n i n e
i stood in the center of the living room awkwardly. i wasn't sure if i was supposed to be involved in the events unfolding or not. as of right now, i was just taking over my job as the mother for kaarina and sam. michael, luke, and the manager all sat with large amounts of space between them on the furniture. i honestly had no idea what their managers name was and i had not desire to know. calling him 'the manager' summed up my emotions for him.
"babe, adora, just come sit next to me," luke sighed, exasperated.
i quickly shuffled over to him with the children. i sunk into the couch cushion that was already dipped due to luke's weight. my body was then forced to lean against his even though i sensed he did not want this. he was tense. his body was rigid instead of soft. i did not enjoy luke like this and the negative vibes in the room were affecting everyone.
sam had already left my side to crawl into michael's lap as michael sat on the other end of the couch. i watched sam crawl over to michael like a bear so i could avoid eye contact with everyone. he was also super adorable so that helped a lot.
i busied myself by spreading out the creases in a blanket and then putting kaarina on the blanket. she was half-asleep and barely moving. every once in awhile her tiny sausage fingers would twitch, but that was about it. she didn't do much else. she was still precious, though. i couldn't help but smile and tear up a little out of pure happiness as i looked down at her. i turned to luke excitedly to say something about our baby but all three boys were giving their own versions of negative looks.
i sunk back into the couch and made myself smaller. i didn't know what i did to deserve these looks but apparently there was something. maybe the looks weren't even targeted towards me; they might just have been general unhappiness i took to be offensive. nonetheless, i needed to continue to sink into the plush couch until i was nonexistent.
my body came out of the cushion a little bit when they finally started talking. i was so bored and it was so quiet i was about to start chanting "fight! fight! fight!" but then i realized that was terrible and that i should reevaluate my entire life.
"where's calum?" the manager asked gruffly.
"i'll get him," i started to get off of the couch but luke's hand gripped my knee to force me back down. his hand then slid up to my thigh, his grip still tight. i couldn't move my leg and i felt even smaller.
i tried to push his hand down or at least loosen his grip but i was no match to his strength. i just ignored it, pressing my lips together and bouncing my other leg up and down.
"calum!" michael barked. sam and i both flinched.
calum hurried in with sour cream on his shirt. he stood in the living room awkwardly before sitting on the floor. we all stared at him but i was the only one he would look at. i didn't blame him. i was the only calm one right now.
his eyes seemed to say 'what the fuck is happening?' i hoped my small shrug and bewildered eyes were decipherable.
"is it going to be this band's theme to not tell me that a baby is coming? both of the little delinquents in this room were delinquents i didn't know about for far too long. this is unacceptable behavior," the manager scolded. his voice was like ice: cold and hard, dissolving any hope or happiness in its sight.
"i didn't even know about sam until today, really. you can't be mad at me," michael tried.
"you named it?" the manager's eyes grew four times in size.
"he was kind of given that name two years ago when he exited a womb, but, yeah, i named him," michael snapped.
chill was slowly being lost and luke's grip was slowly becoming tighter and more painful. i tried to push his hand off again but nothing was working. i couldn't even figure out his emotions at this point.
