Family Time

[Vivienne Delacroix-Marie]

Vee walked through the streets of New Zealand, hoping to get home in time for her friend and her husband to leave for the event they had on tonight. She half walked, half jogged all the way back to the house because she'd just glanced at her watch and Clarke was meant to leave like right now. She pushed the door open and called out. "I'm home!" She closed the door behind her quickly and put the grocery bags down on the counter when she got to the kitchen. Just in time. She smiled at her friend before noticing the kids weren't there. Before she could ask though, the twins appeared out of nowhere behind her and she almost jumped in alarm. They could be so sneaky those children. But she still loved them as her own. She felt a pang in her chest at the thought of her two, but she distracted herself by starting to put away the grocery. "Have fun and good luck," she hugged Clarke, knowing how important this meeting was for them. She also knew they worked hard so they deserved to be there at least, they had been invited so it was an honour for the couple to attend. "I believe you two have somewhere to be," she told Athena and Antonio with a smile on her face and raised eyebrows. They hated this part of the day, but hey. They weren't her kids (though sometimes her responsibility). It wasn't her fault their parents made them help around the house. They always tried to avoid it somehow and most of the time they managed because Vivienne was too nice to them. She was a sucker for young children. "Don't try to get out of this one." Her voice was friendly but firm. If they did everything today that meant they could go get ice cream later. The twins didn't know yet about the treat. She'd have them help her clean the house first. If they were good, they'd have their ice cream. Besides, they were never tasked with difficult things to do because they were still very young. Normally, Clarke would ask them to tidy up the house and make sure everything was in order.​

 

[Athena Rey-Martinez]

"Shh" Athena put a finger to her lips to signal Antonio to be silent. She was eavesdropping on her mother's conversation with her father. It was always entertaining and she loved how they thought they were being all secretive and all when in reality it wasn't even working. Didn't they know their own kids by now. Her and her brother knew how to sneak around unnoticed and pretend as if everything was normal. Once they were gone, Athena went to Vee who had just arrived back home from grocery shopping. Ugh. She hated all forms of shopping. She barely noticed the twins so when she turned around Athena smirked at Vee's reaction, it was a fun thing to do. Giving people a fright. Her smirk soon turned into a frown and she pouted. Then she remembered her famous tactic and began speaking. "Vee, you know what mom said the other day? She told us that we might go on holiday after Christmas, isn't that exciting? She said something like France...or was it Canada, can't remember." Athena stopped there, trying to figure it out. That hadn't been a lie. Of course, the eight year old might have been exaggerating but still. They were going on holiday, she was sure of it. Athena would do anything not to do the tasks her mom asked the twins to do. It wasn't fair. That's why she talked.​

 

[Antonio Rey-Martinez]

Antonio rolled his eyes then nodded at his sister when she signalled for him to be quiet. They were trying to listen in on the conversation between their parents. They never had any idea that he and his sister were listening, which was a great source of amusement for the twins. They had got sneaking around the house to an art form and were able to do it undetected. When they heard their parents leave, Athena was off to speak to Vee and Antonio followed behind her. Antonio laughed at Vee's reaction to Athena sneaking up behind her, Athena always loved scarring people and Antonio loved seeing the reactions his sister got from people. When Athena began talking about the holiday Antonio decided to go along with it, in the hope they really were going on holiday. "Was it? Wasn't it Australia? or Spain? Vee where was it?" He asked.