Chapter 41 part 2 - Gen 2 - Tapestry

It did not take me too long to realize why my Dad could not drive Coral to the hospital himself and why he needed me to drive.  I think I knew exactly what was coming from the moment that I stepped foot upstairs and both heard and saw Coral.  Now I understood why Dad was getting himself into so much of a flap!!

The relatively short drive to the hospital is up there with one of the worse experiences of my life.  Dad was busy, sat behind me, trying to calm Coral down, while I tried to concentrate on the road and ignore the commotion going on in the back of the car.  I should have taken Storms advice and grabbed a pair of ear plugs!!  Coral in her normal drama queen fashion was putting on a right performance.  You would think that she was fading a gruesome death to hear her talking, backed up by all the noise she was making, while she riled about on the back seat of the car, screaming and shouting at Dad like it was all his fault that she was in so much pain.

It actually disturbed me a little.  I can not say that I have ever seen a woman in labour before, which made me worry about Crystal and what she has coming to her in nine months time.  While Dad was trying to calm Coral down, he told me not to worry and that women are not usual this bad when they go into labour, Coral is as usual just going way over the top!!  I actually wandered for a while, how he would even know?  It is not like he has ever been through child birth.

When we arrived at the hospital, it was Winter and Ice who put my mind a little at rest, both of them shouting at Coral, telling her to stop with the unnecessary dramatics, because it is seriously not that bad!!  I listened when they said it because they would know, they have both been through child birth.  Ice has been through it twice, why would she or anyone else choose to go through it again,  if it is as bad as Coral is making out.  Winter amused me, she was very quick to get out of there and leave Ice to it, using a busy work schedule as an excuse.

Dad was actually seriously embarrassed by Coral's behaviour.

As I sit quietly in the hospital corridor, Dad is really starting to irritate me.  He is not really saying anything but he is pacing up and down in front of me, backwards and forwards like a neurotic idiot!!  We will probably be sat here for hours yet, and if he keeps this up he is going to drive me insane, and probably collapse from exhaustion if he continues like this the whole time!!  Tap ... Tap ... Tap ... his shoes are echoing loudly off the tiled floor and hurting my head and ears!!  Anyone would think it was Mom in the deliver room in labour not Coral, but maybe that might be worse for him, I really do not know.

"Sit down for berry's sake, you are driving me nutz!!"  I snap at Dad.

I jump up and grab a hold of Dad by the arm and makes him sit down in the seat next to me, after he has totally ignored my request for the third time and he has continued to pace up and down.  He is unbelievably stressed out!!  I think I know what might be winding him up, the way that Coral was behaving and probably who the father of those two girls is going to turn out to be.

We all have our fingers crossed hoping that they are going to be Slate's babies, more so for his and their sake.  I seriously do not know how we are going to cope if they do turn out to be Gravels babies after everything that he has done, especially Cinnamon.  Dad recons it is going to be like Storm and Parsley all over again!  Coral is going to be a lone parent with two children and how do you tell two girls when they are growing up that their father is a mass murderer and he will be spending the rest of his life in prison?!  How do they live with that?!

"What is stressing you out so much?"

"Twilight ... Honey ... Shadow ...."

He says three words and then I understand completely. I like an idiot had not really thought about the obvious ... that something could go wrong!! 

"Ignore me, I am not very good at playing the doctor stood out in the corridor not knowing what is going on when I could be in there doing something.  Especially as over the years no labour seems to have run smoothly with our lot - Your Mom's first baby, you triplets - that pregnancy and birth was a nightmare for me, Cotton, Vanilla and Shadow, Ocean ... now we have little miss drama queen in there!!"

"Is something wrong?"

"No, not yet but I have a feeling there might be before this is over ... You saw and heard her performing in the car.  I don't know how you did not crash the car!!  Those walls are supposed to be soundproof, but still I can hear her out here!!"  he tuts  "If she carries on like she is there will be a problem, she will stress those babies out!!"  he laughs  "I seriously don't know where she gets it from!!  Hell!!  Honey was in a right bad way and she hardly murmured!!"  he looks at me awkwardly realizing he has just put his foot in it and said something that he shouldn't.

"Ocean?  did something happen?"  I ask frowning at him, I do not understand why he mentioned Ocean in that list.

I have to ignore the comment he made about Honey, because if I have to go talking about it and thinking about it, I am going to start asking questions and I will start getting upset and into the state that he is in, because I really do not know what is lies or truth anymore. 

"Did River not tell you?"  he frowns at me as I shake my head  "Winter was as cool as you like, but there was a little baby distress.  I don't think Ocean was enjoying his journey out into the world.  She ended up having to have an emergency C Section ... It was only a few weeks after Shadow, and I thought we might end up burying another one, baby that is, not Winter."  he rolls his eyes  "Of course like an idiot, I told River what had happened, when I really should have waited until he got home!!"

"Oh so is that why he was crying like a TOTAL idiot for the rest of the night after you spoke to him!!"  he frowns at me  "I thought he was going to pale me at one point, he yelled at me for just looking at the three photo's of Ocean on his phone.  I thought he was going to lose it!!"

"Three photo's?"  he looks at me in confusion.

"Yeah there were three photo's on his phone of Ocean, that you sent him.  A bit silly because they all looked the same to me!!"  I laugh at him  "Wouldn't one photo have done the job!!"

"I am sorry Tap!!"  he sits and stares at me for a moment and I wander what he is apologizing for.  "Now that Sunny has shown you the photograph of Shadow, I guess I can tell you ... and I do not want an argument over it, now is not the time!!"  he looks at me awkwardly  "I sent River photographs of Ocean, Vanilla and Shadow ... that was what you was looking at.  You are like me being colourblind, all babies look the same, thankfully you could not tell that they were three different babies, because you could not see their different colours."

"Are you telling me, while I was in Rainbow Valley, I was looking at photographs of my own babies and I did not even know it!?"  I am seriously shocked, but have to ask him to double check that I had heard him right.

"Yes, I'm sorry!!  You were never meant to see them, because you know we were waiting until you came home!!  I held off telling River about your two, because they were early he didn't realize they had arrived.  With Oceans arrival, obviously he asked about Honey, he was upset because I told him about Honey and all three babies that day."

"I seriously don't believe you lot!!"  I snap at him  "Hiding photographs that I could have seen from the start!!  You all knew not seeing Shadow before you buried him was screwing my head up!!"

"Tap, we were only doing what we thought was best for you!!"  he mumbles.  "I worry about you because of your Mother.  Her constantly wanting another baby is because she is trying to replace something that can never be replaced ... Twilight.  She spends way too much time staring at the photograph of Twilight that she has, so she is not getting over it or letting it go.  I don't want you to do the same thing, it is not healthy for your mental health!!"

I sit there for ages silently stewing over what he has just told me.  I understand what he is saying in a way, concerning Mom, because since Sunny sent me that photograph of the boy as a baby, I have not been able to stop looking at it and it upsets me.  I can see Dad nervously glancing at me, wandering if I am going to blow.  How can I really blow now over something as stupid as hiding photographs when there is something much bigger going on here, the boy himself is being hidden from me!!

Something does not make sense about what he has just told me.  I think that the flaws that I suspect are in the vampberry's memory wiping, are seriously starting to show, either that or they blatantly lied to me!!  He has just slipped up and I doubt that he even realizes it!!  The day we resurfaced and they told me about Honey, Vanilla and Shadow, Dad told me that he had only just told River, that day, on the way up from theatre after he had the knife removed from his shoulder ... now he has just told me River knew before that and while we were in Rainbow Valley!!

I have to move away from the subject of Shadow, before my head starts to go.  I do not want to be sitting here thinking and talking about it and especially not asking questions.  It is hard enough for me sitting in Sugar Valley as it is, just knowing the vampberry den is not too far away.  It is taking all my willpower to stop myself from going in search of the truth, which I so desperately want to do.

"While I think about it, I need to talk to you about the behaviour of your little brat princess number two!!"  he pulls a face at me.

"Stop calling her that Tapestry!!"  he tuts at me 

"It is what we all call her behind your back, even Mom, because that is exactly what she is!!!"  I laugh at him.  "She is far from the angelic little angel that you think she is!!  Cotton is a horrible little spoiled drama queen Brat with a huge chip on her shoulder and she has a filthy mouth which you seriously need to sort out because I don't want Vanilla picking any of it up!!"

"What do you mean, she has a flithy mouth!!"  he frowns at me  "If you are talking about swearing, that's a bit like the pot calling the kettle black isn't it!!"  he starts laughing  "Are YOU asking me to have a word with Cotton because she is swearing!!" 

"Yes!!!"  he starts laughing almost hysterically

"Oh Fudge Tap!!  I never thought I would see the day when we would be having this conversation!!"  he finds it highly amusing.

"I know I do not have room to talk because I was very bad when I was her age, but I had an excuse, I have ADHD, she doesn't!!  Seriously, she knows swear words that I did not even know at her age and have only just learned myself!!  This morning your little princess stood throwing a load of abuse at me and River, name calling and swearing, right in front of the three toddlers.  She then had the nerve to threaten to grass me up to you for saying shitty nappies!!"

Dad just sits there frowning at me, I am expecting him, any second now, to start defending her and making excuses for her, as well as accuse me of lying, because his precious little princess only has rose petals floating out of her mouth as far as he is concerned.  I do not give him a chance to speak.   

"I'm just warning you if Vanilla or Snow, when he finds his voice, repeat any of the words they so obviously heard this morning, I am going to swing for that little brat of yours!!"  I laugh at the expression on his face  "And it is not just me, River threatened to wash her mouth out with soap and ground her for a month, if he hears Ocean repeating any of her words!!  So don't be surprised if River is not chewing your ear off over exactly the same thing when he catches up with you later."

"You had better tell me what she has been saying!"  he mumbles

He shocks me for once, he is actually listening.  We sat for ages talking about Cotton, I repeated to him as much of the conversation that I could remember, repeating all her swear words and name calling and for once he did not tell me off for saying them out loud which amused me.  I felt like a bit of a grass sat there telling tales on my little Sister, and it is not like it is the first time that she has sworn at me and called me names, she is always doing it.  Normally I would just tell her to watch her mouth then ignore it, knowing all kids do it, I did it myself more than most.

However this time she did it for Vanilla and Snow to hear.  If I, or any other kid that I have ever known are anything to go by, I know Vanilla and Snow are not going to be angels when they are growing up.  They will probably do their fair share of swearing out of mine and Crystals earshot, but it is the name calling that bothers me.  Coral and Cotton constantly call me names, their favourite being retarded idiot, I seriously do not want them picking up on that.  If Vanilla especially, ever stood in front of me and called me a retarded idiot, or any other name implying I am simple because of my conditions, I do not think I would be able to handle it, and I tell him as much!!

Suddenly there is a lot of racket coming from down the corridor, doors banging and loud laughing, so I glance in that direction.  I spot the Rock tribe and automatically start to laugh at them when I see they are the ones down the corridor causing the racket.

Forrest and Bay are playing piggy back for Granite and Slate.  The four of them howling with laughter as they are trying to race each other and make their way up the corridor towards us.  I am a little amused when Dad stands up, rubbing his neck and glaring at the childishness going on down the corridor. 

"DR ROCK ... times three!!"  he snaps

I laugh at Dad, who stands there rubbing his neck and screwing his face up.  I knew he would not be able to hold his tongue when they got close enough to hear his disapproval!

"The three of you should know better than to tear down hospital corridors like a pack of children playing piggy back!!  Not only is it highly dangerous, but do you know how childish you look when you are supposed to be professionals!?"

Slate jumps off Bay's back and Granite jumps off Forrest's back and the four of them stand there looking sheepishly at Dad.

I start to laugh at them as they stand there looking like naughty children.

"Chill Mango!  You are about to become a Granddad again!!"  Granite laughs at Dad as he winks at me  "You are always so serious!!  I am excited, you know me ...."

"Yes I do know you Granite!!"  Dad cuts in and does not let Granite finish his sentence.  "It is just a shame, Dr Rock, that you do not apply your sensible serious side that I see at work, all the time!!"  Dad frowns at Granite  "You are corrupting Forrest and Bay, who were both sensible until you reappeared and you are giving Slate a bad example of how not to behave in his place of work, even if he is not on duty!!"  Dad tuts  "I do not want the rest of the hospital to think that I have a bunch of clowns working up in my department!!"

"Sorry Dr Muffin it will not happen again!!"  Granite says to him with a serious face.

"Just make sure it doesn't!!"  Dad smiles at him

Suddenly Granite starts to smirk.  I know something is coming from him and I think so does Dad as he raises his eyebrows, almost like he is waiting for it.  Dad has told me that Granite has always been the same there are two very different sides to him, serious and fool.  He used to bounce around like a hyperactive clown when he was a child and he has always been known as a joker.  However, his other side which you only see at work, even shocked Dad when he returned to Sugar Valley, he had not really seen that side of him before.  At work, if you did not know him you would never know he is a fool outside the hospital, he takes his job very seriously he is a brilliant surgeon and is very professional, he is more than capable of giving Dad a run for his money in Neurology.  I was pretty shocked when I learned he used to be an addict and a criminal who has completely turned his life around from bad to good.

"I still need to have a word with your Mother Mango, I see she is still putting way too much starch in your under pants!" 

This has me howling!!  Granite stands smirking at my Dad who just rolls his eyes and shakes his head.  I think he knows he is never going to win with Granite!!  Granite turns his attention to me then.

"I see Coral is being her usual selfish self, and has to grab all the attention, today of all days!!  Spoiling your big day Tapestry!"  he smirks at me.

Dad starts frowning at me, he is wandering what Granite is talking about.

"I did not get chance to tell you.  The music charts came out earlier, and my single went straight in at number one."  I smile at him.

"REALLY!!"  he grins back at me "Well Done!!  That is great!!"  then starts laughing as he turns to Granite  "Didn't I tell you Granite that he was going to make me eat my words!!"  Dad starts really laughing.  "Who would have thought it!!  My special little soldier, a rock star!!"

"Special little soldier, oh Mango, you crease me!!"  Granite starts howling and Bay and Slate start sniggering.  Only Forrest does not find it amusing because he has heard Dad call me that a thousand times before.

"DAD!!  Do you HAVE to embarrass me?!"  I snap at him  "You do know now don't you, that Granite is not going to let that one drop!!"

"Yes!!  Call it payback, you have embarrassed me plenty in the past!!"  he grins at me

"How long do you think it will be?"  Slate asks eagerly  "Will I be able to take them home today if they are mine?"

"Someone sounds like they are in a hurry for sleepless nights!"  Dad laughs at Slate  "She was only three centimeters dilated the last I heard, it could be hours yet, so I would make yourself comfortable if I was you, you might be in for a bit of a wait!"  he smiles  "As for taking them home, you know yourself, I can not answer that question until they have been medically assessed!"

Slate and Bay go and sit down on the couches.  I see Dad and Granite watching Slate for a moment before Dad pulls Granite to the side a little.

"How has he been?"  Dad asks Granite quietly  "I have noticed, he is still not himself."

"He is still not sleeping very well according to Bay.  The worry of these girls has really been getting to him, he has been a bag of nerves since you phoned.  I just hope he is not going to be disappointed especially not today, it will wreck him!!"  Granite pulls a face  "Coral does not half picks her days, you know it would have been Amber's birthday today and of course now Slate thinks it is some sort of omen!!"  Granite rolls his eyes  "That is why we took so long to get here, he wanted to go and put flowers on her grave, and I am sorry, that is what the piggy back race was all about.  I was just trying to gee him up a little, he got very upset, he still blames himself for her fading!!"

"Well hopefully he will not be disappointed today and those girls will give him something else to focus on instead of him dwelling on everything that has happened!!"  Dad smiles at Granite

"Berry I hope so!!"  So how is it going in there?"

"Everything seems to be going okay so far, however, don't be surprised if those girls are not born with high blood pressure, they are going to be as stressed as hell because Coral is putting up a right performance in there!!"

"Oh Berry!!  Poor Ice!!  I never gave that a thought, I can imagine she is being a right drama queen in there.  When she was at Gravel's, I witnessed the fuss she made over just cutting her finger.  She had me panicking with the way she was carrying on, I thought she had chopped her finger off, and it was only a scratch, I could hardly see it!!"  Granite starts to laugh

"Yeah, that's Coral!!"  Dad laughs  "Most women are fairly composed and have some self respect ... Not Coral, she is putting on a right oscar winning performance in there.  She has had an epidural so she can not feel any pain now, we had hoped it would shut her up, but even that still didn't work!!  She is giving Ice hell in there!!  I am seriously expecting them to come out to tell us that they are taking her down for a C Section!!"

Forrest distracts me away from Dad and Granites conversation when he starts talking to me. 

"Did you enjoy Sandy Shores?"  he grins at me  "I hear it turned out to be very eventful for you in the end!!  You crammed a lot in after we left!!"  We both start laughing. 

"Yeah it was great!!  We loved it there.  I see now why you like it so much!"  I smile at him. "I could quite happily live out there permanently."

"Well anytime you want to use the beach house again, feel free.  Just let me know when you are going, but only so I can tell the security firm when the property is occupied.  We do not want them going in and arresting you for trespassing."  he smiles at me  "I know it is a perfect hideout for you with this growing fame of yours, especially with the private beach and the security firm who are always on call if you need them, to remove anyone off my land who is trespassing.  So you may as well make use of the place, when it is stupid that it is sat empty most of the time." 

"Thanks that's great!!  I know I'll definitely be taking you up on that offer!!"  I grin at him.  "I can't wait to get back out there."  

"I have asked your Dad to hang onto the spare key.  Just don't loose it Tap I know what you are like!!"  he grins at me.  "You would forget your head if it was loose!"

Forrest starts to looks over his shoulder in Dad and Granites direction.  Dad has his back to us and is deep in conversation with Granite.  Forrest signals me with his hand to move closer and he starts to talk quietly. 

"Your Dad has been trying to talk your Mother into going out there for a vacation, since I bought the place five years ago and she won't have it.  He is always troubled about being stuck in Sugar Valley because Lilly won't venture back out into the coded world.  So they never go on vacation!!"  he whispers and checks over his shoulder again.

"Yeah he did do a bit of sulking when I told him we were going on vacation."

"Maybe you should try encouraging your Mother a little as you have been out there with Crystal.  Your Dad could seriously do with a break and vacation even though he will not admit it himself!!  Since your abduction he has been through a hell of a lot, it has not stopped for him and it still hasn't yet.  All this stress is starting to wear him down, it has started to affect his judgement at work and I am really worried about him!!"  he looks worried.  "Your Dad is quick to send me to take time out when I have been going through rough patches, but he never does it for himself and there is only such much stress one person can take!!"

"I did not realize!!"  I stare over my shoulder at Dad for a moment.

"No, you wouldn't, your Dad is very good at not letting it show!!"  he rolls his eyes  "The beach house would be the perfect place for them to go, especially with Lilly worrying about being colourless, and I know your Dad could definitely do with a well overdue break.  It is just finding a way to get them there!!"  

"I'll have a word with River and Mo.  We will gang up on them if we have to!"  I smile at him  "Won't Dad moan about having time away from work?  You know what he is like!!"

"Yes he probably will, and that is a lot to do with why he doesn't, but, he does not have to worry about work now, Granite is here and he is more than capable, he had exactly the same job as your Dad in Cherry Hill.  Gran has had to take quite a step down to work at this hospital and when your Dad is not around I run the department anyway."  he smiles at me  "Together there is nothing that we can not handle!" 

  

"Their wedding anniversary is not too far away."  I smirk at him  "I could always buy them plane tickets and leave them with no choice.  If Mom or Dad play up I am sure me, Mulberry and Prelude can put them on the plane, by force if we have to!!"

"Yeah I guessed you would find a way!"  he laughs  "So I will leave that one with you then!"

"Yes, I'll get it sorted!!"  I smile at him

"So how is our red homeless friend doing Tap?"

"He is great!!  He is slowly getting the hang of living a normal life again."

"He was only young the first time I saw him."  he laughs  "The little bugger kept legging it every time I got anywhere near him.  I was trying to help him, I would have taken him in and brought him home, with him being a child, but I could never catch him."

"It was your ears, they freaked him out!!  You scared him when he was a kid, he thought you was an alien."  we both start laughing  "I told him he had probably shot himself in the foot not talking to you years ago!!  Were you the one leaving him food and stuff on his patch?"

"Yeah!  He guessed did he!?"  he laughs  "It was the only way that I could sleep at night, especially when I was in Sandy Shores, knowing he was running around on the streets and so young."

"I think he wants to see you before we take off for Rainbow Valley.  I meant to bring him round but have been busy, and now with another day wasted in the hospital, I doubt I will have time." 

Forrest smiles and says he will try and pop in to see him later, when the dust has settled down from what is going to happen here today with Coral and the babies.

Dad decided that we all needed coffee to calm our nerves, especially his and Slates.  Taking time out would also help to kill some time, which is really dragging, so we all took a slow walk to the coffee shop.  I am harassed by a few people on the way and ended up signing autographs and posing for photo's, which seriously annoys me when I am at home and amongst people that I have known and seen all my life.  When I am out in the coded world, I am prepared for it, but not here at home where I do not expect to be hassled, especially by people who thought, and not all that long ago, that I was an annoying little shit, now they want my autograph!!  

We sat in the coffee shop for over an hour.  I sat quietly, mostly just listening to Granite, Forrest and Dad nattering away, occasionally I was dragged into the conversation but not often, because a lot of the time I was switched off, my head skipping all over the place, especially thinking about what Forrest had told me about Dad cracking under the weight of the stress of everything that has being going on lately.  Slate and Bay amused me, they went off on their own after they grabbed a takeaway coffee, I suspect to sit straight back outside the delivery room.  Slate is very eagerly awaiting the arrival of the twins, as well as being very nervous, scared they are not going to be his.

I sit wandering why I am actually staying at the hospital.  I could go home and wait like everyone else, I have plenty to do before my flight and I have not even told Crystal that I am taking Vanilla with me yet, and I need to pack her case.  I think the thought of Sunny being in our house, is winding me up and stopping me from going home.  Since returning from Sandy Shores I have tried my best to avoid Sunny, I am not sure I am going to be able to hold my tongue over the Shadow situation.  Sunny I suspect is the only one, besides the vampberry's, who knows the whole truth, with him not having had anything wiped from his memory.  I think he is hiding everything from me without a conscience and I strongly suspect that he is the Granddad who is visiting Shadow.  Wanting to know who's babies the twins are going to turn out to be, I think is another thing that is keeping me here.

Forrest gets called away to an emergency up in neurology, so we return to join Slate and Bay who were, like I suspected, sat camped outside Corals room.

 

We wait ... and wait ... it feels like we have been sat here for an eternity and the time seems to be really dragging.  Slate is very fidgety and Bay is trying to keep him amused, the three of us are all talked out and now just sit in silence.  Dad and Granite sit constantly talking shop like a pair of stuffed shirt doctors, I think they are both trying to keep themselves mentally occupied to take their mind off the wait and the forthcoming result of the paternity tests.

I slip outside to phone Crystal to see what is happening at home.  She told me she is up and feeling a little better, and is sat upstairs playing with Snow and Ocean.  She was really not too impressed when I told her that I am taking Vanilla to Rainbow Valley with me, and especially that I might be out there for a month.  Crystal is struggling to get her head around my career, and especially the fame which is also coming to her herself.   Living a homeless life, she has never seen fame and what it entails, I am not sure she still fully understands it yet.  I think she thought my career in music would be a normal 9 to 5 job and I would come home every night like Dad and everyone else does.  She has had to accept that our life is going to be very different, and while it has some good points, there are also bad ones, the amount of time I will have to spend away from home, being one of them.

When I wander back down the corridor, I laugh at Bay and Slate who are sat busy making out while Dad and Granite continue to natter to each other.  Being bored I get out my phone and start to flick through my photographs and stop on the one of the little boy in the cemetery.  I just stare at it while my mind starts to wander and I switch off.

I am not sure how long I was in my own little world, which I am snapped out of when suddenly I hear Granite laughing as I feel his hand on my shoulder shaking me gently. 

"Wakey wakey!!  Earth to the rock star, or should I say special little soldier!!"  Granite stands laughing at me.  "Someone is in switched off mode and not for the first time today we have noticed!!"  he frowns at me  "You have taken your med's today haven't you?"

"Yes! I have taken my med's like a good boy.  I do not need reminding to do that any more, as you well know!!"  I laugh as I glance at Dad, because I know he is the one doing the asking even if the question came out of Granites mouth, no doubt they have been stood there discussing me and my condition while I have been away with the fairies.  "I was just miles away, thinking."

"Did you not hear us calling you?"  Granite stands laughing at me as I shake my head.  "Then you was switched off wasn't you!"  he smirks at me and I roll my eyes at him.  "Is something troubling you Tap?"

"No, I am fine really!!  Stop fussing!!"  again I glance at Dad when I say it.

Granite is staring at the picture on my phone that, I do not realize, I am still holding in front of me like an idiot.  When I do realize, I start to feel the blood draining away from me.  I can not believe that I have been so stupid!!  Now he has seen it.

"Eww shoot the photographer!!  Look at the red eye on that photograph"  he laughs, I think he forgets that I can not see it, even though I do know that the little boy has red eyes.  "I take it that is an old baby picture of you, judging by the Muffin hair and that cheeky grin that you still have." 

This shocks me for a moment.  Does that boy have my hair?!   

"Let's see Tap."  Dad says.

Oh Fudge!!  He is the very last person I need to be showing this picture to, but I am now stuck and have no choice but to show it to him, I can not hide it or they might get suspicious.  I hold my breath as I turn the phone in his direction.

Dad looks at the picture, smiles then starts to laugh.

"Don't let that cheeky grin fool you Granite, Tapestry was a right little nightmare back then!!  Just ask Forrest, he watched the little terror grow up!!"  he laughs  "Where did you get that picture from Tap?"  he frowns at me

"I took a phone picture of one of my baby photographs.  Mom sorted out a load of all our baby photo's for the purple Granddad to see."  I smile at him as I lie through my teeth hoping he will buy it.  "I was trying to compare how much Vanilla looks like me." 

Dad just laughs again, then he starts to tell Granite all about what I was like when I was a toddler, especially me biting everyone and he also drops into the conversation another name that he used to call me, which no doubt Granite will play me up for.  He called me his 'broken boy', which has always annoyed me!!

"Here Dad look."  Slate shouts as Bay and Slate both hold up there arms.  "We all have Tappy Terror bite scars!!  Only Honey and Storm never got one because he liked them, he did not like the rest of us so he bit us!"    

"I think the teeth marks reminded him who he liked and didn't like."  Bay laughs  "because half the time he could never remembered our names."

"Yeah!"  Slate starts chuckling  "Ate Cock ... that is what he used to call me!!  He could never say Slate Rock." 

"I did that on purpose you wally!!"  I smirk at Slate  "I am psychic did you not know!!  I was just predicting the future, and I bet that is exactly what you did last night ... ate cock." 

We all start howling, all except for Dad who is just a prude, he snapped at me and told me to watch my mouth!!  The photograph seems to have been forgotten as they all now have a laugh, at my expense, calling me Tappy Terror and reminiscing about how terrible I was and the things I used to do.  I can not believe that Dad actually bought it!!  He thought that photograph was of me.  I quickly stuff my phone into my pocket out of harms way.

While they continue to ramble on, my brain starts ticking.  Does that boy look so much like I did at that age that Dad could not even tell that the photograph isn't even of me?!  It makes me think that he does not have any idea who that boy is and probably has never seen him.  Granite thought it was my baby picture and he said the boy had Muffin hair, as well as my cheeky grin.  Alarm bells are ringing in my head again - I am seriously getting the feeling that I am not quite the idiot with an over active imagination after all, and that boy really is mine.

After what felt like forever, the door to the room that Coral is in finally opens and Ice calls Dad, who virtually falls over himself and runs into Corals room.  He seems to be in the room for quite a long time, a lot longer than we expected.  At one point me and Granite frown at each other because for a split second we thought we could hear Dad's shouting coming from inside the room.

Dad finally emerges from the room, with the strangest look on his face.  Ice also comes out with him, she appears to also be wearing a weird expression on her face.  My Aunt just looks at me and rolls her eyes as she walks off down the corridor without saying a word.  Something is not right!!

"Well they have both arrived safely."  he says with a faraway expression on his face.  I thought he would be happy, but something seems to be troubling him.  "Granite ... "  He seems a little lost for words for a second  "Granite can I have a word with you.  Tapestry, I need you to come too."  I frown at him wandering why he wants me.

I get the feeling something is horribly wrong, especially judging by the look on my Dad's face.

"Well are they mine?"  Slate jumps up, he is eager to know.

"Slate they have not come out with labels on them, saying I am Slate's!"  Dad mumbles.

Me and Granite just look at each other and burst up laughing.  Where did that come from!?  Dad is suddenly a joker!!  That is like something that you would expect to hear Granite say!!! 

"You need to hang fire for another half an hour at least."  Dad smiles at Slate  "I think you know yourself paternity tests take longer than five minutes even on super I have had to do a tonne of grovelling fast track!"  he laughs and Slate moans and sits back down.

I get up and follow Granite into the room.  Dad pulls us through into the side room where Coral is with the two babies cots which are quite a way from the bed and she is lay curled up into a ball with her back to them.  I can already hear that she is crying.

"OH FUDGE!!!"  Granite says suddenly as he peers into one of the baby's cots, he looks shocked. "WHAT THE ..... FUDGE!!"

I peer into the cot nervously, really worried by the look on both Granites and Dad's faces.  I wander if there is something wrong with the baby.  I had visions of seeing a baby with a disfigured face, two heads or three arms or something.  However, she looks perfect, she just looks like a normal baby to me.  I can already see that she has the colourless eyes as they stare brightly up at me.

I lean into the cot and start to play with the babies tiny fingers while I listen to Dad and Granite talking.  I am really glad that Crystal is pregnant and we have a baby coming, if we were still going through our baby problem I think I would be really upset and jealous right now.

"Seriously, what the fudge Mango!!"  Granite repeats

"That is EXACTLY what I said when Ice told me!!!"  Dad says with quite a strange look on his face  "We can forget that one, she OBVIOUSLY is not Slates baby!!"  Granite laughs a little sarcastically.

"Coral you are seriously a NASTY piece of work and now I have said it!!!  It is probably a damn good job that Gravel is locked up right now!!"  Granite snaps very angrily  "He probably would have been locked up after today seeing this ... probably for fading you!!"

Coral does not move or say a word.  I stop playing with the baby and frown at Granite, wandering what I have missed because I really do not understand what is going on.

"I know!!  I am ashamed and if she was not my daughter I would wash my hands of her!!"  Dad also looks really angry  "Well I think we can safely say we definitely have a case of Heteropaternal superfecundation going on here Granite." 

Granite is now seriously grinning as he peers into the other babies's cot.  I have heard that long medical term before, I am trying to rack my brains trying to remember when and how.  As I watch Granite lean into the cot and take out the other baby, it helps me remember, that it was actually Granite who told me about twins with different fathers.  I frown, wandering how they can tell so easily that baby is not Slates ... I'm confused. 

"This one is definitely a Rock she even has the piggy nose."  Granite grins at Dad.

"Yes, Ice says she has your skin eyes and hair."  he smiles but I can see how upset he is.  "Berry knows who the other one belongs too, I seriously am ashamed I do not know how I am ever going to look anyone in the face ever again?!"

"Mango, nobody will think badly of you!!"  he looks sympathetically at Dad  "Coral is an adult, she has her own life, mind and body, they will see this is all her fault and doing!!" 

Both Dad and Granite stare down at the baby for a moment without speaking.  I can see that Dad is getting really upset and I still can not work out why.

"Seriously Coral I do not know how you live with yourself!!"  Granite snaps as he glares in Corals direction.  "There are names for women like you and if your Dad and Brother were not standing here, you would be hearing them all!!"  he snaps  "I'm Sorry Mango ..."

"It is okay, I understand and I seriously wouldn't have blamed you if you had said them!!"  Dad mumbles as they exchange a strange glance.  "I have sent off the paternity test, but only for this baby."  Dad says as he points to the baby that Granite holding  "Ice has taken it down to the lab and is waiting for the results, they promised me half an hour max!!"

"I was hoping we would see Slates hair, then we would not have needed a paternity test!!  Now I am really scared that this little one is Gravels, she has exactly the same colouring as Clay along with the nose!!" he looks miserably at my Dad  "I hope to berry she is Slates, it is going to crush him if it isn't, especially today of all days!!"

"Don't forget your colouring runs very strongly through your family, there was only Gravel out of the seven of you that did not have your Dad's exact colouring!!"  Dad reminds Granite  "Genetically Slate has just as much chance of passing that colouring on from you.  Fingers crossed she will be Slates!!"

"I don't know, after Tarragon's baby actually turned out to be Gravels, the odds have gone from zero to 50/50 in my head, this past few weeks I have hardly been able to sleep a wink." he rolls his eyes  "If any of my Mother's grey had come out in this baby I think I might be having a nervous breakdown by now!!"

"Is your nephew keeping you awake?"  Dad laughs

"No, I have been doing the night feeds because of Forrest working nights, but I have been awake anyway worrying about Mace's trial coming up and these twins!!"  Granite looks over at the other baby  "Slate is expecting two girls, now it is down to only one, that alone is going to wound him, this had better be Slates or my boy is going to be in pieces!!"  he pulls a face and I can see he is now along with Dad starting to get upset.  "Slate is already struggling being around Clay, I am really worried if this one also turns out to be Gravel's, I have got hell coming!!  I have seriously been dreading this day because I am not sure Slate's head is still stable enough to take the disappointment."

I am just stood there like a spare part listening and watching them.  I do not understand why Dad has called me into the room when up to now he has totally ignored me, or now why they are both getting upset.
 
"I am lost!!  What is going on?" I ask and Dad smiles at me weakly.

"I am sorry Tap, I forget sometimes that you are colourblind like me!!  It seems your whore of a sister omitted to tell us something very important."  he mumbles.

"I can hear you, you know!!"  Coral shouts at Dad and starts to cry quite loudly.  I move to go towards her, very shocked by him just calling her a whore.  Dad grabs my arm to stop me, and pulls me back.

"Tap leave her, she does not deserve your sympathy!!  Knowing your sister, that racket she is making is just a front for crocodile tears!!"

"GOOD!!  I am glad you are listening young lady, because once this gets out, I am not the only one you are going to hear saying it!!  Coral, You seriously do not realize how much destruction and misery you are causing to everyone around you!!  You are disgusting and I am ASHAMED of you and I dread to think what this is going to do to your Mother!!"  he almost yells at Coral  

"Dad?!  What is going on?!"  I frown at him in confusion, wandering why he is being so hard on Coral, it is very unlike him not to fall over himself defending her. 

"The baby that Granite has is brown, and is definitely a Rock baby."  he points over at the baby who is behind me in the cot  "The other baby however, she is neither brown or purple, she is  .... she is ...." 

"She is ... RED."

he mumbles eventually.




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Thanks Kelsey!!  Yes I used it. (rolls eyes) 
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