Back To You // T.K

some time later

Pearl, 5 years later

Twins.
Ironic, isn't it?
Bill and Crystal were born on the 19th of May four years ago, even though Bill was actually born 8 minutes earlier, and Tom couldn't have been more proud of that.
Whenever I looked at them, I could see me and Tom, - Bill was pretty tall for his age, brown wavy hair and brown eyes, whereas Crystal was a little bit shorter with dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes.
They were the most beautiful children in the world, and I didn't mean that just because they were our children, - I fell in love with them each day that passed.

That day was just a regular Tuesday for me and Tom, - I was working in the living room while he went out to pick Bill and Crystal up from kindergarten.
I was working on a pretty difficult case, including a woman who had been assaulted by her now ex husband, - she was fighting to get custody of her kids, who she told me had been abused by that man as well, but she couldn't find a single proof anywhere, which made my heart break for her.
I believed her as soon as I laid my eyes on her and saw the bruises on her neck, so I was doing by best to help her, working day and night and taking a break just to eat, shower, and be with my kids.
Tom walked in a few minutes later, holding Crystal in his arms while he kept his free hand on Bill's shoulder.

'Hey, baby', Tom said as soon as he saw me sitting at the kitchen's table.

'Mommy!', Crystal yelled and fought to break free from Tom, - he didn't want to let her go, but he knew better than to keep her from me.
It might've sounded like a cliché, but Crystal was a real mommy's girl, - Bill, on the other hand, loved spending time playing the guitar and singing with his father.
I could've never loved one more than the other, they were both part of my soul along with Tom, but I could've seen them being a kid version of younger me and Tom, - back when we were 5 and fighting over our toys everyday.

'Hey, beautiful', I said as Crystal ran to me, lifting her up to my lap as I ran my fingers through her beautiful, long hair.
'Did you guys have a good day at school?'

'Billy here got into trouble', Tom said, watching as Bill threw his backpack on the ground with a frustrated, angry sigh.

'Why?', I asked him, but he just shook his head and started crying.

He ran to Tom, who kneeled down in front of him and comforted him, gently rubbing his back as Bill cried on his shoulder.

'What happened?', I asked Tom, starting to get worried as well.
Bill was a calm, happy little boy, - he didn't get upset easy, not even when Crystal annoyed him, so I knew that if he was crying something serious had to have happened.

'Someone was fighting', Crystal chimed in, 'and Bill stopped them.'

'Fighting? Who was fighting?', I asked her, but she shrugged.

'Tom', I said, turning my attention back on him, 'who was fighting?'

'Apparently someone was bullying one of his friends and he defended him', he sighed, 'the teacher, however, put all of them in detention and Billy got a little upset.'

I looked from Bill, to Crystal and then to Tom.
Then I stood up, with Crystal still in my arms, and walked to Bill.
I let Crystal go and kneeled down in front of them as well, so that I could've looked at Bill.
He lifted his head and stared at me, his eyes shining through his long lashes, - a gift from his father.

'Hey', I said, brushing my thumbs on his puffy cheeks and fixing his hair, 'I'm proud of you, Billy.'

'You're not mad, mommy?', he asked, nervously, to which I smiled.

'Of course not', I smiled, kissing his forehead, 'you stood up for someone who didn't deserve to be bullied, you were brave and I'm incredibly proud of you.'