As we approach the house, we pause and see what is going on. Mom and Dad are standing on the porch. Mom is holding her phone while Dad looks at his watch.
“Let’s wait a couple more minutes. After that, I’ll see if I can find them again.” I can smell Dad's sweat from here. He must have come looking for us. I feel guilty about being happy he couldn’t find us.
I start walking again, and Lillie steps on a branch behind me. Our parents’ heads snap up as we approach. They run over panicking when they see Viv sleeping in my arms.
“What happened?”
“What’s wrong?” they ask simultaneously.
“Nothing. She just fell asleep and we didn’t want to wake her up.” I throw out our pre-arranged excuse, hoping it would work. I keep as straight of a face as I can.
“She fell asleep after chasing a fox?” Dad verifies skeptically.
“Well, we didn’t really chase it very long before sitting down and talking. Next thing I know, she’s asleep.” I elaborate. My heart beats loud and fast with nerves. I wonder how it hasn’t woken Viv.
“Then why did you take so long to come back? Your Dad even went looking for you. And why didn’t you answer your phone?” Mom cross-examines. I take out my phone to check it. I don’t know when, but the battery ran out..
“That is my fault.” Lillie jumps in. “I went the wrong way the first time I looked for them.”
“And I forgot to charge my phone last night, so it ran out of power.” They continue looking at us, their expressions are doubtful. After checking on Viv a couple more times, Dad sighs.
“I’ll take her. She must be heavy.” He stretches out his arms.
“It’s ok. We just made up and I kinda want to put her in her bed.” Dad smiles.Viv must have told him we fought after I left last weekend.
“Go ahead, then.”He waves us through.
“Also, please stay in the house tonight.” Mom requests as we pass by. I nod and walk Viv to the stairs.
“We’ll be in Ash’s room. Is it OK if I stay the night?” I hear Lillie ask.
“Of course, sweety. We’ll call Tina and let her know.” Mom agrees.
I carefully put Viv on top of the covers so she doesn’t wake her up. Viv always likes to move everything around, and I haven’t seen the latest arrangement yet, so I look around. It’s funny, Viv always has a gruff attitude and a bomb for a temper, but the vibe of her room is quite peppy.
On one wall, I see a big portrait of us triplets, surrounded by individual pictures of our memories growing up. Looking at one, I can’t believe the six-year-old in a princess dress turned into my youngest triplet laying beside me.
I keep looking around and notice her computer is in sleep mode. She must have been working on something before lunch. I glance over at her before waking it up to take a peek, expecting either a new room design plan, or something sports related.
Instead, I am greeted with shifter lore and a woogle search for ‘Can shifters exist?’. I smile before putting the computer back into sleep mode. I don’t want to be caught snooping around. I go out of her room, glancing at Viv one last time.
It looks like she gave me more credit than I thought. I walk down to my room and sit on the bed.
Lillie is already there and we sit quietly, both in our own thoughts. I think about the last conversation I had with Lillie and how hard it is for me to come up with excuses. Then I hear my parents talking.
“Do you think Viv actually fell asleep?” Mom asks Dad.
“There is a possibility since Viv’s fever never left, just like Ashka’s. Maybe that made her drowsy? Do you believe everything else?”
“Maybe. But don’t you think Ash’s face was too stiff? She used to do the same when she lied as a kid.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think it was about Viv falling asleep. I think there was something else they saw because I doubt that sound was made by a fox.”
“If there wasn’t a fox, then what was that sound?” Mom sounds scared. “You don’t think it could be a cougar, could you?”
“I’d believe that over a fox.” I wince at Dad’s answer and Lillie notices.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, I can hear my Mom and Dad talking downstairs. They think Viv’s roar was a cougar.”
“What should we do? Do you think we should tell them?”
I shrug. Showing them will scare them, and I don’t think they signed up for two shifter children.
On the other hand, I don’t know how I will hide it. I have an appointment with a specialist this coming week, and eventually there will be a doctor who figures it out. Plus, I am not sure if I can help Viv keep from shifting out of anger. I almost shifted in school, and I am far more level-headed than her.
“I think I’ll tell my mom. What if you aren’t with me when I shift?”
“What do you think Tina’s reaction will be?” I am happy they are close enough for Lillie to feel comfortable telling her.
“Oh, not Mother Tina. I’m talking about Mother Charlotte. Mother Tina would freak and just send me to Mother Charlotte at best. She hates animals.”
“But doesn’t Charlotte live in Wyoming?”
“Oh, did I not tell you? She’s coming up here during Spring break tomorrow. I’ll probably tell her on Monday.”
While I would much rather have Viv’s agreement before telling either parent, having knowledge of another’s reaction would be nice. “Mind telling me how she reacts?”
“Umm… I’ll kinda need your help. I can’t show her yet.”
“Oh, right.” Before I can say anything else. I turn my head as I hear footsteps on the stairs. They stop at my door and I get up to answer.
Mom’s hand is lifted to knock when I open the door. She pauses for a moment before putting it down.
“Dinner’s ready. Wake Viv on your way down, please.” She tells me. I nod before Lillie and I follow her out. I walk back into Viv’s room and sit down. I consider whether I want to wake her up or not.
I decide against it and walk down to the dinner table, saying she claimed to be too tired to eat.
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