Animal Adventure

Chapter 8: Enjoy the Crystal Times

It is the next day from when Teresa and Otoya went out to a picnic and found Tokiya. Teresa told Aka everything that happened and what she is planning to do with Tokiya. Aka agreed to help Teresa search more about the new hybrid and tell her what she found when she gets back home. Unfortunately for Teresa, Aka had to be away for work and wouldn't be coming back home for three days. So, Teresa had to wait three days for her twin to return.

For now, Teresa has to take care of Tokiya and Otoya on her own. She would have had Andy help her, but he is already busy working at the café. Teresa didn't have any other friends, so that is out of the question. But Teresa also have to work as she works at the same café as Andy and she already took a whole week off not too long ago. She can't afford to miss any more work. But she also can't leave two children by themselves for a long period.

Teresa is having a mental meltdown trying to figure out what to do. She would have banged her head against a wall if she wasn't worry about Otoya following suit. He is very impressionable right now and Teresa didn't want him getting head injuries because of her.

At the moment, Teresa is debating whether to hire someone to take care of them or not. The biggest problem is Tokiya, who is still distrustful of Teresa. The only one the new hybrid trust is Otoya. It probably has to do with the fact that Otoya is a hybrid and is a kid.

Teresa sighs for probably the thousandth time that day when she reads another babysitter's info. This is going nowhere. She might as well call Andy and tell him to get a new worker as Teresa will have her hands full with two children hybrids.

If this is what it feels like to have kids, Teresa thought to herself, then I am not ready to have more.

Teresa groans as she flops onto her bed. Teresa spends almost two hours looking for babysitters, but none of them feels right. Teresa turns her head to look at the clock on nightstand to see it is closed to lunchtime. Teresa groans again as she gets up.

She makes her way to the kitchen and looks into the fridge to see what they have. Teresa frowns. The fridge is almost completely empty. All there was left was the sandwiches that Teresa put aside for Aka. It was quite a lot for Aka to eat all by herself, but Otoya insisted that it was all for her. Teresa smiles sadly as she thinks how disappointed Otoya will be when he realized Aka wouldn't be eating them. Still, Teresa takes the sandwiches out and starts plating them for Otoya and Tokiya.

Usually, Teresa would eat with Otoya for lunch, but today seems like a day where the stress was to much for Teresa's stomach to handle. Even just looking at the sandwiches makes her stomach turn. Guilt also makes Teresa's turn as she imagines Otoya's sad face. She'll just have to eat a lot for dinner. That is if her stress levels are low enough for her to eat.

Knowing herself, Teresa probably wouldn't even eat at all. Teresa is very bad at dealing with stress, but only Aka knows about it. So, no one but Aka knows how to help Teresa deals with it.

If it wasn't for the fact that Teresa knows how to take care of others, she would have been a complete mess instead of being partly a mess.

"Teresa?" Otoya's voice rang suddenly, making Teresa jump. "Are you okay?"

Teresa turns to look at Otoya. His red eyes show concern as he watched Teresa having an internal struggle with herself. Teresa tries to give Otoya a smile, but it comes out wabbly. Otoya's lips turn down when he saw this. Teresa drops the act and just pets his head.

"Lunch is ready." Teresa said instead of answering. "Can you get Tokiya for me?"

Otoya stands where he is for a bit before moving. His eyes never change. Teresa feels the guilt growing as she watched Otoya disappears up the stairs. She doesn't want Otoya to worry about her, but with the situations that is going on, Teresa can't help but feel stress.