and the stars in their orbits shone pale through the lightof the brighter, colder moon

Only a few days had passed since that traumatic night that had so terribly shaken the young mother. There had been only once in her past when Nadya had heard the blood curdling scream of a mother losing her child and it had chilled her to the bone even then. She had never thought she would ever come close to feeling that. After the incident Nadya had become overly protective, enclosing herself and the twins within the apartment, not even going to work (grateful for having her lead dancer take over). And after her retaliation at Tobi she made damn sure that he understood he wasn't welcome near the apartment either. She needed time; time for Micah to heal and time for her to think.

Today was the first day Nadya ventured out of the house and left the twins with their usual caregiver under strict instructions to sending Tobias away with a nasty beating from her hallucination powers should he come around. Nadya picked her way through the market, stashing a few items from the shelves into the basket hanging on her arm before ending up at the bakery. The baker smiled warmly at her when she approached. "What can I do for you dear?" He asked as he set aside the loaf he had been slicing up. "I'm picking up a cake I ordered. Under the name Tetradore." Nadya shifted in front of the brightly lit case of cupcakes and slices of gourmet cakes. The baker nodded in acknowledgement and stepped away to find the cake.

He returned moments later with a pink box, placing it on the counter and opening the lid for Nadya to see. The pink and blue cake was meticulously smoothed over with Happy 1st Birthday stamped on it, blue and pink rabbits sitting beside decorative fondant blocks that spelled Izzy and Micah. Nadya had ordered the cake weeks ago, fully prepared to show up at the Ark on the day of the twins birthday in order to have that family inclusion she had been slowly trying to have with the twins. Even planning on dragging them all out heaven forbid to a restaurant to endure the embarrassment of the lovely combination of Tobi and the twins making an all-around chaotic mess simply in celebration of the one year. "I remember when my daughter turned 1. It truly is one of those that you remember forever." The baker closed the box since Nadya didn't voice any rejection or concerns over the cake, sliding it slightly over the countertop to her. "The cake will feed about 10. I recommend cutting a slice for the little ones unless no one else plans to have any- babies have a tendency to face plant in their first few cakes." Nadya managed a tight polite smile though she internally winced as her mind so wanted to speak back "It's just the three of us." but the man was only trying to be friendly. So she gave him a quick "thank you", taking the box and went straight back home.

Once home Nadya relieved the caregiver and was once more alone with the twins. Izzy and Micah stared back at their mother, soft chocolate pairs of eyes regarding each other in silent thought. "What do you two think, hmm?" Nadya spoke softly as she bent down in front of where they sat with their backs propped up against the foot of the couch surrounded by their toys. "Should we still go out for your birthday?" The thought was nerve wracking for her but in a way she also felt bad, feeling like she was depriving them of the experience that, true, they won't remember but she would...and would lose out on that look of awe and delight on their faces. Her fingers mused with Izzy's hair that was getting long enough to bounce in soft curls. Izzy smiled, showing off her two little teeth that had sprouted through on the bottom, "Mama." Her small fist shoved a toy up for Nadya to see. "I see...bear." Nadya smiled, taking the offered crinkly teething ring that was shaped like a bear and lightly booping Izzy's nose causing a giggle of delight to erupt from the child. "I think we can manage out." With a nod Nadya gathered the twins and headed into the bedroom.

It took a while for Nadya to decide on what she wanted to wear before she settled on a burgundy purple chiffon spaghetti strap dress with a sinched waist that fell to just above her knees and gathered her hair back in a loose pin-back so her natural waves fell down her bare back. With herself ready it now came down to the twins and they were getting restless meaning meal time was approaching. "Ok ok." Nadya quickly grabbed their clothes and them, moving them back into the living room and plopping them back in their previous spots before hurrying to prepare a bottle for Izzy. As Izzy eagerly suckled on the bottle Nadya pressed into her hands, Nadya skillfully maneuvered on the birthday dress while Micah began to fuss over his lack of food.