Tales of a Telubax

What Now?

A/N: This is a thread I did with Evethelombax204 (her RP blog is kittybax). It takes place when Alice has kids so that's that. (trigger warning for the sight and mentions of blood. Nothing major but better safe than sorry.)

[Edit: I edited a few things and I tried my best with some Maori words, but I'm no expert, so I apologize for any mistakes. ^^"]

***

Metropolis, Kerwan

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Alice was just sitting in her large chair reading a magazine while watching her son, Leo, play a video game on their holovision. The game itself wasn't anything special; just a simple first person shooter that he had saved his entire allowance for. She snorted when she remembered how proud he was to present three months' worth of chores to Big Al in order to pay for it.

As he continued to smash buttons on his controller, a sad smile crept onto her face when memories of her other child flooded her mind. Genevieve would've saved her bolts for that new sketchbook she had been eying for months. Or maybe even some hair ribbons to accompany her new ivory and gold dress she had gotten for her birthday.

Imagine if she was still here...laughing and playing with her small family, being happy...as things should've been.

The grin evaporated as fast as it had appeared.

The sound of knocking shook her out of her thoughts. She abruptly stood up and opened the door. To her delight, it was her friend Eve and her kids: Shayden, Shyanne, and Paris.

It was about time.

Alice had invited them to spend the afternoon together and for Leo to have some fun with his closest friends. They both needed the time to distract themselves for a while.

"Oh hey! You finally showed up!" she exclaimed happily, a large smile plastered on her face.

"Hey sis!" Eve said, giving Alice a big hug. Alice staggered backwards from Eve's forceful embrace, but eventually wholeheartedly returned it.

As Alice welcomed them in, Paris and Shayden sat in the living room and played video games with Leo while Shyanne just stayed with her mother and "aunt."

"Paris has certainly grown up to be a beautiful woman, huh?" Alice quipped, earning a blush from the girl. Now, don't get her wrong: Alice adored Eve's twins, of course, but she had a deeper connection with Paris, despite the small number of times they've interacted.

In fact, Alice considered Paris as one of her own, and she always welcomed her to her home with open arms. When Eve had told her about Paris's upbringing with her biological parents, Alice wished she could bleach her brain and rip her ears off. But even with that, that didn't compare to the pain Paris had to endure during her childhood.

No child should have to suffer. Period.

The agonizing weight of guilt consumed her heart once again as she thought about Genevieve. About the whole situation. Then she had a brief moment of realization as she placed some grounds into the coffee maker.

'Oh I made her suffer...just like how the Meres did to Paris.'

'I'm a pathetic excuse of a mother.'

She tried to stop her downward spiral when she heard Eve pouring the fresh liquid into two mugs, with a few glasses of juice for the children.

As Eve helped Alice with putting snacks and coffee onto a tray, they both sat down on the sofa with Shyanne nestled in between them. For a while, they were just chatting about current events and the recent presidential election.