Lia was spurred to awaken by the trails of light that gently danced upon her cheek, sneaking in through the cracks between the blinds of the dingy motel room. She could feel breathing on the back of her ears. No doubt Mia or Tish got cold last night and huddled up behind her during the night – sharing beds was a bit of a necessity in a two bed eight people kind of situation. Sharing heat was even more necessary during the cool nights without the heater in the place working.
Lia rolled onto her back and the mystery big spoon was revealed to be Mia after all. She gently sighed and pushed some of her hair out of her face. The light made the red in her hair look more like an orange than the usual fiery red it typically looked like. She thought about going to sleep but she was prodded awake by the idea of food.
If you don’t make it for them, they might miss breakfast. Up she got.
Lia, upon entering the bathroom caught a glance at the alarm clock – 6:18. She still had time before anyone woke up. She quietly got into the shower and turned on the cold water to about half of its maximum potential. Lia, because of her somewhat limited control over he own temperature could take
really cold showers which was helpful for a motel room that had about as much hot water as Nunavut. She quickly stripped and found herself relaxing for a few moments, but she made sure that it would not be too long. She was on a relatively strict timer after all.
When she got out of the shower she wrapped a towel around herself and quickly but quietly went back into the bedroom, grabbing her duffel bag and pulling it back into the bathroom like someone trying to hide a body.
"
Alright, we going with T-shirt with sweats, or sweater with jeans today?" Lia said to herself lamenting her lack of clothing. She quickly picked out the optimal pair, the sweater with sweats. When she was dressed and ready to leave she quietly tip-toed around the sleeping friends, noting Glo was still beautiful even mid-sleep.
’How is that fair?’ She wined silently. She nearly stepped on Jay, he somehow ended up on the floor in the doorway - kind of half sprawled out.
When she made it out the front door she paused, a young boy stood there – a trail of smoke rose up from where he was.
"
Andy, you been having trouble sleeping?" She said approaching him and gently tilting her head to the side on the shoulder farthest from his cigarette as a sign of affection.
"
Tish snores like a hippo, I would've had trouble listening to music let alone sleeping.” Andy responded, some steel in the boy’s voice. She could hear the lack of sleep ringing through it, obviously he’s been thinking too much.
"
Here, I’ve got a light." She said quietly noticing immediately when the cigarette became unlit after a noticeably cold gust of morning wind. She pulled the zippo lighter from her bra and lit it expertly. The flame danced in front of her face as she lit the cigarette, now she had to close it.
For a brief moment, it was as if she was tempted to control the flame, to use it… Probably nothing.
"
Thanks.” Lia shook her hand gently, as if to shake off any thanks. “Could use some company for the grocery store, wanna come?” She said warmly.
“
Well, it's no breakfast at Tiffany's but it's the best offer I've had so far this morning.” Lia smiled and without any more words between the two new parents they walked off to buy their six kids some eggs.
“
So, we haven't talked about the Christmas party yet. Not properly talked, I mean." Andy murmured as they passed a haggard looking man in a suit and tie.
“
I know... It just doesn't feel like a good idea, y'know?”
"
Yeah, I suppose. I know it's difficult to think about but it's better to light a flame thrower than curse the darkness, you know? So I thought I should come clean about something before the others are around and listening; I know about your powers."
Lia heard the words ring out through the morning air and found herself feeling a similar sensation. The feeling of looking down a great height, atop a building or bridge. The feeling that starts in your feet and chases your pulse through the rest of your body. She glanced at Andy, he was diplomatically not looking at her or taking in her reaction, just taking a deep drag and gazing at the early morning sun. After a few moment's respectful silence, he spoke again.
"
And that's not all. When we were all leaving, I decided we'd better have some insurance. So I grabbed as many of the files and dossiers that would fit in my bag before we left. I've been looking through them while I'm on my own and I've got evaluations on each of us except Cody, Mia and Malcolm, as well as a bigger one on what they're planning for the future. It's not pretty."
She took a second to think about what he was telling her. “
Do you have another cigarette?” She asked quietly, retrieving her lighter from her coat pocket. Andy hastily retrieved the packet from his pocket, slid one out and handed it to her.
“
Thanks,” she responded - sounded somewhat absent-minded but she was more focusing on what they're next steps had to be. Surely this meant that they had steps to take. “
We'll look at them tonight after I get home from work together, we can make a real plan then. Does that sound alright with you?” She said flicking the lighter open at the side of her body. She brought the cigarette to her lips and in an instant a small trail of flame fled the lighter brushing past the cigarette. She took a long drag.
"
Of course, whenever you're ready. And Lia, don't worry about the powers, okay? I'm not going to tell anyone you don't want me to but, for the record, none of them will think of you any differently if they know."
“
Thanks Andy... It's just.” Lia paused and pursed her lips momentarily debating whether or not to continue her line of thought. “
People like me, my abilities only hurt. They don't help people. I don't think it'll be well received that's all.” Lia said quietly as if she was under the impression someone was listening in, of course she wasn't but when your parents were practically Bond villains it helped if you were careful.
"
We'll just see about that. Even if we decide just to ride off into the sunset, I imagine that your powers will help us before this chapter of our lives is over."
“
These are going to be a long few months, huh?"
"
Only if Malcolm keeps glaring at me every time I smoke and Tish insists on I-Spy every time we drive." said Andy, deflty deflating the tension with a bad joke.
The market was always stressful, but when they went this early it was typically only a single tired teen who was opening, certainly not someone who was on the lookout for the kidnapped kids. Besides, when Lia went out in public she made sure to wear her bigger jacket and keep her head down, not really responding unless necessary. Strategy worked so far, but if it wasn’t the morning – Tish would have to go out.
She grabbed a carton of eggs from the display and opened it, feeling around – some seemed to be rotting so she close the carton and placed the eggs in a less accessible spot, picking up another. This process lasted about five minutes until she found a carton that would satisfy her needs. She didn’t have too much money – so Orange Juice was out of the question, especially since she’d have to save nearly her entire second pay check in order to afford the motel room each day. She put the carton of eggs in a small basket walking to the teller.
No problems there today. She and Andy walked back, discussing things but not to enough depth to make any progress on their predicament. It was clear they both shared an opinion on what their situation was. Wait for their parents’ retaliation. Lia had started this war when she took off with all of their kids. Now she was ready for hell to be brought down upon her, but they were a family now and anyone who went after her kids would get burned, severely.
Andy decided he’d wait on the patio for a little longer while Lia cooked dinner. She spent a few minutes cleaning a frying pan before turning the stove on and beginning to crack the eggs. She figured scrambled would be the best option without any bread, and thusly that was what she prepared.
Before long the eggs were ready, and so too was the day. She prepared the scrambled eggs next to some plates so that everyone could help themselves as they exited the room. She kept the stove on a very low heat – just to keep the eggs warmer as they awaited the hungry mouths of the kids.
Lia herself took a seat on the living room coach, she still had about an hour or two before work started so she was able to relax for a little while. As a part of her daily relax-plan she immediately began to plan how she would defend the other kids if her parents came. Her parents didn’t have any abilities with control over her own, though her father would be near impossible for any of them to defeat in single combat. She would need to make sure Glo had her back if they showed up.
Lia let a sigh escape her lips as she collapsed backwards onto the couch.
“
What have I done.” Her New York accented voice said disdainfully.
"
What you thought was best." Came Andy's voice from the kitchen, just loud enough to carry over the sounds of the others stirring from their slumber but not so loud they'd hear him.
Lia looked towards Andy and mouthed the words 'thank you'. She was glad she had him on her side.
