Leave a Message at the Tone

[Kalani Mauven]

Kalani was over joyed for her mother, she truly deserved every piece of happiness that she could get and she was certain that Tamas would be able to make her happy. The only thing that she knew that would be missed were the times when Riley and Kalani could have their mother all to themselves and just have nothing to do with the world except for their family. But now Tamas was part of it, whether Riley liked it or not, and both girls were moving out of their mother's home and into their own apartment with a friend and they wouldn't have that relationship anymore so it was all very bittersweet. This was why her mom had planned this weekend for them while they were both able to gt out from their studies and school and go back to Brightstone, New Zealand just to be with each other.

Spending the weekend with one's mother probably didn't scream popular or cool but Kalani Ingrid could not care less, soon she would yearn for these days when she could sit in her jammies with her mom, twin and a good bowl of pop corn. Some people said that having children so young made her a mistake but to Kalani it meant that her mom could understand what it was like to be in her situation and not just be the parent. She could also be the friend and that was what the blonde girl needed, someone she could trust with all her heart and someone who would never leave her. Although the seventeen year old had a habit of driving everyone away, she had a severe fear of abandonment and she knew that her mother would never do that because she had the option at an age where Kalani knew she would have chosen abandonment or death. It was the only reason why Kalani would trust her mother with anything in the world and still expect her to stay by her side so this weekend was just a testament to that. It was almost like a final hurrah... even if they would see each other soon enough. They all were going to take part in the wedding, after all.

Even with this knowledge, Kalani was still extremely excited as she waited just outside of Hogwarts for her sister so they could go see their mother. A bright grin was plastered on the pale lips of the girl as she fiddled with her braids that hung over her shoulders lazily. Although this was supposed to be an entrance into adulthood and an exit from childhood, Kalani looked more like a kid than anything. She might not have her pink and purple footy pajamas on yet but soon she would like a child who had switched bodies with a teenager. She even saw some glances thrown her way but it didn't really matter, all she wanted was to be with her twin sister and their mom to enjoy this whole weekend together - free of anything.​

 

[Riley Mauven]

It had been another hard few weeks at Hogwarts for Riley, so even though she was leaving to spend the weekend with her mother, which didn't seem like a very 'cool' thing to do, she was excited to be getting a break. Although not many teenagers would be willing to admit that they actually liked their mothers, Riley would be one of the few who seriously consider letting it slip. She had been truly lucky to be the spawn of such a beautiful and independent woman, and although she had been made fun of for being a teenage mother, Riley felt the same as she was sure her sister did, Frances was younger and easier to relate to so they trusted her completely. The fact that they were having a sleepover only confirmed that they were close, they even shared silly girly secrets, and to be quite honest, Riley was excited to talk boys with her mother and sister. Riley had been a little skeptical that her mother had planned something like this, but the seventeen year old had agreed to it, because truly she did miss her mother because she had been devoting most of her spare time to Tamas and the twins were so used to having her all to themselves.

So Riley had quickly packed a duffel bag, the one she usually used for Quidditch, with a few of her things that she wanted to take with her. Her comb, deodorant, and a very worn toy rabbit that she had hidden beneath the mess of bed covers which plagued her end of the dorm room. Mr. Snuffles was all packed, so the only thing to do was farewell Jennifer, a quick goodbye was all she gave as she was in a hurry to get out to her twin sister, Kalani who had come from Beauxbatons so that they could arrive at their mother's apartment together. So once she located her identical looking sister, noticing the only difference was the child like braids in her hair, as opposed to the very loose ponytail that was in her own. With an equally pleasing grin, Riley took her sister's hand and apparated them to just outside the door of the modest apartment they had called home for the past seventeen years.

Both of the girls instinctively went for the door, but it was Riley's hand that reached it first and she bounded into the living room, looking for her mother. They were going to be staying in her room, where they could all snuggle up in the double bed, the exact way they had when they were little. Not only when they had grown scared in the night, or when their sobs could drown a small cat, but also just when they wanted to show their mother how much they loved her. Riley had been told by Frances that twinnie hugs were the best, and her eyes were now darting around looking for her mother's so they could give her one of them. Looking around the apartment, the seventeen year old spotted needles, thread and cuttings of various colors of material, with a perfectly arched brow, Riley called out in search of the woman responsible. "Moooooommmmmm!" she said, in a child like fashion. ​

 

[Frances Mauven]

Frances was infatuated. There was no other way that she could describe it. She had never been so in love in all her life, romantically that was, her twin daughter owned most of her heart. But now the mother had given some of it to Tamas Mauven, and he was due to be her husband now. The beautiful rock perched upon her ring finger, there for the whole world to see, and Frannie couldn't have been more proud of that one finger than she was on this day. Each day at work she had made an effort to open the till in such a way that the ring would be shown off, because though she hated to admit it, Frances was so happy that she wanted to share it with the world, and the lovely comments on how beautiful it was didn't hurt either. Another change that had taken place was that all of the magazines in the back room had been replaced with ones of the bridal nature, something rather shameless, but she was just so excited. It was every girl's dream to be married, wasn't it? And though Frances Alexandra had changed her dreams when she had given birth to Riley and Kalani at the age of seventeen, this dream was still in the back seat, but now it had moved forward.

Now there was just the business of properly announcing the engagement to her daughters, Tamas had given her that responsibility, though it was quite a big one, because of they way Riley had a little crush on Tamas when they had first met, things were a little awkward between them still, and Frannie hoped she wouldn't take it badly. She knew that Kalani already knew about the engagement, but she was excited to flash the ring at her, diamonds were a girl's best friend, right? So the thirty-four year old had planned the sleepover for her little family that was soon to expand and welcome Tamas into it in the hopes they would be pleased for her, and that they would get to spend some quality time together and catch up. She was aware that she had been giving a little too much of her attention to Tamas lately, and she didn't want the girls to grow to dislike him because of it. There had been a fair bit of planning gone into the sleepover, the main one Frannie was quite proud of. She had sewn (rather poorly) little nicknames onto the footy pajamas that the twins so loved, and even one of her own onto her flannel pajamas.

Hearing Riley and Lani enter the apartment, the pajama clad mother rushed out into the living room, throwing a lid on the pot of popcorn that was starting to pop over as she went past and inhaling the beautiful buttery smell. "Coming girls!" she hummed as she popped out in front of them, with the pajamas hidden behind her back. Smiling at them earnestly she brought her hands forward and smirked a little, she was so proud of herself. "These are for you two" she sniggered, showing them off. As she held them up the sewn on phrases clearly read 'Riley-poo' and 'Lani-poo' the names that her daughters had called each other when they were just children. The one across Frances' pajamas read 'Frannie-poo' the name that she had begged her daughters to give her so she would be more included in the childish game. Twins were always so close, and being left out of the threesome was something Frances Meave had always feared. ​

 

[Kalani Mauven]

Kalani was beaming ear-to-ear when she saw her twin sister and although she would have preferred to give her a huge hug she settled for apparating quickly because she knew that Riley was eager to see her mother just as Kalani was. The feeling of aparating was one that the Head Girl would likely never get used to, her head seemed to take the beat away from her heart momentarily and everything became a blur. Only when her vision cleared, her breathing regulated and her knees buckled did she know that she was in the second location. And with this knowledge, Kalani reached to the handle of the door but her hesitation had let Riley reach it first; not that it was a competition like it had been when the twins were younger. With her hand still in her sister's, Kalani followed her into their home; an apartment that one would not think would house these three women for so long when it had been perfect for the group. It would be difficult for Kalani to say goodbye to this home but it was necessary because if she knew her mother, Tamas and Frances would be having babies and it was not a big enough house for a family who did not have to economize. With a two income household, Lani could only assume that it would not longer be necessary but it did not matter to her. All Kalani Ingrid wanted was for her mother to be happy and she was certain that she was by the way she looked at the bridal magazines or the engagement ring or at Tamas himself. It made the Head Girl so proud that she had introduced the pair, even if it had caused her mother momentary frustration.

The only hard part of this whole situation was Riley herself. Try as she might, the twin never had good luck with relationships and who she chose to be in awe of. Kalani knew this of her twin, their mother knew this and she was certain that Riley did as well because there was no chance that she and Tamas would ever be together and she did not want her to be hurt or mad with her. Kalani was very much the peace keeper in the family and it would break her heart to have the person who was closest to her hate her for thinking of the happiness of the woman who had been so selfless for seventeen years.

All these thoughts that were swarming her mind were put on hold when Kali saw her Mom in flannel pajamas with 'Frannie-poo' scribed on them and two sets of footy pajamas with the twins nicknames for eachother. She laughed lightly before she let her fingers slip from Riley's and she walked over to the blonde mother with a pep in her step and gave her a big hug. "I've missed you Mummy!" A tight squeeze was given before Kalani let go over her mother completely before turning her head to her sister and rolling her eyes gently. "Get in on this, dumby." The little family spent so much time apart and it was hard on Kalani because she loved them dearly so whether it made her clingy or not, she was going to enjoy the time they had together and that included hugs. A lot of hugs and all types of hugs.​

 

[Frances Mauven]

Looking on at her two beautiful daughters, Frances had to take a moment to get a little sentimental about just how lucky she was to have shared seventeen beautiful (and sometimes testing) years with Riley and Kalani. Though people sometimes referred to her twins as mistakes or accidents, Frannie had never looked on it that way, they were only unexpected gifts and even at the tender age of seventeen, the thirty-four year old had never once considered abortion or adoption, and she was truly pleased she had been strong enough to make the decision to keep them. What she wasn't pleased about was the way in which she had dealt with her daughter's father. The last thing she had wanted to do was to tie down a young man who had so many ambitions and who was so smart. So she had told a lie. Something she would never recommend to her daughters, but she had done it nonetheless. She had told their father she was pregnant with somebody else's baby, and like she had planned, he had run a mile, almost literally. Now, almost eighteen years later Frances wondered how her girls might have turned up if they had had a father to raise them also.

But there was almost no point in mulling over this thought, as her daughters were as perfect as could be to her and she wouldn't change any little part of their lives. As Lani embraced her, throwing her arms tightly around her thing frame, the mother instinctively wrapped her arms around the blonde girl, laughing as Lani instructed her sister to 'feel the love' as they used to affectionately say. With her arms stretched right around both of her daughters, who were very nearly as tall as her now, Frances kissed each of them on the head, submerging her face into their hair with the kiss for good measure. She loved them more than anything in the world. Which was what she needed to remind herself so that she didn't continue to neglect them when she spent so much time with her boyfriend fiancée.

Well, come on girls! You're not leaving me alone in this silly get-up are you?" she said in a silly tone, she wanted the girls to go and get in their pajamas so that she could finish up with the popcorn and locate the shameless chick flick she had obtained at a muggle video store, living a muggle life herself she liked to remind her daughters of the way of life they didn't live when they were staying at their wizarding schools. As the girls set off she smiled and looked down at her ring again, just admiring it once more before turning off the element and pouring the popcorn into a large bowl and sprinkling icing sugar over the top to sweeten it up. Before long her two girls were cozied up in their mother's bed giggling as usual, and smiling earnestly, Frances stood by the bed. "I have something to tell you both." she said seriously. "Tamas asked me to marry him!" she squealed like a teenaged girl, before jumping onto the bed and sticking her arm out so that the ring was in plain view. ​

 

[Riley Mauven]

It was hard for Riley to look at her mother and Tamas and imagine them getting married or even having children, though she had half accepted it would have to happen sometime, since they seemed so in love, at least as far as the seventeen year old could tell. The reason it was so hard was that she couldn't imagine the perfect little family of three they had right now ever expanding, but staying the same. Welcoming a baby into the family would be hard for Riley to do, because it would mean that her mother would have to give most, if not all, of her attention to the newborn. At least the twins would be getting their own apartment with Jennifer once their seventh year was up, Riley was glad that if her mother did have another baby that she wouldn't have to be woken by its cries in the early hours of the morning. Thinking all of this through almost had tears pricking at her eyes, Riley wasn't as emotional as Lani, but she didn't want to leave her mother, and it only made it worse knowing that this would be one of the last nights they would spend together as a proper threesome, a dynamic trio, a family.

But Riley could almost see Kalani rolling her eyes at her thoughts, but just like her twin the Hufflepuff truly did want her mother to be happy. And if that meant starting a brand new family with Tamas, then she would just have to to take her time and learn to accept that the world didn't revolve around the twins and that her mother certainly wouldn't want to be lonely for the rest of her life. Poking her tongue out at Kalani she ran up to the pair and smothered herself into her mother's neck, squeezing them both as tightly as she good, and smiling as she felt the warmth of her mother's lips on her head. Even though Riley never wanted the warm embrace to end, it did and she hastily skipped off with her sister to get into their feety pajamas, she sure had missed being back at home. It was hard to not be at Beauxbatons with Lani anymore, she was very sure that they all had so much to catch up on tonight, and they probably wouldn't be getting a wink of sleep. Throwing her clothes into a pile on the floor the way her disorganised self always did, Riley slipped the pajamas on, her smile beaming when she realised they still fitted perfectly. Jumping under the covers of her mother's double bed, she had to laugh at what was written across them though, it sure did bring back memories. Memories she wasn't quite ready to leave behind when she graduated and became an adult.

Adult was a scary kind of word, and although upon turning eighteen she wouldn't suddenly transform into a smart, hard working and responsible person, Riley knew there were going to be changes and she wanted to hang onto every little bit of childhood she could until then. One large part of becoming an adult was being selfless and thinking of others, and taking things seriously. Something Frances had been thrown into, and something that Riley was about to be temporarily thrown into once the engagement rolled off of her mother's tongue. And roll it did, with such an exciting tone too. The seventeen year old hadn't yet learned to be a proper adult and blurted out "How could you do this to us?" in just the kind of rude fashion Frannie had advised them against all her life. With one look at Lani it seemed clear to her twin that she had said the wrong thing and she immediately clapped her hand over her mouth, noticing the devastated look on her mother's face. "I mean. I-I'm, so, happy for you?" she said uncertainly, knowing the second comment was what should have come out first. ​

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[Kalani Mauven]

Kalani liked being with her family and soon she and Riley would return to their respective schools, contact each other very little before moving out of their mother's home. It was just a lot of change so quickly and she was scared so she would let herself hug her mother and sister as much as she wanted before everything changed. She would hold on tight to her childhood even though she knew it would slip away soon because that was just the way life worked, unfortunately. But that was not tonight because after the hug had reached it's end she and Riley ran to their bedrooms and changed into their footy pajamas. As she stepped out into the mirror she giggled to herself, they were the most comfortable things she owned but not the most flattering and it was funny to see her looking like that. It was a good thing that the only person who had ever seen Kalani dressed like this, who was not in the little trio, was her childhood best friend and he had been dressed similarly. At the time they had been five, engaged and the closest little kids there had ever been and the memory of the pair of them would be just another time to visit back in her nostalgia when she became an adult.

Now was hardly the time to think of him though, Lani instead jumped into her mother's bed and fiddled with her braids as she giggled with her twin sister before they were interrupted by the older woman telling her the great news. She had already known and had actually helped Tamas pick out the ring because men really did need a woman's opinion on this sort of thing. There really hadn't been much that she had needed to do other than squeal with delight when he showed her the ring he had in mind because it was so perfect and romantic that after all this time, her mother had found her knight in shining armour. It was now the first time that she was actually seeing it on her mother's slender finger so she leaned in closer to it and squealed with the older woman before stopping in her tracks when she heard Riley say something so shocking and disturbing that the girl who was against violence could have hit her right then and there. Being upset that someone didn't like you was one thing, one pathetic thing, but Riley had taken it to a new level here. Their mother was happy and all she could think of was herself so she snapped her neck around and glared darkly. There was nothing she could do now but squeeze her Mom's hand and sigh pitifully as Riley tried to salvage the evening.

Kalani did not know what to say so she put her head on her mother's hand and sighed, it was a joyous thing that Riley had just ruined and now this night, the last night that they could have together as a family would be ruined. Nothing was working out the way that was planned and now she knew that her Mum must have had her feelings hurt. The look on her face was pure agony and the Head Girl wanted to take it away from her. A person's engagement and wedding was something that their family should be excited about, not something that should have rude things said about. Kalani had known they were a tight group but she never knew that Riley was so scared to let anybody else in to let their mother be happy. "Mom..." the girl said uncertainly, looking back into her mother's blue eyes and hoping that she would know that Riley was a fool and would get past everything because she knew that if they didn't approve of Tamas their mother would give up their happiness to please them. It was just how their family dynamic was and Kalani was tired of the woman being lonely.​