Chapter Four: In Which Everyone Blames Theia

Chapter Five

In Which Everyone Blames Theia.
Again.

Everything went quiet.

            “And now for Kal’s story,” Storm said a little more forcefully, looking pointedly at her dearest spouse.

            Theia developed a sudden interest in the ceiling, and Storm groaned, hiding her head in her hands.

            “You didn’t do it, did you?”

            “Well—“

            “Theia!”

            Theia looked appropriately apologetic. “Kalila I’ll tell you about your early life… later.”

            Kal looked appropriately devastated. “Mummy!”

            “The obvious guilting has already been done, Kaline.” Storm patted her daughter on the shoulder. “I’ve been pestering her for like a week.”

            Theia threw up her hands. “Whatdya expect? I’m grounded! And it’s Kalila!”

            “It’s Kaline. You would have gotten to name her if you’d remembered how you found her!”

            Theia continued holding her hands in the air. “It was behind a bloody chocolate shop! What else is there to say?”

            Storm facepalmed. Sheva facepalmed. Ellen and Jason and Kay and Jess and Reese and Andy and Lola and Rachel and Draco and Bianca and Ten and Kayla and Des and Ave and Thorn and Peter and Tay and Luna and Pigeon and Jed and Critic and Juliet and Cara facepalmed. Shadow tailfaced, and Kal looked tragically sad.

            “Well,” said Storm, trying to stay patient, “you went behind the chocolate shop because you heard someone crying and found this cute little toddler. And because you love kids and have no morals whatsoever when it comes to bringing them home—no offence, Peter and Thorn—you brought her home.

            So I’m sitting inside with Ave doing something or another and Thorn is doing homework and everything is all normal and then suddenly Theia walks across the drawbridge. And Kayla came in and was like, ‘Storm, Theia is coming in with a weirdly shaped bundle.’

            And I groaned, because I knew what that meant. And sure enough Theia came upstairs holding the worlds cutest—except for Ave and Thorn and Kayla and Des and Peter, of course—toddler, and was like, ‘this is Kaline.’”

            “Kalila!” Theia snapped.

            “You didn’t tell the story so I’m telling the story and I’m telling it my way. At least I’m not telling them about how you fell out the window and were almost eaten by a—”

            “That never happened!”

            “Yeah but I’m telling the story, aren’t I? Anyway, so Theia said ‘this is Kaline.’ And Ave started talking about how cute she was, and Thorn did too except I think it was a ploy to get out of homework.

            So Kaline lived with us for awhile, and we were wondering when people would start talking about that kid that disappeared from the chocolate store. I kept on expecting to wake up and be put under arrest. But we never were. And after about a week adoption papers appeared in our mailbox that said sign here and return to sender.

            Well we obviously had no idea who the sender was, but Theia signed and left them in the mailbox. Right after she did that the mailbox lit up pink and the papers disappeared. We thought that was it, but then Theia had the sense to check— did I just say Theia had sense? I meant that Theia just randomly checked to see if there as anything inside and there were adoption papers.”

            “Lit up pink,” Kal said slowly. “So that means that it was probably—”

            “Aphrodite,” Theia said. “Who wanted us to adopt you.”

            Ave looked suitably impressed. “You mean Kal is a child of Aphrodite?”

            Theia nodded. “It’s probably why she’s so… hugable.”