"Theodore! Thalia!" Amelia called, looking around.
"Why did we have to have twins?" Jared Light said miserably, peeking behind the couch for any sign of their currently missing children.
"I blame you," Amelia said. "Dammit, where did they go?"
"AH!"
They both jumped at the sound of a yell. They glanced at each other before hurrying to the twins' room.
Theo and Thalia were sitting on the floor together. They were pulling on each other's hair, letting out more yells as they continued.
"I can't believe I ever said I was excited to have twins," Jared groaned, going over and separating the two. "Hey! That's naughty! Don't do that!"
"Bad! Mean!" Theo said, pointing at Thalia.
"Mean!" Thalia said, pointing back at her brother.
Amelia knelt down in front of them. "You snuck out of your play home again," she said. Their play home was actually just a gated off section of the kitchen that Jared and Amelia would toss toys into so the kids wouldn't get themselves hurt while dinner was being made. Unfortunately, the two had learned how to slip past the gate not long after they learned to walk on their own.
Theo sat down on the ground. "Hungry," he said.
Thalia sat next to them, their fight apparently forgotten. "Hungry," she said.
"Go finish dinner. I'll entertain them," Jared said with a sigh, sitting down with the two of them.
Amelia nodded and left the room. Jared turned to the toddlers as they began to play with their blocks.
"Why were you fighting?" he asked them.
"Teo is mean," Thalia said.
"Talia is mean, daddy," Theo said.
Jared laughed a little, because the poor kids couldn't even pronounce their own names right. He shook his head at them.
"Listen, you two love each other, right? Thalia, you love your brother?" he said.
"I love Teo!" Thalia said, hugging him.
"I love you Talia," Theo said, hugging her back.
Jared smiled at them. "Don't be mean to each other, okay?"
They nodded and giggled, picking up their blocks. Jared helped them build up a block tower, neither of them fighting.
He knew they were doomed to fight, as siblings always were. But he hoped that it would get better as they got older.
***
The front door opened and slammed. Amelia and Jared both sighed out loud, because a slamming door when the kids got home was never a good thing.
"What's wrong?" Amelia asked as the kids came into the living room.
"He won't tell me!" Thalia said.
"Theodore, did something happen?" Amelia asked. Theo was glaring at the ground, a paper gripped in his hand.
"I got detention," he grumbled.
"Theodore! Why did you get detention?" Amelia demanded. "Honestly, Thalia has never been in trouble at school!"
"Because Thalia's perfect!" Theo snapped, throwing the detention slip at his mother. "I got detention because I wouldn't change for gym!" He placed a hand on his shirt, which hid his scar. His eyes watered and shoved past his parents, running upstairs and slamming his bedroom door.
"Oh no," Jared said, groaning.
"I didn't know! I swear. He wouldn't tell me why he was upset," Thalia said, frowning.
"It's okay, Thalia. It's not your fault. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have compared him to you like that. I'll go talk to him," Amelia said.
She went upstairs and knocked on Theo's door. She let herself into the room, where Theo was glaring at the wall, tears slowly leaking down his face.
"I don't want anyone to see," he choked out.
Amelia sat down next to him, putting an arm around him and pulling him closer to herself. "I know, Theo," she said gently. She remembered her first time seeing the gash on Theo's chest after the accident. She'd been horrified and heartbroken. "I'll call the school and get it sorted out. You're not in trouble."
"I'm not as good as Thalia," he said, burying his face in his hands.
She rubbed his back. "No, Theo, I shouldn't have said what I said. You're always well-behaved. And Thalia might get better grades than you in some classes, but guess what? You're the one who has to help her in history class," she said, smiling at him. "You two are just good at different things. You're both smart and well-behaved kids."
Theo wiped at his eyes. "Mom? Is it ugly?" he whispered, rubbing at his chest again.
She pulled his hand away. "No, Theo, it's not. It's okay if you're not ready for anyone to see it."
Thalia knocked and came into the room. She went over and hugged her brother tightly.
"Hey, Theo, let's play Mario Party so I can kick your butt at it," she said with a smile.
Theo gave her a shaky smile. "Nu-uh, I'm going to kick your butt, Thalia!"
Amelia kissed Theo's forehead and stood up. She knew she couldn't cheer him up the way that Thalia could. She could only do her best to reassure him that his scar hadn't ruined him.
She left the room and went downstairs to Jared. He looked up anxiously.
"Well?" he asked.
Amelia shook her head sadly. "It's going to take a while for him to accept it."
Jared went over and put an arm around her. "We'll help him. We'll help him work through it. I promise we will."
Amelia nodded. "Yes, we will. He's still my beautiful son even with that damn scar. We'll make sure he always knows it."
***
"Theo, honestly, you're not a little kid! Don't make me put a leash on you. Stop wandering away," Jared said, gesturing him over.
"Dad!" Theo whined. "I'm fine!"
"It's crowded. Come on, we don't want to lose you," Jared said.
Theo went back over to his family. They'd decided to go out for dinner and were currently walking down the busy sidewalk after they'd had to park a fair distance from the restaurant.
"Yea, come on Theo, don't get lost," Thalia said, gripping the back of his shirt. "I'll make sure he doesn't wander off, dad!"
"That's why we keep you around," Jared said as they began to walk again.
"You are all so awful to me. This is why I miss Oliver when he's not around. He's good to me," Theo said, pouting.
"I might let him wander off," Amelia said.
"I hate all of you." Theo's pout grew.
They ignored Theo and continued on down the sidewalk. Theo eyed three teenagers in distaste as they walked by, dressed in tight, bright clothing.
"Mom, they're weird," Theo mumbled to his mother, nudging her.
"Theodore! We don't judge people," Amelia said sternly. "Honestly, people have different forms of expression. Maybe they think you're weird because you're not dressed like them."
Thalia laughed. "Mom's right, Theo. You shouldn't judge people!"
"Sorry, sorry!" Theo said with a sigh.
"You, make sure you keep your brother judge free," Jared said to Thalia, lightly shoving her. "You two need to keep each other in check."
"Yes sir!" Thalia said, saluting him.
They reached the restaurant and went inside. A waiter sat them and they picked up their menus, looking through them.
"So, anyone at school that you have your eyes on?" Amelia asked, looking up at her children.
"Theo likes a girl," Thalia said, nudging him and grinning.
Theo blushed. "She's just really pretty! That's all!"
"Aleksandra!" Thalia sang.
"Shut up Thalia!" Theo's blush grew.
"Stop teasing your brother. What about you, Thalia?" Amelia said, raising an eyebrow.
"Nope," Thalia said, shaking her head. "After growing up with Theo, men repulse me."
"That's my girl," Amelia said, smiling.
"Mom!" Theo crossed his arms. "You're all so mean to me. I want Oliver."
"Thalia, stay away from men. You are too good for men," Jared said. "And Theo, for the love of god, when it comes to girls, think with your brain, not your p-"
"Dinner!" Amelia said, elbowing Jared hard enough to make him yelp a little. "What your father means, to both of you, is to be smart. Don't let a boy or a girl make you do anything you don't want to do."
"I am so uncomfortable," Theo said.
"I am so uncomfortable," Thalia said.
"I am so hungry," Jared said, picking his menu up again.
"I am so done with all of you," Amelia said.
Jared glanced at Theo, pointing a stern finger at him. "You, watch out for your sister. I don't want boys crawling over her. She's too pretty and I hate it."
Amelia pointed a finger at Thalia. "You, watch out for your brother. I don't want him getting into trouble with girls. Having teenagers terrifies me."
"I think we beat it into your heads to be respectful and smart," Jared said.
"We are!" Theo said.
"Quit worrying so much," Thalia said, waving her hand dismissively.
"Twins. It had to be twins. I can't handle having two teenagers at once. We can't even go by trial and error on the oldest," Jared said miserably.
"We'll manage," Amelia assured, patting his arm and looking over at the two innocently smiling teenagers across from them.
***
"Mom, can you fix my jeans? I ripped them," Thalia said, coming over with a pair of jeans in her arms.
"Sure, I'll fix them tonight. Where's your brother?" she asked, taking the jeans from Thalia.
"Theo and Dimitri are in his room," Thalia said.
"What are they...doing?" Amelia asked.
Thalia rolled her eyes. "Mom, honestly, Theo isn't going to have sex with Dimitri. I'm pretty sure the thought of sex terrifies Theo. They're just playing cards on the floor."
"You're spying on them all the time, right? I told you to spy on them," Jared said, coming over to his wife and daughter.
"Yes, yes, I'm spying on them," Thalia said.
"Don't ever date. I forbid you from dating. I can't handle both of my children dating. Theo is too stupid to spy on you," Jared said.
Thalia blushed. "I'm not planning on dating anyone anytime soon!"
"Good. You don't need to date to be happy," Amelia said. "Relationships can be nice, but if you don't want one, there's no need to be in one. You're fine on your own, Thalia."
"Glad I have your approval to be single," Thalia said, flashing her thumbs up.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs and then Theo and Dimitri appeared. Dimitri was swinging his car keys around his finger.
"Are you leaving, Dimitri?" Amelia asked.
"Unfortunately, I must depart. My mother requests my presence at dinner," Dimitri said with a dramatic sigh.
"Bye!" Amelia said, her and Jared waving to him as he left the house.
"Speaking of dinner, are we eating soon? It's so hard to put up with Dimitri on an empty stomach. I want to duct tape his mouth," Theo said.
"We'll be eating soon. Dimitri is good for you and you're good for him," Amelia said.
Theo raised an eyebrow. "How?"
"Well, he brings you out of your shell. He's easing you out of your comfort zone and into new things." She shrugged. "And I can tell a spoiled child when I see one. I like Dimitri a lot and I think he has good parents, but that boy is spoiled rotten. You're helping him see those negatives bits of himself."
"Because we didn't raise a spoiled rotten kid," Jared said, patting Theo's shoulder. "Look at you, being a good influence."
"He is a good influence. So is Thalia," Amelia said, smiling. "You're both great kids. Your father and I are very proud of you. I feel confident sending you off to college in the fall."
"Well that's because we had good parents," Thalia said.
"Suck up," Theo said.
Jared slung his arms around their shoulders. "You're both little brats. Don't ever change."
"And you're the one who cried when he found out he fathered twins," Amelia said, laughing. "You were so afraid you couldn't raise them right. Look how they turned out!"
Jared groaned. "We don't ever talk about that, Amelia."
Theo and Thalia laughed. Jared sighed but offered them a smile. He was glad he had both of them. Amelia was glad, too.
They'd turned out to be great kids. They were good influences on the people around them, and Amelia and Jared couldn't be more proud of them.
-------------------------------------------------------------
A.N.- Do you guys still like reading these, or are you getting sick of them? :p If you still want them, who else do you want to see?