JM BENAVIDEZ

I made it home at a pace that was somewhere between a skip and a sprint. The rest of the girls were roaming around the room when I burst in. I closed the door and pressed my back up against it giggling. I had permission! The rest of the girls turned to face me and Aureliana tilted her head as she looked at me. "What's gotten into you?" I sighed and slid down the door until I hit the floor. "Did any of you have dreams about our half-brothers last night?" The five other girls looked at each other and then back at me. Khittania looked down at her feet. "I did, I dreamt about Nathanael." I smiled. "I dreamt about Zuriel and Amadeus. And you know what, they had the same dreams." The other girls scooted closer and Eirian frowned. "You mean Etienne and Salathiel know what I dreamt about?" I smiled again. "You know what else? We talked with Aftiel about it and he says the dreams probably came from the Creator. He also said that we have nothing to be ashamed about!" 

Aureliana sat down on the floor next to me. "This is so strange." She looked at Eirian. "You aren't going to hate me for dreaming about Elijah are you?" Eirian scrunched her face. "Ew gross! Really?" Aureliana nodded. "The real kicker is that I also dreamt about Matthias." Aimi giggled. "He's the baby of the boys! And you're the oldest of us girls!" Aureliana shrugged. "Yeah, who did you dream about?" Aimi blushed. "Mine wasn't much better, Lael and Zebulon." We all turned to Xoana and she shrugged. "Bao and Seosamh of course, they were the only ones left." I giggled again. "They both kissed me and not just in my dream." The others turned to face me. "What?" Squealed out of five mouths and I giggled. "We've already talked to our dad's about it. My dad is going to talk to the other dads and Aftiel will talk to mom. It's only a matter of time until we can make our dreams as much of a reality as we want." There was a knock on the door behind me and the room erupted in high pitch squeals. "It's just me girls, can I come in?" Mom called through the door. 

I stood up, making room to open the door and letting her in. She took one look around the room and broke out in laughter. "So you all had these dreams last night then?" We all nodded and she smiled. "I guess we'll have to do something about this then, won't we?" We all shrugged and giggled as she took turns hugging us and asking about who we had dreamt about. She looked around and smiled. "Well go get dressed and get all dolled up. You know they'll be looking at you now, might as well have fun with it." I rolled my eyes and she snorted. "What was that look for Meira?" I shook my head. "I am not about to get all dolled up, it's not like they're going to do it for us. Besides, I'm a no fuss person and if they are going to get me, I'm not changing to make it happen." My mom smiled. "No one said you had to change Meira and it's good that you don't want to. I was just giving you permission to have fun." I shrugged. "I can do that and be comfortable too." Eirian frowned. "Come on Meira, how about a jean skirt and a tank top. Even a black one if you want. Just dress up a bit with us." I shrugged again. "Sure, but I'm wearing flip flops." My mom laughed and I walked into the closet to change.

As I stepped back out of the closet I pulled nervously at the hem of my loose fitting, knee length jean skirt. I tugged the bottom of my black tank top over my hips and pulled my hair back out of my face. "Happy?" Aureliana smiled and crossed the room to me. She flipped my hair into a side part and then pulled at the ends. "There, that's a little more flattering to your face. The center part makes you look sterner." Aimi held out a tube of clear sparkle lip gloss. "No fuss?" I shrugged and dabbed a tiny bit on my lips. "Will you all leave me alone now?" Xoana smiled. "What, no eyeliner today?" I shook my head and walked to the mirror, quickly lining my eyes like I always do. Khittania handed me a small tray of sparkly eyeshadow just a touch lighter than my skin tone. I rolled my eyes again and added a tiny bit to accent my eyeliner, but not enough to cover even my eyelid. I handed it back to her and exhaled loudly. "I need food. It's too early for this much girly crap." 

I stalked across the room and made a hasty escape before they could try to attack me with perfume or jewelry. I skipped down the walkway, cut between buildings and dodged behind a bush as my mom called after me. I continued down the path and into the dining room. I ignored a few raised eyebrows and made a beeline for the kitchen before anyone could stop me from putting nourishment into my system. I quickly threw some bacon into the toaster oven and went about frying and egg. While they were both cooking I toasted a bagel in the toaster and layered it with salmon cream cheese, my favorite. I had just layered on the bacon and was about to flip my egg when Amadeus and Zuriel walked hesitantly into the kitchen. I smirked up at them nervously and flipped my egg. Zuriel smiled and Amadeus' eyes lit up. "So you aren't hostile then?" I chuckled and slid my egg from the pan onto my bagel. "I guess that depends on if you are going to keep me from eating this." Zuriel crossed the room, eyeing my plate curiously. "Damn that looks good, what is it?" I pulled my plate to my chest protectively and let out a playful snarl. "It's MINE." 

Amadeus patted Zuriel on the back. "I'll fry the eggs, you got the bacon?" Zuriel chuckled. "You trust me with bacon?" Amadeus laughed. "More than I trust you with eggs." I shook my head and sat down at the island. "He's older, yet you're the cook?" Amadeus nodded, winking playfully. "I'm a lot of things he's not. Older doesn't necessarily make you better." Zuriel snorted. "Says you." I took a bite of my sandwich and groaned at its heavenly goodness, closing my eyes. The kitchen went silent and I opened my eyes to find both guys staring at me. I snickered. "What? It's good and I'm hungry. I can't help it." They laughed and I pointed towards the fridge. "There's salmon cream cheese in there. That really makes it." Amadeus raised an eyebrow and looked at Zuriel who shrugged. "I'm game." They finished up making their sandwiches while I finished eating mine.

I sat perched on the stool, slightly annoyed that I had agreed to wear a skirt as the guys sat down across from me. It was then that I noticed what they were wearing; they had dressed up a bit also. Amadeus wore an unbuttoned pale green dress shirt over his white athletic shirt that was tucked into beige shorts. Zuriel wore a blue athletic shirt tucked into cream colored cargo pants. I bit my bottom lip, they had both wanted to stay true to themselves, but make the added effort. I felt like a heel for making such a big deal out of getting dressed up. Amadeus reached across the counter touching my forearm softly. "What is it?" I looked up at him through my lashes, smiling softly. "I was just admiring you both and felt silly for giving mom and the girls such a hard time for trying to get me to dress up." Zuriel smiled. "I think it's nice to see you in a skirt for a change." I giggled. "Don't get used to it." Amadeus slowly took his hand back. "The makeup is nice too, even if it's temporary." I blushed, amused that he had even noticed; weren't guys supposed to be oblivious to things like that? 

We sat in silence, except for their occasional grunts of appreciation as they ate their sandwiches. When they had finished eating, I shifted nervously on my stool. I wanted to spend the day with them, but I didn't want to commandeer them either. Amadeus met my eyes. "I had promised to spend the day with you today. Is there anything in particular that you'd like to do?" Zuriel smiled. "Are you planning on keeping her all to yourself or can I tag along?" Amadeus looked at me and I shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure he didn't die today. You two can fight over the specifics, I'm easy." Zuriel snickered and Amadeus shot him a stern look. For being the younger of the two, sometimes Amadeus acted more maturely. I crossed my arms over my chest and Zuriel cleared his throat. "So, can I join you then?" Amadeus' eyes met mine and I smiled. "I don't know, what if we want some alone time?" Zuriel shrugged. "I can take a walk and give you some privacy." 

I raised an eyebrow. "I was teasing, but you seem pretty comfortable with the whole idea. Doesn't this weird you guys out?" Amadeus shook his head. "I don't see any reason why it should. Our parents have a similar relationship." Zuriel nodded. "I think it will be a lot easier to manage with the three of us than it was with the fifteen of them." I nodded. "Alright then, you can join us. So what are we doing?" Amadeus met my eyes pointedly. "Anything but cliff diving." I nodded emphatically. "Yes, I don't think I'd survive watching you die twice in one day." I shook my head trying to shake the sick feeling from the pit of my stomach. "Watching anyone die is bad enough." I peeked up into Amadeus' eyes and smiled softly when I saw my sentiments for him mirrored back towards me. Zuriel wrinkled his face. "How about something less dangerous then, like a small hike and a picnic?" I looked into his eyes recalling our dream and he shook his head. "Maybe in some rolling hills with some large shady trees? But no cliffs or bodies of water." I tucked my hair back behind my ear and Amadeus smiled. "We could always go to the birch grove for a picnic and then we'd be close to home if we get bored." 

I considered both options. "Do we know what everyone else is doing today?" They looked at each other and shrugged as the kitchen door opened and my dad stepped in. "Hey, we were deciding what changes needed to be made around here; why don't you three come join us in the dining room." We quickly stood, putting our dishes into the sink and followed my dad back out into the dining room. It was like a school assembly. All of the girls were on one side and the boys were on the other with the adults lined up in the front. Amadeus and Zuriel looked at me apologetically and then joined the guys on the left side of the room. I sat down at the table with my sisters and listened intently as our mom cleared her throat.

"As you all have figured out, with the new change in emotional dynamic our living situation is going to need an adjustment as well. After talking with your dads we came to the conclusion that it may be best to split up the dorms into individual dwellings like what we have." Etienne raised his hand and stood to his feet. "Yes Etienne?" He smiled. "Perhaps the guys can keep our dorm, but the girls should have their own dwellings. At least for now, otherwise there may be too many houses cluttering up the landscape. As long as the girls don't mind." My mom looked over her shoulder at the dads and Sabrathan stepped forward, meeting her eyes. "He makes a good point; realistically it's the girls who are going to need the privacy. If you recall, it was you who required we split from the castle in the first place." She nodded and he scanned the table where the girls and I sat. "What do you think?" I nodded and looked around at the other girls who nodded or shrugged. 

My uncle Vraniel nodded. "We could change up the guys' dorm so they had separate rooms and a common area. Then we could turn the current girls' dorm into a common area for the girls to congregate to keep everything fair." My mom nodded and turned her back to us as she looked at my dad and uncles. "Can you do this now?" They nodded and I watched in amazement as they held out their palms so that they touched the man standing next to them. Azrael spoke up. "Each is responsible for the dwelling of their kids, that way we get it more personalized." My dad's eyes met mine and he smiled as he nodded. 

There was a collective inhale as they all closed their eyes and began to chant softly. The ground shook as I assume the buildings were being shifted to accommodate the new dwellings. Aimi and Khittania squealed as the shaking frightened them. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Amadeus turn to see if I had been frightened as well. I smiled at him and he nodded, turning his head back towards his dad. As the shaking and chanting stopped, our mom walked over to Azrael and placed her forehead to his. He smiled and nodded before closing his eyes and chanting softly again. When his chanting stopped he smiled and opened his eyes again. "I have added directional signs so you will know where to find your new dwellings. I tried to organize the girls by age, if you'd like me to shift you around just let me know." Our mom clapped her hands together. "Why don't you all go check out your new rooms and relax for a few hours. This afternoon we'll have music going in the dance hall and the lounge opened up and this evening we'll have a carnival set up between the dining hall and lounge." There were several cheers and squeals as everyone got excited about the chance to really let loose. It was rare for them to let us enjoy a party-like atmosphere; perhaps it was to keep us from intimate encounters before we were ready for them.

Our mom shooed us and the girls scattered. I stood up slowly, awaiting my dad as he crossed the room towards me. "If you want anything changed just let me know. I can create your new space to look like anything you can imagine." I smiled. "As long as you didn't decorate it in pinks and pastels, I'm sure I'll love it." My dad laughed. "I went with greens and neutrals since that's what you tend to show preference to." I stepped closer to him and lowered my voice. "Can my bathroom be decorated in brilliant blues and greens, like a tropical underwater scene?" He grinned and closed his eyes chanting softly as he made my requested changes. He opened his eye peeking at me and then clamped it shut, grinning bigger as he chanted some more. I crossed my arms over my chest as he stopped chanting. "What did you do?" He chuckled. "I took your idea and ran with it." I laughed and shook my head as Amadeus and Zuriel crossed the room to me. "What? You guys aren't curious about how your dads set up your new rooms?" They shook their heads and Zuriel pointed at my dad. "I'm more curious to see how he set up yours." My dad waived his hands at us. "Off with you then. Like I said Meira, let me know if you want anything changed." I smiled and kissed him quickly on the cheek. "Thanks Dad." He nodded and I turned towards the guys. "Well, let's go see where I live now." They nodded and we headed out of the dining room.