Chapter 2 - Part 8: Double Helix

With the new baby on the way, Faith made sure to spend as much quality time with Flora as she could, so that her daughter would know that she was loved and that no one would take her place.

All the pregnancy books (which Faith had read at least twice each by now) continually suggested showering your existing kids with extra attention, this would make them less prone to feeling shunned by their soon-to-be sibling.  Faith simply took this to mean spending extra time with her precious daughter.

Lavishing attention to the new baby was Pete's job, one he took rather seriously.

"You do know that the baby can't see you?" Faith laughed as the doting father was playing hide-and-seek with her imposing belly.

"Shush," he teased back, "He-She likes it!"

Pete was still working to perfect his time-machine, in the secrecy of his basement workroom.  He hadn't yet told anyone about what he'd invented, not even his wife, as he didn't know exactly what the dangers of using the machine were and hated the idea of worrying Faith.

This didn't stop him, however, from constantly slipping in and out of the time stream.  The past was equally as fascinating as the future.

No matter what era he was exploring, his family was in the present,  and he would always try to make it back in time to read little Flora to sleep.

Presently, the family was about to expand, as Faith woke up in the middle of the night with that familiar pain in her abdomen that only meant one thing, labor.

As Pete hadn't been there for the birth of their first child, so he wasn't sure what to expect and could only shrug in confusion at his wife who was clearly in pain.  

He was acting more hysterical than the one currently giving birth, "What do I do??" he yelled at her in panic.

"Get. The. CAR!" She screamed at him.  They somehow managed to make it to the hospital in one piece.

The next morning brought two bundles of joy into their lives, which no one was expecting.  The twins were named Julius and Vincent and received a room of their own, as the nursery was still being occupied by Flora.

Having two parents and a doting grandfather around twenty four hours a day meant that the babies were well cared for and soon enough were crawling around on their own.

Which meant the family had been cooped up to long and it was decided they all deserved to go on an outing to the beach.

The boys were obsessed with the spring riders, squealing and laughing as Morand and Pete looked on.

After a quick bite of lunch, it was right back to play-time, with a few life lessons thrown in while the boys weren't looking.

Pete sat with Julius and worked on teaching him the basics of talking.

While Morand took on Vincent, teaching the boy to walk.

Faith kept Flora occupied by pretending to steal the sun.

Everyone had a great time and as the day began to turn to night, they made their way back home.

As the kids were being put to bed, Morand continued working on his latest painting.  It was to be a gift for the boys' to hang in their bedroom.  He had become quite a proficient painter since retiring, there was barely an empty wall in the house left.

Over the course of the following days, Flora and Julius seemed to get along famously, while Vincent was more of a lone soul.  While the two played together with the dollhouse that had been in the family since Cecil had begged for one, Vincent would sit in the nursery, happily playing with blocks by himself.

However, time doesn't stop moving forward and soon enough it was Flora's birthday.  Pete had mysteriously disappeared again, most likely to the junkyard and lost track of time thought Faith, so the celebration was small.

Mother and daughter leaned in to blow out the candles as Flora began the next stage of her life.

OUTTAKES

The gnome family enjoys a day at the beach as well!

Pete loved his outfit from the past so much, he would constantly change into it autonomously.

"Papa, can you hear me?" Flora does her best Barbara Streisand impersonation.

Who doesn't love a mutant birthday pic??

Title / DJ Babokon