Cottage in the Woods (Part Two)

[Nicolette Styx]

Nicolette smiled thankfully at Cecily who was giving Nicolas a piggy ride on her shoulders as she held Damianos, with her being more than seven months pregnant it was hard for her to do anything much at all. Thankfully she wasn't very big this time around, instead she barely looked as if she was nothing more than four months and thanked the gods that she was more normal sized this time. "Thanks a ton for holding Nicolas for me." Nicolette stated softly, her head turning to look at her friend with a small smile, they were both headed back to the old Cottage that Cecily lived in so long ago and the place where so many memories for the two of them would always remain. The only place looked exactly the same as it had when they had last seen it, maybe it would even trigger some memories of Cecily's to return, Nicolette knew it made a lot of hers return.

"Wow, look at this place..it looks exactly the same! Let's hurry up and get these babies inside" Nicolette whispered as she adjusted little Damianos in her arms, he was getting so heavy and he was just over a year old, it was so hard to believe that her children were growing up so fast on her. Even Kailie, Patricia, and Kaleb were growing like flowers, the older they got the more sad she got as well. Nicolette unlocked the door to the Cottage and gasped softly as she stepped inside, the smallest of smiles was on her face, this place just overwhelmed her with so many feelings and powerful memories, she had missed this place so much. "Cecily, do you..remember any of this?" The golden eyed woman asked calmly, as she focused on her other child for a moment. The last time she had been there she was just barely pregnant with the twins and now they were over a year old and she was already pregnant with another one, she remember the candle issue, the movies, the popcorn fights, event he one time she and Cecily got really drunk. It made her feel all giddy inside.

 

[Cecily Rambolt]

"Giddyup horsey," Cecily singsonged quietly for Nicolas' little ears alone while his little feet softly beat a pattern against her chest. His weight was so light on her shoulders that she knew, she thought with a smile, that within the next year he would begin to double in size quickly. How could he not? His mother was tall herself but his father, Kalif, was exceptionally tall. She turned her head, returning Niccy's smile with a bright, contented one of her own. She could not tell her friend, not yet, that she wasn't sure about a lot of her memories. Although she had regained a large portion of her life back, there were moments when she just knew, deep in her gut, that things were still missing. Sometimes she felt as though there was a dark shadow drifting along on the roadmap of her memories.

She shook it away and cuddled Elisaveta, who was in her sling across her mommy's torso. Nicolas stuck his finger in her ear and giggled when his aunt squeaked. Laughter burst from the both of them and to her amazement, Elisaveta turned her little headful of black curls, locked eyes with her mother and said, "Shoosh mommy." Their little one was both sassy and sweet. Cecily chuckled then mimed locking her mouth shut and giving Nicolas the key. Nicolas bounced on her shoulders and thought it was the funniest thing, cupping his chubby little hands together to hold the pretend key.

She pressed a soft kiss to her daughter's cheek, her heart filling when Elisaveta leaned into the touch. She loved her baby so much and refused to mourn the time she had been away from her baby girl. They were together now, that was what mattered. Cecily followed Niccy inside the cottage and stopped at her gasp. "Oh..." Green eyes widened. Nothing had changed! Carefully she placed Nicolas on the clean, soft rug in the living room, then Elisaveta beside him, giving them both soft kisses. She rose to her feet and slowly spun around.

There, by the door. Pink lips quirked. "Alright you two, try to keep your clothes on for just a bit longer." Another step. Unpainted fingers pressed to her mouth, heat rose in her cheeks. The stairway. "I think we should....go upstairs and find the...um...candles."

"So much, Niccy," she whispered, the memories flooding her. As each piece fell into the place, a lightness from within shone from her green eyes. "I'm so happy we're here again."

 

[Nicolette Styx]

A sly grin rose to Nicolette's face, to her it seemed like something about this house was triggering something memory-wise inside her best friend. She turned away from her friend just for a moment to set Damianos down onto the floor and give him a soft kiss on the forehead, he looked so much like his father that Nicolette found it ridiculously hard not to smile whenever he gave her one of those looks. "Do me a favor sweetie and try to stay out of trouble." Nicolette whispered softly to him as she pulled the bag containing all the baby stuff in it and placed it on the floor next to the old couch that still remained in this place today. Damianos huffed softly but said or did nothing but stare up at her with his golden eyes, he was probably a bit irked off that she had brought him here when he was in the middle of a nap. Within seconds she had also walked over to Cecily and removed rowdy little Nicolas and set him onto the floor as well, she wouldn't bother to warn him at all because he would just get into trouble anyways, instead he headed over to the bag she had brought and seemed to be looking for something...or just getting into a trouble. "I should let you know ahead of time that Nicolas might be likely to get far more rowdy before he crashes." Nicolette sighed and patted her pregnant stomach for a moment, how could twins be so different at such a young age? Deciding to let the children explore for themselves she turned to Cecily once again, how many many memories would this place bring back for her?

"I remember one time, you and I got so drunk here we could barely function. And the next morning Prodan came over and-....." Her golden eyes dropped to the floor for a moment, a bittersweet smile was still on her face the whole time she spoke to her friend, it seemed like just yesterday they lived here and were having all sorts of adventures together. Somewhere in the back of her mind the blonde wondered of Kalif and Prodan would make a show here later, she had mentioned it but had no idea if they would actually show or not. "This was the place where the four of us became really close at." Nicolette recalled the night the terrible storm came and ended up causing her, Kalif, Prodan, and Cecily had all ended up staying the night and having some very interesting memories. Giving one last glanced at the two babies who had become occupied by digging through her bag she smiled and headed towards the kitchen.

 

[Cecily Rambolt]

Laughter burst from her as she remembered Prodan's face when he'd opened the door. "And I asked him where my pants were!" Still laughing, she shook her head, recalling they had somehow ended up in the tree out front. Looking around, Cecily nodded absently as Niccy spoke, the memories flooding her senses. They had all become very close here, at this small cottage in the woods. She remembered one night very specifically, when the lights had went out during a ferocious storm and she'd foolishly left her wand upstairs. That alone had shown how content she had been becoming with her new life, her new love. She could hear the shriek he'd let out when the room blacked out, feel his back tremble beneath her comforting hand, feel the calloused male hand grip hers and lead her upstairs for the candles. Eternally grateful that Niccy had already turned to enter the kitchen, Cecily felt goose flesh raise on her arms as she remembered the feel of his lips on the back of her neck. Smell his scent as he coerced her to be with him for the first time, while his brother and his unknown future wife waited below.

Elisaveta's giggle burst the memory like a bubble. Cecily turned, her cheeks flushed a lurid pink, green eyes slightly glassy from the thought of the first time of being with her beautiful husband. Pressing her cool hands to her warm cheeks, she laughed at the sight that met her. Elisa and Nicolas had dumped out her bag and were patting their way through the contents while Damianos sat quietly watching them. Thankfully it was the purse she kept specifically filled with baby goodies. She'd learned early on to keep anything she wanted to keep for herself on her person.

"Um Niccy...could we make sure not to mention candles when Kalif gets here?" she called out, laughter in her voice.

 

[Nicolette Styx]

Nicolette couldn't help but let out a small giggle of hilarity herself when the memory's of the day that she and Cecily got really drunk fill her mind. That was probably the thing that had brought the two of them so close together, without that day they never would have continued being best friends even through all the bumps and hiccups they've both had along with way. "I wonder if Prodan can still scream like a girl." Nicolette asked with a roll of her golden eyes, she remembered that night when the lights went out and someone ended up letting out a high pitched shriek. To everyone except Kalif's amusement it was Prodan who had screamed like that and even now it made the older Death Eater giggle in amusement. Hopefully he would be joining them tonight, Niccy was unsure if Cecily had asked him to come or not but she figured her friend would have, it seemed to her that wherever Cecily went it seemed that her husband Prodan would soon be along with her. "Cecily, you should bake some cookies before we get settled in for the night, I haven't had any of your sweets for a long time." Nicolette patted her swollen tummy for a moment before she gave her friend a shy smile that meant she was sorry for asking about food at such a time but the baby made it impossible to not be hungry all the time. Luckily Bothizar seemed to be more keen of sweets than his older brother's were, he craved peanut butter cookies a lot for some reason.

"Oh well, Kalif most likely isn't coming so we won't have to worry about that much at all. Is Prodan still coming?" Nicolette asked calmly as she turned her pretty head to roll her eyes at Nicolas and Elisaveta's mess they had just made with Cecily's purse. It saddened Nicolette to know that she wouldn't get to see her husband tonight and be forced to endue some uber Cecily and Prodan moments but she would get over it. Plus she had her babies would easily be able to help distract her. "Wow Nicolas, way to make a mess kid." Nicolas turned and giggle when she addressed him, his brother on the other hand was sitting on the couch with the grumpiest look on his face. Walking over to the couch Nicolette sat next to her son and smoothed his hair out, he reminded her so much of his father at times.