One
The blasting music from the room beside hers woke her far too early than what she had wished for. The dream, which was in fact a memory, hadn't let her sleep at all that night and now, to worsen it, Melinda had decided to put the awful cheap rap she liked so much out loud in her new stereo.
There was no way Aislinn would be able to go back to sleep. So she threw the thin covers off, left the king-sized bed and stormed to the other room. The bright green ceiling and the wallpaper of luscious trees never ceased to amaze her; how could someone enjoy having the same colour all over the room? Wouldn't it turn a bit sickening after... let's see... five years? Yes, she would think so.
Right in the middle of the division, Melinda was dancing and singing the words the vocalist – Aislinn had no idea who – was practically spitting. Aislinn shoke her head, looking around the room, only to see Marcus leave the bathroom with his fingers plugged into his ears and a pained expression plastered across his tanned and perfectly shaved face. Chuckling quietly, she looked at him; 'Your sister is readying herself to take the house down!', Aislinn mouthed. 'I know. Save me!', Marcus mouthed back.
Quickly, she turned the volume down on the stereo. Mel glared fiercely in her direction.
"What did you do that for? Can't you see I was groovin' the beat?" She exclaimed in her thick northern accent.
"Well, you can 'groove the beat' a little later, can you not? It's eight in the bloody morning and most of us aren't like you, Artemis; most of us don't like to wake up to some dimwit pretending he's singing" Aislinn said, exiting the twins bedroom.
No point in going back to the slumber again, Aislinn thought. She walked down the hall, turned right and opened the door unceremoniously – it was her house anyway. Tom was still tangled between the deep ocean-blue sheets of his bed, with his back raising and lowering peacefully and head under the pillow. However, Peter had already gotten himself up and was busy dressing his favourite red button up shirt.
He looked up as she entered, then gestured towards his snoring brother: "I woke when Artemis blasted the music but you know how he is... nothing wakes him up before ten" Aislinn nodded, smiling. Peter came to her and kissed her cheek affectionately. "Did you sleep well?"
"I did, sweetheart, thanks for asking. I'm going to go get breakfast ready, okay? Go wake your woman and Aphrodite; they have to be at the stores in less than an hour" She hurried him as she left his room to do as she had told. Soon the sweet smell of coffee and pancakes filled the entire Olympians' manor. Normally Aislinn wouldn't cook pancakes because the guys would eat them all and leave none for her, but today she felt like it. After all, pancakes with hot chocolate syrup were everyone's favourite, even hers.
Peter and Marcus were the first ones to arrive, sniffing loudly and smiling like the children Aislinn knew they were on the inside. Both grabbed her waist when she was peacefully setting the table for them and pecked her cheeks a thousand times before attacking the pancakes. Melinda, followed by a grumpy Halldóra and a sleepy Patricia, were next; neither of them wasted any time attacking their plates hungrily. Of course, her dear Tom was the last one – he was always the last, rubbing his ocean greenish-blue eyes. He kissed her nose sweetly and joined the others.
After everything was settled Aislinn went to the room across from hers, where her son was quietly sleeping. The orange flannel sheets covered him completely, this way only showing his dark-golden strands of soft hair. At his feet, curled in a white fur-ball, was Marauder, their three year old Irish Terrier, a constant source of hyperactivity and energy. Aislinn had bought it in an impulse, after Logan's death, in a pathetic attempt to ease his absence for both her and Brendon, who was only two at the time.
Pushing those thoughts of her dead husband away, she gently pulled the covers off Brendon and tickled his small button nose. With a little grumping, he sat up on the bed, looking at Aislinn with those electric blue headlamps he had gotten from his father, without really seeing.
"Good morning, love. Time to get ready for school" She said, picking him up with difficulty, seeing as Brendon was slightly taller than average, heading for the bathroom and sitting him on top of the counter.
"Do I have to, mommy?" Brendon asked through a mouth full of the blueberry toothpaste his mother had given him to brush his pearly white teeth.
Aislinn glanced at him, also brushing her own teeth, seeing his lips and teeth covered by blue foam.
"You do; school is very important and you're a very lucky boy because you're so smart and get to go earlier than the other kids. Besides, it's almost over" She messed his already messy hair jokingly and gave him a glass of water. "Now gobble and spit, or do you want to go to school looking like a mad alien dog foaming blue slobber?"
Brendon giggled but did as was told. After the teeth were brushed, the face was washed and the hair was combed, Aislinn dressed him in jean shorts and dark-blue shirt and shod his favourite and almost torn snickers, sending him, next, to the kitchen while she did his bed. Marauder ran out of the room with Brendon, always close to his heels.
Her eyes slowly drifted to the window as she smoothed the covers and sheets on the bed. From that side of the manor Aislinn could see the Silver Lake. The tourists were already occupying the green grass of the Park with their colourful towels and other accessories necessary for a day at the lake. The water looked as pure crystal so pristine it was, with small little waves brightened by the summer sunlight, softly licking the thin strands of herbs and flowers close to shore. The manor had been carefully chosen by Logan and Aislinn, five years ago. It was especially close to the Silver Lake, hidden amongst a grove of trees taller than average, in the shore opposite to the tourists' bay. A few months later the rest of the Olympians moved in with them.
The Olympians were a group of mutants that came from the X-Men, an organization in New York with the objective of protecting mutants and promoting mutant rights. Before, the Olympians consisted in nine people, including Aislinn's husband and Hermes, but there were only seven remaining: Tom or Poseidon, Pete or Hades, Patty or Persephone, Dóra or Aphrodite, Mel or Artemis, Mark or Apollo and, finally, her, Aislinn or Gaia. Logan was Zeus, their leader; together, he and Aislinn formed the alpha couple. Of course now it was simply she who guided them.
Their society didn't protect the mutants – although it didn't protect the humans either – , like Aislinn's father's X-Men did. Not anymore. Instead they lived their lives peacefully, fighting only to protect each other or sometimes, if needed, to help the dwellers of the Park. They were nice people... the dwellers, that is. Never once had they judged or mistreated them and for that we were all thankful. They had allowed the Olympians to enjoy the tranquillity they always searched for.
Her memories were interrupted by Brendon running into the room with Marauder close by, shouting 'Mommy! Mommy!' happily.
"What is it, hon?" Aislinn chuckled as he jumped up and down excitedly. "Hey, hey, stop bouncing. What are you a grasshopper?"
"Brendon, the grasshopper! Grasshopper!" He giggled and held the black phone out for her. "Phone for mommy. It's auntie Jeanie and uncle Scotty"
Aislinn raised an eyebrow. "Really?" Brendon nodded eagerly. "Okay, so say goodbye to them and go ask uncle Pete to take you to school"
"Bye-bye, auntie Jeanie!" Her son passed her the phone. She crunched in front of him and kissed his rosy cheek before he ran off to the kitchen – probably.
Taking a deep, steady breath, Aislinn put the phone to her left ear as she sat on Brendon's, now made, bed.
"Hi, Jean"
Ah, cliffhanger!
Why is Jean calling Aislinn? What happened to Zeus, Aislinn's beloved husband and faithful companion? When will Wolverine step into action? Well, find out next chapter.
Love,
Lady in Purple.