Pass It On

4. it's going to take a while

to change

and get used to the journeys home

on stormy nights

Arcadia is a stupid name, and that you know for sure because think about it -- would you ever name your kid Arcadia? Arcadia is the name you give a woman who you already know is going to have about ten grandkids and live on a ranch in the middle of Idaho. It's a pointless, stupid name. Almost as pointless as his own, but not quite. Shallow names from shallow people who weren't pleased with their own, so they had to screw the whole family over.

There was Noam and Amelie... then there was Amorette, Abriel, Noel (pronounced "no-ell," shudder) and Arcadia. Every time their mother was pregnant with one of them, she pored through baby name books and websites trying to find something that would make her soon-to-be-cynical-and-pessimistic kids stand out! It was no surprise, then, that all the kids had nicknames. Not to mention that Abriel was a girl. The kids weren't sure if this classified as child abuse, but as soon as they learned how ridiculous their names were, they became Mor, Brie, Noe and Cady.

Welcome to the Reinhart family home, where the rules are made up and the points don't matter! thinks Noe bitterly, watching his littlest sister get absorbed in the newest coloring book their parents have given her. This is to make up for the fact that neither of them were going to be home for the next two weeks, because they want to go on a little family vacation. Yeah, right. His parents hadn't gotten laid in so long since Cady was born -- Noe wouldn't be surprised if they came home with news that "little Aldercy" was on the way. Since he's the only one of the oldest siblings still living in the same city as their parents, he's tasked with becoming a babysitter.

Which he honestly doesn't mind. It's nice to have a sister around that listens for a change. Noe smiles as he looks at the little almost-angelic figure concentrating very hard on coloring inside the lines. In contrast with the rest of the Reinhart siblings (with their mother's jet-black hair and their father's green eyes), Cady had turned out as a strawberry-blonde with warm brown eyes, a perfect clone of her father's mother. People often ask if she's adopted when they see the family walk down the street. Usually, all it results in is a disapproving glance from Nigel and Alice, and a few eye-rolls from Mor and Brie. It fits, though. The family's so sullen -- and then there's Cady, the little shining light surrounded by darkness, but not fading out.

"Nigel, you haven't given me the list," sighs Noe disapprovingly. Nigel purses his lips, presumably to mutter for the thousandth time his disapproval of being called by his first name by his own son, but decides against it. "C'est sur la table, Noel."

"Don't call me Noel," Noe growls, but Nigel just stares coldly back at him. "Then don't call me Nigel." In a huff, Nigel calls for Alice down the stairs, and they kiss their children goodbye and wheel their suitcases out the door. Cady, seemingly unfazed, is still coloring. Noe locks the door behind his parents and watches his sister for a bit, the little angelic face determined to keep the princess' dress a pretty pink and not mix it in with the black from her hair.

Noe's always been Cady's favorite - her sisters love her just as much, but they never spoil her or treated her like a real princess. Noe is the type of sibling who will do ten cartwheels in a row just to make a little kid smile. Maybe this is why Alex fell in love with him in the first place -- he's a people pleaser.

But that's all finished now, because she doesn't need him anymore.

Sighing to himself, Noe plugs his headphones into his ears and tunes out the sound of the birds outside having mental breakdowns. All he can hear now are soft guitar strums and carefully chosen lyrics that comfort him. Music has always been one of Noe's passions, but he can only play the piano, and that's about it. He can listen to practically anything -- from soft jazz crooners to hardcore metal revival bands.