Volume I: Forged

Chapter 7: Curse Beneath My Skin

Kristin didn't like it when Phil left.

It left part of her feeling hollow and deserted—the house was too big, too empty for her liking.

Even filled with five over-active boys, two of which had just discovered what a 'safe environment' was, it was still empty to her. The neighbors didn't like her—she just knew they were judging her for having several children who clearly didn't belong to her husband.

"George, sweetie—" Kristin sighed, the little boy bursting into the kitchen to duck and hide around her legs. "I can't pack the basket and keep you safe."

She was trying to get the boys out of the house for a picnic, to try and help distract herself from the ache in her chest. And so they would stop destroying her half-clean house.

"Dream's gonna tickle me—" George pouted, eyes wide and innocent as he looked up at her, clearly using the 'doe eyes' Wilbur had taught him.

"Then get Techno to protect you," Kristin said gently, shooing the boy away from her legs. "Momma needs to get lunch ready or we're not gonna have any."

George grumped, but dashed out of the kitchen.

"Georgie!!"

George started shrieking.

Kristin sighed as George's screams pitched, meaning Dream had gotten him on the ground and was probably following through on his threats. Kristin just hoped the neighbors minded their own business.

She wrapped the apples in a piece of linen and distantly wondered how much longer it would be before they got fruit again. The kids needed vitamins and fruits, but they simply couldn't afford it. Maybe they'd find an apple tree or something.

Everyone once in a while, Kristin wondered what she had been thinking, letting Phil keep bringing kids home would they could barely feed themselves. What she had been thinking when she agreed to his plans.

Then one of the kids would come crawling to her in the night, seeking out her motherly love they clearly hadn't gotten. One of them would bring her a picture or hide behind her skirt in the market. One would fall asleep on her chest or demand she'd read a story, and she'd know why.

Because there wasn't enough love in the world to go around and she had to give out as much as she could. Even if it hurt her own soul to do it.

"I'll save you, George!" Sapnap shot through the kitchen from the living room and Kristin didn't see it, but she heard Dream's oomph as the blaze hybrid barreled into Dream.

George was back in the kitchen a second later, latched onto Kristin's leg with absolutely no intention of ever letting go.

"I know you said you needed to get lunch ready and all that, Mumza, but I'm more important than a sandwich, so I'll think I'll just stay here if that's okay with you."

Kristin just shook her head and closed the basket, ruffling George's fluffy mop of hair that, for some reason, never got any less fluffy no matter how long the boy went without a bath.

"Boys, grab your things, we're leaving!"

There was commotion from the bedrooms, Wilbur's yelling, and one of Techno's infamous snorts.

Dream came sauntering in a moment later, a protesting, wiggling Sapnap thrown over his shoulder. Techno and Wilbur followed, Wilbur's wings a bit mussed and Techno looking supremely disappointed with his brothers' rowdy behavior.

"Wilbur, grab your inhaler, I don't need you dying on me."

Wilbur rolled his eyes and held up the little tube before giving it to Techno so he wouldn't lose it in half a second.