale blond hair – a typical Armstrong-trademark how Alex had claimed before Charlotte had reminded him of the infamous Llewellyn-blond. His eyes, however, were exactly like Olivier's … just much warmer. All in all, the baby was utterly adorable and every female being who had seen him so far had gushed about this adorableness for minutes afterwards.

"He is so sweet!" Victoria exclaimed while she clapped her hands. She stood close to Bendix on her toes and couldn't help but notice that the little boy was – for the lack of a better word – perfect.

Olivier chuckled dryly. "I hate to quote Alex but … 'The art of having perfect children has been passed down in the Armstrong-family for CENTURIES!'" she said with a wink. "But I have to admit that the Llewellyn-traits are really perfect to accentuate the adorableness of Lars. Doesn't he look extremely cute?"

Her glare told everyone that she would rip of the head of the fool who would disagree.

"Extremely cute, yes," Roy hastily said while he patted Helena's hair. He and his firstborn were close and he was usually the only one who could calm her down when she was crying about the pain her teeth caused her. She had somehow inherited her late aunt's fiery temper and Roy had also been the only one to calm Lynn down when Martin had sent her over the edge. Maes' late cousin had been courting her desperately and one day he had told her 'The next girl I will tell "I love you" will be our daughter' and she had punched him so hard that she had knocked him out. Roy had more experience than any other man when it came to dealing with annoyed women. His aunts, Izumi, Abigail, Agnes (the terrible person who was responsible for Alec and Londres who were unfortunately invited to Phil's wedding) and Chris, were hardly patient women and neither were Jade, Laila or Victoria.

"I thought so," Olivier said smugly before she nodded into Victoria's direction. "You can hold him for a moment," she smiled before she noticed Laila's and Nick's pouts. "The tallest one starts but afterwards you can hold him too, I promise," she hastily added.

The only boy sighed deeply before he glared at his sister. "One day I will figure out how you were able to grow so fast and I will do everything to become taller than you!" he promised darkly.

She smiled teasingly at him before she carefully took Lars from his father. A bright smile appeared on her face. Victoria was always happy when she got to hold a baby for the first time. "Hey there, Lars," she said softly while she carefully brushed back a strand of his golden hair that covered one of his eyes. "You are really a cute little boy but make sure that you grow a little bit, alright? Make your mommy happy, am I understood?"

"Now it's my turn!" Nick announced and appeared on her side. "Hello, Lars, bro, one day, when you are a grownup, we can go out together and get you a decent girlfriend, someone your mom will approve of. I, however, already promised Elicia that I will marry her one day, so you can't have her. She would be too old for you anyway, so I hope that you don't mind that I will be angry with you when you make a move on my girl later on…"

Roy chuckled before he collected himself. "Does Hughes know that you intend to marry his daughter one day, Nick?" he asked while he ruffled the boy's hair gently. "You know how he gets with her…"

"Nah, we decided that we would run away if necessary," his son announced proudly.

"Your son really takes after you, Roy," Phil said from the door. "I can remember how you were when you first dated Riza. You were, of course, much older than Nick … but I can remember how you told Iz that you and Riza would elope if her father wouldn't approve of your relationship."

"See, I am having a great influence on Nick," Roy said proudly while Laila finally got to hold Lars.

"Great influence … honestly?" his cousin chuckled. "We are lucky when Nick doesn't become a pyromaniac like you, Roy. You know that Jade still believes that you consider seeing a psychiatrist about these tendencies of yours. I am sure that Mrs Robinson could help you."

"What are you doing here?" Bendix interrupted. "Shouldn't you be on your fiancée's side, holding her hand like I did it with Olivier during the birth?"

His wife bit her lip as she looked up to him. "Does it still hurt?" she asked worried, remembering that she nearly crushed it.

He shook his head before he gently kissed her. "I love you, Liv," he said seriously – but on the other hand, he was always serious when it came to his feelings for her. He was an honest man after all.

Riza chuckled lowly before she took her, well, cousin into her arms and rocked him gently back and forth. Bendix was her mother's brother after all and even though it was strange to consider a baby which was younger than any of her children as a cousin, she could have to do it. "You are really a sweet boy, Lars," she stated, "but don't take too much after your daddy, will you? One Bendix is fine, two would be our downfall." She winked at her uncle – how much she hated to call him that even though it was technically correct. "And make your mommy proud when you are older, Lars. She needs someone she can brag with all day long when your cousin-in-law and his best friend brag with their kids."

Olivier laughed softly as she took her son again and looked at Phil. "Do you know if your sister accepted of being godmother?" she asked seriously.

Victoria clapped her hands in glee. "So, Lars and I will have the same godmother?" she asked.

"Since she accepted, yeah," Phil said with a shrug. "I believe she started to collect godchildren."

"You are such a meanie!" the little girl announced while her siblings – even Helena and Rachel – nodded. The blond twins had probably no clue what their sister was talking about this time but they were used to agreeing with their older siblings every single time they needed the support.