Nightshade: A SimLit | Chapter 70: Troublesome Toddlers

Onyx's face contorted into a stern glare and he huffed with frustration, his crossed arms resting on the glass tabletop. He'd learned over the recent years to be firm with kids when needed, or at least to be good at acting like he was. "Rocket, you're not leaving this table until you eat your food."

"I don' wanna!" the toddler whined, clearly preparing to throw his third tantrum of the day.

"But you have to eat so that you can grow big and strong." Onyx frowned, his expression softening just a little. "You haven't even tried it. Just try one bite."

"No! No vegebatles!" Rocket yelled.

"You mean vegetables." Onyx couldn't suppress a slight chuckle.

Rocket slammed his fists against the highchair. "I hate vegebatles!"

Onyx sighed and glanced down at the ground, noticing Sophie staring intently at the bowl of peas. "Sophie, you won't eat these. They're not... um... vampire food."

"Of course she not eat!" Rocket said angrily, "Sophie don' like vegebatles!"

Onyx raised an eyebrow. "Apparently she does, or else she wouldn't be begging for them. If Sophie can eat... vegebatles... so can you, right?"

Rocket's lips curled in a defiant grin. "If Sophie wan' vegebatles, she have them!"

Onyx's eyes widened. "Wait, no--!"

But it was too late, and the bowl of peas went crashing to the floor, spilling everywhere. Sophie sniffed them and turned her nose up, walking away in disgust as Rocket laughed. "See? No vegebatles!"

Amelia was oblivious to the chaos in the kitchen as she reached the bottom of the stairs in a panic, looking around in confusion. "Where the heck could he have gone so fast?" she muttered to herself. "Onyx! Have you seen Meteor!?"

"No!" he called from the kitchen, stress evident in his voice. "Don't tell me you lost an entire toddler!"

"I looked away for one second!" Amelia cried and slumped over in defeat. "He has to be somewhere in this house... hopefully..."

-----

"For the last time, leave me alone." Tiffany's voice was irritable. "I'm not playing with you right now."

"But mommy..." Meteor objected, his lower lip wobbling. "I wanna play..."

"Then go play by yourself."

He looked up at her, his bright pink eyes starting to water. "Why don' you ever wanna play wif me?"

"Because I'm busy," she replied. "Now get lost. You're making mommy angry."

Meteor sniffled, seconds away from bursting into tears. "I-I sowwy..."

Tiffany rolled her eyes. "Don't even start with your crying."

It was then that the sound of the front door unlocking could be heard, and Meteor whirled around to toddle as quickly as he could out of the living room, granting her wish of being left alone. He always looked forward to this time of the evening. "Daddy!"

Despite another exhausting day at work, Orion greeted his son energetically and scooped him up into his arms with a big smile. "Hey, Meteor! Were you good while I was..." his voice trailed off as he noticed the tears.

"I miss you while you was gone," Meteor said quietly.

"I missed you too," Orion's voice softened. "What's wrong? Did something bad happen?"

Meteor sniffled. "Mommy don' love me anymore..."

Orion's heart sank. He'd always known as the twins got older that they'd inevitably begin to realize Tiffany's neglectfulness, but he wasn't prepared to deal with that reality. But he was still determined, perhaps now more than ever, to give them the most normal upbringing he could. He didn't want them to believe they were unloved. Not by anyone. "Don't say that... of course she does..."

"Then why don' she ever wanna play wif me?" More tears fell from the boy's sad eyes. 

"Please don't cry..." Orion reached out and wiped the tears away. "She's just... busy. But she plays with you when she can. Yesterday, she played with you and Rocket, remember? I don't think she'd stop wanting to play with you that fast, so it isn't true, see?" Of course, it was only because he'd practically begged her to spend time with the kids.

Meteor sniffled once more, taking a moment to soak in the information. Finally, he nodded and managed a slight smile. "Okay..."

Orion hoisted the toddler onto his shoulders, once again smiling brightly. "Now, no more frowning, okay? We'll have some fun while I get you ready for bed."

Meteor giggled and held on tightly to Orion's hands for stability as he walked. His sadness was quickly forgotten, much to his father's relief. "Fun!"

Before they entered the living room, Tiffany had the time to slip away unnoticed. She wouldn't start drama with Orion while people were around, and quite frankly, he didn't want to deal with her if he didn't have to. He didn't have the chance to wonder where Rocket was before he saw him wobble out of the kitchen, followed closely by Onyx and Amelia.

"Hey..." Orion gave them a tired smile as they approached. "I hope the boys didn't cause too much trouble?"

Onyx, looking just as exhausted as Orion, sighed heavily. "Well, they..."

"...were no trouble at all," Amelia finished the sentence for him, forcing a smile. "Right, Onyx?"

"Right, of course. They were angels as always," Onyx nodded.

Orion seemed relieved. "Oh, good. I can't thank you enough for babysitting while I'm at work. You guys are lifesavers. I guess I better go get them ready for bed--"

He was interrupted when Rocket wildly clung to his leg, tears streaming down his face before he even started wailing. "Daddy! Onyx try to get me to eat vegebatles! Stop leavin' me wif that meanie!"

Onyx smiled awkwardly. "He, uh, really doesn't like vegetables... he threw them to the cat."

Still holding tightly to Meteor, Orion glanced down at Rocket. "Hey, don't call him a meanie. That isn't very nice... he takes care of you while I can't."

"But he give me evil vegebatles!" Rocket was in a tantrum. "I hate vegebatles!"

"But they're good for you, so please eat them, okay...?" Orion asked gently. 

"No!" Rocket let go of Orion's leg and stomped his foot. "No more vegebatles!"

"I think he's just tired." Onyx cringed a little. "He isn't usually this angry. You're right, you should go get them ready for bed."

"I agree. Someone needs a nap." Amelia nodded.

"No I don'!" Rocket pouted.

Orion laughed lightly and picked him up, holding one twin in each arm. "Come on, let's go. I'll get you away from the vegetables."

-----

The process of getting two rowdy toddlers ready for bed was always a long one, but just as it began to darken outside, Orion walked into their room to tuck them in. Meteor was already asleep in his arms, but he could tell Rocket would be a more difficult case to get to sleep.

"You're so cute when you're sleeping," Orion whispered, carrying Meteor over to his bed.

Rocket watched as Orion tucked in his brother and kissed him goodnight. He knew he was coming next, but sleep was the last thing on his mind.

Orion turned to him and smiled. "Alright, time for bed."

"But I not tired!" Rocket whined. "I not go to bed."

"But you have to. Sleep is important," Orion tried to reason with him. "Come on, I'll read you a story. How about your favorite?"

"No!" Rocket crossed his arms defiantly. "I not sleep! Ever!"

"Ever?" Orion's eyebrows raised. "What about when you get tired?"

"I won' get tired." Rocket's eyes narrowed. "No more bedtime."

With a sigh, Orion tried to pick him up, but he dodged it quickly. "Rocket, please... you have to go to bed."

"I don' have to listen to you, dummy!"

Orion frowned, unsure of how to respond. "...Who told you that?"

"Mommy!" Rocket huffed and looked away from him. "She said daddy is a big dummy, so I don' have to listen to him!"

Orion stooped down closer to Rocket's level, silent for a moment. "...she was probably just frustrated with me about something. It isn't nice to call people names, okay?"

"Dummy, dummy, dummy!" Rocket repeated loudly, stomping his foot for emphasis on each word. 

Although he knew Rocket hardly knew the meaning of any of this, it still stung to hear him say it. "Please stop... hey, it's okay if you don't want to go to bed yet. We can stay up for a little while and play." Gingerly, he reached out to his son. "Come here and give me a h--"

"No, you just wanna make me tired so I go to bed!" Rocket yelled. "Leave me alone!"

"Rocket--"

"NO!" 

Orion pulled his hand back with a yelp as Rocket bit into his finger. "H-Hey! That's enough!"

The toddler simply laughed and scurried away, finding it amusing that he'd won the battle. Orion was left with a heavy sadness beginning to weigh down on his shoulders, and he knew that dealing with Rocket was going to be harder than he thought.

---

Emiko: So, how are the kids?

Orion: As ornery as ever... it took me an hour to get Rocket to go to bed. They're exhausting, but I love them.

Uranus: Yikes. I sure am glad I don't have kids!

Emiko: Give it time with Amalthea and I bet you'll have triplets.

Uranus: No way!

Orion: Have you decided when you're going to pop the question to her yet?

Uranus: No. I've been meaning to do it for like six months now, but every time I think about it I get all nervous and sweaty.

Emiko: Wow, that's attractive.

Orion chuckled and lowered his phone as he reached the bottom of the staircase, where he noticed Amelia was waiting.

"Did you finally get the boys to settle down?" Amelia asked. "You were up there for ages."

"Yeah, they're both sound asleep. Finally." Orion smiled a little. "And that means I can get some sleep myself. I'm exhaused..."

"I'm sure you are." She frowned, considering mentioning Tiffany's negligence for a moment, but she decided against it. Nothing ever changed no matter what anyone did, and she'd long wondered if Tiffany was being purposely lazy. "We have everything handled, so... go get some rest."

"Thank you, really," Orion nodded. "Hey, um... where's Tiffany?"

"She's in the living room with Onyx. He told me he wanted to talk to her about something." Amelia looked away. In actuality, they both agreed someone needed to try to talk with her for the millionth time. "Sorry if he's hogging your time with her..."

"No, no, it's fine," he tried not to sound too relieved. "I'm sure she'll be upstairs in a little while. I need to grab a shower, anyway."

She nodded. "Alright. Goodnight and sleep well."

"You too," Orion smiled and headed upstairs, sighing quietly. Part of him ached that Tiffany was only growing more distant, especially from their children, but in a way it was a relief that she didn't get the chance to torment him as much...

 At least for now.

-----

"Tiffany, this is serious. You can't just keep treating your kids like this." Onyx sighed. "I get that maybe there are things going on that I don't know about, but if there are, please tell me so that--"

"It isn't serious and I don't want to talk about it." Tiffany refused to even look in his direction. "They're doing just fine without me catering to their every need."

"They're not fine!" Onyx snapped unintentionally. "Do you know how much they come crying to me and Amelia because they think you don't even want them!?"

"Onyx, stop it. I said I don't want to talk." Tiffany's eyebrows furrowed and her lips quivered. "Just leave."

"This is no way to be a mother! They're your own children, how can you--"

Tears spilled from her eyes and she hunched over in a sob. "They're right, okay!? I don't want them! I never did! I know this is no way to be a mother! I-I tried, Onyx, but I... I'm just as bad as my mom..."

Onyx fell silent, his rare temper dying down. "...Tiffany... life doesn't always go how you want it to. I get that you didn't want them, but there's no changing the fact that they're here. You have to step up and accept that."

Tiffany continued to sob. "I knew being a mother wasn't for me from the time I found out I was pregnant. But Orion... he was so happy, and I-I... I couldn't hurt him by considering anything else other than going through with it and being a mom the best way that I could. I know I'm doing a crappy job, and I feel so guilty for it every day. I don't know what else to do except separate myself from them so that I don't hurt them!" She paused as a hand reached out to run through her hair comfortingly. "...I understand that you're disappointed in me, Onyx. After all, I'm basically like your daughter. This isn't what you wanted me to be. I'm a disgrace, I--"

"No, I don't think that..." Onyx frowned. "I didn't know you were struggling like this. I just wish you would have opened up sooner so that maybe we could have done something to help you..."

"There's nothing you can do. Nothing will ever make me feel any differently." Tiffany sniffled. "But maybe... maybe as they get older it won't be so bad. I just have to wait and see if I can be better. I'll try harder, Onyx. I promise..."

He nodded and sighed softly. "As long as you promise to try harder... and to come to me for advice when you need it from now on, I'll be happy. I want to help you be a better parent, alright?"

Tiffany only nodded, concealing a slight smirk as she buried her face in her hands and continued her fake tears. 'He's so easy to fool...'