Realistic or Modern Bigger on the Inside (rampnts)

[PunkPrince]

"Give that back!"
"I need it!"
"I need to finish putting the sequins on this–Ow! Damn it, Kasha, you burnt me!"
"It's a hot glue gun, what'd you think was gonna happen, idiot?"

Jupiter slinked out into the hallway from one of the bedrooms, and Eva could see that they were struggling to close a bra through their shirt. She stopped them and clipped it closed. "Better?"

Jupiter nodded, flashing the woman an appreciative smile before adjusting the silicone breast forms that rested in the bra. She knew that Jupiter longed for breasts and feminine curves, and they had talked to a few people about getting Jupiter on a low dose of estrogen, but so far, no luck. Eva and Kennedy did what they could for them. Jupiter pushed back their messy blonde hair and looked up the stairs.

"Fighting over a glue gun," they explained. "Kyra was trying to use it to put sequins on a dress, and I guess..." They shrugged and slipped out the front door. It wasn't unusual for the children to call each other by their drag names.

"Damn it," Kennedy growled softly. "Nothing can ever go smoothly in this house." She sighed and turned to yell up the stairs. "Boys! Come here, and for god's sake be nicer to each other. There are glue guns all over this house, there's no reason for you to be arguing over that one. One of you can borrow mine, if it matters that much."

Ronan bounded over to them, Hugo creeping along slowly after him. Hugo continued to stare at the floor and apologized softly. "I'm sorry." He didn't look up at either of them. Kennedy sighed and gave the smaller twin's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "It's okay," she said softly. "I'm sorry for shouting, honey, I'm just stressed about today. I just want things to go well. I don't want to freak them out with fighting. How would you feel if Eva and I had been fighting the first day you came to live with us?"

Hugo gave a small smile and Kennedy returned it as she slipped out the front door onto the wooden porch.

Busy. That was the perfect word to describe the last week. Scrambling to get everything perfect for the pair of twins coming to live with them. The second pair, actually. It was the similarities to Hugo and Ronan that had drawn Eva and Kennedy to these two. The repeated rejection, over and over again.

Originally, they had gone looking for a younger child, one they could raise together. But these two...they just couldn't leave them behind, in the state they were in. It was too much of what that had seen before. What Eva and Kennedy had endured, in some sense, and what their children had spent their lives in before finding them.

***
"They're here! Hurry up, Hugo!"

Kennedy turned and quickly moved to stand beside Eva again as their son scrambled to close the door behind him. He, as usual, stayed close to Kennedy and his brother, standing between the two, looking anxious as ever. "I hope they like us," he said quietly as they watched the silver car pull into the driveway. Jupiter craned their neck to look at the pair as they climbed out of the car. Their feet shuffled slightly, resulting in the clicking of their high heeled shoes on the wooden porch.

Eva found herself praying that she wouldn't have to hear her birth name. Neither she nor Kennedy had been able to change their names legally as of yet. On everything legal, Eva was Eric and Kennedy was Keegan, and each time one of them had to hear it it felt like a slap in the face.

The social worker spoke as he reached them, apprehensiveness in his tone. "Hello, Eric," he greeted, spitting out the words in a tone normally reserved for something sick and vile. He looked back to the pair of twins. Well, this is Eric. He’s your new adoptive father. He and Keegan, both actually." He motioned to Kennedy. Eva flinched at the near forgotten name. She felt Kennedy gently squeeze her arm. She didn't have to look at the other woman to know that anger had begun to flare up in her eyes. "I believe the woman who approved you may have mentioned your..." he cleared his throat. "Hobby."

"Her name is Eva and she is their mother," Kennedy said, glaring at the social worker. "And my name is Kennedy. I believe we discussed this with you in the interview we had, and we told Marie too. Repeatedly."

"You could at least make an effort when you're standing on our front porch." That was Jupiter, blue eyes narrowing as they watched the man.

The social worker looked the teenager over disapprovingly. "You must be Kevin."

Jupiter ignored the use of their birth name and lifted their chin. They clearly had some sort of comeback to snap back with, but held their tongue, knowing that now wasn't the time to start a fight.

The social worker looked back to the twins. "Call me if things don't work out."

"I'm sure we'll be fine," Kennedy said coldly.

And then, the paperwork was done and the man gone off the porch. As he left, Kennedy turned to the pair. "I'm sorry about that," she said gently. "Nobody's mad at you. People like that just upset me." She paused and turned to Eva, who remained quiet and seemed slightly shaken. "Are you all right?" She directed the question to Jupiter as well.

"Fine," Jupiter said simply.

"I'm okay," Eva said. "I knew he'd do it. I just never really get used to it. But thank you." She gave her partner a small smile, and Kennedy reached up to move a piece of Eva's hair away from her face, leaning up to peck the taller woman on the cheek before turning back to the twins.

"But anyway, I think an honest introduction is in order. My name is Kennedy and this is Eva. This is Jupiter, Ronan, and Hugo."

"Hello," Jupiter greeted.

"Hi! Ronan chirped, sunny as ever. Hugo gave a small wave from where he stood, still trying to calm himself from the earlier tensions.

 

[rampnts]

The twins sat in the back of the social worker's dingy Lincoln, each of them staring out of their window. Occasionally, they would look up to see the man's squinted eyes peering at them through the review mirror. He was a bad man, the twins could tell. Luckily, they wouldn't deal with him anymore. Hopefully Marie would be the one making visits to the home they would now be living in.

Marie was a sweet lady who helped the twins immensely. She was the one who took them under her wing, protected them as much as she could, found them a family.

Family.

Marie had mentioned that their new parents were a queer couple. She said, when she met with the children: "You're new parents are both women. They used to be boys, but now they're girls. Do you understand?"

That was the first day they ever heard the word 'transgender.'

The twins saw that they were approaching a house and looked at each other, holding each other's hand tightly. When the car came to a stop, they didn't move. They could see their new family, their new home. Butterflies filled their stomachs. The social worker climbed out of the driver's seat and opened the girls' door. They climbed out of the vehicle, still holding each other's hands. They stood, feeling out of place among the family's clean clothing and happy faces. They stood in silence as the social worker called their new parents by the wrong names, as well as the blonde teen behind them.

They were happy when he left.

The family greeted the twins and introduced themselves. The twins wondered, would this be like their other homes? It didn't seem like it, but they couldn't be so sure. This was supposed to be their forever family, but would it really last forever. Nothing lasted forever. They only had each other.

The twins said nothing. Ends syared numbly at the family while Chrystal kicked at the ground and stared at her feet.​

 

[PunkPrince]

Eva smiled at the pair before her. the second pair of twins to be brought into their home. They reminded her so much of the way Ronan and Hugo had been when she had first met them. She led them into the house, followed by the others. Ronan bounced cheerfully into the house. Jupiter strode inside with their chin held high, glancing behind them once, as though to make sure the car really was gone.

Hugo slinked through the doorway and anxiously glanced over his shoulder at Enya and Chrystal. He didn't say anything, just offered a timid smile before skittering off up the stairs.

"He'll be back," Kennedy said as she heard the boy's bedroom door close. "He's just anxious. Probably went to calm himself down." Hugo frequently panicked at even the slightest little tiff. He had improved somewhat in the time he had spent with them, but was still terrified of even the slightest agitation.

"We thought," Eva started, her voice soft and quiet as ever, "that before we showed you your bedroom it might be best for you to get to know us a bit. So is there anything you want to ask us, or anything you want to say?"

(I'm sorry its so short!)

 

[rampnts]

When the twins entered their new house, one of the boys - Hugo, was it - ran upstairs. They heard his door shut, and both girls winced at the sound. Enya looked up with worry. Had she done something wrong? Chrystal sensed her sister's anxiousness and gave her hand a squeeze. Enya turned to her twin and gave a small smile in thanks. Then, the mother named Kennedy assured the girls that he was just anxious. It seemed that Enya and him had that in common.

On the other hand, Chrystal seemed more relaxed about the situation. If she was nervous at all, she was nervous for her sister. How would Enya fair in all of this? She always was much more immature thaan Chrystal, but she had also gotten most of the abuse in their different homes. Maybe it was because she was too naive or too curious - but Enya was always the first to get in trouble. Chrystal worried about her sister quite often. Over the years, Chrystal had taken to caring for Enya and watching out for her. She was very protective over her sister, and this forever family couldn't change that.

Chrystal looked to their new family once more, specifically at their new mothers. "What should we call you?" she asked, knowing she would have to do all the talking for both twins for a couple days. Her voice was lower than expected, but still light and defintely that of a little girl's. And though she was young, she was forced to mature very quickly.

Chrystal used to dream or fairy tale endings and perfectly pretty princesses, like most young girls do. But she soon realized that none of those things actually happened. Especially not to girl like her and Enya. So she accepted the fact that she would never live in a castle (or even a very nice home, for that matter), that she would always be dirty clothes that barely fit, that she was a peasant and not a princess.

And she didn't want to get her hopes up about this house changing that.​

 

[PunkPrince]

Ronan gave a small smile to Enya as the child cast a worried gaze up the stairs. "Don't worry," he said reassuringly. "It's not you. It's just the way Hugo is. Too much negative energy freaks him out, and that social worker was a jerk. He'll show up again when he calms down."

And then, Chrystal spoke. Her first question was about exactly what Eva and Kennedy wanted to be called. The pair were surprised, and had to ponder this for a moment. It was so obvious that such a question would come up at some point, and yet neither one of them had ever really thought to discuss it.

"You can call us whatever you're most comfortable calling us," Kennedy said. "You could call us mom, or some variant, or by our names, or you could do what the rest of our kids do and switch between. It doesn't matter."

They had never really sat down and had a conversation about what they should be called before. Their relationship with their own children was strange, as they had been friends and mentors long before they had officially become parents. Most often, the kids just used their names. Variants of mom seemed to come up mostly during moments when they needed comfort–Hugo in particular.

 

[rampnts]

Chrystal looked at the women for a moment, then turned to her sister. She gave Enya a reassuring squeeze of the hand when Ronan spoke. Hugo seemed very much like Enya, though Enya can be extremely energetic and cheerful when she's comfortable around someone.

When the women told the girls that they could call them whatever they liked, Chrystal nodded slowly. "We'll just calm you by your names, for now." She knew that she would probably never consider these women to be her actual mothers, but she did not want to be rude. After all, these women did adopt her and her sister even though they were considered to be old in the system. Chrystal really was grateful, as these women seemed to be kind enough. But Chrystal did not consider this to be her home, nor these people to be her family. She refused to get her hopes up.

Enya remembered the many foster parents who forced her and her sister to call them 'mom and dad.' She shivered, remembering one particular "mom" who was constantly drunk and abusing the twins. Enya's only way to cope was acting out. She was placed in mental care for months, diagnosed with severe anxiety. That was the first and only time she had ever been away from Chrystal.

Enya felt tears rising and tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but to no avail. Tears started pouring from her eyes as she let out a choked sob. Soon, she was crying so hard that she could taste shot on her upper lip. Chrystal turned to her sister, trying to comfort her. She cooed and shushed, wiping the tears from her sister's cheeks.​

 

[PunkPrince]

Eva smiled. "That works," she said with a shrug as Chrystal said that she would just call them by their names. She didn't mind at al what she was called, just so long as the girls were comfortable. She would rather them--at least eventually--feel like this was their home. A place where they would be kept safe and be able to be happy. That was what she wanted most for them.

Enya's lip began to quiver, and within seconds she was in tears. Of course, Eva didn't know why, but in that moment all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around the girl and hug her. But she knew she couldn't. These girls hardly knew them, and a sudden hug would probably terrify Enya even more than she already was.

"Hey," Eva said, gently placing a hand on Enya's shoulder, though she pulled it away quickly. "Everything's gonna be okay. Nobody here is going to hurt you."

"Why don't we go upstairs?" Kennedy suggested softly. "We can show you where your room is."

 

[rampnts]

Enya jumped slightly when Eva's hand touched her shoulder, but her muscles relaxed when the woman pulled her hand away. Chrystal brushed a greasy brown lock of hair behind Enya's ear and cupped her sister's cheeks. "Everything is going to be okay," she whispered. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

Enya nodded slowly, her tears coming to a stop. Her shoulders continued to jump up and down as her body trembled, her lips quivering with each shaky breath. Chrystal encouraged her to take deep breaths, rubbing Enya's back.

The twins looked to the women as Kennedy suggested that they go see their new room. Chrystal looked to Enya to see if that's what she would like, and the smaller girl nodded.

"Sure," Chrystal said. "But first, do you have any tissues?"​

 

[PunkPrince]

"Yes," Eva said gently, passing a few tissues to Enya. "Here." She glanced up the staircase as a soft thump came from the hallway.

Kennedy led the way up the stairs, and she paused at the sight before her. One of Hugo's curly blonde wigs--part of it speckled with sequins--was moving up and down the hallway floor. Hugo stood completely still, like he was waiting for the right time to pounce. After a moment, the wig stopped moving and the boy snatched it up, a black and white spotted rat dangling from the end of it.

"Why are you like this, Ace?" he sighed, pulling the rat off the wig and sitting it on his shoulder. "I don't come into your house and take your things away when you're using them."

Eva chuckled softly at the scene before her. Hugo looked sheepishly over his shoulder and grinned before vanishing into his room again.

The group headed down the hall and Kennedy opened the door to the bedroom the twins were to share. "I'm sorry if it's not to your tastes," she apologized.

"We weren't exactly sure what you liked, so we couldn't really do much decorating," Eva added. "We can go out within the next couple days and pick out some things more to your liking, if you'd like."

 

[rampnts]

The girls followed the women up the stairs, still holding each other's hands. As their feets moved up each step in rhythm with each other, they each looked at the many photos on the walls. Photos of the women in fancy dresses and dramatic makeup, the other children smiling and laughing with one another, entire family portraits with genuine smiles on their faces. Enya looked to Chrystal, her eyebrows furrowed. Would they ever been on these walls? Chrystal squeezed her sister's hand. She really didn't know.

When they got to the top of the stairs, the twins peered around the women to see Hugo with a handful of blonde curls with a rat hanging from them. Enya let out a slight chuckle, and Chrystal smiled. "A rat. That's really cool."

When the women led them into their new room, they couldn't believe their eyes. The white walls and hardwood floors gave the room a light and airy feel. The pink and green palette of the room was every girl's dream, with fluffy beds that were covered in blankets and pillows. Enya gasped with excitement, letting go of her sister's hand for the first time since they got out of the car. She ran forward and jumped on the pink and white bed with a zebra pattern. "This one is mine!"

Chrystal smiled at her sister. The room wasn't her style, as she was much edgier and not so girly. But it was definitely the nicest place they had ever stayed, and she wasn't about to be ungrateful. "It's beautiful. Thank you."​

 

[PunkPrince]

Kennedy had to keep from beaming when she saw Enya's reaction to the rat. Yes! A smile! Well, almost. But almost was certainly better than not at all.

They had originally not planned to get Hugo the rat. He had seen it at an adoption event at the pet store, somewhere he often browsed when he was bored. The shelter the rat had come from had had trouble finding it a home, as Ace was too skittish and aggressive to be housed with other rats. But he had taken to Hugo right away, as had Hugo to him, and now the pair were practically inseparable.

Eva chuckled as Enya bounced onto the bed, immediately claiming the pink one as her own. Eva wondered if these girls had ever had a decent bedroom to themselves before. "I'm glad you like it," she said. "We tried." She gave a small shrug and then added, as she looked over the pair's tattered clothes, "There are clothes for each of you in the closet if you'd like to change. A couple pairs of shoes too. We tried to keep that pretty neutral."

"We'll leave you to unpack and get yourself settled now," Kennedy said. "If there's anything specific you want for dinner, let one of us know. Eva's a pretty good cook, so she can whip up just about anything you'd like."

The pair disappeared down the hall together, and after several minutes, Hugo peeked into the doorway, Ronan just behind him and Ace still on his shoulder. "Um, hi," he said quietly. "Do you need any help unpacking?"

 

[rampnts]

When the twins were left alone in their room, they smiled at each other. Running over to her own bed, Chrystal jumped on in the same fashion that he sister did. It was so comfortable! She felt as though she could fall asleep within seconds. Sitting up, she looked at her sister. "I don't know about you, but I kind of want to put on some clothes that don't reek of mothballs."

Enya chuckled and nodded before standing up and running over to the closet. The twins began pulling out clothes and modeling outfits for each other before finalling deciding on something to wear. Chrystal picked out a red skater skirt and black crop top, and Enya picked out a chevron crop top and baby blue skirt. When they were dressed in their new clothes, Enya ran over to the vanity. She picked up a pair of dangling silver and red earrings. Holding them up to her ears, she turned to Chrystal. "Do you think they'll let me get my ears pierced?"

Before Chrystal could reply, she heard a male voice. The girls looked up to see the other set of twins peering throught their doorway, the rat tagging along. "Do you need any help unpacking?"

The girls looked to each other and then to the plastic bags on the floor. Each of them had brought one. Without saying anything, they both picked up their bags and set them on their bed. Enya pulled out a tattered doll with an arm missing and an extra pair of shoes. Chrystal turned her bag upside down, and a bunch of glass doorknobs fell onto her bed. She had been collecting them for nearly five years now. Turning to the boys, Chrystal shrugged. "Nope."​

 

[PunkPrince]

A light piano song drifted up the stairs as Ronan spoke. It had to be Eva. She was the only one who played. A skill her mother had struggled to teach her when she was young, after her death Eva had promised herself she would learn. And learn she had. She could sing too, but she did so far less often, shy about her talents.

Ronan was surprised when nothing but glass doorknobs fell from the bag onto Chrystal's bed. He had to suppress a laugh. "Cool doorknobs," he said, walking over to the bed. He reached out to touch one, but quickly pulled his hand back as he reminded himself that the glass orbs did not belong to him. "Where did you find them all? Do you just like, swipe these from people's houses or something?"

Hugo timidly crept over to gaze at the pile of doorknobs. He turned his head to look at Enya. "I'm sure they'd let you," he said softly. "Pierce your ears, I mean. Mine are pierced. Ronan's and Jupiter's too."

"What do you think of them?" Ronan asked. "Eva and Kennedy, I mean. I think they're kind of nervous. This is the first time they've gotten a kid the traditional way. Especially without meeting them first. We were all pretty much runaways they met in the bar they worked at and then adopted us officially. And now we live here."

 

[rampnts]

Enya and Chrystal each smiled a little when the piano began. When Ronan walked over to her bed, Chrystal felt her body take on a defensive stance. It was just a reflex, as she didn't really get kindness from anyone except Enya. When he reached for a doorknob, she felt her body tense up. He was going to break it! She let out a sigh of relief when he pulled his hand back. She pursed her lips when he asked where she got them from. "You'd be surprised what some people throw away." She didn't mean for it to come across as snarky, but it did. As soon as the words left her mouth, she bit her lip and looked to her feet.

Enya smiled to Hugo when he informed her of the ear piercings. "Oh, I really hope so. I've always wanted them pierced." She continued to sort through the jewelry box, picking up strings and pearls and sparkling rings. She had never seen so many fabulous things in all her life, and they were all hers. Enya was starting to become a lot more hopeful about this new home.

Enya spun around when Ronan asked what they thought of their new mothers. "Oh, they're wonderful! We've never been treated this well before, and it's only been half an hour! I can tell we're going to love it here. Don't you think so, Chrystal?"

Chrystal forced a smile, nodding at her sister. "Yeah, totally. You guys seem really nice." And they did. But you couldn't trust first impressions, and Chrystal knew that. She didn't want to let her guard down. It had taken twelve years for her to build these walls, and she wasn't going to let just anyone break them down.​

 

[PunkPrince]

Ronan only smirked at Chrystal's snarky tone, deciding not to take it personally. He turned to look to Enya as he heard her rummaging through the jewelry box. He watched her examine the string of pearls for a moment and then said, "That used to be Kennedy's. The pearls, I mean. She used to perform a specific number with them, but she stopped after she broke a leg during it. I guess she wanted you two to have something of hers."

All of them had ended up inheriting something from Eva or Kennedy at one point or another. Jupiter had an old pair of silver high heeled boots, Hugo had a dress that had once belonged to Kennedy, and Ronan had a few necklaces that Eva no longer wore.

"They're really nice," Jupiter said as they strode through the doorway, high heels clicking on the hardwood floor. "Eva and Kennedy. I'm glad you like them. They were worried you wouldn't. They've been nervous and on edge about meeting you for days."