I don't look that different, do I?

Seraphina stood up the second that Kemuel got up on his feet again, watching him search for something, pouring out all his stuff on the computer desk, and then followed the trace of his eyes back to the lamp on the floor. Seraphina like always waited for Kemuel to tell her what he wanted her to do. And as soon as he started putting the small pieces in the box, she helped him pick them up, only managing to grab a few pieces before they all where in the small tin box and was handed to her. "Sure thing," she replied with a smile before taking the box, heading towards the door, but waiting for him to tag along before heading out the door and towards the kitchen.

She could hear Zadkiel and Talia talk, but didn't really pay attention to what they were talking about. Her attention was focused on getting Kemuel to the kitchen or the living room, so they could fix the lamp. Seraphina placed the tin box on the dining table, before turning around bouncing towards Zadkiel to give him few light jabs on his good arm, before grabbing it pulling him into a quick side hug. She let Kemuel apologize for blowing off earlier before breathing out with a few small nods. "We are going to fix the lamp -- I will find the glue," she pointed out and spun around to the living room looking through the drawers till she found it and then returned to the dining table.

Her mother poked Tien’s chest, right where her heart should be. It was both heartwarming and heartshattering. Of course, her mother would always be right there in her heart. But it also meant that she wouldn’t always be there physically, and she hated that fact. Tien wanted to be selfish and just have her mother stay. She regretted all the time where she hadn’t said to her mother that she loved her, and nothing ever could replace her. She appreciated everything her mother had done to Tien to make sure she got through her life as easy as possible. Appreciated how Eden had protected Tien from Cael’s wrath. She appreciated her mother, and she knew that it was far too late to tell her that and to repay all of the things that Eden had given, given and given. Tien sobbed and buried her head in her mother’s chest, not caring much for how her mother’s chest would get wet from the tears that had streamed down her cheeks earlier. As Eden said herself, none of this was fair. She hugged her mother while she explained that they all were strong, and they were going to get through this. She doubted it right now. She couldn’t see a future which she could bear being in unless she moved out and away from her siblings. Though she felt like that, she also knew she didn’t want to leave them like their father had left them, and she knew she didn’t want to live alone. She wanted to be near, reachable and supporting to her siblings in need.
Eden suggested they could lay in the bed for a while until she felt better. Tien took a sharp, raspy breath in and somewhat resultingly moved out of her mother’s embrace. She dried her eyes and nodded. She would love to lie in her bed for a while. She took a few deep breaths before she got to her feet, got herself into bed and waited for her mother to sit next to her, so they could lie down together, and Tien could hug her mother closely. “I’m sorry, mum… ” she whispered. “I wish I had told you how much you meant to me before this happened,” she said and looked up towards her mother’s eyes. “I love you, mum” she said, not letting Tien’s eyes wander anywhere else than her mother’s eyes. She couldn’t remember when she last had said that she loved someone, and it wasn’t her being influenced or in an abusive relationship.

Zadkiel pulled on a disapproving smile as Talia mentioned that Zadkiel was strong. He didn’t agree with that, but that was probably just because he wanted to be nothing more than successful, and sometimes, he felt like he wasn’t ‘good enough’ for the therapy. It was a sick thought, he knew that. He pulled on a greater smile, when she said she was glad that he was talking with someone. “Me too,” he replied.
As the twins came down, Zadkiel looked towards them, to see how they were managing. He let them put their things down and didn’t want to pressure them into speaking to them – maybe they had agreed not to talk to either Talia or him. Who knew? But the thought was quickly pushed aside as Seraphina bounced towards Zadkiel and gave him a few jabs, making him laugh a little and return the quick side hug. Kemuel apologized, which made Zadkiel raise his brows caringly. “Well, I’m glad you came down already,” he said with a small smile, nodding approvingly. Of course, it wasn’t alright to yell at people, but it had been what Kemuel had needed. Seraphina then mentioned they were going to fix the lamp, which made Zadkiel smile a little brighter. “Can I help?” he suggested, ready to keep an eye on the twins.

Tien listened carefully to her mother’s words and took in all the love that she roamed in the moment. She loved how her mother’s hand slid through her hair. It was so calming and being so close to her was one of the things that just comforted her the most. Nothing could be compared to a mother’s arms. “I will try,” she mumbled with her nose slightly stuffed from the mood. She wanted to forgive herself, but in order to do that, she had a journey to go through and as of right now, Sebastian helped her so much. She even saw a brighter future for herself. Sometimes she just felt invincible in his company, and that might be the moments where she, for now, had to forgive herself for what had happened in the past. Everything had happened for a reason and had let her to the moment, no matter if it was a moment like this, where she out of anxiety had called a friend and prayed to her mother or if it was a moment where she barely had both feet on the ground in pure happiness. She had to remember that.

Zadkiel chuckled a little by his little brother’s confession and approached. He placed himself next to Kemuel and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze, “Alright, let’s look at this” he said quite spirited with a smile and started to try and piece things together, holding them up against each other. Sometimes a piece broke into more pieces, and Zadkiel just laughed a little by it. If it had to break, it would be better that it did now than later, so they could fix it easier right now. When Seraphina came back with the clue, he had already pieced a couple of things together and let the twins do the gluing and placing, since his broken arm wasn’t the most talented nor stable for the job.

“Thank you, mom,” Tien whispered. Every sad emotion had simmered down, and things weren’t as chaotic as before. The fuse was still way too short, but she would need way too long to get a longer fuse. She sat up right, out of her mother’s embrace. “I think… I think I’ll fetch some tea and feel the mood downstairs,” she said in almost a whisper. “I don’t know if the others are ready for your presence,” she took a bigger breath in, “But I’ll just pray for you, if you take your leave,” she said and interlocked her fingers in her lap. She had no real sense of how long they had stayed in her room, “But I don’t mind you being here,” she stood up and looked towards her mother to determine whether or not she was joining. If she joined, she would let the door to her room stay open, and if she believed it was best to leave, she would close the door to her room right behind her.
She folded her arms around herself looking at the scene she had left. She had been throwing things after his brother like a maniac. She licked her lips and tightened the embrace she had around herself before she went downstairs and into the big kitchen. She could see how everyone was enjoying themselves. Enjoying a cuppa and fixing a lamp. As silent as possible, she walked straight over to the cabinet to grab herself a cup and make herself a cup of tea. She could feel eyes on her while she poured, or maybe it was just her anxiety telling her that. She took her cup up in both her hands before she turned to see if she was right about anyone looking at her. She leaned up against the nearest counter and had her elbows close to her body. She wanted to say something, she wanted to take a sip but whatever it was, she couldn’t. It was like her throat dried out, and one could see that she opened her mouth multiple times to stay something, only to close again. She felt like it was an endless eternity where she just stood there. What should she say because she had lashed out at everyone. “I’m sorry,” she said extremely hoarse.

There was something very meditating about sitting with Seraphina, Talia and Zadkiel and piece back together what he had broken in a fit of rage. Well, at least it was better to break a dead object, than trying to break a person’s jaw. He looked at Zadkiel’s hand as he thought that and made a small sigh as he shook his head and glued together another piece.

He had no idea how long it had taken, how many cups of tea or how many bad jokes he had laughed at. Before he heard how the stairs gave way for someone coming down. He breathed out as he saw his sister walk over and grabbed her own cup for tea and poured in. Talia placing a comforting hand on Tien’s shoulder before she walked into the living room to let the siblings talk it out on their own. It was important to remember that they were all adults now. Even though that Kemuel and Seraphina only were eighteen. She had faith that they would get through this without her interference. Or her former sister in-law that walked down the stairs. Almost so silently that if she hadn’t seen her with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have noticed. Talia gave her a small nod before taking her exit.

Eden looked at her children, taking a deep breath in as she saw how Kemuel slowly turned towards her starring at her with big eyes. One thing was knowing, the other thing was seeing it for yourself. He understood why Seraphina had reacted so violently as she had. It was a lot to take in, that one’s dead mother suddenly stood there, very much alive. He placed a piece of the lamp on the table, got down from his chair. “mom” he breathed, before he walked over and placed his arms around her and got pulled into a hug. He immediately teared up and hugged her closer.  

Seraphina took a sip of her tea, putting effort into making sure they fixed the lamp. Her eyes tuned into Tien that showed up coming down stairs, giving her a warm smile, at least the tension in the room had cleared out. All they needed to be all together now was Laila, but after Laila had went on a dream job thing in New York, it was like she had fallen off the face of the earth. How everyone coped with the mess was up to the person, they couldn't control or expect Laila to slow down her life for them. At least it seemed like one of them would actually make it through this without bleeding out.

The strong aura only granted by one person she knew came down stairs after Tien. Their mother. Seraphina hadn't seen her in a while, she hadn't wanted to and she hadn't been proud of how she had responded back when first finding out she was alive. However, Kemuel hadn't seen her after. And Sera was happy she had told him, so he wasn't overwhelmed by the shock. Even though it was overwhelming no matter what. Seraphina took a deeper breath in and held it as she watched her twin walk over and embrace their mother. She scratched the back of her head a little bit, picking up one of the pieces trying to make it fit. Seraphina had accepted that their mother was alive and kicking, even if she didn't have as much time to just being their mother anymore. They couldn't change what had happened to the family. "It's good to see you," she breathed out giving her mother a warm smile as she returned her eyes to her.

Tien had apologized, but even though she did, her mother’s presence was what took the focus. It was nice that she had chosen to stay, because that meant that Tien could be present but not have to talk as much. Eden could reunite with her youngest and Tien could get some slack. Having the twins off her back made it easier to breathe. Even Talia had left the room.

Zadkiel straightened up as his mother’s aura got down from the stairs and presented herself. After all, Zadkiel was mostly trying to figure out which pieces belonged to where so the twins could glue them on. It was always overwhelming to see his mother and for a moment he felt like he forgot to breathe. He raised his hand and waved once, feeling speechless. After all, she would probably ask him about his hand at one point or another. Everyone did. He was never proud of the story. He heard how Kemuel teared up and smiled a sad smile. He didn’t want to ruin Kemuel’s moment with Eden. Each of the kids had actually needed some time alone with her to really reconnect. It was even clear that Tien had gotten used to Eden, because she had clearly summoned her, right? Prayed for her appearance and asked for help?

Still standing with Kemuel in her arms she looked up and took in her children standing in the kitchen looking at her. A deep breath left her, letting some of the tension from her shoulders go. The same with her aura as she dimmed it a little. Hoping it would feel less overwhelming for Seraphina. “And it’s really nice to see you all again, even though it seems like one is missing” Eden breathed with a soft smile on her lips, looking towards Zadkiel as she saw his arm. What on earth? She waved back, and let her arms move from Kemuel that stepped back, removing some of the tears that had glided down his cheeks, trying as best he could to not let it show how much this affected him. “I broke the lamp you gave me” he mumbled, and she placed a hand on his neck and squeezed “Well, that happens, so you are all trying to piece it together again?” Kemuel nodded and she walked with him over to the table and looked down. Seemed like they had come quite a way. Looking towards Seraphina and Zadkiel she chuckled, she didn’t want to force or ask for hugs, as she much rather that they felt comfortable enough to just do so, if they wanted to. Coming back from the death, much harder than one would think.

“So how are everyone?” she asked, trying to make a little conversation, even though it was awkward and hard. She wanted nothing more to be there every day. But this wasn’t easy, and she wasn’t sure it ever would be easy.