And, as usual, the two families were
sharing a holiday. It happened every
year, around Duo, Relena, and Heero’s birthday. It normally lasted a week, and
just that was enough to drive Duo insane.
But this summer was different.
School had just ended and the very first day of the holiday would be
spent with Duo sitting in the back of a boiling hot car, travelling to a cabin
and spending 3 months there before travelling home the day before school began.
Duo zipped his suitcases shut. He was going for 3 months, taking with him 2
suitcases, an overnight bag, his hi-fi system, his laptop, his CD collection,
his ten favourite computer games, his hand held tv, all his dvds and videos…
the list could go on, but you get the idea.
It’s a good thing that the car they were going in was an 8 seater with a
luggage rack.
“DUO! Are you ready to go?” Solo stuck his
head into his son’s room.
Duo snapped his watch around his wrist and
pick up his bags…well, some of his bags. Solo grabbed the rest.
“I guess so.”
“It won’t be that bad. Anyway, you haven’t seen Heero since
Easter. He might have changed
Duo snorted. “In 3 months? Get real Dad.”
Solo sighed and followed his son out of
the room and down the stairs towards the girls, who were waiting in the hall
ready to go.
* * *
The car journey was uneventful, with them
having to return home three times; once, because Duo had forgotten his mobile,
the second was when Relena had left her makeup behind, and the third time was
to grab the dog from the back yard.
Shinigami was Duo’s dog, and he looked
after her, which he normally did, but due to the fact that Duo was in a bad
mood, he had forgotten about his poor animal and was quite willing to leave her
there. So obviously, Shinigami wasn’t
very happy with the turn of events, although she would forgive Duo once she had
bitten Heero’s ass. Duo didn’t train
her to do that…honest!
There was also the hour of the day when
baby Jane threw up over Relena’s skirt.
She was forced to change in the only toilet there with Duo standing
guard outside to make sure no man tried to enter.
“It’s a good thing that the Yuy’s aren’t
arriving until tomorrow, otherwise, they would be waiting for us.” Solo laughed as they finally left the
motorway. The journey was a 6 hour
drive, however, due to certain…circumstances, took 11 hours instead. They still had an hour journey to the
small city of Eaton (2) and then the hour drive through the forest to the
cabin.. Baby Jane had already fallen asleep in Duo’s arm, chewing on the tip of
his braid. Relena was dozing, her head
resting on Duo’s chest.
Although Duo and Relena were twins, you
wouldn’t have guessed it by looking at them.
Duo had long chestnut brown hair pulled back into a braid, while Relena
had dark blond hair, pulled together at the back. Their eyes were the same colour, light violet that sometimes
looked cobalt blue, and sometimes looked violet depending on lighting. Duo gained his looks from his mother, her
own hair was long and chestnut in colour, but she chose to wear her hair down
most of the time. Relena had received
Solo’s looks, though his dark blond hair was nearly all gone now. It was Helen, their mother, that had violet
eyes, they shone in the gathering night.
“It would be a good thing if the Yuy’s
weren’t coming at all.” Duo grumbled. Relena hit him lightly in the chest and
mumbled, “There is nothing wrong with the Yuys. They’re nice people.”
“Apart from Heero.”
“Heero is just misunderstood by you.” Helen explained, turning around in her seat
to glare at her children.
“Sorry. I forgot how much this family
loves Heero.”
“Just because he was born before you…”
“By about three days.”
“I think Heero is rather cute.” Relena
said, nuzzling deep into her brother’s chest.
“He’s a nerd.” Duo snorted. Solo looked into the rear view mirror at his
son’s reflection.
“I know how you feel about Heero, Duo, but
please, for us, will you at least try to be nice?”
“How about I stay out of his way, and he
stays outta mine?”
“Duo!”
“Okay, okay. I promise.”
Solo smiled at his son. “It won’t be as
bad as you think it will be.”
“Maybe.”
The car lapsed into silence.
* * *
They finally pulled to a stop outside the
cabin at around midnight. Behind the
cabin lay a lake, where, presently, water could be heard splashing against the
bank. As Duo climbed out of the car carrying his sister out of the car –
Relena, not Jane – he looked at the trees that surrounded the cabin and lake.
It was beautiful here, especially at
sunset and sunrise. Duo made a silent
promise that he would be awake to see the sunrise before the peace was
disturbed by the arrival of the Yuy family.
Duo carried Relena up to a single bed-room
on the first floor of the cabin, tucking her away before returning down to help
his father with the luggage which was put in the large kitchen and left
there. Helen took Jane to the nursery
beside the room that she and Solo would sleep in and settled the baby in. She gave Duo a peck on the cheek before
taking her overnight bag and disappearing into her room, with Solo bidding Duo
a good night and also entering the bedroom.
Duo grabbed his own stuff; it took him
four trips to get everything he had brought from the ground flour to the second
floor.
The cabin belonged to the Maxwell’s; this
was where they spent Christmas every year, with the Yuys, of course. They all had their rooms. The two boys, Duo and Heero, slept in the
two rooms that were located at the top of the house. There was also a bathroom there, which they shared and a double
spare room for when people came to visit.
The first floor had five bedrooms, two double bedrooms, one twin rooms,
one nursery, and one single room. Also
on that floor was one bathroom for the girls to share and an en suite in each
of the double rooms for the parents to use.
Downstairs was the kitchen, the den, the living room, another bathroom,
a playroom, a dining room, and a storage room in which you would find things
like bikes and axes and Duo’s motorbike, which he was allowed to use only when
on holiday. That made up the Maxwell’s Holiday Cabin.
Duo didn’t bother to unpack anything, apart
from his night robe, hairbrush, and alarm clock. He set his alarm clock for 5 am, stripped to his boxers, climbed
into bed and promptly fell asleep.
* * *
True to his word, Duo was up and about at
5 in the morning. Not bothering to dress,
as it was warm outside, he wrapped his night robe around his body, pulled on
his trainers and hurried downstairs, out into the crispy morning air. The sun had only just begun to rise when Duo
reached the edge of the lake. He sat
down upon a rock and watched the sun shine colours onto the lake, cabin, and
forest. Its warm rays heated Duo’s face
and he breathed in deeply.
There was something about the country that
relaxed Duo. Whenever he came – Winter,
Spring, Summer, or Autumn – he would always rise early in time to see the sun
rise on the first day. In Duo’s eyes,
it was just magical. He knew the kids
at school would laugh. He, Duo Maxwell,
the jock, sitting watching the sunrise like a girl. Duo was anything but a girl, although he had girlish features and
a slender frame. Hidden in that frame
were muscles that could easily win a basketball match or a cross-country run or
a boxing match. Name a sport, and Duo
had won it some time in his life.
“I wish Heero wasn’t coming; he’s so…so
stuck up.” Duo growled as the sun finally rose. He stood up slowly and walked forward. He kicked his trainer off a foot and dipped his foot into the
cold water, smiling as he heard his mother calling him from the cabin.
“Coming!”
(1) I know, Relena Maxwell, I needed to put her in somewhere.
(2) This is a small village in England, not very popular but hey it’s just a name!
TBC…