* * *
The children were subdued at lunch. Mary kept up a steady stream of chatter, but only Debra seemed to listen. Ryssa didn’t think her mother was even paying attention. Debra just nodded once in a while, mumbling some unheard response whenever Mary seemed to pause for breath. Ryssa felt her mother’s eyes on both her and Reggie. She looked so lost, so tired, so—worried, that Ryssa wanted to throw herself into her mother’s arms and beg Debra not to make her go, to let her stay.
“Okay.” Mary seemed to finally notice that no one was hearing a word of what she was saying. “Let’s get this over with, Debra.”
“Over with?” Debra jumped, tearing her gaze away from the twins and looking at Mary.
“Yes, over with.” Mary put a tender hand to Debra’s shoulder and patted her lightly. “I think it would be easier if we just finished up and left. To remain here—waiting, dragging things along—it will only keep making things worse. You’re tearing the children’s hearts out, Debra. It’s making this much too hard.”
Debra’s worried glance focused fully on her children. It was Ryssa who spoke first.
“She’s right, Mom.” Speaking past the lump in her throat, she tried hard not to cry. “The longer this drags out, the worse it’s getting. I don’t want to go.”
“But we have no choice,” Reggie added, before his sister declared she wasn’t going and stubbornly dug in her heels. Once she did that, there’d be a big scene, and it would make things harder than they already were.
“I know,” Debra said softly. The twins noticed her eyes filling with tears before she lowered them to hide her pain. “I’m just so afraid that I’ll never see you again. I’m being silly.”
“You are being silly. There are clauses.” Mary drew herself up to full height in her chair. Her grip tightened on Debra’s shoulder, forcing the woman to meet her eyes. “I swear to you—the woman who has taken care of these children for almost thirteen years—that Reggie and Ryssa will come back to you before you see the end of this summer cycle, to resume their rightful place at your side. I will invoke full blood rights to ensure it, for this summer of your reckoning and for the summers to come, until they are of the legal age to make that decision themselves.”
A noticeable whisper passed through the air and swirled around them, weighing them down while its heaviness passed over and through them. Reggie and Ryssa stared wide-eyed at the sensation. Blood rights?
“Oh, Mary—what have you done?” Debra whispered.
“Only what is necessary,” Mary said kindly.
The heaviness slowly dissipated from the room. Reggie and Ryssa looked at each other with growing apprehension. Something remained. They could both feel it, but neither could put a finger on what it was. There was definitely something strange going on here. What had just happened?
“But—”
“What’s done is done.” Mary stared deeply into Debra’s eyes.
Reggie and Ryssa watched their mother’s eyes glaze over with a strange look. Then it vanished.
“Okay.” Debra blinked, forcing cheer into her voice. “How about cake?”
She reached over and pulled the cake closer, taking a book of matches from the table to light the candles. Only the shaking of her hands showed her inner state of mind. After several failed attempts to light a match, Terry gently took them away and lit one for her. Each candle was set to flame in turn, and they sang with strained voices to wish the twins a happy birthday.
Reggie and Ryssa still reeled from the strangeness of the situation, but neither spoke. They both had the same feeling. It wouldn’t do them any good to ask questions. Yet. The time would come, but that time was not now. It was as though they each knew what the other was thinking. Their eyes met over the cake that was pushed between them and they nodded, a silent agreement for a wish made before blowing out the candles. The flames died and the same, strange thickness from before settled over them a second time, a faint whisper heard on the edge of the surrounding reality. A single candle in the middle, the thirteenth candle, relit and flared briefly in the center of the cake only to die out again, its wisp of smoke trailing upward.
The twins looked at each other in surprise. Debra and Terry both stared.
“So be it,” Mary’s voice cut through the silence of the room to break the heaviness and send it away. Her eyes twinkled with the cheerfulness of her smile. While Debra dished out a helping of cake to everyone, Mary gleefully clapped her hands. “So who’s for presents?”
Amidst bites of birthday cake, the twins opened the gifts on the table, finding a few items of clothing, jewelry, and a couple of video games. Ryssa was tying her hair back from her face with a beautiful green silk scarf when Terry pulled out two small packs from under the table.
“I know you don’t get to take much with you, because everything you need will be provided—but I’ve been kind of putting together a few things that they might not have where you’re going.”
Reggie and Ryssa eyed him with cautious suspicion, opening the bags to see what was inside.
“Chocolate!” Ryssa cried with delight.
“Snack Cakes!” Reggie smiled.
“Don’t forget—you need to make those last for the whole summer,” Terry warned while they rummaged through the various sweets he had packed for them. His eyes mirrored the pleasure they felt.
“Thanks, Terr,” Ryssa said sincerely. “You’re the best.”
“I know.” He grinned and looked away, his pleasure showing.
“I have a little something for you both as well.” Mary handed them each a gift.
Reggie and Ryssa took the black velvet jewelry boxes. They opened them at the same time. Inside each was a single star-shaped crystal pendant hung on a solid silver chain. The crystals were exquisitely crafted and sent out rainbows into the room where the light from the sun was caught and reflected outward.
“Mary,” Ryssa exclaimed. “They’re beautiful!”
Reggie went to touch the crystal and Mary stopped him.
“These were given to me at the same time you were brought to the adoption agency.” There was a subtle warning in her eyes to match the tone in her voice. “I was told the crystals will resonate to each of you, and that under no circumstances are you to put them on or even touch them until you arrive at the place where we are going.”
Reggie pulled his fingers back as though burned, snapping the box shut. Ryssa continued to stare at hers, puzzled.
“What do you mean, resonate?” she asked.
“It’s a bunch of new age baloney.” Reggie rolled his eyes. “I think the translation is that we’ve just been given our dog tags for boot camp. I don’t like the sound of this.”
“Well, sort of.” Mary looked uncomfortable. “But you’ll learn more about it later.”
Ryssa snapped her box shut and stuck it into the bag Terry had given her. She watched Reggie do the same, the bad feeling returning to the pit of her stomach.
“It’s my turn.” Debra’s smile was sad. “But these you can put on now.”
She held out two more jewelry cases, smaller than the ones given to them by Mary, covered in crimson velvet instead of black. The twins took the boxes and opened them. Inside each lay a beautiful ring, one more delicate and feminine, the other heavier and more masculine, but both similar in design. Three silver circles intertwined what appeared to be a diamond set in the center where the circles met.
“Mom!” Ryssa looked in wonder. “They’re too much.”
“Mom,” Reggie choked, “how can we afford this?”
“Let me worry about that. The circles represent the two of you and me, and the stone is the heart that holds us all together. No matter what happens, we are all connected, the circles unbroken and forever.”
The twins jumped up and ran around the table to throw their arms around her. All three were crying, and for a moment resembled the rings—three circles intertwined with tears shining in the center.
“Yes, well,” Mary clear
ed her throat. When Reggie and Ryssa looked up, they could see emotion in her eyes as well. “It’s time we got going. How about I help clean up this mess we’ve made while the two of you gather your things so we can hit the road?”
Reggie and Ryssa looked at the only mother they had ever known, and then turned to Terry, who was watching with discomfort. Ryssa held her arm out to him, asking without words for him to join them. Terry stepped into the circle and the four held each other in silence before breaking apart. No words were needed. They had said it all with their hearts.