Log 5j: Bros and Sisters

Ede and Malcolm were a wee bit late to Jarrett and Easter’s house that evening, having spent the day enthusiastically exploring their new boundaries. The hosts didn’t seem to mind, though – having a busy house with a newborn kind of blurs the lines of time, anyway.

C’mere, rugrat.

The twins were very excited to have company. They immediately began a mock-off right there on the couch.

Elicanto and Flarn compete to see who has the scariest pointing face.

Not to be outdone, mom threw some faces of her own down there at the end of the sofa.

“Okay, mom wins – again!”

Despite them being a rather odd pair, it was evident that Jarrett really wanted to be friends with Malcolm. Like, bad. Malcolm’s a pretty laid back guy, but it’d been a rough road because their conversations were always so darn weird.

“I can see that ducks are very important to you, yes.”

Jarrett: “I’m going to catch some and put them in my bath.”

(Seriously, idk what his deal is. Around half his chat bubbles are ducks, and the remainder is smattered with bathtubs and underwear. Malcolm keeps getting ‘awkward conversation’ moodlets from him.)

Ede and Easter were getting along just fine, though. ;D

“Your boyfriend is really cute, Ede!”

“Family life suits you,” Ede observed.

“Yeah! It’s great!” Easter beamed. “I think we’re gonna have more kids soon!”

“Hey,” Ede asked Easter, “speaking of, is this an OK time to go peek at the baby?”

“Oh! Yeah, do it! She’s just upstairs in her bassinet.”

Easter’s recent pregnancy had been a difficult one. She moved out of the Legacy house well into her third trimester, but when she arrived at her new home she found her belly had all but shrunk away and she had to repeat the whole gestation. Thankfully her baby arrived perfectly intact after all that.  Just a single birth – a girl she named Amina.

“Hello, little miracle. I’m your aunt Ede.”

Malcolm came into the room quietly and stopped when he saw Edelweiss holding her niece. She looked so happy and natural with a baby in her arms. For a moment he flashed forward and caught a glimpse of her holding their own child in a room a little bit like this, leaving him with a strange pang of loss when it passed. He had to leave the nursery, as the feeling was a bit intense and he was embarrassed that he’d even had it.

Ede rocked Amina to sleep and headed back downstairs, wondering where Malcolm had gone off to.

Ede caught up with him in the dining room.

“I thought you wanted to see Amina?” Ede asked.

“Didn’t want to disturb you two,” he smiled.

“Oh I get it,” she teased, “you saw me making a fool of myself with a baby and ran for the hills.”

“Something like that,” he smirked.

“Absolutely terrifying sight, really. I may need therapy.”

You liar. 

---

It was a lot of socializing for a loner (and there were three of them present), but overall it had been a not-altogether-unpleasant night for everyone involved. Ede could stand doing it again, if they asked.

“We’re going to the mountains this weekend,” Jarrett announced as they were getting ready to leave. “You guys should come!”

“Mom’s going to watch the kids as an anniversary present,” Easter added. “The four of us could share a cabin.”

The mountains – that sounded amazing to an outdoor lover like Edelweiss! She glanced at Malcolm to try and gauge his interest before answering, but she just got lost in his face; their romance was still too fresh for her to be able to concentrate on anything else for long.

Malcolm could tell Ede wanted to go, so he answered for them.

“We’d love to,” he said.

“Sweet!” Jarrett yelped.