ELEMENT

Chapter Forty: Halfway

"Happy birthday, dear Meadow, happy birthday to you!"

August 8th, and little Meadow had grown, now being five years old.

At a table outside, a cake sat in the middle where little Meadow blew the candles out. She wore a pink dress, and white buckle shoes.

Cole, nine years old, stood right next to his sister, glaring daggers at Peter every chance he got.

Rose was there too, holding a present for the birthday girl.

The royals took up a whole side of the table. They tried to make an appearance as much as they can in the past to keep up their disguise, but they were all glad nobody found it odd they weren't growing with the years.

And it felt so weird to Meadow, watching herself grow up.

"Can we eat it now?" Little Meadow squeaked across the table to her dad. "Can we, can we?"

"I don't see why not," Peter replied, trying not to make eye contact.

Sage leaned over to Meadow, whispering. "Dude, you were so cute as a kid!"

Rose walked over to the royals as Peter was cutting the cake. "Have we already tried to bring Eileen down?" She was trying to keep it discreet.

"I tried to get her down," Ethan stammered. "But she's not doing too great. I noticed her fingers, they're, uh—"

"Turning black." You could barely hear Peter mutter under his breath.

But Meadow heard. Her expression soured. He knew this would happen to her.

"And she's staying asleep," Rose sighed. "I'm worried about her going into a coma or something."

"If only we knew what was going on," Meadow said with a hint of sarcasm. "Do you have any idea, Peter?"

He could feel the pressure Meadow was putting on him. "No. I don't. The doctors said the tests were, uh, unconclusive."

Meadow thought two things. Number one, the proper term is inconclusive, so no one ever fucking told him that.

Two, he's lying through his teeth and somehow still knowing Meadow would punch the shit out of him if she didn't have a job to do.

"Meadow!" Little Cole smiled, finishing the small plate of cake he was given. "Let's go play!"

Little Meadow finished hers as well. "Okay!" She giggled, taking her brother's hand.

"Remember, you two!" Peter called after them as they ran. "I need you downstairs in about an hour!"

Robin scoffed, waiting a moment before letting their expression change. "...Downstairs."

"Robin?" Sage whispered. "What's going on?"

Robin raised their voice, addressing the group. "Hey, I'm going to go use the bathroom."

Ethan stood up straight, leaving with them. "Me too."

Rose, Sage and Meadow watched them both retreat into the house. Rose turned around, a confused expression on her face, pointing at Sage. "I'm not judging, but I thought he was into YOU."

-

Robin and Ethan dashed inside, going up the stairs at the door and into the hallway.

"Soooo. What are you doing?" Ethan asked, scratching his head in confusion.

Robin whipped their head around, before taking Ethan's hand and going down the stairs again. "I'm curious."