Letters to Isabella

forty seven.

Laura's POV

I tapped my knuckles gently against Isabella's bedroom door, holding the ultrasound pictures of the twins in the palm of my hand. I was finally going to tell her about her twin siblings that were going to be with us in less than five months time. I could only hope that she'd be happy and not envious of the time that Ross and I would obviously have to give to our new bundles of joy once they arrived here with us. She was at an age where she'd understand, right? At least I hoped so. 

"Yeah?" My daughter's sweet sing song voice rang out from the other side of her heavy wooden door. 

I smiled to myself. I still couldn't quite believe that I had a twelve year old daughter sometimes. I mean, did I actually produce someone so perfect? It just can't be humanely possible. 

"It's mom!" I say happily. 

I could feel the rush of adrenaline flowing through my veins knowing that in less than five minutes time I was going to tell my daughter that she was going to become a big sister again, but not just to two siblings -- three of them!

If my mom had given pregnancy news to Vanessa and I as pre-teens we both would have freaked, especially me. And not quite in the way that you'd expect. Having one sibling, who of course happened to be older than me, was just fine in my eyes. I never craved anymore siblings and luckily mom and dad shared the same thought process as I did.

Within seconds she opened up her bedroom door and smiled at me. "What's up mom?"

Her dark blonde hair was tied up into a messy wavy ponytail and she was wearing an oversized sweatshirt that Ross had given to her from one of his illegal band gigs that he'd attended before we met in high school. He'd handed it over to her on her eighth birthday and she'd leapt into his arms, clutching the piece of outdated merchandise to her chest like it was a million dollars -- although to her it probably was. 

Before I answered her, I noticed that her bedroom was oddly dark behind her. The only light I could see happened to be coming from her fairy lights above her double bed and I frowned, wondering why she was sat in darkness in the middle of the afternoon on a relatively sunny day outside.

"Why's it so dark in here?" I ask, stepping into her bedroom with curiosity filling my voice. "You have curtains honey... open them."

Isabella groaned. "Mom... I just want them shut today, okay?"

I sigh and try to remember myself at her age. Her hormones are probably all over the place and she's at that stage of her life where she suddenly wants to listen to death metal and paint her nails black. 

Stereotypical, I know. But once those curtains close and the oversized black sweatshirts come out you know that a major life change is about to take place.

There's no use being forceful, Laura. You know she won't change her mind. I tell myself, realising that she's my daughter which means we're pretty much on the same wavelength. There's no use in arguing about it I suppose.

"Okay, okay. My little vampire." I joke, grabbing her playfully by the cheek. She doesn't laugh or react. Instead she pouts her lips and crosses her arms over her chest like a child who's just been told they can't have any snacks before dinner.

I pat the edge of her bed and encourage her to sit down beside me. Reluctantly she does, but I can tell that she'd much rather be on her own than have to deal with me and my annoying comments about her light source choices. 

I smile nervously at her. Suddenly, sharing my pregnancy news made me feel like a sixteen year old girl all over again. Just like when I'd first told Ross, my mom and pretty much every other authoritative figure in my life.