A Song For Another Time - A Hikaru Hitachiin Story

Chapter Twenty Eight - Stuck in Reverse

Mornings in the Richards household were a far cry from the quiet of Rose's dorm or the quiet morning wakings the Hitachiins grew up with in their manor. Instead of a beeping alarm or a gentle stir from a maid, the three teens in the living room were woken up by small children jumping on their stomachs with loud screams.

"Wake up Rooooooooose," Luci sang. "We're going to the winter street festival today. You have to geeeeeet ready."

Rose groaned as she rolled over, effectively moving Luci off her abdomen. She pulled her blanket up over her head and grumpily told the young girl to go away.

"Noooooo," Luci whined. "Momma Molly said you and your boyfriends were going to take us to the festival today."

Her eyes opened up suddenly, taken aback by the words that so easily came out of the little blonde's mouth. Rose blinked a few times, staring at the underside of the couch, before rolling onto her back and sitting up.

"Molly said what, now?"

Luci was standing next to Rose's floor bed with her hands behind her back and her head tilted slightly to the side. She bit her lip as she tried not to look her foster sister in the eye.

"Well, Momma Molly said you were gonna take us out today," she said, pausing briefly as she tried to clear the thoughts in her head. "Becca said those boys were your boyfriends, though."

"It's Starr now," Molly called from the kitchen. Rose's eyes scrunched in confusion as she gave a sideways glance toward where the voice came from. Molly chuckled lightly. "She wants to be called Starr now."

Revisiting her thoughts from last night, Rose decided that Becca was, in fact, incredibly lucky to be with the Richards. With one hand, Rose pushed herself off the ground and walked over to the kitchen.

"So," she asked. "What's this about a festival?"

Disheveled was the only way to describe the Richards matriarch that particular morning. It was the first day of winter break — her house was full — and she had forgotten to plan out breakfast. As the Resident Suburban Supermom™ she may as well have brought shame upon her family and she was scrambling in the kitchen. It was at the point where pop tarts were just going to have to do. She'd already spent her morning keeping two tiny monsters in check and dealing with Starr's backtalk. If one more child in this zoo had the gall to get just a little bit mouthy, she was going to lose it.

"Please," Molly practically begged. It was the only word she said. Her crazy mom-eyes did the rest of the talking for her and Rose got the message loud and clear.

"All right, you little rascals. We leave in an hour," she said, turning to the four gathered near the couch. "Luci, go tell Becca and Diego to get ready."

In her time away from the Richards' house, Rose had forgotten just how much trouble it was to gather up a family filled with children. Add the Hitachiin twins into that mix and Rose felt like she may as well have been herding cats. When everyone was finally situated inside the minivan, Rose hopped in shotgun and hummed to herself while Molly started the car.

She did her best to distract herself on the short drive to the street fair. Although it wasn't a great distance away, she felt like she was in a different dimension inside that blue minivan. Luci, Russell and Starr sat in the back row, while Hikaru, Kaoru and Diego occupied the second. Though logical, based on heights, the set up allowed the younger passengers to constantly berate the twins with questions that went along the lines of something like this:

"You have a funny accent. Where are you guys from?"

"How old are you guys?"

"Why do you guys look alike but have different hair?"