"Ow!" Shennan shouted loudly and painfully as someone stepped on her leg. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stared at her woke her up.
Her father stood there with Mykah in his arms, looking ragged and tired. "Morning Shennan." He said tiredly.
She nodded at him; "Get some sleep. Whatever it is happening can wait a few more hours. You look like you're gonna drop dead." She said softly.
Mr. Launders smiled wearily. "Thanks Shennan, but we do need to talk. And I'd like to do it now."
But Shennan was firm, and shook her head. "No. Not now. Sleep first, and we'll talk when you get up." She said as she stood up, flinching from the pain shooting through her feet and entire body. She took Mykah into her arms, and looked down at Stefani. She was still sleeping.
"Okay." Mr. Launders said as he started to walk upstairs. "Your mother will be back shortly. She went to get some food, since none of you went shopping."
Nodding her head again, Shennan looked at Mykah, and yawned, causing him to do so too. "All right." She said as she sat him on the ground. "Back to bed." She said as she crawled under her still warm blankets.
Mykah crawled in next to her. "Sweet dreams." He whispered.
She closed her eyes. "Hmm. Sweet dreams to you too, Mykah." She said before she fell into a dreamless sleep again.
Mackie came running into the kitchen looking for breakfast. He saw his older brothers Taylor and Isaac sitting there talking with Zac.
"Mornin!" He shouted at them.
"Morning." Zac said smiling brightly. He picked Mackie up and swung him around a little before he placed him on the ground again. "So what do you want for breakfast?" He asked.
Mackie thought for a moment. "Jell-O." He said giggling.
Zac, Taylor, and Isaac laughed.
Shaking his finger at him, Zac replied, "You know mom won't let us."
"Fine." Mackie said sadly looking down at the floor. Twisting the toe of his sneaker into the tile.
Zac gave a look of pity to his brothers, and Isaac and Taylor smiled back at him. And he gave in to him. "Okay." He said sighing.
"You can have Jell-O." He started towards the refrigerator. "But." He said stopping as he had a bowl of green Jell-O in his hands. "If mom asks you where you got it, say that you got it on your own, and that no one was around to stop you. Okay?" He asked looking down at Mackie.
Mackie looked at the green glob and smiled brightly at Zac. He nodded his head. "Otay." He said waiting for his Jell-O.
Zac handed him the bowl and a spoon, and watched as Mackie ran out of the room. "The kid's good with the guilt trip act." He said smiling as he sat across from Taylor.
Isaac laughed a little. "He learned it from you."
Taylor nodded. "Yup. You were always the one asking for Jell-O for breakfast and then getting Ike and I in trouble because we'd let ya, and you'd rat us out when you got caught."
Zac smiled at them nervously. "You don't think that Mackie would..." He started.
"Zachary!" Their mother yelled.
"Yup!" Isaac and Taylor said at the same time, laughing.
Zac hung his head and pushed away from the table. "I'm gonna get him." He mumbled as he went into the living room looking for his mom.
Isaac was laughing and Taylor was calming down a little. "Ike?" He asked.
"Yeah?" Isaac asked as he started to calm down, when he saw how serious Taylor was being.
"What do you think happened with Stef and Shennan?" He asked softly.
Isaac raised one shoulder. "I don't know. Whatever it was happened to Mykah too. Did you see what he did to the mirror?"
Taylor nodded.
"He did it with his fist, Tay." Isaac said shaking his head.
He ran his hand absently through his hair. "I don't know where that little boy gets his strength, because I hit our bathroom mirror last night with my fist and only succeeded in making my hand hurt."
Isaac laughed at him. "You actually tried to break our mirror?" He asked as he continued to laugh.
Nodding, Taylor smiled back. Then he started to laugh along with his brother.
Shennan woke up again, but this time on her own. She looked around and she noticed that she was in her room. She rubbed her eyes to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. She wasn't.
She got out of her bed and went downstairs to check everything out. Walking into the kitchen she saw everyone seated at the table. Including Isaac, Taylor, Zac, and Mackie.
She smiled at them. "What? The rest of your family were able to find breakfast in your house, but you found it in ours?"
Isaac smiled and nodded.
Zac tried to scowl at Mackie. "I almost didn't get to come, because somebody snitched on me. We won't name names now will we, Mackie?" His scowl broke into a silly grin, and Mackie laughed at him.
Smiling, Shennan took the seat next to Isaac that he offered her.
"Want some fruit, Shennan?" Mrs. Launders asked.
But she shook her head. "Not really hungry at the moment." She said taking her eyes off Isaac. "But thanks anyway."
Mrs. Launders smiled at her. "All right, but make sure you eat something, okay?"
"I will." She replied, and then suddenly became very interested in the table.
"So?" Shennan said as she sat down on the couch in the living room. Isaac sat next to her and held her hand. She smiled at him nervously.
"So." He father said eyeing Isaac. He also eyed Taylor when he sat next to Stefani. "Are you sure you want them here?" He asked as Mykah climbed onto Shennan's lap.
She gently stroked his head. "Father." She said sternly.
"Okay." Mr. Launders said as he held his hands up in defeat. "About your nightmares," He started.
Stefani looked up immediately from Taylor's gaze. "Why are we having them?" She asked quickly.
"As babies, all three of you." He said pointing to Shennan, Stefani, and Mykah. "You were born dead. But you were brought to life obviously." He started nervously. "But there is some connection between you three because of it."
Shennan stared at her father long and hard. "And you're just deciding to tell us now. Thanks heaps!" She said loudly, and sarcastically.
Stefani shook her head trying to sort out her thoughts. "Wait, are you trying to say that in some weird phenomenal way, we are connected to each other because we weren't alive when we were born?" She asked her father confused.
Mr. Launders nodded his head. "Yes, I am."
Shennan simply rolled her eyes in agitation. "Give me a break. That's not true." She said trying to convince herself.
She made Mykah get off her and she stood up. "I'll be outside when you are ready to tell me the truth, Father." She said as she walked out.
Isaac got up also. "Is this absolutely true?" He asked.
Sighing, Mr. Launders nodded. "Yes, it is."
Isaac nodded his head and followed after her.
Stefani, Taylor, and Mykah stayed waiting to hear more.
"Shennan!" Isaac called out.
She peeled out over the edge of the tree house. She saw Isaac looking for her. "I'm up here!" She shouted down to him. Making sure that he saw her, she backed up and leaned against the corner.
Soon he was in the tree house with her. "What was that about?" He asked sitting beside her.
She shrugged noncommittally. "He's lying."
"Who are you trying to convince?" He asked softly. "Me? Or yourself?"
"I don't want to believe that in some crazed way I'm connected to my family like that. I want the blood, the physical traits, and the genes to be enough." She said quietly.
"What's wrong with being connected to your family through this way?" He asked as he played with a leaf in his hands.
"It makes me seem even more weird." She said shrugging. "Not to mention it seems so unlikely and I just don't want it to be."
"It's not always up to us on what we want to be. It just happens." He said taking her hand in his.
Shennan remained silent.
"C'mon." Isaac said giving her hand a slight tug. "Your father has more to say about it."
Letting herself being taken back into the house, Shennan wondered if anything was going to be the way she wanted it.
