Chapter Nine: Growing up

Amelia looks at me smiling, "Mom?" I know that voice so well "yes Amy?" I can feel her thinking, "can I go to the beach with Simone today?" "of course you can but only if Carl is there too" she pouts "but moooom! He's too old to hang out with us" I raise my eyebrows, "sweetie, you're twelve…he's fifteen, he's not too old" I say trying hard not to laugh, she crosses her arms and sighs loudly "fine, I'll call Moon to let her know" after I hear her closing her door I start laughing, those two are full of surprises. "Hi Emily" Margauxs cheerful voice answers "hi Margaux, did Simone ask you too?" I can hear her smiling on the phone "you bet! I drew the line immediately" "only if Carl's going too" "exactly, Simone wasn't happy about it but if I don't put limits now…" "I know" "at least Amelia is quiet" "sometimes too much, that brain of hers never stops" Margaux laugh "well, she's a genius after all… don't worry, just let her be" I smile "what else can I do?" "exactly, I'll be sending Carl with Moon in about 30 minutes ok?" "ok, bye!". I watch my daughter going out with her friends, the ones that's been with her during her whole life, and shake my head… she's just going out there's no reason to get all emotional about it.

A few hours later I hear Aiden entering the house "I'm home!" I leave my book on the couch "Hi handsome" I hug him from behind, he turns around and picks me up before kissing me, I smile into our kiss "I missed you" "I missed you too" he holds me tight, "where's Amelia?" "she went out with Carl and Simone" "good, she needs to get out more often" I nod, she needs to have fun; "Her IQ test results came in the mail today, I didn't want to open them alone" I say, his eyes widen "we have to see them!" I take the envelope from his hands "we should wait for her" he sighs, "but what if she's not… what if it's not what she expects? We should be prepared" I give up, I can see he's nervous, we have always known she's smart but it's different to confirm your child is a genius… he opens the letter, I can see tears pooling in his eyes and I quickly take the letter "167? Aiden that means…" "our baby is a genius" we hug, we are both scared by this result… how will she react to it? "so, what do we do now?" Aiden asks me, I know he's worried these results will change something "What do you mean? I… this doesn't change anything, we let her decide that" he nods and I hug him, "we just have to make sure she has everything she needs to keep learning, give her the proper tools nothing else, she will decide what she will do with them".

Amelia comes home a couple of hours later; from the look on her face I know she had a great time with Carl and Simone, "Mom, Moon is staying for dinner!" Like I wasn't expecting that "what about Carl?" "he said he had some homework, and before you say anything mine is already done" she says giving me a kiss "Moon is downstairs with dad, he said you wanted to show me something" I give her the envelope "your test results" she carefully opens it, and takes her time reading the letter "what do you think?" I ask her, she shrugs "it's just a number mom" "I know, it's still high…" "I have always known I was kind of different, now I have a paper to prove it but like I said, it's just a number" I hug her and kiss her forehead "being different is not a bad thing sweetie, never forget that" she nods "can I keep the letter?" "of course Amy, it's yours" she kisses my cheek again "I'm hungry" "yeah, let's go downstairs I'm sure your dad and Moon can help us make dinner faster".

The next morning, I get a call from Charlotte "Hello Ems!" she says happily "Hi Charlotte, how's Christian?" "good, we are really good. Amelia texted me her results…" "oh yes, we receive them yesterday, 167" "I always knew she was a genius" I laugh "I kinda figured that when she was three and started reading little red riding hood by herself" I hear Charlotte's laughing "how's the little guy?" "he behaves, I can't believe it's been six months" "remember Margaux? At that time into the pregnancy she already wanted to be over with it" we both laugh and I can't wait to meet my nephew "I love it! Christian is so wonderful with me" "good, otherwise he will have to deal with all of us" "nothing good will come out of that…thank god I'm already married" "did you finally choose a name?" She squeals "yees! That's why I'm calling…" "tell me!" "Josh David Weiss" I can feel the tears pooling in my eyes, I'm sure my father has a smile on his face "it's beautiful Charlotte" we stay silent for a while before I talk again "we're flying for the holidays" "really? But I'll probably be in the hospital by then" "you think I would miss my nephew's birth?" "I'll love to have you here" "Amy's so excited, in fact it was her idea to stay until February" "what did the school say?" "nothing, Amy promised them she would give any exam before leaving so…" "Oh, that sounds like our girl". I hang up a while later "Amy, Charlie says hi" "Charlie called?" she asks "yeah, while you were sleeping" she shrugs "baby boy has a name?" I nod and her eyes light up "Josh David Weiss" she smiles "I looove it!" I laugh, I knew she would love it too.

Sunday comes too quickly; we're having lunch with the Porters, "Simone Pascal Porter-LeMarchal give me that right now!" "forget about it! Amelia Mathis" I hear our daughters yelling at each other, I look at them curious but Amy keeps chasing Moon. "Simone, enough! Give her the tablet back" Margaux scolds Simone "but mooom I want to play with her but she wants to keep reading" Simone huffs and I try to hide my smile, suddenly Amy stands up "I finished, I told you I only needed an hour" she smiles at her best friend and she drags her back to her room. Jack and Aiden are laughing "so different, and they're still best friends" "yeah, it's good for Amy though… sometimes she spends too much time in her own world" Aiden talks with Jack but Margaux interrupts them "Oh don't worry about it, as long as she's happy everything is fine" I nod, "I know, but sometimes I would like to see her acting more according her age you know?" he says and I add "we got a call from Yale" Margaux and Jack have their eyes wide open "you're kidding…right?" "No, apparently her IQ already appears on her school records and Yale wants to offer pretty much everything she wants" Aiden smiles "they want her in their medical program" "Aiden are you serious?" Jack asks "Amy said no, at least she doesn't want to finish high school just yet but she will start some courses next year" I say and Margaux nods "good, it was bad enough that they forced her to jump from 6 grade to 9 grade, she has to live her childhood" "well the school didn't force her, she wanted to do it" "yeah Carl was pretty shocked when he realized Amy would be his classmate" Jack says laughing, and Aiden sits beside me "I bet he was, but I'm glad she's with him" "and how did she react to the Yale thing? I mean she will be surrounded by college students!" I laugh and take Aiden's hand "Oh Margaux you know her, she's over the moon… being a doctor is the only thing she talks about" Jack hugs Margaux "Amy will be just fine, she can do it". I help Margaux with the dishes when our kids come running into the kitchen "Mom… can you please tell Simone to let Amy and I do our homework? I can't understand it and her voice only makes it worse" Simone rolls her eyes while Amy tries to hide her smile "stop complaining, it's not my fault you're so slow" Margaux and I sigh, and Amy tries to calm her friend "why don't you let me finish our chemistry report? And then I'm all yours moon" Simone smiles sadly "fine, I hate that you're in high school now" "I know, but you will always be my best friend" they share a tight hug and Margaux and I look at them smiling.

I watch Amy on the beach with Carl, she's teaching him biology, I love that they help each other every time they can. Aiden hugs me "who would have thought we would be raising a genius?" I kiss him "I wish Annie would see her, she would be so proud" "it's her decision, we must respect that" I sigh "I know, maybe someday we could take Amy to watch one of her plays in Broadway" "that will be up to her". Carl kisses Amy's cheek and goes, even though I wanted him to stay for dinner, "So, how was the class?" I ask and Amy and she sighs "looooong, sometimes I think Carl it's just doing it to piss me off" I frown "what did you just said?" "Nothing mommy" she answers sweetly and kisses me, I smile "good, why don't you ask your father to set the table?" "Ok" she runs to the living room and I can hear Aiden whining, she comes back giggling "Nice job".

I watch Amelia fixing her hair with Simone, she learned how to make the perfect French braid and of course, she had to show it to her sister. "and now you take the final string and it's done" I cough, "Hi aunt Emmy" "Hi Moon, are your parents coming for lunch?" "sure, they should be here in an hour or so" "good". I go back down, and I see Nolan's smiling face in my living room "hey" I hug him, "how are you guys doing?" "oh you know us, Amy's always keeping us busy" He huffs "please, she's so well behaved" "I know, that worries me sometimes" "you worry too much, she's a great girl" "yeah, she is". Margaux and Jack arrive an hour later and Simone is waiting by the door "Mom look at my hair!" she says excited and Jack picks her up "you look amazing sweetie, who did that? Aunt Emmy?" Margaux asks her and I shake my head "I had nothing to do with that" "it was Amy, she learnt on the internet" We all smile; "hurry up people or I'm going to eat everything" Aiden yells from the kitchen, "we're going!".

Later that night Nolan, Amy, Aiden and I share a cup of tea. "Ems told me Yale called you" Amy blushes "yeah, they wanted me to finish high school and start med school with them" Nolan smiles and hugs her "that's awesome Amy, what did you decide?" she clears her throat "I already jumped from 6 grade to 9 grade, I don't want to jump into college just yet" "that's a wise decision young lady" "but I'm starting a few courses next year" "medicine is a very long road, so it's ok if you start a little earlier" we laugh, "thanks Nolan… I'm so happy!" "and I'm happy to hear that, tell me how's 9 grade treating you?" she laughs "it's so easy, I don't understand why Carl is having so much trouble…" "sweetie I was talking about your classmates" "Oh, yeah they're good… they say I'm the baby so they have to protect me" she smiles and a part of me calms down "perfect then, you'll have a lot of fun in high school" Aiden's head is about to blow and Nolan laughs harder "ok, not TOO much fun".

I kiss Amelia's forehead, "who would have thought?" I play with her hair while she sleeps peacefully "my little girl, already a freshman in high school and college… you're going to be a great doctor baby, I'm going to help you as much as I can".

~A&E~

Annnnnnd another one is over, I think two more chapters and this story will be complete, before writer's block hit me and I can't finish it. Hope you liked it !

Kisses, Cami