1.13 - Adventure

Life continued in the Rain household. Most of the time it was calm and quiet, with Summer upstairs working on a projects and Manu reading a new book. However, if Jessie Belle became bored, things became very loud.

"Why did you touch Jelly Bean!" she screamed.

 "You NEVER touch Jelly Bean! He isn't yours! He is mine and you aren't allowed to touch him."

Manu took a step back. He only moved the toy because she set it down in the middle of the floor and he needed space to do his homework. Why was she freaking out so much?

"Calm down Jessie. It's no big deal."

 "It is a big deal. You know you aren't allowed to touch things that don't belong to you! If you ever touch him again i'm going to burn all of your stupid books into little piles of ashes that I will sprinkle on your bed."

Manu glared at her. He knew she wouldn't really do that. She always said things like that just to make people angry. Sometimes he felt like she liked it when people were mad at her.

"Leave Jelly Bean alone." she said before stomping out of the room.

Jelly Bean had become Jessie's favorite toy. It was like the toy was alive and it actually understood her complaining.

 So when Jelly Bean actually came to life Jessie couldn't believe it.

"You're alive!" she said raising her arms above her head in surprise. A toy can't come alive! She must be imagining things. Or she was going crazy.

 "Yeah, I am alive. I sensed you needed a friend and so here I am!"

Jessie stared at Jelly.

"So you just came to life? What are you? What do I call you? And, are you a boy or a girl?"

Jelly thought for a bit. "They call us imaginary friends but that's because no one else can see us. They don't have a need to. As for me being a boy or a girl, well, I don't really know. I guess if I could choose I would want to be a boy."

***

It was only a short time before Manu's birthday rolled around and he turned into a teen. He grew up looking rather irresistible.

Before they headed off to school, Manu challenged Jessie to a snowman making contest. She was always talking to herself, so he hoped some actual human contact might be good for her.

Jessie finished her snowman long before her brother, but that may have been because she had an extra pair of hands.

Manu headed for the school bus, but Jessie said she she was going to ride her bike instead.

She was going to ride her bike, but she wasn't planning on going to school. She wanted to check out the town.

Her first stop was the community garden. Someone at school had told her the Arboretum had faeries in it!

As soon as she arrived, some old lady had called her over.

"Child, who is your father?"

 Jessie gave the older woman a strange look but eventually told her.

"My dad is Cole Grove. I don't get to see him a lot though. He's in the army.

The woman nodded her head. "Yes, I know. Cole is my son. My name is Kizzy Grove but you can call me Grandma. I knew you must be Cole's daughter because you have my husband's skin. What I don't know though is who your mother is."

 "My mother is Summer Rain and i'm Jessie Belle. Why have I never heard of you?"

"I have heard of your mother, but not much. You see, my son holds a lot of secrets. He does not open up to anyone. I imagine he never told your mother about his family. He sure never told us about her. Or you for that matter."

"It's not just me," Jessie giggled "Mamma is pregnant again. She says Daddy will be home by the time this new baby becomes a child."

 "Really?" Kizzy smiled "Well you must come over sometime and meet your grandfather. You also have an aunt, Destiny Bone. She recently had a baby boy, Herman. I believe he has your skin color as well."

"I will do that sometime." Jessie smiled. She liked her grandma. She was really nice.

"Now shouldn't you be headed off to school?" Kizzy suggested.

Jessie nodded and got back on her bike. She wasn't done adventuring just yet.

She arrived at the local nectary. In the lobby was a very colorful cat.

"Where did this cat come from?" Jessie asked the pregnant woman at the cashier.

The cashier lady gave Jessie a once-over and quickly responded, " Her name is Tootsie. The woman taking care of her died so my husband adopted her." The woman's tone changed and became sharp. "Now kid, this is a nectary. You aren't allowed to be in here. Please leave."

Jessie went up to the woman and poked her in the tummy. "You can't tell me what to do, Fatty. You aren't my mother.Thank god too. I feel sorry for the thing growing inside there. It's gonna hate having you for a mom."

The pregnant woman squealed and protectively wrapped her arms around her belly. Jessie laughed and headed  out the door. It was time to leave anyway.

Jessie arrived home and quickly ran into her room, then suddenly she stopped and looked behind her.

Her room had changed. While she was away, her mother had revamp the entire room. Now all her stuffed animals were on shelves, there was a new rug, and the bunk bed had been customized. Overall, it did look pretty cool.

 Both the kids were getting ready for bed when the birthing pains hit. She clutched her belly and breathed heavily.

There was not enough room in the Studio so Summer quickly. waddled down into the kid's room. In a short time, Summer gave birth to a baby girl. Followed by another. She wrapped the second child in a sparkling blue blanket. She stared at her new babies. How was she ever going to handle twins?

The first child would be named Zebrina and the one in the blue is Cami. Summer put them to bed and quickly laid her head down. It was hard enough taking care of Manu and Jessie when they had been babies, but now she had to try and handle two at once.