sanctuary || cedric diggory - sequel to lies

boring plus ones and white dresses

On the third week of August in the year 1977, Jean Donovan had been screaming at the television when Reine screamed from the bathroom. Contractions were all he heard before he yelled for the help, pulling all the bags his wife had packed and tossing them over his shoulders. A summer storm had picked up, blowing at the windshield of his vehicle and soon his pale skin when the twins were born. He still remembered how bright their eyes were when he first saw them, how small their hands were compared to his, especially Camellia’s. While Curtis was a whopping 7.8lbs, his little princess was only 5.4lbs. She was more fragile than her brothers and had gained the royal title as her first name without another thought.

It was a stormy night when Camellia had learned to call him as well. She had been in her cot and Reine was changing Curtis’ diaper for the umpteenth time, muttering about the babies’ charm serving as the blackmail for parents to not abandon them. His little princess was asleep and cried loudly when the thunder shook the estate, jolting her awake. Jean was instantly by her side as Curtis excitedly babbled in the bathroom, Reine calling him to soothe the young girl. Frightened eyes stared back at him as he bent over to scoop her up, rocking side to side to lull her back to sleep. Her eyes were already half closed when she babbled, chuckling sleepily as she curled against his massive chest.

Dada…

Two simple syllables nearly drove a vast man into tears. A man that several feared to face in the courtroom was on the verge of crying in joy as the girl curled up against him, snoring softly as Reine slipped out of the bathroom with her twin.

“She called you, didn’t she?” Reine asked, grinning at the man as she placed Curtis in a separate crib.

“How do you manage to keep a straight face? That felt-“ His voice hushed to prevent the girl from stirring, Jean paused to find the right words to say, and rocking still until Reine could take her.

“Phenomenal?” The wife suggested, carefully scooping up the infant from his burly arms. “It takes time but I was driven to tears as well when our girl called me.”

As precious as they were when they were still babbling and in diapers, the Donovan twins were the biggest handful Jean and Reine had to raise. Since Lorcan had taken after his father, at the tender age of six, the boy had learned to quiet down and the seriousness etched along his face was passed down to his younger brother, Lorcan being Tristan’s role model. With a large age gap between the second child and the twins, they grew up to be less like the two, especially Curtis. Now, the couple noticed that despite Camellia’s solemnity and ambition, she was more the black sheep out of the quartet.

Of course the argument in the dining hall was handled in silence. The twins sat in a sitting room that used to be their playpen while growing up. It was a small room compared to the parlors and bedrooms, but with just the two of them often occupying it, they didn’t question Reine’s choice. Before, the walls were lined with an array of children’s books and stuffed toys, now the range of novels and law books scented the air with their leather binds. Both of them had retreated in the chamber and locked the doors, refusing to discuss the conversation hence turned to scrabble, and a casual conversation in preparation for the soiree thrown in their behalf.

“I don’t want to bring a date.” Curtis grumbled, twisting the letter in his finger before placing it down on the board. “Dates are overrated, they’re not even mandatory.”

“I’m aware but-“

Tearing his eyes to his sister, the brother groaned, leaning back in annoyance at the wide grin on her face. Pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose, he tried to convince himself she wouldn’t attend this year. But she attended the last five so what was stopping her?