To When We Were Young (Umbrella Academy Diego Hargreeves)

Mom

2 Years Ago...

Cassie tapped the steering wheel as she jammed to the music on the radio. Her head bopped slightly as Nirvana blasted through her car speakers. The busy streets of San Francisco made the drive time twice as long and she expected to hear whines from her twins once she picks them up from school. Finally, it cleared up and she was able to pull up and park after looking for a spot for the longest time. Work was drowning her and being away from the company that early meant she probably had a lot to do tomorrow since she had to leave early today because the babysitter cancelled last minute.

Her white heels clacked against the smooth marble entrance of the school, gaining the attention of nearby mothers. Heads turned to look at the woman with the blue jumpsuit and her beautifully youthful face. Other mothers glared at her in jealousy as she combed back her hair, approaching the secretary.

"Hi, I'm Cassiopeia Hargreeves and I'm here to pick up Apollo and Artemis Hargreeves, please." The older lady nodded before asking for her identification card, and signaled the operator to open the door for Cassie to pick up her children. 

Apollo and Artemis were glaring at each other by the time their mother arrived, upset about their argument on which superhero was better. Cassie looked at them in confusion and decided to ask them later in the car. The twins each held their mother's hand and when they stepped outside, others marveled at the sight of the beautiful trio. It's been a while since school started so the whispers have quieted down but it hasn't stopped people from commenting how she was too young to be a mother or how outstandingly striking she looked. Cassie's mind was filled with venomous thoughts about her from their minds and she sighed sharply, annoyed and irritated.

All of them climbed on to the car and it was silent causing Cassie to look at them through the rear-view mirror. They each faced the window, away from each other. The mother sighed, knowing they fought too hard on something again.

"Okay, what was it this time?" She asked.

Apollo looked at Cassie through the mirror and briefly glared at his sister before answering. "She thinks the Avengers are SOOO much better than the Umbrella Academy."

Artemis looked at him wildly before pointing a finger at him. "What?! No, I don't! All I said was that the Avengers are cool, that's it. Finito. Lying psychopath," She mumbled.

"Hey, that's not nice, Arty." Cassie furrowed her eyebrows. "Calling your brother that is very rude and mean. But besides that, the Avengers and the Academy are equally very cool. There's no competition as to who's better or not. They're both amazing yet flawed in the same way," she explained as they got out on the road.

"But mom, she's basically being a traitor by calling them cool. Hello, you have a superhero mother, doofus." Artemis punched her brother in the arm, rather painfully, eliciting an angry yell from him.

"You both got the temper of your father, all right." Cassie mumbled as she drove.

"You better stop it or I will beat you up!"

"Oh, bring it on, you skinny twig!"

"Haha, real mature!"

"And you're not?"

"I'm perfect, thank you very much!"

"Stop it, right now. Both of you!" Cassie snapped and turned around to glare at them once they were at a stop light. "I don't know why you're both very fiesty today but I hope you put an end to it soon. Or you're grounded."

The threat silenced the two and they continued to stare out the window, not talking or looking at each other. A chuckle left Cassie's mouth, reminding her of an all familiar scene.