Nine months already

"Hey, Zen"

It's been a while since I've seen Leon so I'm a bit surprised when he pops up at my door. Where in the hells has this man been? Well I know he has been in the house all this time, because well he's kind of a butler and I have been hearing his thoughts every day. While I haven't been seeing him around I can tell you that I have not missed him in the slightest because this guy here, like my good old father, has one-sided conversations with me in his head. I can't even begin to count the number of times I've burst out into laughter by the dumb stuff he tells me. My mother would always look at me like I'm crazy before she remembers that my mind roams to those of others. She also realized that Leon is very much in the house and apparently she too knows of how stupid he can be for such a refined butler.

It's funny how often my father forgets we have a butler because anytime I mention Leon he's confused until it hits him and then he too is laughing like some idiot.

"Okay, you popped up sooner than I thought" I seriously expected him to show his face after about six months or so but it's only been two months since I last saw him. He had appeared in the backyard when I was doing some workouts and we had a little competition for who could do the most pushups in a minute. I lost, but it was fun.

"Me too, but your father had something for me to do" there's a jesting tone in his voice and I understand that it has to do with the fact that my father remembered he existed.

"Wow, he remembers"

"No, not really, I think your mother told him I can take care of something for him" as he says that he pushes the door open all the way, moves away and comes back with a guitar case in hand. A case he gently places before me before retreating again and coming back with another case, one I'm sure holds a keyboard. "So yeah, he got you a guitar and keyboard"

He actually did it. I mean I did expect him to do it especially after he said he would do it, but he actually did it. I had told him that if I had to play any instrument it would be the guitar or keyboard, both would be fine too and he went along with it. Welp. I've got instruments now.

Where do I put them? My room doesn't have enough space, especially after mom had gotten me this fancy art table that I am obsessed with. That thing is amazing and makes me feel like some professional even though my art needs some work. Then there's the computer corner my mom had set up for me to do my school work and practice writing because she thinks I'm good at writing stories even when they're ridiculous.

I do remember saying that I'm interested in all three of these things, but I did not think my parents would let me indulge in all of them.

All of this in my room leaves little space so I don't see how I can accommodate a guitar and keyboard.

Before I can say this, however, Leon goes on to offer a solution.

"Your father also told me to help you move into another room since this one is too small to keep all your stuff, so we'll be pretty busy today"

"Then why did you bring this stuff to my room?"

"I didn't think it through"

"Obviously not"

Leon carefully places my new things against my wall, standing tall before me with his hands on his hips as if he's considering something.

"I think we need to get some paint for your room" he's nodding to his own statement, already walking out the door and only stopping for me to follow. With a shrug, I do just that because I completely agree. The rooms that are not occupied are all painted white or some pale colour that I do not agree with. If I'm going to have a new room I very much prefer the colours of my former.

Leon and I travel to the shed in the backyard and back to the house within the span of five minutes. It could have been two had my bodyguard not tripped over my basketball and made a mess, a mess he had to clean up because I was not doing that again. Every day after I finish my business in the backyard I make sure the shed is neatly arranged and earlier today I had done that.

After he managed to get back on his feet and clean up his mess we got some buckets of paint, some brushes and everything we would need to fix up my new room. We found some blue, white, orange and pink paint. That's good because they all go well with blue and how well they work together depending on the shade of blue I go with. My current room is coloured a type of baby blue accompanied by a basic grey. It worked well together, well enough for me to want it again, but a new room equals a new colour palette. I'm keeping blue as my main, the only difference here is that I'll choose between white, orange and pink paint. I do not like certain shades of pink so I'm very picky when it comes to this colour. I will not tolerate deep shades of pink and prefer lighter shades that don't hurt my eyes. Hot pink is trash. Rose, peach and blush are the only shades I tolerate enough and I do believe they work well with light blue and baby blue.

Aren't those the same colour?

When we get up to the room that's soon to be mine we find a note on the door, a note that has fine, almost unintelligible writings on it, handwriting that can only belong to my eccentric father. On this sorry excuse for a note, I barely manage to understand that the old man had gotten me a new bed as well. Sadly he could not stick around to put it together so that task is up to my sidekick and I and that's okay because it looks like an adventure.

"I wonder what type of bed he got me" I'm mildly excited on top of curious, a sentiment Leon doesn't share because he now has to get the bed out of the room so we can paint it.

"I don't know, but it's a good thing it's not assembled"

"Yup and good thing I don't have to carry it"

Yup, he's the big strong man and I'm just a ten-year-old girl, so that's his problem.

While Leon breaks his back trying to get the bed out of the room I take the time to have a look around. It's obvious at first glance that this room is bigger than mine, far bigger, it's huge. Okay maybe not huge, but it's bigger and can definitely accommodate everything I have and more. The bathroom resembles mine with the tub, shower, sink and all that but it's spacier and looks grander. Heh, I got a grand bathroom. The bathroom is the only place that's allowed to keep the original colour simply because I love a white bathroom. Though it needs to be cleaned very often and that's a pain.

I get into the closet, happy to find it the same size as my last as I realize it will be some hard work transferring all the clothes I have. Maybe while we're at it I'll get rid of some things that don't fit me, perhaps I'll save them for my new sibling. I have plenty of gender-neutral clothes so it works either way.

"Leon, we have a lot of work to do pal"

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to be doing most of the work" Leon says while performing a stretch before the door. He has a point, but I'm still going to put some work in.

"Hey, I can get the low places better than you and I can dry the paint when we're done"

A quick gust of wind from me should dry the paint in the blink of an eye, at least I'm hoping that's the effect I'll have.

"Yeah, yeah, let's get to it, kid"

~~~~~~

Leon and I are more than halfway done with my room when my name pierces my brain very unexpectedly. I'm left standing in surprise as I try to recover from the loudness of the voice in my head, a voice I recognize as my mother. I don't get time to process the growing headache nor do I get time to fully register the distress that flows through me because my mother is talking to me and I have to focus completely on her thoughts just to understand. Each word she speaks is rushed with her voice holding the undertone of distress, distress that is very much disguising itself as my own.

"Uh, Leon" my mother's words carry an urgency and I get why after everything clicks and I'm rushing out the room before I know it. I pause at the door, dizzy with how quickly my mind forces the emotion away and replaces it with my usual or perhaps very unusual calm. Okay, calm. I'm calm, dizzy and disoriented, but calm.

"You okay kid?"

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine, but mom's water broke and I need to call dad and you need to get her and get us to the hospital and all of this needs to be done immediately" my voice is calm, I am calm. I don't think I should be this calm, why aren't I nervous? I was distressed just a moment ago, why do I always revert to calm and so quickly?

"You're very calm"

Yeah, I am and I'm not going to ponder on that right now because my mom is gonna have a kid soon.

"I gotta call dad"

I knew from the very start that dad would most likely not be here when this exact situation occurred, yet I'm seriously wishing he was here. I gotta call him and let him know to meet us at the hospital as soon as possible. I also gotta let him bring me something sweet to snack on just in case I start reacting like a normal child at some point

I'm calm and worried but too damn calm to even register the emotions because calm is all I'm allowed to feel and it never bothered me until this moment. Anytime I experience strong emotions like this my brain forces me to be calm. I understand that it helps me in the long run and that it's most likely some sort of countermeasure of my quirk, but sometimes I would just like to experience my emotions fully and normally instead.

I trust Leon to safely handle my mother and take the time to find a bag, stuff it with everything I think my mother would need, including food and the blanket she loves to curl up in. I'm running around my house like a maniac and barely avoid falling down the stairs. When I tripped my whole life flashed before my eyes as I truly believed I would suffer the same pathetic death that had brought me to this world.

Leon is carrying my mother down the stairs so swiftly you would think she was weightless. He's out the door in a second and I'm following with all the keys in hand as I make sure to lock up, talk to the guards and get Leon the key to the car all while feeling as if this was just some normal day.

It is not a normal day, so please stop feeling so composed.

I scramble into the car after Leon and my mother all while answering my mother's phone that has been ringing forever.

"Dad, I told you everything is going to be okay. Leon is here and he'll take us to the hospital, you just make sure to get there are soon as you can"

"Why are you calmer than me"

Oh, I don't know, maybe because you sound on the verge of tears.

"Not the main issue here, Vincent" he goes quiet on the other end at the use of his name. "Now, I need you to get yourself together and get to the hospital. You've been through this before, you shouldn't be breaking down like this, old man"

"You're right, you're right. This is not new, this has happened before. Rose will be fine, I'll be fine, our baby will be fine everything wi-" he's blabbering now, this poor fool.

"Dad, everything is fine. Get to the hospital"

"Yea o-"

"I'm hanging up now"

He doesn't get another word in before I press the big red button on the screen. Now he has no distraction and can focus on getting to the hospital to witness the birth of his second child.

"I'll never get used to this pain" mom moans as she reclines her seat, almost crushing me under it in the process.

"Um mom, I understand that you're in pain right now and that I should choose my words carefully lest my sibling is born an only child, but I need you to tell me when your water broke if you can" I hope she doesn't snap on me. "And I think you should be timing the contractions you're clearly having"

Reading up on pregnancy was something I found to be logical, having known this would happen at some point and it always helps to be knowledgeable. I have read what mom is most likely experiencing and what she should do, how to keep her relaxed, how to help with the pain and all that. I just really hope that what I've learned proves to be useful.

Thankfully my mother doesn't bite my head off for my words and give me the time she thinks her water broke. She wasn't aware of it until she stood up to go to the bathroom and just felt it flow. I make sure to memorize her given time just in case it is something the doctor would need to know, though I'm sure I won't be allowed in the room when the whole process takes place

Isn't it useless for me to know then?

You never know, you know?

Mom makes another pained noise that has me wanting to hold her hand, but I quickly rid myself of that thought, remembering all the movies I've watched and how women in labour seem to be stronger than the hulk.

"Zena, sweetie, baby" I'm not used to my mother sounding so brittle. I'm not used to the pain in her voice or seeing her in this much pain in general, so I'm concerned, a feeling that is not immediately forced to the back of my mind this time.

I'm sitting attentively at her side, waiting for her to tell me whatever it is she needs of me, ready to do anything for this woman right now.

"Zena, I need you to promise me something"

Anything.

"If I ever, ever wish to have another child after this I want you to talk some sense into me, remind me of the pain, the terrible pain and if that does not work, please work on my nerve until I remember how annoying a child can be"

Woman, I'm over here devoting my entire being to you, thinking you would tell me something heartwarming and this is what you do?

"Mom"

"And if Vincent even thinks about it make sure to punch him in the gut for me"

Mom, why did I expect anything else from you?

"Is that all?"

"No, I also want to tell you that you should really consider adoption when you're older, it'll save you a lot of trouble"

Oh believe me, that was the plan from the very beginning, you don't even need to tell me.

I'm quiet for a moment, waiting for her to say anything else as she suffers another contraction.

"If this child ever disrespects me I will I will kill them"

Oooookaaaay.

Yea, note to self; never offend my mother unless I want my second trial of life to come to an end.