Flames and Starlight

57🌘

Peter

One Year Later

I sighed as I bounced baby Skylar on my knee, desperately trying to quiet her as Laura kept Trevor and the triplets entertained.

Luckily, Skylar wasn't much of a crier, but she was teething and was letting everyone know how unhappy she was. She was only six months old and already had a full head of Laura's curly black hair that was almost going past her chin and had my blue eyes, as beautiful as I imagined she was going to be. I prayed that her teething would end soon so we could all have some peace and quiet. 

Victoria, Tara, and Christian - named after Laura's friends from the Clan - were full of nothing but energy. Jonathan and Claire were basically their second parents as they helped them stay out of trouble. I loved all three of them dearly, but they made me want to rip my hair out at times. All of them had Laura's black hair and her brown eyes and had mischievous grins on their faces constantly. 

Laura and I worried about what their powers would be - would have they have my sorcery powers or not? We had no doubt they'd be shapeshifters - the shifter genes would be too strong for them not to have them - but the thought of possessing magic worried me. However, they were still babies and we wouldn't worry about that until they got older.  

Laura and I knew having just one baby was going to be tough. When we found out we were having three, we almost passed out. Luckily, with Claire having Trevor around the same time as the triplets, it helped them have a friend they could grow up with and Claire was a godsend when helping out with the kids.

However, when we said Laura was pregnant with Skylar, she looked like she was going to murder us for having a fourth kid when we already had three energetic babies that needed to be taken care of at once. Laura and I admitted it hadn't been the best time to have another baby, but Skylar had everyone wrapped around her little finger.

Laura allowed Alison to bring Belle over to play with the triplets and Trevor every week. Things between her and her siblings were still tense, but they were working through it. I hoped they would have a loving relationship again one day. Laura said she was going to try to work things out with her parents so they could be around our kids one day, though she was still hesitant to reach out. We were going to try to take it one day at a time.

I glanced down at Skylar and the triplets and hoped they'd never fight like that, that they'd get along for the most part. I knew there would be some fighting - I never had any siblings of my own but I knew siblings fought - but I hoped they'd never fight to the point they'd cut each other off.

Thankfully, Skylar quieted down. She yawned widely, telling me she was ready for a nap. I placed her on my chest and she fell asleep immediately. Another great thing about her - she fell asleep in seconds.

Ben wasn't thrilled about either of Laura's pregnancies, but he supported her and allowed her to move in with me so we could raise the babies together while also still being a member of the Clan. He brought Flynn over a couple of times and it was adorable, seeing all the kids interact with each other.

Jonathan and Claire watched them a lot so that we were able to get our GEDs. The both of us actually cried when we received them from the mail. It felt like we were never going to get them and finally having them in our hands almost felt like a dream. Now it was up to us to get accepted into college, though we were waiting until the kids were a little older so we had more time for school.

I was glad we had so many supportive people in our lives. I knew if we didn't, things would've been a lot harder.

Claire and Jonathan walked in. Trevor squealed and immediately reached for Claire, who instantly scooped him up in her arms.

"Thank you for watching him," Jonathan said and pressed a kiss to Trevor's head. The boy was one and already had better hair than me. It was black with a blue shine to it.

"It's no problem," Laura said with a grin. "We love having him here."

"We'll see you tomorrow night," Claire said. "The new Spongebob movie should keep them occupied."

"Hopefully," I sighed. "They never seem to hold still."

I looked at my family; Laura, my triplets, little Skylar, Claire, Jonathan, and Trevor.

My family.

I never expected my life to go this way, but I was happy it did. Life couldn't be more perfect.

EDITED: 9/1/21