Chapter Seven: In a flash

It's been a very long time since I updated!  University tends to sneak up on me like that, but I'm back now, so let's get back into the story, hm?

 Marlin wanted to just spend all day in bed, pretending that Toni was just downstairs, reading a book and waiting for him to wake up and join her for breakfast.  He didn't want to pull himself out of the covers and face a reality where he didn't have her by his side.

 He did though, because there were three little lives relying on him.  Each one of them was a little bit of Toni, and they were the only reason he kept pulling himself back to reality.  They were the reason he could even think of getting past the grief that seemed to be choking him.  Anippe and Akila, his little girls, and Abubakar his little boy.  Even their names were a remnant of Toni, who had enjoyed the trip to Egypt so much she'd been looking at egyptian names for their child.

 After morning cuddles and diaper changing Marlin would drag himself downstairs, where he would force himself to eat something-often pancakes that he nibbled on throughout the week, until he was forced to make more.

 Then, once the triplets were fully awake he would be done eating and ready to give each of them a bottle.  They slept surprisingly well for newborns, though within just a few weeks Marlin was beginning to feel the lack of sleep.  Between nightmares and their needful cries, he just didn't get more than a couple of hours a night, if he was lucky.

 Somehow he managed to build a little site for Toni, so that she could be near her children even in death.  Early in the morning he would go to tell her about what they had done the night before, but he often began to cry too hard to talk  before he had said all that much.

 The help of his family might have been the only reason he was able to make it through that hard time.  His mother and father were always willing to come over and care for the triplets to let him get some sleep.  Richard gave him the number for a reputable babysitting service, urging him to get out of the house every now and then and just not think about anything.

 He took the advice, though it was only because the money was running thin and his boss had told him that if he didn't show up to work soon he wouldn't have a job to work at.  It was the kick he needed though, and things began to look up again.

 The night of the triplet's birthday he was even sure he felt Toni lay down beside him as he fell into bed.  He was gone when he woke up in the morning, but he was sure that was just because she had gone to get breakfast-the pancakes he found on the table had to prove that.  She wasn't completely gone, he was sure of it.

 In some ways, it was easier to care for his children as toddlers, but in other ways it was harder.  Teaching them all the things they needed to know to grow up well was hard, and if they slept for a solid eight hours, it didn't guarantee they would choose the night hours to do so.

 At least they were able to mostly entertain themselves, and being able to bring them downstairs meant he could take a quick nap on the couch every now and then.

 Money was tight, even with him taking overtime.  There was always something needing the skills of a repairman, Marlin being either too tired or too busy to tackle whatever new problem popped up.  The bills seemed like they increased in frequency, though he knew that was just because time seemed to be speeding up.  His angels were growing so fast, and he was gone so much he was afraid he was missing everything, but what could he do?

 At least they had a steady babysitter, and not a stream of different people coming to care for them.  They all adored her, though Marlin couldn't have told anybody her name.  Sometimes he wondered why she wasn't in school when she sat for him during the day, but he was so happy that she was doing such a good job he didn't often spare too much thought for it.

 He did try to spend as much time as he could with them while he was home.  Whether it was  by playing with a toy, or teaching them to walk or talk.

 Of all of them, only Akila seemed to have inherited any of his magic.  Even as a toddler she was radiating it, much like he remembered Richard doing.  She had the habit of popping her toys into the ether as well.

 Somehow he remembered Jin.  If his tank was dirtier than it should have been, he didn't lack for food or water.  Though he was stuck quite firmly in that cage and nowhere near biting distance.

 Anippe was the first one to take her first successful steps, which soon turned into a tornado of little feet as she tried to get into everything.  He had to start locking the bathroom door to keep her from drowning in the toilet (how would he have explained that to a judge?)

 Akila was the most demanding, requiring some sort of snuggle or attention nearly all of the time.  Not that he was upset about giving them to her.

 Abubakar, meanwhile, was the first to learn to talk.  Marlin had the sneaking suspicion that he was the one that taught the girls because shortly after that they began to demand things with words.

 Though he suspected that Jin had died because his cage had become almost unforgivably disgusting, he told the kids it was just because he was old.  And he was, though Marlin had no idea how old a snake could live.  He'd been a part of the household before they were even born, and well, time had flown.

 They would be starting school soon.  Marlin gathered them all together to lay out some rules and assign some chores, raising an eyebrow at Anippe's chosen outfit.  She was a bit odd, wearing clothing that very rarely matched the occasion.

 The cribs in their bedroom were replaced by a loft for Abu, though he did still have to share with his sisters.  There simply wasn't anywhere else and Marlin didn't have the money to build on to the house or to buy a new one.

 The girls got bunk beds, of course, with Akila quickly claiming the bottom one.

 Anippe's chore-to clean the dishes-was always done on time, though nobody could ever catch her in the act.  She claimed "Cuddles" had done it.  Marlin wasn't sure when it stopped being healthy for a kid to believe in an imaginary friend, so he kept his mouth shut.  All the same she didn't bring it up again, although her siblings confided that she was often whispering to thin air in the bedroom.

 Akila was in charge of making the beds in the house.  She also took it upon herself to clean the sinks.  Marlin forbid the cleaning of the stove though, not wanting her to hurt herself or burn the house up by accident.  He just said that was his chore though.

 Abu was in charge of the trash...And that was all he did.  He didn't relish taking on more chores just to be nice, so he didn't.  Not that Marlin blamed him, but with three kids and a nearly always-absent father, without chores the house would have devolved into a pit of trash before long.

 Marlin wanted to be home more often, but if he had thought that the demands on his wallet would decrease with the triplet's birthdays, he had been sorely mistaken.  They ate more, somehow his bills had increased in the amount due, and everything seemed to be more expensive everywhere.

 He couldn't help but think that if he were home more, Anippe would talk to real people more than her imaginary friend.  She didn't have any at school, although at least her siblings were close friends with her.

 Perhaps Abu would be less prone to pulling pranks.  Marlin knew it was him, he couldn't pull the innocent act off well enough, but without catching him in the act he couldn't punish him fairly.  Which just meant Marlin had to put up with dyed hair and spraying sinks.

 Of all of his children, Akila was the most well-adjusted.  Though her fascination with "horror" escaped him.  He just hoped she wouldn't start dating a vampire.  They may have been better with all of the reforms, but he couldn't help but think of the Bridgeport vampire scare, where a group of them (what did they call those, covens?  Or was that witches?) had actually killed all of the guests at a bar...

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So.  Um.  Triplets.  Yea, I hadn't really been trying too hard for multiple birth.  I think one of them had the fertility treatment (it's been a while), and there may have been kids music on sometimes, but that was it.  So if it seems rushed, it's because a single dad with triplets is HARD.  At least for me.  And uh, they may not have gotten potty trained.  And I may have been at liberty, by suggesting they were all talking...

Chapter Six: Across the Ocean and Back

We're now on to generation two!  Time for Marlin to take the spotlight.  If you are curious about the rolls for his generation (or his traits), you can check out the generational rolls page, which can be found by clicking the link over on the right side.

I've been thinking about alternating how I narrate the story, but I'm not sure how to go about it.  So I'll stick with the original "style" if you can call it that.  Haha.  Anyways, enjoy!

Marlin picked out a nice little, two bedroom house on nearly the opposite side of town from his parents.  It was still on the same side of the river though, and it wasn't like the town was all that big.  His father had even presented him with his truck, the faithful old thing now sitting once again out in the open instead of in a nice garage.

All through high school he had been unsure of what to do with his life.  He'd thought about a traditional career, but none of them appealed to him.  Then he'd thought about alchemy and selling his potions down in the alchemy shop, but that too just didn't seem quite right.  It was actually his mother who had suggested he look at fortune telling.  His magic was strong enough to make it work, even if it wasn't exactly what he'd been practicing up until now.

It was certainly odd, going to sleep in a room all by himself.  Not only that, but the bed was simply huge compared to his bunk bed.  The knowledge that nobody else was in the house was also a bit off-putting, and it took a few days until he began to feel comfortable in his own home.

At least, until he heard footsteps downstairs at some ungodly hour of the morning.  There wasn't supposed to be anybody down there, so Marlin called the police in hushed whispers.  He was a fortune teller, not a fighter!  Besides, what if there were more than one?  Marlin wasn't stupid and he wasn't about to go down and find out.

For some reason the burglar took his shower.  How he managed that he had no idea, but the police took so long in responding that he had no worry about running out of time from disconnecting the plumbing.  Marlin was suitably peeved at the emergency response crew.  At least he had the money to replace it-and to add a burglar alarm to the house.  Life went on.

(And this picture has nothing to do with what the text says, because I lost the picture I was going to use....Ssssh.)

Before long, Toni was of an age that it was legal to do certain things with again.  There was a lot of kissing.  Of all of his friends, Marlin had never imagined falling so much in love with Toni Redding.  She had been a complete tomboy as a child, and unlike most of his friends, she was also a loner.  Yet they seemed to compliment each other perfectly.

  It wasn't much of a surprise when the two started living together.  Toni lived by herself, having grown up in a group home and, as soon as she reached young adult age, moving into a torn down little house on the edges of town.  Before she got a job and settled in, and before Marlin got too far into his career, they decided to take a short trip to Egypt.

Their first day was filled with shopping, including the purchase of a little mummy bear that Toni seemed to adore.  Marlin even had to consider that he might be jealous of the toy, as Toni could not seem to put it down.  He finally convinced her to leave it with the rest of their baggage at the campsite on the second day, so that they could go and see some of the sites.

He also convinced her that she should wear something other than what she had been.  He was mostly worried about her heels, which had already sunk in the sand just at the market multiple times.  Toni wasn't stubborn though, and perfectly happy to change into something more suitable.  For a price.

At some point during their shopping (probably when he'd been looking at recipe books, having taken a fancy to cooking) she had purchased a camera.  A camera that she wanted to use at every single site.  Yet Marlin couldn't convince her to put herself in the picture, not even once.

They messed around with pyramid doors, Toni giggling as Marlin tapped and rubbed the ancient stone, supposedly keeping an eye out in case they were breaking some sort of law.  Marlin couldn't figure out what she found so funny and she wouldn't tell him.

Some of the doors they managed to open and inside were amazing ruins that hadn't been entered for centuries.  Toni even managed to keep from clicking the little disposable camera constantly out of respect for the long dead civilization.

Not that it stopped them from loudly removing stacks of rubble to look deeper into the tomb.  Marlin began to wish he'd worked out more prior to their trip-swinging a pickaxe was heavy work!

Toni had a habit of peering into sarcophagus's, despite which seemed to Marlin to cancel out the reverence of not taking a picture every couple of minutes.  She did find some interesting things though.

Including a mummy, though neither of them noticed it until almost too late.

Perhaps it was because they grew up in Moonlight Falls, where the supernatural were common place, that they weren't absolutely terrified of the mummy.  Besides, it was easy enough to out run it, and the door to the tomb shut after they left.  Come to think of it, it was a good thing it hadn't shut while they were in there.

On their last day they simply spent together in one of the greener areas of Al Simhara.  Once they returned from their trip, no doubt life would get in the way and it would be a long time before they could spend so much time together again.

To the disappointment of Marlin's family they decided to get married that last day.  No fancy wedding, no guests at all.  It was the perfect wedding, and Marlin was just happy that his wife was that-his wife.

Toni brought back more from their trip than Marlin had expected.  For one, she brought back a snake she named Jin.  She loved the thing, despite the fact that it bit everyone who picked it up.  Including herself.  Luckily it wasn't venomous, and if it wasn't anything to go by, Marlin was glad he had talked her out of the snake charming basket.

She also came back with a little Marlin&Toni inside.  Her plans to get a job were obviously put on hold, and Marlin worked harder than ever in his own, as they had spent most of their money on their trip.  When he was home he just couldn't keep his hands off the tummy that held growing life that was part of his making inside though.

Toni was patient enough, spending her long days home alone reading books about the upcoming trials.  She planned renovations to the second bedroom, ones that she hoped to put in place as soon as they had all of the essentials-like a crib.

She didn't have to worry about getting her way, since Marlin was wrapped around her pinky finger.  A craving for spicy waffles?  Marlin was on it.  A book from the bottom shelf?  Marlin had it.  A massage?  Guess who was there.

So it was a complete surprise when Toni went into labor much earlier than she should have.  Her pregnancy had been normal, with no hiccups-even little morning sickness.  Marlin was at work when she felt the first pains, and it took her a moment to locate a phone to call the hospital and then her husband.

By the time Marlin had rushed home, emergency services had pronounced his wife dead.  He couldn't understand most of what they said, something about tearing during the birth.  All he could comprehend was that his wife, of less than a year, was dead and he was all alone.

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I promise it gets happier!  Poor Marlin...