My Distraction ((Kael))

[Adrina De Luca]

“Here, here!” Aunt Kat called to Adrina as she put Gia in her arms. Adrina had just walked into the door of her cottage in Hogsmeade. “What. No hello?” Adrina teased as she looked to Gia. The baby girl was crying out of frustration. She had no idea what was going on. “Hush, Gia. It’s okay. It’s okay.” She tried to calm the baby, but Gia insisted on wailing. Kat was busy pulling her coat on. “Wait. Where’s Aria?” Adrina asked as she looked around the cottage. “Hospital.” She said simply. Adrina nodded as Gia calmed down a tad. “She okay?” Adrina asked. Aunt Kat shook her head. “She’s hanging on, but there isn’t much they can do Adrina. She needs lungs and they just haven’t found a set that will match up. She’s going to be this way until they do.” Adrina nodded. Kat sighed and looked to her niece. “I’ll stop by tomorrow, but I’ll call you when I see how Aria is doing.” Adrina nodded as her aunt left the cottage. “They never talked about Aria’s illness. Well, Adrina and Kat did, but Adrina and Aria didn’t. Aria was her best-friend and yet, this was just something they didn’t talk about. One day, Aria would most likely die from this Cystic Fibrosis. Most patients didn’t live past thirty-five. Adrina didn’t like to think about it, but she knew that Aria did. Adrina bounced Gia lightly in her arms. “It’s going to be okay.” She repeated to herself.

Gia giggled at the tape Adrina had playing on the television. Yes, Adrina had a television but she knew that they weren’t the only ones in Hogsmeade that did. It entertained Gia, plus there were a few shows on it that Adrina liked to watch. Adrina smiled at her baby as she headed to the kitchen, where she could still see Gia watching the show from her playpen. She wished that Aunt Kat would call soon. Adrina knew that Aria would be okay for the day, but in the long-term years, she wouldn’t be. Something had to be done. It was sad to think that someone had to die for Aria to live, but that was the reality of it all. Aria would need another set of lungs to live and if she didn’t get them, she probably wouldn’t live past thirty. Adrina sighed and pulled out a notepad. She hadn’t written in so long so this was long over-due. She needed to write this all down. It would help her process everything easier. Adrina shook her head and began to write. Thoughts, feelings, everything seemed less complicated on paper and that was exactly what Adrina needed for the moment.

“Ring, ring.” Finally. This was yet another muggle device that was in the De Luca household, but Adrina needed her cell phone with all the commutating she did to Hogwarts and back. Plus, she liked to know how Gia was doing. Adrina sighed and picked up her phone. “How is she?” Adrina could hear Aunt Kat sigh on the other end of the phone. “She’s hooked up to an IV right now. This was just another bad spell, but they said she can come home tomorrow.” Adrina nodded. “Good.” She nearly smiled. “But, Adrina..” Aunt Kat paused. “Yes?” She asked. “They really need those lungs.” Adrina nodded and then it hit her. Aria needed them soon. She needed them soon or she wouldn’t make it. This wasn’t exactly like cancer. Aria wouldn’t die within in next few months, but she could within the next five years if she didn’t get those lungs. Adrina nodded. “Oh, okay.” She said trying to act casual. “You okay?” Kat asked. Adrina nodded feebly. “Yea.” She said finally. “Okay. I’ll check in tomorrow.” Adrina sighed. “Okay.” She clicked off the phone. Adrina wasn’t one to cry, but she felt like it. Aria could die. For once, Aria seemed mortal. For once, she wasn’t put up on that pedestal that Adrina usually had her on. For once, Adrina realized that Aria wouldn’t be around her entire life. And these thoughts scared Adrina more than she was willing to admit.

The program on the television continued, but Gia was half-asleep. Adrina smiled at her cute baby and yawned. Adrina was a little tired herself. She had only been at the cottage for a few hours and yet the day seemed so far gone and yet it was only four in the afternoon. Adrina sighed as she eyed her work on the kitchen table. She didn’t want to pick it up anymore. Things had changed in her mind from the second she started writing that to the second Kat called. It would stay on the table until Adrina had the strength to pick it up again. Adrina sighed. She needed a distraction, a good one. It was then that Adrina heard a knock on the door. She sighed. It was probably that annoying Jeremy Reynolds again. The boy had been obsessed with Adrina for years and she despised him or it. Adrina shook her head, preparing to yell at him to go away, when she opened the door and instantly smiled. “Do I know you?” She asked Kael and then smiled. Adrina leaned in and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek. “Perfect timing. Gia’s asleep and I needed a distraction." She told him as she pushed him inside the house and closed the door. “So, just walking the neighborhood or is there a particular reason that you’re here.” She said in a mock aggressive tone before smiling lightly. Kael didn’t need an excuse. Adrina was just glad that he was there.

[kael]

Things are going fine over here, Kael, no need to worry about your Dad and me. The kitten healed up quicker than anyone had imagined so I can get back to looking after the bookstore during the day now. Your Dad’s worried about Lynne, thinking that she doesn’t sound like her usual self in her letters. You keep an eye on your sister, you hear me? Kael snorted at that, putting the letter down on his lap. If Father could tell the difference between the usual Lynne and this strangely unhappy Lynne through letters then it was more serious than he had imagined. If the sentiment had come solely from his mother then he could have dismissed it as her usual concern over Lynne but this was different. Still, he had gotten the information he had wanted and that meant that he had to start making a plan of how to handle his sister now that it wasn’t just him she was worrying. Lynne could be so selfish sometimes; never accepting help even when it was obvious that she needed it and said help was going to be freely given. He shook his head completely disgruntled before finishing reading the letter. Victoria has been hired on a freelance modelling job, dear, so she asked me to inform you and Lynne that she’ll not be writing to you until she returns from Ireland. She did promise to bring back presents, if that’s any consolation. Heh. Kael grinned slightly at the news. So Vic was finally taking up job offers again. Good for her. His neighbour had never said why she’d stopped a few months back and neither Kael nor Lynne had pried but it was good to know that she was over whatever had bothered her.

Kael penned a quick reply to his mother, including a promise to confront Lynne if she didn’t cheer up soon and a congratulations to pass on to Vic, and slipped an owl treat to Artemis, still waiting faithfully for a reply, before tying the parchment to the owls leg. It was hard being the older sibling sometimes. A few minutes had landed him with all the responsibility and occasionally he hated it. Then again, even if Lynne had been born first and he had been the one to arrive a few minutes after her, he would probably still be the responsible one because he was pretty sure Lynne didn’t even know the meaning of the word. She had been spoilt by their parents in a way that he hadn’t and, sometimes, he hated them for that, for making them so different. Lynne and he were so different, both in looks and personality, that Kael was sure one of them had been adopted. It wasn’t true, of course, because their parents would have told them something so important but it seemed a lot more likely than them being related by blood sometimes.

Kael rubbed his temples with a weary sigh, watching the dark brown owl head back home. If only he could do the same. Returning home and avoiding everything that he needed to do seemed like a good idea but it simply wasn’t practical. Besides, he still had one last thing to do today before he resigned himself to hours of essays and other homework. He had already given Gia her birthday present back in January, when her actual birthday was, so Adrina would probably think him odd for bringing another parcel today, a day which held no special significance. But it had only been finished yesterday and had only arrived today so he’d had no choice in the day. Ah well. The day could have its own significance, for just the three of them. The leather bound book with Gia’s name scripted across the front and filled with over one hundred fairytales, some of them well-known and some of them Kael’s own creation, was a present that would be more used when Gia was older anyway. But when the idea had come to him in December Kael hadn’t been able to resist. He had stayed up till the early hours of the morning and gotten only three hours of sleep far too many times to count until he had gotten it finished and sent away to be bound. It should be worth it though, unless Adrina just laughed at him for being ridiculous and sentimental. Darn it, loving a little child did not make him sentimental. It did ruin his cynical and uncaring image though.

Even Lynne had pitched in to help, though she didn’t know who it was for, by providing the brightly coloured paper that he had wrapped it with. Kael stopped outside the front door and shook his head, feeling incredibly idiotic. What had he been thinking? It was a ridiculous idea and one that terrified him because he had never been the type to show his stories to others and here he was, practically handing them to Adrina and Gia on a silver platter. What if they didn’t like them or Gia burst out crying in disgust? But before he could stop himself and return back to the castle, he had knocked and Adrina had opened the door. “I’m here for a special delivery of sorts,” Kael explained, holding up the wrapped book as proof, with a light blush staining his face. “It’s a present for Gia. Your present is me being here,” Kael teased lightly before looking at Adrina closely and frowning slightly. Something was off but he wasn’t quite sure what. It was probably his imagination, Kael assured himself, trying to shrug his concerns away. He was probably just being overly sharp-eyed because he’d had such a close eye on Lynne lately and that had carried over to everyone else. Even if that wasn’t the case, Adrina would share what was bothering her, if it wasn’t just his imagination, if she wanted to.

[Adrina De Luca]

Adrina smiled lightly. Kael was the best distraction. He had always been that way really. Adrina could be fretting anything or annoyed with anything and Kael would say something that would remind Adrina that she was upset over nothing. And she usually was. However, the day that Adrina and Kael officially got together, well she was defiantly upset over something, but they were over that. Danny was gone or he seemed to be. Adrina hadn’t seen him in months. She figured he went back to Russia. It wasn’t like Danny to be away from his parents, but Adrina didn’t realize how much Danny had changed. The dorky little boy that Adrina could push around was no longer, but Adrina didn’t care either way. She never had to see him again. She didn’t need him and neither did Gia. Still, Drina knew that she would have to tell Gia about her father one day and Adrina would tell the truth. But she didn’t want to. Adrina wished she could just lie to Gia, but that wasn’t in her nature. Plus, Gia had a right to the truth even if it could be a bit painful. Adrina sighed and eyed Kael. Yep, those days were past them. Adrina didn’t know what the future had in store, but she didn’t care. She just wanted there to be one.

She closed the door behind him. “So, that’s your excuse, huh?” She kidded with him before looking over to the play pen by the television. Gia was sound asleep all snuggled up with her pink blanket and pillow. “Another present for Gia? I thought that it was the grandparent’s job to spoil her.” She raised an eyebrow playfully. And they did. Yes, technically Kat and Gino weren’t Gia’s grandparents, but that didn’t matter. They had raised Adrina so they had the right to call Gia their granddaughter. Plus, Adrina wanted it that way. Adrina took a seat on the couch and motioned for Kael to join her. Yes, Kael really was a distraction. She was so busy joking with him, it made everything with Aria melt away. Sure, Adrina would remember in a moment or two, but for now, she was carefree. “Wait she gets a real present and I just get you. I feel cheated.” She joked away before eyeing Gia once more. If she were awake, Gia would have giggled and clapped at the sight of Kael. She really did love him. When Adrina met Kael, she didn’t peg him as the baby type and Adrina wasn’t sure that he was. But he sure loved Gia.

“She’ll probably be asleep for a while, but I’m sure she’ll like the gift. She loves you more than me I think.” She joked. It was then that Adrina looked over at the picture on the wall. It was of Adrina and Aria swinging in the park when they were younger. Adrina smiled and then frowned. She was in a trance looking at it for a moment, but then she shook her head and looked back to Kael. She didn’t want to talk about it. Not yet, but she knew that she would. Some how Kael was bound to get it out of her. And he probably would even force her to say it. Adrina would just say it on her own. She was always doing that to herself, but it was probably for the best really. Adrina looked at what Kael was holding. “So, what is it?” She asked finally. Kael was a great gift giver and Adrina was always curious as to what he had. Well, actually Adrina was just nosy and curious in general, but that wasn’t the point.

[kael]

“I don’t need an excuse to come and see two of my favourite people.” Kael smiled affectionately, kissing his girlfriend lightly as he entered. His eyes landed on Gia and he chuckled lightly. The little girl looked so cute and innocent, curled up in a blanket. For all that he loved Gia, every time he saw her he was reminded of Danny and their unpleasant encounter in the bookstore. Kael wasn’t quite sure what had happened to Danny over the last few months but he had a feeling that he hadn’t disappeared for good. Danny had seemed too determined to reclaim his place at Adrina’s side and as Gia’s father to give up. The fact that Kael had apparently attended Hogwarts for five years without once noticing or hearing of him didn’t really alarm him since he wasn’t one to listen to the idle gossip flying around the castle. Probably Kael would have met Danny if Lynne had dated him at one point because his twin was as eager for his approval as she had been when they had been young children, but he had been dating Adrina so that obviously hadn’t been the case. It was just as well. Kael smiled wryly. His blonde twin probably would have fallen for Danny without a second thought and Kael would rather not have to deal with such complications.

Kael smiled sheepishly, the red taint to his cheeks darkening as his uncomfortable embarrassment increased. “I like spoiling her,” he defended himself weakly. “You’re just jealous that she gets spoiled more often than you do. Maybe I’d spoil you too if you giggled, clapped and squealed with excitement whenever I came into the room,” Kael teased light-heartedly, setting the colourfully-wrapped present down on a table before moving to take a seat next to Adrina. He had probably been wrong about something bothering her, Kael observed doubtfully, since the darkness on her features had been all but erased as they had been talking. “Ah, but I’m the best present of all. Just think of me as a living teddy bear. Or a badger plushie, if we want to be House-orientated.” Kael grinned unrepentantly, taking no offence at the joke. He didn’t feel so nervous about the present any longer. That was the effect Adrina and Gia always had on him; they made him relax and laugh in a way that not even Lynne had ever been able to achieve. With Lynne, he was the protector, the big brother who always looked out for her and advised, lectured and consoled her when needed. If twins were truly two halves of the same soul then she was definitely the flightier half. With Adrina, he didn’t have to be ‘super brother’ or any other one of the many faces he showed to the residents of the castle. He was just...Kael, and that seemed to be enough. Gia certainly liked him.

Kael opened his mouth to refute her comment about Gia loving him more than her but closed his mouth again as he followed her gaze silently. The photo of the two girls was adorable and his mouth quirked upwards into a small smile before he brought his mind back to the point. “Is Aria out shopping?” Kael inquired lightly, his eyes holding her gaze as if to assure her that he wouldn’t push her into discussing it further than she wanted to. It wasn’t his business, even though Adrina was his girlfriend and Gia his almost-daughter. Besides, it wasn’t pleasant to be pressured into talking about something you just weren’t ready to discuss. “Open it and find out,” Kael offered, rising to retrieve the book from the table and handing it to her. “I’m sure Gia won’t mind.”

[Adrina De Luca]

Adrina raised an eye-brow. Kael was just the thing she needed. But she knew that she would have to tell him what was going on eventually. But not now. She just wanted his company and nothing more. Adrina didn’t need Kael to feel sorry for her even though she knew that he probably wouldn’t. That was one of the things that made Adrina like Kael so much. He wasn’t like other boys who pretended to be something they weren’t or act a different way. Kael was always himself and that was just how Adrina liked him. From the beginning, they clicked and Adrina never wanted that to change. “Okay so maybe you don’t.” She said playfully eyeing her sleeping daughter before looking back to Kael. Kael was about the only boy Adrina knew that didn’t freak out when they found out about Gia. Actually, Kael knew about Gia when they met as Adrina was holding her daughter. So she had nothing to hide from Kael and it was clear that Gia didn’t freak him out. In fact, Kael adored her and he was great with her. He would make a great father one day, but Adrina refused to think about that. Once she thought about her future with Kael, it was disappear. That was what happened with Danny. Adrina wasn’t going to jinx it. Not again.

Adrina smiled at the redness in Kael’s cheeks. She scooted a tad closer to Kael as he sat next to her. “It’s okay. I think it’s okay to spoil a one year old. But when she gets older I have to actually play the mom card.” She hated thinking about it. Adrina wanted to be a friend to her daughter and she would be. But she would have to figure out that fine line of friend and mother one day. But that was a long ways off Adrina hoped. Adrina smiled and shook her head. “I don’t need to be spoiled. Nope, I crossed that off my to-do list long ago.” And actually that literally happened. At the age of ten, Adrina had a to-do list that went sort of like this: get in Gryffindor, check; kiss Danny Lowell, unfortunately check; and get spoiled for the first time in your life, check. The last one came courtesy of Danny who bought Adrina a rose every day for the first month they dated. It was a cute, but not very personal to Adrina. That was when Adrina decided that she never had to be spoiled again. Yes, this isn’t a normal girl thing to do but Adrina had never been a normal girl.

Adrina eyed the phone for a minute. She wanted Kat to call back and assure Adrina that Aria was fine for the moment, but that wasn’t going to happen so Adrina just had to try and concentrate on Kael and nothing more. “Badger plushie? Okay nothing against Hufflepuff but couldn’t the mascot be a little more fitting?” She smiled slightly. “Okay so this is confusing, I thought that lions were loyal. So why is the Hufflepuff mascot not a lion and the Gryffindor something that is brave.” She laughed. “What’s a brave animal?” Okay so maybe this was a weird thought but Adrina was just joking even if her thoughts made sense. Adrina eyed Kael if Aria was out shopping. “Not exactly. She’ll be home tomorrow though.” She would tell him later just so she would stop thinking about it for five minutes. Adrina simply nodded and reached for the present. Adrina began unwrapping the paper gently just so that she could re-wrap it and Gia could unwrap it herself later. It was a book. A big book of sorts. It was leather bound with Gia’s name on the front. “It’s beautiful.” Adrina said eying the outside. She opened it up to find fairy-tales. Hundreds of them. Adrina smiled and looked to Kael. “Gia will love this.” She said giving him a hug. “You’re the best and I mean it.” Adrina smiled to him and then eyed the picture of herself and Aria once again. She sighed. Time to tell Kael. “The truth is, Aria is in the hospital for her CF. I don’t remember if I’ve ever told you that Aria has Cystic Fibrosis. It’s the reason why she never went to Hogwarts. She has good days and bad days but lately it has just been..” She shook her head. “bad. And they don’t know how long it will take before..” She nodded not finishing the sentence. She let her eyed trail to the wall. That was all she could say for the moment and hopefully that was alls he needed to say.

[kael]

Both Kael and Adrina had entered the relationship with an agreement of sorts. Both had clearly stated that they weren’t in love with each other but that they would give a relationship a try. It had been rash and a decision made in the heat of the moment, perhaps it had even been foolish. Certainly, Kael hadn’t put as much thought into that decision as he did others. But it had been practical. Neither had made any mad declarations of love but Kael had silently promised to be there for her and Gia no matter what. Their lies to Adrina’s psycho ex-boyfriend – Daniel? Kael really needed to get better with remembering names – had become truth in less than an hour. Well, except one lie that Kael had taken particular sadistic joy in after seeing Danny’s reaction. Gia had never once acknowledged him as her father, which was as it should be. He loved her – and how odd was that? He loved something that wasn’t himself, his twin, his parents or a kitten – but he wasn’t her father. That didn’t mean he wanted to hear her call Danny her dad. Kael had loved Gia even while he was trying to sort out his jumbled feelings toward Adrina. Now he had sorted them out and he found himself wishing that he was still confused. Balancing on the knife edge between love and strong affection was difficult, especially when Kael had a strong feeling he would be landing on the ‘love’ side of the line.

“That’s okay. You play the mum card and I’ll keep spoiling her.” Kael laughed playfully. Discipline wasn’t something he could do, Kael reminded himself sharply, reminding himself of where he stood in the bluntest way possible so that it would stick in his mind. He was a boyfriend, a passing fancy. By the time Gia needed Adrina to play the mother card, Kael would probably be long gone. As it should be. Adrina herself had told him that she didn’t want love. That was fine. Kael was almost perfectly okay with that. He hadn’t dated every girl who had expressed interest in him; Adrina didn’t have to accept the affections of every guy who has interested in her, and that included him. He might only be temporary but temporary was enough. He would be selfish and keep his emotions to himself. Bringing love into a relationship complicated things and Kael hated unnecessary complications. They just muddled things up and blurred lines that had been clearly set out.

Something was definitely wrong. Kael eyed Adrina sharply. She was distracted; her eyes were a bit too bright, her laughter a shade too bright. His mind latched on to the idea that maybe Danny had been around to bother her again – the paranoid part of him slyly suggested that she was breaking up with him because, after all, Danny was Gia’s real father and Kael was just temporary, right? – but he shook that idea off as nonsense. Adrina would have told him if Danny had been bothering her. “If I ever meet the Founders, I’ll ask them,” Kael responded dryly, sending her an apologetic look when his tone was just a tad too curt. He was letting his insecurities bother him now and that was unacceptable. Adrina started to open the present and Kael rose, crossing the room silently to gaze down at Gia as he forced his tumultuous thoughts to settle and calm. He didn’t mention that most of the stories were his own original creations. They would find out when Adrina started to read it. The truth finally came out and Kael sighed, crossing the room again in a few strides. “Everything will work out,” he murmured reassuringly, pulling her into a comforting yet, for him, awkward embrace. Kael was no good with things like this. Give him a problem and he’ll fix it even if he has to stay up all night; give him a storyline and he’ll write it; give him an upset girl and he’ll want to run in the opposite direction. Lynne was the emotional one, not him and he had never wished quite so fervently that his twin was there to handle the situation.

[Adrina De Luca]

Adrina tapped her fingers on the couch and smiled at her boyfriend. She never would have guessed that this would happen. After Danny, Adrina had no thoughts of dating. After all, how many boys wanted to date a girl with a baby? Not very many, but Kael was different. And so was Adrina. They weren’t your typical teenagers and it really had nothing to do with their ways of living. It was their personalities. They clicked in a different way straight from the beginning. It wasn’t like how Adrina clicked with Danny. Wait, had she? Really Adrina pushed her dorky friend away for as long as she could until she saw him laughing in Hogsmeade with a blonde girl one day. And the green monster of jealousy that was constantly in Adrina built up and she asked him out and he said yes. Adrina had always been one to take charge. She wasn’t a follower, Danny was. And Danny immediately said yes and they dated. And over time, Adrina fell for him, but it wasn’t like how it was with Kael. She didn’t feel the certainty that she felt with Danny with Kael. Adrina didn’t usually dream about her future, but she did with Danny. He openly cared about her enough for Adrina to even dream about them getting married some day. And then he broke her heart. Adrina was never going to be that naïve again. It killed her that she had allowed herself to become the victim. She wasn’t about to do that with Kael, but she wasn’t really worried. There were a lot of question marks with Adrina and Kael’s relationship, but she didn’t care. She liked him. She liked this stubborn boy that could get on her nerves from time to time. But she wouldn’t tell him that she cared the way she did. She didn’t want to push him away. She would never admit it but she needed him.

She shook her head and rested her arm next to his leg. “Fine spoil her but don’t make her a diva. Don’t make her one of those girls I secretly mock in school.” She said weakly. Adrina’s mind was on a different planet. Planet Aria. Aria was not only Adrina’s cousin but her best-friend as well. She knew everything about Adrina and she would do anything for her. After all, Aria offered to raise Adrina daughter for her! So Adrina could keep going to school and become a healer. Adrina owed her cousin everything and she wanted nothing in return. Adrina always felt guilt. Like she was putting too much on Aria so she was sick. Adrina knew that not much could be done for Aria’s condition, but Adrina couldn’t help but feel the guilt. This was the only situation that Adrina would allow herself to feel guilty about. Usually she thought it was childish, but this was different. Aria could die and Adrina couldn’t let that happen. She would fight as long as Aria did. Adrina lived through the death of her parents, but that was different. She was a child then and she could barely remember them. This was Aria. Aria was like her sister and Adrina wasn’t ready to give her up. She wasn’t ready to let her go.

Adrina knew that was Kael was on to her by his last remark. So she told him the truth. She didn’t want to lie to her own boyfriend and he should no. Adrina didn’t think he had the right to know, her mind wasn’t like that, but she needed to tell him. She eyed him. Adrina wasn’t going to cry. She couldn’t remember the last time she cried where she didn’t have something in her eye. She wasn’t about to show any weakness, especially not in front of Kael. Kael pulled her close. She liked being near him, but Kael wasn’t the warmest person Adrina had ever met. He was nothing like Danny that just wanted to be near her all the time. Kael was shyer and defiantly more awkward, but Adrina didn’t care. There were still sides of him that she connected with so strongly. After a few moments, she pulled away and looked into his eyes. “No it’s not.” And maybe Kael even knew this. The odds for Aria were horrible and Adrina knew that. She wasn’t about to believe the best. Adrina always went for the worst. It was then that the moment of silence was broken by a crying Gia. Adrina had been staring at the wall without even noticing it. She walked over, picked her daughter up and held her close. “It’s okay, Gia.” She calmed her infant daughter. Adrina turned to Kael as she gently bounced Gia in her arms. “I want to say that it will all be okay, but I’m not going to kid myself, okay.” She said loudly but she was more talking to herself than Kael. “She could die and then that’s it.” She shook her head. “There is nothing I can do about it and it bugs the hell out of me.” Maybe that was her Gryffindor side coming out. “I just have to sit here and watch her die, day by day.” Adrina sat down next to Kael still holing a still tired Gia in her arms. “I hate this.”

[kael]

Adrina was one of the few things that Kael didn’t have to share with his twin, and that was probably part of why Kael had liked her so much at the start of the friendship. And now, well now Kael just liked her and their friendship had become a relationship. Things had changed and Danny had been the catalyst for that change. How ironic. Kael grinned to himself faintly. He was quite sure that Danny would have smacked his head against the wall and screamed loudly to realise that Kael and Adrina had only been friends before he had appeared and shook things up a little. And Danny would almost certainly have been furious to learn that Kael was falling in love with the girl that Danny wanted to win back. Maybe this spark of somewhat malicious amusement that had built up in him was why Lynne enjoyed making him irritable by teasing him, Kael pondered thoughtfully. “I don’t think Gia could become a diva,” Kael assured Adrina with an affectionate smile. “You’re smart and practical and nothing like a diva so, with you as a role-model, Gia will grow up to be a wonderful girl with no diva-like qualities whatsoever.”

“So maybe it won’t work out and maybe everything won’t be okay.” Being comforting and caring hadn’t worked for him, it just wasn’t part of his personality to offer soothing words that, in the end, meant nothing and helped for only a little while. It was time to stop acting like his twin in the hopes of comforting his girlfriend and simply be himself because that was who Adrina had wanted as her boyfriend and Kael wasn’t the type of guy who pretended to be what he wasn’t. He was blunt to the point of being insensitive sometimes but he cared for Adrina and she knew it. “Maybe she’ll die or maybe she’ll live. Is there any point to this game of maybe and maybe not?” Kael inquired with an arched eyebrow. His tone might have been cool but Kael reached for Adrina’s hand and squeezed it gently, his thumb drawing circles on her hand absent-mindedly. “Adrina, you could fall down the stairs and die tomorrow or you could live to an old age. That’s how uncertain the future is. For all that people believe in Divination, no one can see into the future until the future is the present and then you’re not worrying about that future but even further ahead in the future.”

Kael reached out and tapped Gia on the nose playfully, lifting his head to smile at both mother and daughter warmly for a moment. “Sometimes people can’t do anything for the people they love and they just have to watch from the sidelines for a while.” Kael told her softly. “But, at some point, Aria will come home or you’ll go to see her and she’ll need you to be strong. She’ll need you to smile at her and hug her and show her that, even if she dies, you’ll be fine and you’ll find a way to carry on with your life. Isn’t Aria in pain at the moment? And yet isn’t she strong enough to wake up every day and watch you do things that she can’t and still love you even though you have everything that she never will?” Kael paused to look at Adrina thoughtfully, giving her time to collect herself before telling her the last few pieces of his blunt view of the situation. “Adrina, Aria won’t let herself die if she thinks that you’ll just crumble into pieces after she’s gone. She’ll hang on to life and she’ll continue suffering because that’s what you do when you place other people’s happiness and peace of mind above your own. But she can’t hold on forever and I’m sure she’d rather die while knowing that you’ll be strong rather than die with regrets about the people she’s leaving behind.” He had probably gone too far, Kael admitted regretfully. He hadn’t told Adrina the useless comfort words that people insisted were best for this type of occasion and he’d probably only upset her more. But he’d told her the truth and, even if he got kicked out of the house, he had given her something to think about.

[Adrina De Luca]

Adrina smiled slightly. “God I hope so.” She replied when Kael said he didn’t think that Gia could become a diva. Adrina De Luca was a lot of things but Diva was not one of them. She tried to look decent but she defiantly wasn’t anything close to a clothes diva and she defiantly didn’t put herself over other people. Gia was always first in Adrina’s mind and even Aria. They were the most important things in her life and they always would be. Adrina eyed her baby. She hoped she was doing a good job with Gia and she knew she as but Gia was only a year old. Only time would tell with her. Adrina sighed and thought for a moment. “I just..I dunno. She doesn’t have to be like me.” She laughed. “Actually maybe she shouldn’t be.” Adrina chuckled. “But I just don’t want her to be a victim I guess.” And this was true. Adrina wouldn’t bring it up but she hated herself for being a victim with Danny. She would always regret it and she didn’t want her daughter to feel the same way. Adrina shook her head slightly. She didn’t want to talk about Danny in any way or think about it. That part of her life was over for good and she wasn’t about to open that door back up again.

Adrina eyed Kael. He wasn’t good at comforting, but she knew that. And it wasn’t like she could change him or would even want to. If Adrina didn’t like Kael she would have dumped him months ago. But she liked him the way he was really. And if she didn’t like it, well he would most certainly know it. Adrina shook her head. “Not there’s not.” She answered his question. He was right and she knew it. So maybe he wasn’t good at comforting but she still felt better. He was good at explaining the things Adrina refused to think about. So maybe the comfort issue didn’t really matter much. Actually it didn’t at all. “You’re right. I’m just..” She sighed. “Angry I guess.” She looked to the wall and back at Kael. “This will be my third close family member to die and while I don’t remember my parents at all, I’ll remember Aria and so will Gia. Well, I’ll make Gia remember.” She eyed the baby in her arms now. “I won’t let you forget.” She said to her baby who giggled in response. Adrina sighed. “I’m just not gonna think about it.” She said out loud and nodded. “Yea so that’s that.” It wasn’t going to work, but Adrina was stubborn so she would at least try it out. She had to.

Adrina eyed Kael. He was probably thinking about his sister. Adrina had never met her. She didn’t really understand why. Kael mentioned her from time to time, but he never mentioned bringing her by. Adrina didn’t mind either way. She wasn’t about to wonder if she wasn’t good enough to meet his sister, because she knew that wasn’t the case. Kael just didn’t want to share her with his twin and Adrina could even understand that. This was simply the way she was. “When did you get so smart?” She asked smiling a bit. She nodded. He was right and she wished he wasn’t, but he was. “I’m just going to miss her is all.” Yep, the not talking about it didn’t work. “But you’re right. She’s not gone yet and she might not be at all, so why act like she is, right? She’d freak if she knew I was upset I mean she doesn’t even let me help her when she’s not feeling good.” She nodded. “She doesn’t want me to feel sorry for her. And the truth is, she and Gia are the only two people on the planet that I would feel sorry for.” That was very true. Adrina wasn’t a very forgiving or over-loving person but she was with her two favorite people. Adrina eyed Kael as she bounced Gia in her arms. She eyed Kael, but continued to bounce Gia. She wished he was wrong.

[kael]

Adrina worried about the strangest things sometimes. Maybe it was part of being a mother, because he certainly couldn’t understand it. Gia was Gia; currently an adorable baby with a power over Kael that not even he could put into words. Knowing his twin as he did, Kael suspected that Lynne would have teased him about having a fatherly affection for the baby if he ever gave her the chance to. But, stubbornly, Kael refused to think of the situation in such a way. Whether they liked it or not – and, due to his dislike of the other male, Kael certainly didn’t like it – Danny was Gia’s father and nothing would change that. The only thing that made Kael ever eye Gia with even the faintest aversion was the idea that she might grow up to resemble Danny, that she might grow into a reminder of what had happened in the past. He wasn’t jealous, simply because that wasn’t in Kael’s nature to be jealous or possessive. But, if they stayed together, Gia would always be the reminder of Danny, always be following them around. It would just be easier to bear if she resembled Adrina rather than Danny. “She’ll grow up into whoever she wants to be,” Kael answered simply, his expression guarded as he glanced at Gia, silently wondering once more if he was strong enough to accept her even if she grew to look like her father and, more importantly, whether Adrina would break under the strain of facing signs of her ex-boyfriend staring out at her from her daughters face. Only time would tell.

Kael tilted his head, studying Adrina curiously, his face devoid of the affection he felt for her. He did that sometimes and it alternately made Lynne laugh and drove her insane with curiousity. She, so controlled by her emotions despite his best efforts to make her otherwise, could never understand how he could examine someone’s emotions with such a clinical detachedness or why he did it and Kael had never felt the need to explain it to her, or to anyone. It was just another facet of his personality. Part of it was his writer side emerging. No one in his life had ever died before so he couldn’t draw on personal experience if he ever wrote about that but experiencing someone else’s emotions first hand was almost as good, in some ways. It helped that he was good at getting inside people’s heads to understand them. “Everyone dies sometime. Maybe it’s not fair that Aria’s so close to death when she’s only young but, realistically, when is life ever fair? And at least she won’t be in pain anymore. There are worse things than death.” For a moment, Kael contemplated telling Adrina that not thinking about something didn’t make it go away nor would it help her to cope but subsided into silence without opening his mouth. He had been quite blunt and tactless enough without making it worse for her. That conversation could wait for another day, if it had to.

That hadn’t been what he meant but Kael stifled a sigh and decided against correcting his girlfriend’s misunderstanding. Being the pessimistic person he was, Kael was quite sure that Aria would die but there was no harm in letting Adrina have a bit of hope, right? If Aria did die then she would be hurt, but Kael had dealt with hurt before, in physical, emotional and mental manifestations. His twin had been damaged by their frightened, horrified mother and jeering children when they had only been kids but Kael had helped her through it and Lynne was coping admirably. She was a bit overly dependent perhaps, but that would undoubtedly pass in time. It had to. Kael was used to being the strong one, the one who pieced people back together and helped them to remain stable. If he had to, then he would put aside his aversion to emotional confrontations to help Adrina through Aria’s death. “There’s no point in worrying about the future, especially when it might not even happen,” Kael agreed, lowering his eyes to the floor so that Adrina couldn’t read the doubt written plainly across his face. Yes, he was sure that Aria would die. But it would only hurt Adrina if she knew just how certain he was so he would hide it. “Anyway,” tactfully, Kael cast his eyes around the room in search for something to change the subject to. The television, a phone, tables, the book, the photo of Adrina and Aria... The book. Perfect. “Why don’t we see if Gia likes her present?” Kael suggested calmly, almost instantly wishing that he had not brought up the book. Adrina reading it to Gia while he wasn’t around was one thing, but reading it while he could see their reactions to his writing was a completely different situation. Was it too late to recommend a different activity? Probably.