Generations: The Long Game

The Dream

TW: blood, childbirth, traumatic birth

The 1st of August 2025

Charlotte woke to the twins crying. Mia was already on her way to them, and she rushed to follow her. Mia was still healing, and she didn't want to risk her injuring herself. They each changed one twin and then sat in the matching rockers they had bought when they set up the nursery. Charlotte had loved how involved Mia was in the details and design of their nursery. Jack had left that all to her with the girls. Even something so small and insignificant as that, had made her feel deeply alone in the moment. Experiencing this with Mia made her realize that things with Jack, in stark contrast, had been bad long before she had admitted it to herself.

Mia had luckily been able to produce enough milk that while she fed one, Char was able to feed the other with expressed milk. She wondered how they would manage once the final baby arrived. She found herself gazing at Mia as they sat with their children. Mia has surprised her by how attentive and loving she was to the boys. She held Carson so lovingly and the way she spoke to them just melted Char. She doted on them all the while involving Lynn and Lucy. Neither of them wanted the girls to feel left out with all the new chaos in their lives.

Lucy had acclimated to not being the baby better than either of them had ever dreamed. She was such a little mummy. She helped every chance she got and doted on them much like Mia.

Mia decided to get a shower while Char was out. She wished she wasn't like this, but she couldn't help but be critical of her changed body. Her incision was still healing and her stomach was slowly shrinking, but the skin was different now. Marked from stretching. She wasn't ready for Char to see her like this. The only good news was she wouldn't have to let her see for many more weeks. She wrapped the towel tightly around her as she stepped from the shower.

As she stepped from the en suite to the bedroom she heard one of the babies crying. Carson, she thought. She padded off down to the nursery still in her towel. She giggled to herself as she held him close trying to soothe him so he wouldn't wake his brother. She had surprised even herself by how she was doing with them. She wasn't particularly known for being maternal. She mothered the girls, but they were older, more interesting when she had met them. They made it easy to love them. The boys cried, dirtied nappies, and slept. In her past life this was the stuff of her nightmares, but now she couldn't stop the feeling if she tried.

She looked down at Carson. He was by far the fussier of the two. Aki was so quiet at times that she worried after him. They were perfectly matched to their namesakes. She rocked softly as Carson fed and she told him all about his mummy and sisters. Stories that had become her life over the past year and a half. A life she never imagined for herself but wouldn't give up now. She stroked his little red curls as he started to nod. A smile spread across her face as he started to suckle again.

Once she got him down again and checked on Aki who was peacefully asleep. She made her way back to the room to dress. She was startled to find Lucy sat in the middle of their bed. "Hiya, sweet girl, you alright?"

"Yes, Mama, I was just waiting for you." The little girl was a miniature version of Charlotte, and she made Mia melt. She sat on the bed with her, still in her towel, and asked what was on the little girl's mind. "Well, now that I am a big sister does that mean the twins are my ponsibilities"

Mia held in the laugh that was struggling to come out. "Responsibility," she corrected. "And no. The twins are Mum and Mummy's responsibility. You get to just love and play with them."

The little girl thought a minute. "I love them, and I will protect them just like Aunt Autie." This was a new nickname for Autumn after the girls stayed with Winter and Autumn for a few days while she and Charlotte were still in the hospital with the boys. Mia cuddled with her before shooing her from the room so she could dress before Char and Carly arrived. She wasn't traumatizing her six-year-old today.