Chapter Twenty-Eight:

Welcome to Chapter Twenty-Eight. Petra is heavily pregnant with her third child, her husband Ziggy is climbing the career ladder at the science lab, their eldest child Esmeralda is heading off to boarding school, their quiet son Felix lighting up his parents lives with his little smile, the twins are growing every day, while their mother still hasn't returned.

 

 



 

It had been a couple of years since Petra woke one morning to find a heart felt note from Niki, saying she was leaving her newborn twins in the care of her ghostly cousin. Petra was beginning to think she might never see Niki again.

Esmeralda was leaving for boarding school that morning. She was a little worried about leaving behind her family home, but she knew she'd soon settle in to her new school.

The house felt a little emptier now that Esmeralda was gone, but the twin's birthday soon brought some light back to the house.

Lexi looked remarkably like her namesake, Niki's late mother.

And her twin sister Mia was her spitting image.

Meanwhile, Ziggy's career was taking off at the science lab, being promoted to Genetic Resequencer. He was now bringing in more money, and loving every hour he spent bent over his desk in the lab.

The old garage, where the twins' cribs were, was updated for the girls. Niki's old instruments were moved down to the basement. Petra couldn't bring herself to sell them, incase her cousin ever returned.

The twins were set to head off to boarding school after Esmeralda, in a couple of days. But they enjoyed their time off together. Following the tradition of the past twins in their family, they were very close.

Petra was getting quiet tired as her due date got ever closer. Ziggy watched her every day as the baby grew. He was as protective as he had ever been.

Petra was never one to be still for too long, and now that Felix was the only toddler in the house, Petra found she had enough time to start working on her writing skills. She had always been interested in her family's history, and so begun recording it all, hoping to one day get it published.

While Ziggy loved his job, he loved comig home to his family even more. While his daughter was off settling in at school, Ziggy spent a lot of his time with his little son. Hoping that Petra would be able to have a little time to rest before their next child came along.

The young couple was just settling in to bed, when Petra felt a familiar feeling in her belly.

Luckily the kids were all fast asleep and couldn't hear Ziggy's worried cries. He never liked watching his wife in pain. It was a long night, but before the sun rose they were blessed with another daughter.

Anastasia was the first of Petra's kids not to inherit her ghostly curse.

She never thought she would be so blessed, but Petra had found herself with a family like she had never imagined. And she was still so young.

Felix didn't seem to mind the fact that he now shared his nursery with this quiet newborn. Petra was very lucky that both Felix and Anastasia were easily entertained.

The next morning a very tired Ziggy made sure he was up to have breakfast with Mia and Lexi before they left for boarding school. That morning the girls decided to ask their 'Uncle' Ziggy just where their mother was, and why she had left. Ziggy wasn't really ready for this, he had expected them to ask his wife. He replied with as honest an answer as he could, that while Niki had loved them she thought that Petra and Ziggy could do a better job raising the girls. They seemed ok with that answer and left for school without another mention of their mother.

The house was certainly much quieter now that Lexi and Mia had joined Esmeralda at school. Ziggy took the day off work to say goodbye to the girls, then spent some time with his newest daughter. He was so proud of all his wife had accomplished.

The weeks were streaming past and the family settled back into a routine.

Soon it was Felix's birthday.

Definitely his mother's son, Felix looked so much like Petra.

Felix continued to share a room with Anastasia.

 Just like his sister and the twins, Felix was soon heading off to boarding school. Much like Esmeralda, he was quite shy, but knowing that his family was waiting for him at school made leaving his parents a little easier.

The house truly was quiet and rather empty now, with just baby Anastasia left. But this gave Petra plenty of time to continue writing her family history. She had sold a couple of books to a publisher, and the public was loving hearing the true life story of the family descended from Raven Moon.

Petra loved calling her kids every couple of days and hearing about their lives at school. They all missed their home life, but were all having fun together.

It felt like only yesterday that Anastasia was born, but soon it was her birthday.

Anastasia had inherited her father's colouring, from her honey coloured skin to her purple eyes and blue hair. Such a cutie.

Petra was reminded of her wonderful husband every time she looked on her youngest daughter.

While Ziggy was working hard at the lab, mother and daughter would spend some quiet quality time together.

And while Anastasia slept, the young couple continued to fall further in love with each other every day. They would look out at the stars, like they had as teenagers and talk about everything they had achieved so far in their lives.

Petra loved taking trips to the book store to see her newly published works lining the shelves. The locals were loving her writing and she was motivated to create more and more best sellers.

The months flew by, Ziggy began working out again, just like he had as a teenager.

Petra loved reading with her little daughter, and Anastasia lapped up all the fun little stories her mother would tell her.

Soon it was Anastasia's birthday. Her parents gathered around to celebrate.

As a child Anastasia's features looked like her mother. Despite her father's colouring.

Meanwhile, out in the town a new age was beginning. The effects of the full moon were taking hold in new ways and the family braced themselves for the first of many eery full moons.

The odd green glow of the full moon seeped into the house as the sun set, and Ziggy comforted his young daughter. She was heading off to boarding school the next morning, so Ziggy made sure she went to bed nice and early.

It might have been a little dark and scary that night, but soon the full moon set and the sun rose. And life returned to normal.


Thanks for reading chapter twenty-eight! Twenty-nine is on the way real soon. Here's a quick peek for you:

Finally it's Petra and Ziggy celebrated their birthdays. The happy couple acheived so much in their young adult years and they were both looking forward to growing old together in their adult years.

Esmeralda grows up into a teenager, and comes home for an unexpected weekend visit. But will she come home to the family life she remembered?

New lines etched in Ziggy's face made him think about what he had achieved in life. These thoughts wouldn't be calmed and so one day he takes an unexpected day off from the lab. Where does he go?