Haunted

Rootless Tree

"I'm on a diet," Kylie shrugged.

"But they're fresh from the oven," Maddox helped himself to a cookie. "The chocolate is all warm and melty."

"Yeah, well, you can have them," Kylie said, brushing the crumbs off her hands. "What was the experiment?"

"You're really not going to eat any more?" Clara asked. Kylie shook her head.

"Dammit," Maddox sighed. "Okay, Mom, you win."

"I was the experiment?" Kylie demanded.

"Oh, baby, no," Clara pulled Kylie in for a hug. "You were just a side bet. We played around with the recipes, but obviously not enough to tell the difference."

"What was the bet?" Kylie asked.

"I was going to have Maddox take these to your dad, but he bet me you would eat them all before he left this afternoon," Clara said.

"Mean," Kylie stuck her tongue out at Maddox.

"You used to eat everything all the time," Maddox insisted. "Why are you on a diet anyway? You're too skinny."

"Am not, I've only lost like 5 pounds," Kylie rolled her eyes but she took her two uneaten cookies and started for the stairs.

"Hey, wait, it's too early for you to be home," Clara protested. "What's wrong?"

"You just noticed?" Kylie laughed and came back to sit down at the island. "It's nothing, I just had a talk with Alex and didn't feel like hanging around."

"What kind of talk?" Maddox raised his eyebrows. He still didn't really know what their fight was about but maybe this time she would tell him.

"Ugh, I just told him to get over me," Kylie rested her elbow on the counter. "Don't have sex, ever, Dax, it ruins everything."

"Yeah, too late," he remarked, taking another cookie. He hadn't even realized what he'd said until Clara dropped the tray of cookies she'd just taken out of the oven.

"Dax?" Clara asked sounding like she was about to cry.

"Ugh, Mom, don't get all upset," Maddox got up and tried to rescue some of the cookies from the floor.

"I'm sorry, I just," Clara leaned against the counter. "I wasn't expecting that."

"It's not a big deal," Maddox stood up and grabbed the spatula so he could get the rest of the cookies.

"I think you're too young," Clara said. "That's a lot to handle."

"I'm not that young," Maddox stood up. "It's already done anyway."

"Okay," Clara took a deep breath. Kylie stood up and went to hug her mother.

"Should I go?" Maddox asked.

"No, come here," Clara said, holding her arm out. Maddox joined them and Kylie put an arm around him too.

Maddox didn't want to be mean but it wasn't the same hugging his mom anymore. Her stomach was getting really big with the twins and it felt like he was too far away from her whenever he tried to hug her. As Maddox stood there though something worse happened. Something inside Clara rolled against him.

"Oh my god!" Maddox jumped back. Kylie looked up at him. "I felt something move!" he pointed at Clara's stomach, his eyes wide.

"They're rolling around a lot right now," Clara laughed. Kylie quickly put her hands on the side of Clara's stomach where Maddox had been standing.

"I don't feel anything!" she protested. Clara moved Kylie's hands and pushed down. "No, nothing," she sighed.

"That's just wrong," Maddox shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mom, but that's gross."