Chapter 1.11 - Concerns

Winter was nearly over. Amber had spent it preparing for Bonnie's new sibling. David hadn't been in touch since Amber started her maternity leave, but she was independent enough that this wasn't the top of her list of concerns.

She was more concerned about Bonnie than her unborn child, Bonnie had been acting oddly. Amber wasn't sure if it was because of Ayden's death or just her daughter's nature, but something didn't seem right with that child. She would spend hours alone in her bedroom and even when they were in the same room she would hardly speak.

Amber had continued to work out through her pregnancy, despite looking forward to bringing a new life into the world, there was still an empty space in her heart. An empty space that exercising seemed to temporarily make disappear. When she worked out, all of Amber's woes were put to the back of her mind and she focused purely on moving her body.

Maybe she had pushed herself too far though, because she had to stop her workout when she felt a sudden hardening of her stomach. It wasn't a new experience, she knew exactly what was about to happen. She managed on her own last time, she could do it again this time.

It wasn't a long labour, after a while of pushing and groaning, Cassandra was born. Amber looked at her baby daughter and smiled. All the pain and anguish that had been in your heart vanished just looking at her little girl's face.

Time flew by looking after Cassandra and before Amber knew it, it was her birthday. She had been so busy taking care of everything, making sure both Bonnie and Cassandra had everything that they needed, she forgot her own birthday!
Luckily, Bonnie didn't forget, and showing empathy for the first time, she organised a party for her mother.
"Happy birthday Mum!" Bonnie said,
"Thank you so much Bonnie, you have really made my day!" Amber said, pulling Bonnie into a hug.
"So will you spend the day with me tomorrow? You always spend time with Cassie and don't spend time with me!" Bonnie asked jealously.
"I'm sorry honey, I will try to spend more time with you. You just seem so happy when you are on your own, I don't want to disturb you or intrude on your privacy." Amber explained. "And you remind me of Ayden..."

Bonnie had done a wonderful job, she had invited everyone on her mother's contact list, and had asked one of them to make a cake too.
Amber cheerfully blew out the candles and took a moment to reflect on how far she had come on her own since arriving at Moonlight Falls.

"I'm doing a good job!" Amber thought to herself after blowing them out.
She stood proudly as her friends all cheered for her.

Amber didn't know how or why, but some distant relative had sent a toy for Cassandra. The note didn't say whether it was a relative on Amber's side of the family or whether it was some relative of David, either way Amber thought the doll was creepy. She was tempted to just throw it away, but decided that Cassandra deserved something of her own, not just Bonnie's old stuff.

Bonnie meanwhile had become obsessed with the chemistry set she had got for her birthday. She said she was making "potions" but when asked what the potions were for she wouldn't say.
Amber was still concerned about her oldest daughter and what was going on in her little head. She watched warily from a distance as her daughter muttered to herself quietly. She reminded Amber of herself when she was younger. Amber used to spend hours up in her room, playing with toys like those. She couldn't help but smile.

Bonnie was starting to act out. Setting booby-traps anywhere that she could think of. Her favourite place to set a trap seemed to be the shower. When her mother was busy feeding Cassandra, or doing one of her work-outs, she would go into the bathroom and set the shower up to change the colour of her mother's hair. Amber couldn't work out how she managed it, but was getting pretty sick of coming out of the shower with stupid colours in her hair. Was it because of her father's death or was it jealousy over the attention her little sister was getting? Amber needed to figure out what was causing this behaviour.

Even after his death, Ayden would still show up while Amber was at work to watch over his daughter. Although his ghost seemed rather concerned with getting the plasma he needed while he was still...well...not quite as dead as he was now. He still wanted to make sure his little Bonnie was doing ok though, and he wondered what her future held for her. Hopefully his ashes would be passed down to her when she grew up, he hoped to stay with her and her future family, to watch them grow and prosper.

The next morning, Amber stayed up after work to get Bonnie up for school. The two of them ate leftover cake for breakfast, much to Bonnie's delight.
"You should let me have cake for every meal, every day for the rest of my life!" Bonnie said gleefully.
"I don't think that would be very good for you!" Amber laughed, "Now come on, eat up, you need to get showered and ready for school."
That didn't sit well with Bonnie. "School?" She asked, "But you promised to spend the day with me!" She crossed her arms, glaring at her mother.
"Come on Bonnie, it's the first day of school, the snow is finally clearing enough for you to go."
"But Mum!" She moaned.
"Go get showered, I will spend the whole evening with you, I don't have to go to work this evening." Amber said.
"Fine!" Bonnie said, storming off, leaving the half eaten cake on the table and slamming the door behind her.
From the bedroom, Amber heard Cassandra start to cry.
"Bonnie! You woke up your sister!" Amber shouted, "You had better be ready for school in five minutes to get the bus because I am NOT driving you there!"
"It's like she's a teenager already" Bonnie thought in despair as she went to settle Cassandra back down.

Amber couldn't help but watch sadly as Bonnie walked away to get the bus. She didn't even look back. It was her first day at school and she didn't even say goodbye.

"At least you still need me." Amber thought as she gave Cassandra her bottle.
"Do you know what's going on with your sister?" She asked her baby daughter.
Cassandra just cooed and stared up at Amber's face.
"Well, I hope you don't grow up as fast as she has." Amber smiled down at Cassandra.

"I love you baby girl." She said, holding Cassandra above her head.
Cassandra giggled. She loved playing aeroplane.
Amber held Cassandra close and sung her a lullaby before going to bed herself.

When Amber woke up, Bonnie was sat on the floor doing her homework.
"Hey honey! How was school?" She asked
"It was ok." Bonnie replied, not looking up from her notebook.
"Did you make any friends?"
"It was the first day Mum."
"Oh, right, sorry, darling." Amber said, "What are you working on?"
"This stupid homework, it doesn't make any sense!" Bonnie said, frustrated.
"Well, let's see if I can help." Amber said, sitting next to her daughter, she had after all promised to spend more time with her.

After dinner, Amber and Bonnie played chess. Although she was just a child, she had already picked up a lot of the basics and was holding her own against her mother. Amber was so happy her daughter enjoyed the game that she loved to play herself.
"Would you like to play a game of chess every day Bonnie? It will be our special time together each day."
"Yeah!" Bonnie replied enthusiastically, "As long as you're ok with me beating you that often!"
Amber and Bonnie laughed and continued to play until Bonnie's bedtime.
"Maybe it's nothing to worry about," Amber thought "Maybe she really was just jealous of her sister."

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For those of you who have been wondering, yes, Bonnie has the Evil trait  >:D

And yes, I did move Ayden's grave to this lot, I want to keep him in the family.