Chapter 2.12-The Harder I Try

          Cyrus’ house did not have nearly enough places to sit. Though, for once, Layla was able to use tact instead of blurting out that eating here would be difficult. Instead she proposed eating out and just coming back here for conversation afterwards. She even offered to pay. That way, the kids would have toys to play with and stay out of the adults’ hair while they talked later. It also meant there wouldn't need to be any clean up afterward. Wasn’t she clever.

          Corinne, however, had cornered Cyrus begging him to read her a book while Olivia expounded on her new job to George. And though Layla embraced to opportunity to talk more with Phedra, the group was fractured where she would have preferred more harmony. There were more Sixkiller siblings in one room right now than there had been since Layla was Corinne’s age. Shouldn’t the three of them be more in sync?

          Corinne refused to hear no and had approached her Aunt Phedra for storytime instead. So Layla made her way over to Cyrus.

          George had spent most of the day staring between his wife and sister in law. Their temperaments were incredibly different. Their coloring was nothing alike. But to him, it was as if they shared the same face. Only Layla’s jaw was stronger than Fay’s. He found the contrast between the two fascinating.

          “Claudia looks like LilyPad,” Layla meant it as a question. She kept confusing the girls’ names.

          “No,” Cyrus chuckled. “You haven’t figured this out yet Aunt Layla?”

          “No,” she sighed. “And it seems like the harder I try the worse I do. I think I called the oldest one Candice a little while ago. That seemed to offend her, so I’m pretty sure I got that wrong.”

          “Watcher help us if you ever have kids, Laydee,” he said. “That is Corinne. And at her very ripe age you really offended her by calling her by the toddler’s name.”

          “I’m not that bad.”

          “Oh, yes you are,” Cyrus rolled his eyes. “But it’s why we love you. ’Cause no one else could stand to have you around.”

          “Hey!”

          “It’s just the truth!”

          “So the Lady Bug kid is Candice?”

          Cyrus’ laughter rang through the room.

          “Laydee, I’m signing you up for a logic course! This isn’t that hard!”

          “Says you,” she retorted. “You live with them. Back to Lady Bug Girl.”

          “Claudia.”

          “Claudia.”

          “Da!”

          “Yes, you sweetie!” Cyrus turned to smile at the toddler who’d responded to her name.

          “So…” Layla shrugged at him.

          “Corinne is the oldest. Candice is pink.”

          “And lady bug girl is Claudia.”

          “-Yes, that’s Claudia.”

          “-DA!”

          “Aunt Layla is just being silly, sweetheart,” Cyrus turned back to his daughter. “You’re ok.”

          “Thank the Watcher Henry is still swaddled in blue or I’m afraid you’d really be confused!”

          “Look, until a short while ago I had no nieces. I had no nephew. I had Galen- which basically means I had Arden- and I had dad with mom’s occasional presence. I’m still trying to wrap my head around this.”

          “You’ll get it,” he patted her arm in a reassuring manner while looking anything but.

          Layla decided to ask if Cyrus had been able to take up fishing again since he’d been in town while Phedra and Olivia chatted.

          George was again comparing profiles.

          The Sister In Law.

          His wife.

          He’d been prepared for the same nose or mouth or something, but these two looked a lot alike.

12

          Sister In Law.

          Wife.

          And nothing of Cyrus in either of their looks. Strange.

          Wandering back to Layla, Phedra went into explaining some more of the expedition she had George had signed up for. Unfortunately, behind her, Cyrus was closely questioning her husband.

Olivia and Cyrus said they would be happy to take care of little Henry until the return of his parents. However, they couldn’t understand how the two had been able to make such a decision. The tight grip George kept on Henry almost confirmed to them that there were misgivings.

          Trying to talk a little louder and more enthusiastically fooled only Layla. Even Phedra’s face showed she felt the sting in Cyrus’ words.

          “So I’ll get to do a lot of solo flying without a scientist on board,” she plowed on, raising her voice a little more. “I’ll have the potential to actually discover an island that no one has ever set eyes on before!”

          Showing her approval with smiles and pats on the shoulder, Layla could hardly tell anything was amiss.

          “It’s going to be hard enough for me to walk away from him in the morning,” George’s deep timbre tones easily carried the short distance to his wife and sister in law. “I know Fay has got to be feeling it even worse.”

          “So will you get to name any islands you do discover?” Layla asked, not noticing how far away her sister was suddenly.

          “But she’s determined. It’s like she’s pushing for this as some kind of punishment for herself. So we’ll go.”

          “Uh, Fay?”

          Drawing a breath Phedra focused again on her sister.

          “I’m-I—I’m-I’m sorry,” she stuttered. “What-what was that?”

          “I asked if you’ll get to name any islands you discover?”

          “Um, I don’t-I, uh-I- I don’t know,” she said. She tried to smile at Layla but it quickly fell, along with her gaze.

          “It’s a big step. And don’t get me wrong, a baby will be nice around the house again, but we just want to make sure you two are really sure.” Cyrus wasn’t about to let this drop.

          “I’m not cut out to be a mom,” Phedra whispered to Layla. “I have no idea what to do when he cries. And he cries so much, and sometimes I just want to get away from him. I need to get away from him. And that makes me the most horrible mother ever and George has no idea. I can’t wait to go.”

          “Hey!” Layla stooped to find Phedra’s gaze, whispering. “Hey, you’re a great mom I’m sure. Look, Cyrus’ girls already like you better because you are a mom.”

          Tentatively, Phedra’s eyes met hers.

          “And you know what? You’ll be back before you know it. And then Henry will have grown out of the baby stage and will be able to tell you what he wants and needs. Then, when he’s grown up enough, he’ll be able to tell his friends all about how his mom discovered ‘Henry’s Island’ and how you named it after him. He’ll be so proud! Just think of it!”

          “Yeah,” Phedra still struggled to find her smile, but she did try to reassure Layla. “Yeah, he’s not going to know we were ever gone. We’ll be back before you know it and he’ll be so proud one day.”

          “There ya go.”

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George really did keep staring between Layla and Phedra. I finally put a stop to it by keeping someone interacting with him as I was afraid he’d end up with Wimbeldon neck. Then, I almost ran into a problem with George and Olivia. Catch it on the blooper page along with a zombie-rific party thrown by Cyrus.

There is a little more of Phedra’s explanation. She's not really sticking around to see if she can deal with it, but being a mom can be an incredibly foreign feeling for some and maybe Phedra can better come to grips with how things have turned out away from Henry. She’s lost her way and is resentful toward a lot of things and people, most of all toward herself. She has handled falling in love, but she really wasn't ready for a baby. She’s got to let go and accept life as it has happened before she can move on. Layla's answer and opinion left a lot to be desired, but Layla had no idea how to respond to that. And that's going to haunt her for a long time. Really haunt her.

This is kind of a two parter also.  Just FYI. There'll be more of this particular scene in a few days.