Re: 1 x 1 [spioradkitty and Webmonkey]

[spioradkitty]

Astraea got up off her father's lap and went upstairs to her room. Their house was 3 floors, but the top floor only had two rooms: Astraea's bedroom and bathroom. She passed Emily's room and went up another flight of stairs to her own, closing the door behind her and turning the lights off. It was almost noon, and guests would be arriving soon. The only person Astraea was looking forward to seeing was Grandaddy Joshie, but she dreaded seeing Uncle Liam and Auntie Thalia the most. Not that she disliked her aunt and uncle; they just always seemed... put off by her appearance. Not to mention that they currently had 7 kids, and Thalia was pregnant with triplets. Each kid was more annoying than the last, and only their first-born, Isaac, was sweet to Astraea. All the others were scared of her. Astraea used dark magic to climb the wall up to the hammock that hung from her high ceiling, then lied down and closed her eyes. It felt like only a few minutes later when the doorbell rang downstairs. "Astraea! The Songs are here!" Eider called, and Astraea groaned in annoyance; could she not have a moment of peace? Begrudgingly she rolled out of her bed and walked down to the first floor, where Eider and Mavis were greeting Great Uncle Simon, cousins Amy, Jacob, Simon Jr., Sorrel, Ileana, Fenris, Jade and Apollo. The large living room was plenty of space for the many relatives, and the enormous sectional couch could seat every one of them comfortably. Astraea lingered at the edge of the room, watching her parents and sister hug people and exchange greetings. Only her 2nd cousin, Sorrel, approached her with a shy smile. "Hey, Stray," she said, a nickname she had called Astraea her whole life. Astraea grinned and ran forward to give her a hug, happy to see one of the few relatives who really loved her. "Hi Cuzzy Sorrel," she said, her arms around the short, black-haired girl. She glanced across the room at all her cousins who were crowding Emily to give her hugs and grimaced, not at her sister, but at everyone else. Was it so hard to accept having a shadow demon in the family? She just couldn't understand...

[rainbowwrowell]

Mavis smiled as Enily giggled slightly as she felt like everyone was giving her hugs. She eventually got out of all of their grips to move over to Eider. "Daddy.. Sissy is alone.. Why does nobody ever hug her besides Sorrel and grammy and grandaddy?"

[spioradkitty]

Eider hugged Emily and pet her tiger ears. "You and I know there's nothing wrong with sissy, baby girl. It's not her fault she's part demon, and you look like an angel. Some people just find it hard to see past Astraea's scar and her demonic looks." He glanced over at his other daughter, who was sitting alone with Sorrel. He was about to go over to her when the doorbell rang again and his brother Liam came in with his wife and their 7 kids. "Oh God..." he mumbled as 1 teenager, 2 preteens, and 4 toddlers poured into the living room. The oldest, Isaac, went straight over to Astraea and Sorrel, but Eider was soon crowded by 4 little kids all pulling at his clothes and squealing excitedly. "UNCLE EIDER UNCLE EIDER UNCLE EIDER" they shouted, and he struggled to hold all 4 at once. "Hey, guys! How are my little cousins? Hi Ben, hi Christopher, hello Amelia, hey Tori," he said, kissing each one on the cheek until they were all giggling. The quadruplets were louder than anyone else in the room. Rebecca and Ivy, the two 12-year-olds, went over to Emily to say hi.

[rainbowwrowell]

Emily sat down on the couch. Mavis sighed as she looked up at the older people, well the girls four years older then her. She knew that they werent always nice to Astraea and it made Emily annoyed. But anytime she goes over to her sister all the attention turns from a happy positive atmostphere to kinda awkward. Why cant things be like every other day. Emily was knocked out of her thoughts when she could hear a knock at the door. She teleported to the door and opened it. "Uncle Sammie" She smiled practically jumping on him to hug him. Sam smiled and picked her up. "Alex!~ " She smiled, tail wagging now. By far, they were her favorite. Sam and Alex had adopted a kid, her name was Natasha. Natasha ran in, just to hug Mavis. "Aunty MMavii" The seven year old smiled. Emily looked at Alex. Soon teleporting away from Sam over to Alex. She smiled and hugged him. Alex picked her up,"Happy birthday chicken" He smiled. Emily smiled "Thank you" She said taking her present. Alex loved both kids equally and didnt distinguish between them. He knew as sisters they loved each other and Atraea would take time to open up.

Sam smiled amd walked inside. Mavis was holding Natasha in her arms. Natasha giggled and laughed as Mavis said something quietly. The seven year old asked Mavis to put her down. When Mavis did, Natasha ran over to hug Emily. "Happy Birthday Cuzzie" Natasha smiled. When Natasha smiled, she got dimples under her eyes and in her cheeks. They made her look extremely cheeky. Mavis hugged Sam smiling then Alex. Mavis looked up and watched how quickly Emily and Natasha ran off. Mavis smiled widely. Her ears were back though, the noise of the house getting to her. She left the front door open, she and Alex would make sure none of the kids got outside. Sam walked inside the kitchen and smiled. He went straight over to Astraea. "Hey Ast.. Your grandaddie Joshie and grandada Jason will be here in a few minutes. I know you love seeing Josh." He said hugging her then he walked over to the fridge. Mavis and Eider let him get stuff from the fridge whenever within reason. He grabbed a bottle of water then watched Emily and Natasha run outside the back yard.

[spioradkitty]

Astraea grinned and hugged Uncle Sammie, but even the limited attention she was receiving made her uncomfortable. She attempted to slip into the downstairs bedroom no one ever used, but was quickly crowded by a large group of other children. The 4 toddlers (Ben, Chris, Amelia, and Tori) circled her and tugged on the bottom of her jeans, while Rebecca and Ivy came up behind her with obviously fake smiles. Finally, Amy and Jacob's son Apollo, plus Simon Jr. and Ileana's kids Jade and Fenris all came up to shove presets into her pale hands. Astraea's ears pressed back and her tail squeezed tightly around her leg as her anxiety shot up to maximum. "Hi Astraea!" "Happy birthday!" "How's the demon girl?" "Can't believe you're so big!" Astraea couldn't hear their words; her ears were ringing painfully and her heart was beating so fast and hard she could hear it. "P-please, I n-need space..." she tried to mutter, feeling so many powers whirling through her at once. Her fingers heated up, her skin felt charged with electricity, her wings became coated in frost, and it was all she could do to keep her eyes normal. They all refused to budge, and suddenly, Astraea's worst fear happened- her glove came off. Whipping around, she saw the little girl Amelia playing with the black glove, and before Astraea could even form a thought she had collapsed on the floor, terrified of the attention and fighting harder than ever to hold in her magic. "MAMA!" she screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks and instantly freezing. She covered her face in her hands, sobbing in fear.

[rainbowwrowell]

"Sorry doll.. My kid needs me.." She said leaving Emily and alex. She went downstairs. "Guys.. Give Astrea her space. Your freaking her out. " She grabbed the gloves off the young child. Mavis sighed and went ovet to Astrea, kneeling beside her and putting her glove on her hand. "Youll be okay Astrea. Ill bring you upstairs if you'd like." Mavis murmired quietly. She picked up her daughter and took her upstairs. She looked at Sam and shook her head. Natasha moved away from Sam and went over Emily. Sam watched Mavis carry Astaea upstairs. Mavis put her down after they got up to the second floor. But continued holding her hand until they got upstairs.

[spioradkitty]

Astraea tried to take deep breaths, slowly calming down now that she had her gloves on again. "I'm so sorry, Mama," she whispered once they were in her room. The little girl sat down on the floor and stared at her hands, hating herself more than ever. I can't even talk to my own family, she thought, fury blazing up inside her. "Mama, what's wrong with me?" she asked sadly, looking up at her mother with eyes full of tears. "Why is Emily perfect, but I'm a.... a monster. All I ever do is hurt people and make things more difficult. Why do I even exist?" A single tear spilled down her cheek, making the black scar shiny with moisture. My family would be better off without me...

In the living room, Eider was trying to wrangle all the kids up and get them into the backyard. "Amelia, Chris, Ben... Kids, where's your sister? Oh, there you are Tori... Rebecca, Ivy? Good. Isaac, you can stay. Apollo, you too. Fenris and Jade, outside, now." He shoved the last of the kids through the door and took a deep breath. "Hey cuz, I can watch them for you." Eider turned around to see his cousin Simon Oliver Song Jr. smiling at him. "Oh, thanks so much Oliver, you're a life saver," Eider thanked him, giving his friend a hug before going back to talk to the adults. He noticed Mavis and Astraea were gone and went to ask Sam. "Hey Sam," he said, walking over with a smile. "Have you seen Mavis and Astraea?"

[rainbowwrowell]

Mavis sighed. "Emily isnt perfect you know.. Nobody is.. If you consider it, and dada and everyone who knows you for you. Knows you're an amazing kid. Your perfect the way you are even if you cant see it. I love you. And that's because you're you. Do you want to go use your powers in the fire releam for a while?" She offered.

Sam looked at Eider, Natasha smiled. Sam looked over at the staircase. "Astraea's anxiety flared up after one of the little ones took her gloves and now Astraea and Mavis are up in Astraea's room. Mavis really understands how bad anxiety is. But I think you're gonna need to talk to Astraea.. You're the only person besides Josh who can relate to being part demon."

[spioradkitty]

Astraea sniffed and dried her cheeks with her fire magic. "No... No, Mama, I can stay here. I'll have to learn to be strong eventually. And I don't want to ruin Emmi's birthday just because I can't control myself." She stood back up, her face set with determination. "I can do this, mama." She turned and walked back downstairs and over to Isaac, who was sitting with Apollo on the couch. Apollo, Amy and Jacob's son, was 13, and the 2nd oldest of all the children; Isaac was 14. "Hey Astraea," they said when she walked over, sitting beside Isaac. "Hey guys," she said with a smile, her pointed teeth showing. She glanced across the room and saw little Amelia running towards her, and braced herself; the toddler floated up onto her lap using her magic and giggled, playing with Astraea's jay's feather earring. "Hey Mia," she said, hugging the little girl. Amelia giggled again and pulled on Astraea's tail, making the older girl wince but not lose control. She gave the baby a weak smile and silently thanked God for helping her stay in control.

Eider was about to go upstairs when he saw Astraea come back down, her eyes steely and her mouth set in a thin line. With a proud smile he watched her go over to her cousins and sit with them. "Mavis must have given her one of her pep-talks," he said with a laugh, turning back to Sam. "Astraea doesn't need me; she's tougher than anyone I know." Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Jasmine and Josh came in dragging enormous boxes and bags. "Hey son," Josh grunted with a grin, and Eider ran over to help him with the large box he was hauling. Unlike Liam, who bore resemblance to both parents, Eider looked nothing like Jasmine or Josh. Jaz had green eyes (like Liam) and Josh had blue eyes, but Eider's were red. Jasmine has ginger-brown hair and Josh had black hair, but Eider's was silvery-white. Also he was the only one who had Shadow Demon parts; the way the demon blood got into the family was through Josh when he was possessed. However, Josh never actually was a Shadow Demon. "Hey Mom, hi Dad," he greeted them with smiles, helping them carry the gifts. Following them was Mira and her boyfriend Shane, both carrying grins and a box each. "Hi Eider," Mira said with a smile, her green eyes sparkling happily.

[rainbowwrowell]

Mavis got back downstairs. She walked over to Sam, who looked quite confused. Alex had disappeared, and he was waiting for Ella and Jason to arrive. Mavis put her forehead against his. Sam smiled slightly "Hey sis.." Ella and Jason walked in, with a bag and a box each. Mavis and Sam both turned away from each other at the same time to help them out. Mavis took the boxes while Sam grabbed the bags. Emily ran over and hugged Jason. Jason smiled and hugged her back. Natasha grinned and hugged Ella.