Carmelita drove what seemed like forever to their favorite pizza joint. Skylar and Silvester never favored French food too much, but to be fair Carmelita never really did either. They all had similar tastes, mainly favoring American food and Italian food if anything. They did not really eat out much, mostly because it was expensive.
Carmelita adjusted her mirror and noticed a blue van tailgating her. She growled as she tapped her breaks to urge the driver to back up, but the driver wouldn't let up. "Jackass." She mumbled to herself.
She performed a lane change, figuring the driver was just impatient. To her surprise, the driver changed lanes and continued to tailgate her. Carmelita started to get nervous, figuring they were being followed. She quickly tried to speed up, but another car in front of her was going very slow. Without signaling, she switched lanes again and sped up drastically, losing the blue van behind the slow driver. Thankfully, a semi truck ended up being behind her so there was no way for the mysterious van to catch up.
She continued to drive, assuming she had lost the van. She pulled into the parking lot at their favorite pizza place, Mama Mia's Exquisite Pasta Sauce. Word around town is that the owner insists that his mother's pasta sauce is so delicious, he wants to be buried in it. The joint was known for their spaghetti of course, but their pizza was also very exquisite. It was the few authentic Italian joints in Paris, and it was not really that close to where Carmelita lived. It was one of the only few good restaurants fairly near her that wasn't expensive, so they came often.
There was no wait time, as usual, when they arrived. The hostess quickly sat them at a booth right next to a window. Skylar sat next to the window and felt the cold air creeping beyond from outside.
The restaurant was not big at all, only having 5 tables available to sit at and 10 booths. The restaurant was extremely red and covered with various decorations the owner got from Italy. The floor was covered with a very outdated black and white tile with the walls being painted bright red.
Soon, their waitress approached them to take their order. She was very young, appearing no older than 18. She wasn't wearing a specific uniform, just a plain black t-shirt and some jeans. She actually was a raccoon, but appeared like she had some tiger blood mixed in. "Hello everyone! My name is Britney and I'll be taking your order!" She attempted to hand out menus, but Carmelita quickly declined.
"Oh, no thank you. We actually know what we want." Carmelita smiled.
"Oh, well what can I get started for all of you today?"
"Mom, can I have a coke?" Skylar begged.
"Yes, but only one." Carmelita nodded at her.
"I want a coke!" Skylar exclaimed. Carmelita never really allowed the twins to have soda much, as it tended to make especially Skylar extremely hyper. It only usually took more than one glass of coke to do this to her, though.
"I'll have water, please." Silvester answered.
"I'll take water as well, and also a cup of coffee." Carmelita answered.
The waitress quickly wrote down their drink orders on her pad. "Okay, so you guys know what you want already?"
"We want a large pepperoni pizza with the stuffed crust please." Carmelita answered politely. "I also would like medium spaghetti with meatballs as well to go, please."
The waitress quickly wrote down their order. "Okay, so one large pepperoni pizza with the stuffed crust, and a medium spaghetti with meatballs to go." The waitress read aloud.
"That's right."
"Okay, I'll have it right out. I'll bring the to go spaghetti towards the end so you can have it hot and fresh, is that okay?"
Carmelita smiled. "Yes, that's fine."
"Okay, I'll be back with your drinks." The waitress disappeared towards the back of the restaurant.
Skylar leaned up against the cold glass, clearly extremely tired. She mainly felt emotionally tired rather than physically tired. Her large eyes were surrounded by black circles as her face drooped.
"You tired, honey?" Carmelita asked, unsure what she could do to comfort her daughter. She eyed over at Silvester, who didn't seem to be tired at all. He was just anxiously tapping on the table, waiting for something to eat.
"I'm fine." Skylar sighed.
Carmelita raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"
Skylar didn't answer, and just rolled her eyes to look out the window. Carmelita sighed. It hurt her to see Skylar like this. Skylar might not be the best kid, but Carmelita respected her feelings just as much as Silvester's, even if Skylar gets on her nerves a lot.
During the self pity Skylar was having, she quickly noticed a tap on her window. She peered outside, but only saw a parking lot with two old cars parked and a dumpster. She shook her head and looked back down at the table, but as soon as she did she heard the tap again. She glared outside and saw a mouse like shadow casting from behind the dumpster. She figured she must be seeing and hearing things, as her brain was exhausted from her tantrum.
The waitress came back with drinks and handed each one to the kids and Carmelita. She also handed Carmleita an empty coffee mug and poured some fresh hot coffee from her portable coffee pot. "Do you want any cream or sugar?" She asked.
"Some cream would be nice." She answered. "Do you have half and half?"
"I do." The waitress smiled as she finished pouring the coffee. "I'll be right back."
As the waitress was leaving, Skylar leaned back up against the window. She quickly heard the tap again, which made her flinch this time. "What is that tapping?!" She annoyingly yelled.
"Skylar!" Carmelita corrected. "Inside voice."
"Tapping?" Silvester leaned in, eager to know what was going on. "Maybe it's a bird or something."
"I don't know." Skylar buried her head into her hands. "It's annoying me. I think someone is out there throwing a rock or something."
"Well, let's trade spots." Silvester offered.
Carmelita raised an eyebrow and interrupted the twins before they could trade spots. "Someone is out there throwing a rock?"
"Well, I don't know." Skylar sighed. "I just saw a mouse thing outside and heard tapping."
"I doubt it's anything." Silvester stated. "It's probably a hobo and you're hearing an annoying bird. There's an annoying bird who taps on our window at home a lot."
"Silvester's probably right." Carmelita hesitantly stated. "Why don't you two just trade spots? I can see you're clearly exhausted, Skylar."
Skylar didn't hesitate to get up and trade with her brother. Silvester got up to allow Skylar to scootch out from the booth before he entered by the window. Skylar sat next to him and slid his water over to him. He, in return, slid her coke over to her.
"Thanks, Silver." Skylar smiled and slouched over.
"No prob." Silvester smiled. Just like his sister, he leaned up against the window and felt the cold winter air against his face. "You didn't like the cold window against your face? This feels nice!"
Just as Silvester was enjoying the cold weather, he too started to hear a tap on the window. "Hey, there is tapping on the window!" He exclaimed.
Carmelita couldn't hear anything, most likely to do with the extended use of her extremely loud shock pistol. She scooted near the window and peered outside to investigate, but could not see anything. "I don't see anything. Maybe it is a bird."
Skylar sighed. "You don't see that mouse figure by the dumpster?"
Carmelita glared to try to see what Skylar had been talking about. She quickly did notice some mouse ears that emerged from the dumpster. "It's probably just someone that is digging in the dumpster. I'll let the waitress know. They're probably tossing trash and we're hearing it."
The waitress emerged holding their pizza. She placed the pizza in the center of the table and handed everyone a small plate. She placed some parmesan cheese and some pepper flakes as well next to the pizza. "Please enjoy." She smiled. "Let me know if you need anything else."
"I think there's someone digging in the dumpster." Silvester interrupted in a tattling form.
The waitress grew puzzled. "Digging in the dumpster?"
"Well, we don't know that." Carmelita corrected. "We just heard tapping and noticed someone by the dumpster. It's not a big deal."
"Oh." The waitress said, very confused. "I'll let the boss know. I'm sorry. Is there anything else I can get you?"
"No, we're fine. And it's not your fault, honey. Just thought we'd let you know."
About 2 hours later at the apartment…
After everyone had their hot shower, the twins were ready for bed. Carmelita normally stayed up a bit late watching her show, but she was also very exhausted. Carmelita turned off the tv everyone was watching. "Okay, kids. Let's call it a night."
Silvester and Skylar did not hesitate to get up from the couch and go into their room for bed. Luckily, they were already changed into their pajamas after their shower, so they just hopped right underneath the covers and snuggled with their pillows. Carmelita entered their room and turned off their light. "I love you. Sleep well." She blew them a kiss and closed their door.
Silvester managed to fall right asleep, but Skylar was having issues trying to coax her brain to fall asleep. Her mind kept racing with thoughts about their father and what had happened today. Just as she was wrestling with her blankets to try to get comfortable, she heard tapping on her window. She was instantly very annoyed, as she figured someone was doing this on purpose. She rolled over and attempted to open the window, but the window seal was way too far down for her to reach from her bunk, so she climbed down and opened it to investigate. "What?" She angrily whispered.
She quickly noticed the mouse figure again from the parking lot, this time waving at her. Skylar was confused, wondering what this mouse could possibly want with her. She also noticed a van in the parking lot, looking exactly like the van that was tailgating them earlier when they were headed to the pizza joint. She knew this was probably not a good idea, but despite her common sense she decided to investigate what the stranger wanted.
Without even changing out of her pink pajama set, Skylar climbed out of her window down the building to the parking lot. She noticed her mother's window was illuminated by her lamp she left on, so Skylar assumed she was awake. She did not need to climb near her mother's window, but she feared she might hear her outside. She hung down from the steel flower balcony that dangled from her room and attempted to fall and catch the pipe that bordered the building. Slowly, she tried to swing herself and catch the pipe, but missed and fell only a few feet down before grabbing onto a neighbor's flower balcony.
"Skylar!" The stranger yelled, but managed to stay quiet enough to only Skylar could hear.
"I'm trying to get down." Skylar yelled back. When she snuck out, she normally just walked across the cable wire that connected the neighborhood apartment complex to Carmelita's complex, but she had to get down to the parking lot so the cable was useless. Once again with more strength, Skylar swung herself to the pipe and managed to grasp on, only slipping just a slight bit. "Man, I suck at climbing pipes." She murmured to herself. Carefully, Skylar released some grip and began to slide down the extremely cold pipe until she reached the bottom. "Man, that was rough." She said as she was brushing herself off. She wandered over to the waving stranger that was hiding behind one of the complex's dumpsters.
"Okay. I know you have been following us and you were annoying my brother and I. What do you want?" Skylar stood angrily as she said this. Her body language was threatening, but the stranger knew Skylar wasn't much of a threat.
The stranger emerged from the dumpster, revealing who she was. She was a slender and short purple mouse. She had long curly blonde hair that was tied back in a messy ponytail. Her eyes were a dark, chocolate brown and small. She had thin round glasses which made her look more like a nerd rather than a threat. She wore a slender yellow bodysuit and black boots, and sported a green backpack that she was only using one strap to carry.
"Forgive me." She spoke. "My name is Penelope. You're Skylar aren't you?"
Skylar nodded in response.
"You have a brother named Silvester, right?"
Skylar also nodded to this question.
"Okay, so I have the right person. I was hoping to speak to your brother too, but beggars can't be choosers. Anyway, I'm here to help you. I can help you find your dad."
Skylar raised an eyebrow, fairly suspicious of this stranger. She had no idea who Penelope was, nor heard anyone ever mention her. How would she know where her dad is, or let alone who her dad even was.
"I don't have time to explain right now." Penelope explained. "I can say though, I have been watching you guys ever since you two were babies. Your mom knows me, sort of, but we aren't on good terms. I have been trying to find your father ever since you two were tiny babies, and I finally found out where he is at." Penelope handed Skylar a very old looking vase that clearly had seen better days. It was covered in so much dust Skylar couldn't even make out the color of it. The vase also sported a large crack leading from the bottom to the rim, with part of the rim looking like it was broken off. "Give this to Bentley, you know, your uncle." Penelope hesitated when she said this. "He will know what to do with it, but please DO NOT tell him I gave it to you."
Skylar hesitantly took the vase from Penelope. "Why not?"
Penelope sighed and flipped her ponytail. "Bentley and I, well we don't get along. If you tell him I gave you that he won't use it."
"I don't trust you." Skylar crossed her arms and huffed.
Penelope kneeled down to Skylar's level. "I know, I am a stranger to you, but trust me I am on your side." She grabbed her hands. "I want you and your brother back with your dad."
Skylar thought for a moment, but figured Penelope had probably meant well. There was nothing dangerous inside the vase after all, it was just an old vase. She had so many questions, but at the same time she wanted to get back inside before her mother notices she isn't in her bed.
"We can talk later, Skylar, okay?" Penelope stood up. "Meet me by the sandwich shop that's right across the street from your school tomorrow. I'll explain everything."
Before Skylar could respond, Penelope disappeared into the night, leaving Skylar extremely confused with an old vase. She shrugged, figuring all of this would be cleared tomorrow. As of right now, Skylar just wanted to go back to sleep.
10 years ago…
"So Carmelita, you've been experiencing some pain in your stomach recently?"
Carmelita's stomach pain kept progressing, so she decided to visit her clinic to make sure she and her baby were healthy. The clinic was very large, as it was actually inside a hospital. Carmelita was noticeably getting very large very fast, a lot faster than she had thought. She felt like a fat whale, as nothing other than sweatpants and old t-shirts fit her. She decided to take maternity leave early, as she could hardly do any of the work because of her pregnancy.
"Do you mind if we do a quick ultrasound?" The doctor politely asked.
"No, but I'm going to need help getting up. I feel like this baby is going to fall out, and I'm not even halfway there yet!"
The doctor laughed as she helped Carmelita up. "Well, there is a maternity belt you can purchase. You can get it at pretty much any store or online. It'll help with all that pressure. I can tell you I can guarantee your baby will not fall out."
Carmelita groaned as she walked over to the ultrasound room. She was greeted by a very young and friendly nurse that was getting the machine ready. "Hello Miss Fox." She greeted. "Come and lay down on this bed here and I'll get you started."
Carmelita laid down on a very small and slender bed with only a thin paper protecting her from the surface. The nurse rolled up her shirt and dipped the scanner into some jelly.
"This might be a bit cold." She warned. Carmelita's doctor stood behind the nurse, anxiously watching the screen.
Carmelita flinched as the cold jelly hit her skin. The nurse moved the scanner all around her belly, snapping a button every so often while the doctor observed. This didn't hurt Carmelita, but it did tickle her belly.
"Okay, I see the problem." The doctor interrupted.
The nurse finished up her scanning and wiped Carmelita's belly to remove the jelly.
The doctor moved the screen so Carmelita could see it. "Okay Miss Fox, here's the thing." The doctor pointed at Carmelita's tiny baby. The baby looked like a little bean, but she could clearly see its little fingers and toes. "This is baby A." The doctor sternly reported.
"Baby…A?" Carmelita hesitantly asked. She couldn't help but wonder why the doctor called her baby that, and even worried a little bit.
The doctor pointed down and another bean was spotted. Just like the known baby, you could see this little bean's fingers and toes, and it appeared to be smiling a little bit.
"This is baby B. Miss Fox, congratulations! You're having twins!"
Carmelita's face turned pale. Twins? What was she going to do with twins? She was already scared enough with one baby, now she has two. She thought maybe there had to have been a mistake, but looking at the ultrasound she could clearly see the second baby on the screen.
"Both babies look healthy to me. Mothers having twins typically experience a hard pregnancy, so I am advising you to take it easy. Do not do any hard core exercising like push ups or running. Stick with walking, that will be the best for you, and even lifting weights might help, but don't go over 10 lbs. Drink lots of water and make sure you eat healthy. Also, get that belt I suggested, that will help with the pressure." The doctor wrote some notes on her clipboard. "I know this is probably a huge shock, Miss Fox. If you need anything, we are here. No question is silly enough. Do you have any questions now?"
Carmelita was too in shock to really respond. She had several questions, but didn't know where to start. She finally managed to come up with a question for the doctor. "Am I going to get really big?" Carmelita cringed at this question, instantly regretting coming up with it. She really was concerned for the babies, but the doctor assured her that they were healthy.
"Big? Oh yes, but you won't pop. You feel like you might, but you won't. That belt will help, I promise." The doctor smiled.
Carmelita slowly got up, not sure what else to really say. All she could think about was that she was going to have twins, alone, without the father. She tried to think about what Sly would say, but she couldn't manage to come up with anything. She figured Sly probably would've been just as shocked as her. She just hoped her upcoming baby shower her mother was throwing her was going to cover at least cribs and strollers.