One little, two little, three little Foxes

"One is the loneliest number"

Leon glances at Zena as she begins to sing a song he is not familiar with but one that - just from the first words - sounds somewhat depressing. She had been quiet for the entire hour they had been waiting at the door, having not said a single word since her mother and father had entered the delivery room. A room she was denied access to on the grounds of being a child. Perhaps that was the reason for her sullen mood or the uncommon silence that had befallen her. Or more likely she's excessively worried about her mother and the child that will soon be her sibling, even more so with Rose's thoughts and those of everyone else in that room ricocheting so freely in her mind. Perhaps she had zero worries in that heart of hers, for her face did not betray a single emotion and her eyes were dangerously apathetic. To be capable of hiding emotions so easily is an amazing skill, but not one a child should have, so Leon was quite taken aback. He had never seen her just leave like that. Yes, she's often calm, but that is an emotion, one that can be read and detected. At the moment there is nothing to be seen on her face but a neutral expression that would deceive even the best of 'em.

"Two can be as bad as one, but the loneliest number is the number one" she sighs and slumps her head against the wall with a painful sounding thump that has Leon wincing. She doesn't move a muscle after that, eyes closed as she hums the continuation of the song with her fingers tapping idly along.

"You okay kid?" Leon has to ask this as he can't determine what she's feeling at the moment. "You need anything?"

"I'm fine" she says that but Leon wasn't sure if he should believe her. This entire situation is new to her and while she may have been composed an hour or so ago, things could have caught up with her now. Being the person she is Leon is sure she could think of everything that can go wrong during childbirth, many things that can happen to the child and or her mother. Her mind wanders and when it does it takes her down a rabbit hole that takes a while to get out of.

"I want to believe you"

"Then believe me because I'm fine" she shrugs casually, finally looking at him since she sat against the wall. " Just feel odd sitting out here when I can be in there with my parents. I may be a child, but at the very least let me be there for my mother, you know?"

She understands why she is not allowed in, the hospital has rules and they must be followed for the safety of everyone else, so she had not put up much of a fight and wordlessly accepted her fate. However, she still was not very comfortable with being left out and not being allowed to witness the birth of her new sibling. So she sat in silence, solely focused on the thoughts that constantly inhabit her mind, listening for any alarming news about her mother and sibling. So far nothing has come up and the birthing process seems to be going as it should, a great relief that worked to make her feel a bit better about the situation.

"You're a weird kid, you know that?" Leon offers a pat on the head as some form of reassurance as he slides down the wall to sit next to her. She had swatted his hand away, with a look of annoyance that lasted briefly and it had him chuckling in amusement. "I don't think most ten-year-olds would have such a thought process"

"I always knew I was special" it's said in a tone of sarcasm as Leon had expected.

"So what's going on in there?"

"Well, mom is doing an amazing job, though I've recently learned several curse words in a language I believe is Russian" Zena wasn't aware of her mother knowing more than two languages so it came as a surprise to her. "Dad's surprisingly calm now, although he made the mistake of holding my mother's hand and now he'll need a cast for his broken bones"

"He's a fool that one" even Leon knows not to make such a mistake.

"Yes, he is and you match him in foolishness whether you like it or not"

"I'm no fool"

Oh? Zena is an expert judge of fools, being the daughter to one qualifies her to judge, she's sure.

"You tried to ride my bike and flew right into a gutter" Zena revealed with a pointed look at her supposed bodyguard. "You forgot to put the cover on the blender and made a mess once. You tripped over nothing another time. And let's not forget that time you were dumb enough to offer yourself as a tribute to my experiments. That is the dumbest of them all because you know what type of things I do, yet you agreed like an idiot, just like my father"

"Well..."

"That's why you two get along, one fool employed by another"

"That's hurtful"

"I would say your face is hurtful just to strike below the belt, but you're a handsome man, so I can't disrespect you like that"

"Awe thanks"

"You're welcome"

"So you're okay?"

Zena gave him a look that let him know she did not appreciate the question again after she had told him she was fine and even explained what she was feeling to him.

"You know what? Instead of worrying about me, worry about your eyebrows or what you lack in your pants and your life, you walking period cramp of a butler"

Leon was left speechless.

That was random and very much uncalled for.

~~~~~~~~

Leon left me to go get me something to eat so I'm by my lonesome only occupied by the thoughts of those around me. Somewhere nearby another mother just gave birth and is obsessing over her new child. The feeling of pure joy clashes with that of misery coming from some poor bastard, creating something that is not at all pleasant, one that has me shutting my eyes as to not be overwhelmed by two opposing emotions. It's gone soon and I try to ignore any emotions not belonging to either myself or my parents because I do not like the feeling of an internal battle of emotions that don't even belong to me.

I'm curious as to how long we'll be in the hospital because I know this process can take hours on end and I do not wish that for my mother. I had been told that things went fairly quickly when it came to me so hopefully my sibling decides to follow in my steps and hurry up out into the world so my mother can catch a break.

Will the new kid be a boy or a girl? That's the one question that has been on my mind since learning of my mother's pregnancy. I want a sister, that I had said many times before. But if my sibling turns out to be a boy I will have no problem with that development. Plus it'll even everything out and every man wants a son so dad will be overjoyed.

"Hey, I wonder what type of quirk they'll develop"

Will it be a mix of both or something that has nothing to do with my parents? Will they get some elemental quirk or something cognitive like mom and I? Will they also be a late bloomer? What are the odds of the new kid getting their quirk after four like me?

Pondering all the possible quirks worked as a good distraction to me until I hear the wail of an infant. The cry surprises me a great deal because it felt as if the sound had pierced my ear. That was very much unexpected, but having heard that cry just let me know that my sibling has finally entered the world which means I'll be allowed in soon. Well, I'm hoping to be allowed into the room very soon.

So the child is born, everyone should be happy right?

But no

There is some concern. Why? Well from what I can tell from the doctor's thoughts there is another child. Another baby? Wait a damn minute, no one told me about a second sibling. Since when were we having twins?

Apparently, my mother is just as confused as me because there had been no sign of a second child until this moment. Okay, so who did they go to for the ultrasound? Because that person did a terrible job. How could he not tell there were two babies growing in her stomach? I understand that an early scan can be the cause of this obliviousness because one twin can hide behind another and a second heartbeat was most likely not detected, but it is very rare and you would expect a doctor with a medical quirk would not be blind to the second child.

On the other hand, my mother really got a two for one deal, didn't she?

Buy one get one free.

Will they be identical or fraternal? If fraternal there is a better chance of there being a boy and girl since identical are always the same gender. So there is also a chance of there being two boys or two girls and that sounds troublesome.

Oh if they're identical I'll have a lot of fun with them.

"Okay so I got you some pineapple juice and some potato chips" Leon returns with some snacks and quickly reclaims his spot next to me. It seems he's recovered from my terrible words already. "What did I miss?"

"Well mom gave birth, the only problem is that she'll have to do it again because she had two babies cooking up in there"

"You don't say" Leon chuckles in amusement and did not sound very surprised. "You have two infant siblings to worry about now"

Worry is not the word to use here, dear Leon. Two will not bother me any more than one because I will have fun with the kids either way. Plus I love babies a lot, not enough to want my own but enough to appreciate their cuteness and innocence. Hell, I like them enough to babysit for free and I'm sure I'll be doing just that pretty soon. I love babies but I'm no fan of what they evolve into. Toddlers are monsters and I'll make sure my siblings don't turn out like that. I will not let my siblings become spoiled four-year-olds that always cry when they don't get what they want. Mom would not stand for that either and I know she would beat the hell out of me had I been such a child.

Yes, I do not like the monsters that toddlers are and while I will steer my siblings away from this they will still become monsters. Little monsters that know not to throw fits of rage and instead learn how to do things on their own, because our parents are busy people and sometimes it helps to be independent. Plus I don't want to them be clingy kids like the ones who can't stand to be away from their parents for more than ten seconds.

~~~~~~~~~

"It's a boy and a girl!"

Dad bursts out of the delivery room and I swear he scared the living shit out of Leon who all but hits his head on the wall. I pretend not to see it to save him some face and instead focus on my overly happy father who's picking me up without consent and carrying me into the room. I'm too old to be carried around like a sack of potatoes, but I say nothing to being treated this way. The man is happy so I'll let him be, plus I do wanna see my siblings now.

My baby brother is almost completely hidden under the cloth he's swaddled in with his arms barely managing to break free while my sister seems to be fast asleep in my mother's arms. Both have their eyes closed and won't be opening them for a while now, so I'm going to be very curious as to what colour their eyes are and whether or not they got lucky and adopted my mother's blue eyes. I bet they'll look amazing with blue eyes, it'll make them that more precious.

"Well, they're tiny" I manage to poke my brother's cheek with a finger and it felt very much undescribable because he is just that soft. Me touching him has him scrunching up his face in a way that is a clear sign of the beginning of a crying session, but he doesn't burst into tears. "And really soft"

And really weak and very much fragile so maybe I should not be allowed to hold them for a long while because I'm not sure I can be trusted with a child this young.

I move to poke my sister next and unlike my brother she does dissolve into a fit of tears and wails, earning a somewhat scolding look from my mother as she tries to calm the baby down. Once she's calm I have the urge to poke her again just for the hell of it, but I refrain myself. Can't do that and risk losing an arm.

I'm left to stare when a nurse comes in to have a conversation with my mother while also doing tiny checkups on the babies. There isn't much to see when it comes to the babies. They're just two little bundles of adorable joy. The only thing of notice to me is their incredibly light skin, but I expected that as well. It's not questionable light skin just a lighter shade of brown than both my father and mother. In time they'll grow into rich cocoa brown skin and develop nice curly hair that will be a struggle to tame.

"What are their names, dear mother and father for I have not heard a single mention of a name" do they even have names yet? If not I wonder if I'll be allowed to name them.

"They have none at the moment" Dad shrugs very carelessly.

"Really? I thought for sure you would name them Elijah and Leah" he did consider those names for them the minute he learned of the pregnancy.

"Well yeah, but your mother prefers Julian and Clover"

"They're beautiful names" mom adds as if she needs to make something clear. I was sure this woman had fallen asleep with the infants in her arms, but I guess not.

So they both have baby names and don't know whose names to choose. This seems so simple to resolve to me.

"Dad names the boy, mom names the girl and the other names can be made their second, it's that simple. That way you each get the name the children and both of your names are used" did they not consider this? I expected my mother to come up with this, but she's exhausted so I'll cut her some slack. And there is no hope for my father so I won't even wonder about it.

"Elijah Julian Fox" dad says the name as a test to himself, seeming to debate it mentally before shrugging his shoulder in acceptance.

"So then our daughter would be Clover Leah Fox" mom makes a face but doesn't say anything further so I suppose she's okay with it.

I mean I could care less about their names because I find all four to be acceptable and I was only joking about naming them after the promised neverland main characters.

"Elijah" dad repeats the name as he retrieves the baby boy it belongs to with the biggest grin on his face. "You, my son, will carry on the Fox name"

Huh?

"Dad, really?"

"What?"

"Oh come on, you think I can't carry on the name?" I feel very much offended by this.

Apparently dad doesn't get why I'm offended by that look of complete confusion on his face.

"It is usually the man whose name is used in a marriage??" He hesitates as if he was giving false information and it's kinda funny.

"Yes, but in a same-sex marriage there can be an arrangement, so Zena can carry on the name if she decides to wed a woman and if that woman decides to take her name" it is my mother who enlightens my father with surprising ease. The words are followed by a yawn and a promise to get some sleep as soon as the twins go to sleep as well. "And I don't think there is any specific law stating that the woman must take the man's name anyways. Well I'm not sure, but yeah"

Dad is silent for a long moment as if he's trying to process what had been told. He looks at my mother with a brow quirked before looking at me before he again looks at my mother.

"Vincent, you seem to quickly forget that I could have married a woman instead of you" that was very blunt and something I did not know.

Dad opens his mouth to say something before falling into a fit of laughter out of nowhere.

"Fair enough" he chuckles. "You like women Zena?"

"I'm ten" I think I need to make that clear to him.

"Your point?"

There is none, really.

"Hey, what can I say. I don't really care about gender only about whether or not I actually like someone, so yeah" what does it have to matter right? "Though I will admit that women are gorgeous"

"Truly" mom agrees with this far off look that earns a look of suspicion from my father.

Heh, not only is today the birth of my siblings but also the day I learned that my mother somehow chose my father over a woman

He is truly a lucky man.