Lobsters are friends
ooc: set like 17 yrs from now...charles is rogue and joseph's kid :P yay super kids!
“He’s cute.”
“If you like fat babies.”
“You were a fat baby.”
Cati had nothing to say back to that except to glare at her friend.
Aislinn, of course, was the queen at ignoring and so she bent over the
bassinet again, dangling her fingers at the baby. Dylan was happily
gurgling and trying to reach the beautiful hand in front of him, but
he never did manage to succeed. This amused Aislinn to no end and she
said as much.
“Then you babysit him, god.” She threw herself down on the couch,
letting out a little huff. “I’m the only person in the world who has
to babysit their brother while the parents get to go on a date. I
could be out on a date right now, but no. I’m babysitting.”
“I thought you said you made them leave because they were annoying
you,” Aislinn said, picking up the baby and carrying him to the living
room. Cati let out an even bigger huff. “What? That’s what you said
when you called me this morning. You said, “As, come over and help me
babysit. My mom is worrying, my dad is hovering, and I’m going to
kill them both if they stay home any longer.” Aislinn raised an
eyebrow, in perfect imitation of her mother. “Right?”
Rolling her eyes, also looking exactly like her own mother, Cati
sighed. “Right. But I didn’t think they would go away for the evening.
I thought I’d kick them out for an hour or two, and then get to go out
tonight.”
“It’s not like Charles is going to break up with you because you’re
babysitting.” Leaning down, Aislinn tucked her long hair back, and
started to blow kisses at the baby. It was driving Cati mad at how
practical and well...right, Aislinn was being, but what could she do?
Everything the girl said was making sense, and it was obvious that
Cati was the one who was being annoyed for no reason.
“I bet he’s out with Janna,” Cati muttered, tossing a stuffed animal
at her brother, only missing his head because Aislinn interfered. This
time it was Aisinn’s turn to glare.
“Stop throwing things at your brother.” There was no mistaking the
haughty tone, and Cati looked at her in surprise.
“Okay, Mom, GOD. What is up with you tonight?” There was a silence
in the room, filled only by Dylan’s little sounds. It wasn’t long
though, before those sounds were eclipsed by the very real sound of
someone crying. With wide eyes, Cati slid off of the couch, and sat
next to her friend, not even hesitating to throw her arms around
Aislinn’s petite shoulder. “What’s the matter? I didn’t mean it, you
know how I am sometimes.”
Aislinn shook her head and tried her best to stop crying. She could
almost hear her mother telling her that showing tears was a sign of
weakness, and the subsequent look of disapproval. It wasn’t that Emma
didn’t love her daughter, it was just that she showed that love the
same way she exhibited any emotion - carefully and frugally. And here,
in Cati’s home, it was the complete opposite. The house was a
disaster, cluttered with random objects and a decorating scheme that
only Jubilee could possibly understand. Pictures were thrown up on
every wall, not only showing important events like Cati’s first prize
in the science fair, but just any event that merited a smile. Alex
and Jubilee were never shy at showing any type of emotion, and even as
they were leaving the house, Aislinn got smothered with hugs and
kisses just as much as Cati and Dylan did, which of course, Aislinn
had to scrunch her nose at.
But sitting in the living room, Dylan’s face filled with such
happiness , Aislinn couldn’t help but compare herself to him. He’d
never know loneliness, not with his sister around, and even though he
wasn’t born into a rich family that could provide everything and more,
he was born into a family that would love him and accept him for who
he was. He had the knowledge that at any time, he could go up to his
parents and interrupt anything, knowing full well that he was more
important than a piece of paper. He would be taught that emotions are
not something to be hidden but instead something to celebrate. Aislinn
would have never known those things if it wasn’t for Cati’s family.
Cati kept pleading to know what was going on, but all Aislinn could do
is shake her head and play with the baby, allowing Dylan to finally
catch her finger. “You just stop complaining, Catherine Grace,” she
said finally, straightening up. “Charles isn’t going to date Janna,
even though I know she puts out and you don’t, you frigid bitch, and
your parents will probably end up coming home in an hour because they
can’t bear the thought of being away for too long. They’ll show up
with junk food and a random black and white movie that looked too
hilarious to pass up, and we’ll all end up sitting here, throwing
things at the television when it gets mushy. Your mom will make me
cuddle with her, and your dad will try to explain all the reasons why
he should be allowed to interview my potential dates until I turn 50,
so just stop your whining and be thankful for what you have.”
Not for the first time, Cati realized how different their lives
actually were. When they were at Aislinn’s, there were servants to
cater to every single need, there wasn’t a thing out of place, and
whatever they wanted, they had, no questions asked .Once, on a whim,
they’d asked for a private showing of some circus act, and within the
hour, the entire big top was being set up in the backyard. Of course,
Emma never joined in, and Cati was hard pressed to think of a time she
actually saw Emma show any affection to her daughter. No wonder
Aislinn preferred to be at her cramped house.
“Oh,” was the only reply she could think of, so the two of them sat
in silence again, as Dylan continued to coo and make faces at them.
Just like Aislinn predicted, the sounds of Alex and Jubilee came
through the open window a short time later, as they were in a heated
discussion about lobster. Cati was already preparing to roll her
eyes, as the doors were thrown open and Jubilee, kicking off her boots
continued to rant.
“I don’t care what you say, Alex, lobsters have feelings too and you
shouldn’t poke them like they’re on display.”
“They ARE on display, Pickle,” he boomed, throwing off his jacket.
“You couldn’t read the sign because it was so high up, but it said
clearly, “Please poke the crustaceans. They like that.” Jubilee looked
at him, hands on her hips as she tried to formulate an answer to that.
Alex, recognizing when he was at the advantage smiled widely.
“Aislinn, my non-Asian child, please, tell Jubilee I’m right.
Lobsters are not sentient; they don’t know what poking does to them.”
“Aislinn, if you don’t back your Chinese mother, I swear to god, no
more dumplings for you and you can forget about learning any more
Cantonese cuss words.”
Cati just laughed and watched her friend try to use all the diplomatic
skills Emma had bestowed on her. She obviously failed as the best she
could come up with was: “Can’t we just eat it and agree to be
friends?”
Ignoring her completely, they continued to argue. “You can’t eat
something with feelings!”
“Eating them is how we make friends with them, Juju!”
If it wasn’t for Dylan suddenly making his appearance known with a
loud wail, the argument could’ve continued for hours. As it was, Alex
took this as support. “See? The new baby pickle agrees.”
“He’s a baby, not a pickle. Stop saying things like that.”
“I called Cati KP up until she was in middle school, and she seems to
have turned out well, don’t you agree, KP?” He reached out and pulled
his daughter to him, placing a kiss on the top of her head. “And
Aislinn, who was devoid of a pickle moniker, looks sad to me. So. My
study proves that pickle children are happy, and that non-pickle
children, while still happy, need more happiness in their lives.”
With his free arm, he pulled Aislinn, protesting all the while, into a
hug equalling that of Cati’s, and also gave her a kiss. Trapped in
Alex’s arms, both girls just looked at each other, with equal looks of
fake annoyance until Jubilee came and rescued them.
“Seriously, Alex, one day you’re going to realize you’re a grown up.
That’s what your driver’s license says, so accept it.” Extending a
hand, she managed to grab both girls and pulled them into the living
room, where Jubilee had already propped Dylan up, leaving him to
drink out of a bottle.
“Lies, Mama pickle,” he exclaimed, following them, license in hand.
“All it says is my name, my height, my weight, and shows a picture of
how devilishly handsome I am. You can’t get anything right tonight,
can you?” She threw a pillow at him, and with a little help from
Aislinn’s telekinetic abilities, the pillow hit him straight on. “Ok,
that’s cheating.”
Jubilee just grinned and threw herself on the couch, making the girls
cuddle up close, as she held Dylan in her lap. “I don’t care. All I
know is I’m sitting, so you better put a movie on because I’m not
getting up. Can’t you see I’m surrounded by looooove?” There was no
better way to describe the situation, Aislinn thought, as she snuggled
up closer to Jubilee, her legs thrown over Cati’s lap. She knew that
soon, Alex would be joining, and it was ok that she didn’t get enough
attention at home; at the Summer-Lee household, she got more than
enough.