Saving Nikolai (Book 1)

Chapter 2

(Picture of Thomas)

As I walked into the house I was surrounded by excited kids. "Niko!!! You're home!!" Lake and Luke ran to hug me while talking at once. Thomas leaning against the wall smiling. "Niko, we just finished dinner. Do you want me to heat some rabbit stew and biscuits back up?" I smiled at Thomas. "That would be great thanks! I am starving." Then I turned to the twins.
"Niko! We got a blue egg today!"
"We're getting raspberries again!!"
" 10 new baby bunnies were just born! They're soo cute!!"
They kept going on and on. I just laughed quietly. I was glad that they were having a good childhood. That they were happy. The first couple years were hard. Some days we didn't have enough to eat, or the kids weren't in clean clothes or bathed. It took some time to bring it all together. Thirteen is way to young to have to worry about all of that. But now, they never went without. It made me proud. Since I was gay, these kids were probably the only ones I would every raise. And I would be damned if they weren't as well off and content as every other child. Thomas had more responsibility than he should, but he still hung with friends on the weekends after I got home from work and mondays and tuesdays, which were my days off. School had just started back up, but being in Highschool for the first time was a big deal and I wanted him to enjoy these years as much as possible. He was popular and seemed to date a new girl every couple weeks. He was going to be tall, he had long lean muscles and ran track and cross-country. He took after our father, unlike me. My younger brother was already taller than me. He had long legs and was built for running. My mom was only 5 foot and petite. I got her height and build, not even reaching 5'5. And I was done growing. We all were bleach blonde. But while my brother had a more masculine look. I was small, soft and petite. I had a very androgynous look. Which I actually kinda liked. I gave up trying to look manly to fit in a couple years back. I accepted my lot in life, and now I played up the look. Sometimes even puting on makeup. I stuck with more neutral tones but I loved what mascara could do for me! I also wore more gender neutral clothes. I usually introduced myself as Nikki. I didn't lie about my gender. And I wasn't trans. I just didn't feel the need to correct people if they assumed wrong. I kinda liked leaving people wondering. And, I liked to feel pretty. I sometimes got the feeling it embarrassed Thomas some, but we didn't really see each other much at school and I didn't make a habit of cornering him for conversation, unless I needed to.
I didn't love that the twins were home without Thomas while he ran, but they were only home for a couple hours with just mom. I would hope she would make sure they don't burn the house down or play with knives. Honestly, she'd probably never know, but they are smart enough to know better. And honestly, I was barely older than they are now, when I started taking care of all of them. And Thomas stays with the twins while I worked, when he was about that age. Again, not ideal, but you do what you have to... They mostly just play in the back yard with the chickens and rabbits, or climb trees. Maybe eat some grapes or apples if they're ripe.
Over all, I'm incredibly proud of my babies.
We haven't been given the best circumstances, but everyone is doing so well.
I sat down at the table and began eating. "So Tommy, how is school going? Do you need help with any homework?" Thomas just sighed. He didn't love being called Tommy. But tolerated it from me. If anyone besides us called him that, he'd probably castrate them. I tried to hide a little smirk as I spooned more food in my mouth. "I'm struggling with Algebra. And I didn't quite understand my Biology worksheet, but everything else is finished." I nodded. "I'll help you after we put the twins to bed. I have a wicked about of homework to finish tonight. So I'll be up late to help you finish." Thomas sighed in relief. He wasn't a genius, but he tended towards As and Bs and worked hard to maintain that. I had to admit, my grades were a little lower than that, I honestly had far to much going on in my life to study like I should. Sometimes, I missed assignments, and I almost never had time to study for tests. But I still got Bs and Cs. I felt that was pretty decent, all things considering.
Soon it was 9:00 and I had the twins showering, brushing their teeth, and putting on their PJs. I aimed for a 9:30 bed time. Is that a good bed time for 12 year olds? I don't know. But they seem fine. I've learned to not sweat the small stuff. This, much like many topics, seems to have no right answer, and I am not going to stress over every little thing. I honestly just don't have the time or energy.
"Did you bring Mom some food?" Thomas rolled his eyes. "Of course. What do you think I am? 10. I haven't forgotten in years." I just chuckled. "You're right. I guess I'm stressed. I keep running through everything that I need to do, and what has been done... Oh, one of the front steps broke today. I'll have to fix it this weekend. Are you going to be free to help me paint the house over the next couple weeks? The more help the better. We need to get it done before it starts getting too cold."
Thomas just nodded thoughtfully. "Alright. I actually talked to a few track friends, if you get extra brushes, they will help us after practice." I raised an eyebrow. This was the first I heard about this. "Ya, I can do that... How many do you think we'll need?" Thomas tapped his chin in thought. "I have 6 friends saying they'll help, but a couple more might show." I bit my lip. This would cost more. But I needed to pick grapes, apples, pears, cherries and so much more. Then start canning those and making jam. Not to mention the veggies. I have so many cucumbers which I need to make into pickles. The sooner I finish the house, the sooner I can start all the other stuff. "Ya that would be great, if they'll help. Maybe we can be done by the end of the week! What color do you want to do? I was leaning towards gray with white trim. But I'm open for suggestions."
Thomas smirked. " I think we should do a darker blue with gray trim." Blue was his favorite color. I just shook my head, I should have known. But honestly, it wont look bad. Maybe I can do some of the more intricate detailed with a darker gray. It would only be maybe a quart, maybe gallon, of paint. And would probably look great. "Sure, I can do something like that. It's the least I can do with you and you're friends helping."
Everyone was in bed, I had almost forgot the chickens, but rushed out there around 10 pm. They were all in their chicken coop, but we don't need foxes getting them. So I shut and locked the door. Then I made lunches for everyone and put them in their lunch bags. Then prepared lasagna so Tommy could just through it in the oven when he got home from practice. Once I was done with everything I dropped into bed close to midnight.
The next morning I woke at 6 am. Jumped in the shower, woke Tommy up for a shower, then help the twins pick out clothes for school. Like every day. They were starting to out grow their clothes. Making me role my eyes. 'Jesus! It was never ending!!' It would have to wait a month or so. They would need winter clothes soon anyways. And I would have enough money in a month. Thank the Lord for work discounts. I knew Tommy would want new clothes too. I couldn't afford mall clothes, but they had a Plato's Closet near here, that sold name brand clothes second hand. It wasn't cheap, but better than buying from the mall. No teen wanted to wear Walmart clothes. Luckily, I hadn't grown in the last year, so my old clothes were fine. Yay, for being a midget.
I cooked everyone oatmeal, because it's cheap and nutritious. Put some raspberries and cherries from our garden in each bowl, and handed everyone their lunches to put in their back packs. I told everyone to give Mother kisses before the bus' got here and shoved everyone out the door. I had to bike, since I needed to work after school. This was our everyday routine.

Today was Friday, pay day! I bought paint while I was working, because it was cheaper and I had a discount. Yes, it's kinda low quality, but I don't have the luxury of being picky. I decided to do the blue as the main color like Thomas requested. But I'm doing a cream trim and navy for the accent color. After filing the front basket and side baskets with paint and brushes, I also put a couple on the handlebars. And slowly made my way home. As I biked home I road past specific houses that I knew might need me to pick food up for them. Thankfully on the way, Mr Smith stopped me. He asked me to pick up his meds and a grocery list to get for him tomorrow after work. He handed me a $50 and waved me on my way. 'Yes, more pocket money!' I would normally be low on food stamps this month, except everything was ready to harvest. So we would be fine. The more I could do the better. I needed to shop for clothes and my yearly 50 cent raise was going to be a little help.
Soon I was home. After another long day. I ate, helped Tommy with homework, and got the kids to bed by 10 pm. I wanted the twins tired on the weekends. I worked 6am to 2:30 pm tomorrow. And wanted them to sleep in as long as possible. I knew Tommy had a cross country meet tomorrow and wouldn't be home till 4 or 5. He would be home when they woke, and they were used to this. He ran in middle school too. His average was around 20 min so he was good. I could never stand in his way. The twins had friends they played with most Saturdays, but thier plans fell through this week.
Then after his Track meet, Tommy would bring his friends to start painting for a couple hours, and they would work all day Sunday. Then all week his friends would help Tommy paint. Hopefully we would be done by next Tuesday. *fingers crossed*
God, my life was all so hectic.