Bigger on the Inside

[PunkPrince]

"Give that back!"
"I need it!"
"I need to finish putting the sequins on this–Ow! Damn it, Kasha, you burnt me!"
"It's a hot glue gun, what'd you think was gonna happen, idiot?"

Jupiter slinked out into the hallway from one of the bedrooms, and Eva could see that they were struggling to close a bra through their shirt. She stopped them and clipped it closed. "Better?"

Jupiter nodded, flashing the woman an appreciative smile before adjusting the silicone breast forms that rested in the bra. She knew that Jupiter longed for breasts and feminine curves, and they had talked to a few people about getting Jupiter on a low dose of estrogen, but so far, no luck. Eva and Kennedy did what they could for them. Jupiter pushed back their messy blonde hair and looked up the stairs.

"Fighting over a glue gun," they explained. "Kyra was trying to use it to put sequins on a dress, and I guess..." They shrugged and slipped out the front door. It wasn't unusual for the children to call each other by their drag names.

"Damn it," Kennedy growled softly. "Nothing can ever go smoothly in this house." She sighed and turned to yell up the stairs. "Boys! Come here, and for god's sake be nicer to each other. There are glue guns all over this house, there's no reason for you to be arguing over that one. One of you can borrow mine, if it matters that much."

Ronan bounded over to them, Hugo creeping along slowly after him. Hugo continued to stare at the floor and apologized softly. "I'm sorry." He didn't look up at either of them. Kennedy sighed and gave the smaller twin's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "It's okay," she said softly. "I'm sorry for shouting, honey, I'm just stressed about today. I just want things to go well. I don't want to freak them out with fighting. How would you feel if Eva and I had been fighting the first day you came to live with us?"

Hugo gave a small smile and Kennedy returned it as she slipped out the front door onto the wooden porch.

Busy. That was the perfect word to describe the last week. Scrambling to get everything perfect for the pair of twins coming to live with them. The second pair, actually. It was the similarities to Hugo and Ronan that had drawn Eva and Kennedy to these two. The repeated rejection, over and over again.

Originally, they had gone looking for a younger child, one they could raise together. But these two...they just couldn't leave them behind, in the state they were in. It was too much of what that had seen before. What Eva and Kennedy had endured, in some sense, and what their children had spent their lives in before finding them.

***
"They're here! Hurry up, Hugo!"

Kennedy turned and quickly moved to stand beside Eva again as their son scrambled to close the door behind him. He, as usual, stayed close to Kennedy and his brother, standing between the two, looking anxious as ever. "I hope they like us," he said quietly as they watched the silver car pull into the driveway. Jupiter craned their neck to look at the pair as they climbed out of the car. Their feet shuffled slightly, resulting in the clicking of their high heeled shoes on the wooden porch.

Eva found herself praying that she wouldn't have to hear her birth name. Neither she nor Kennedy had been able to change their names legally as of yet. On everything legal, Eva was Eric and Kennedy was Keegan, and each time one of them had to hear it it felt like a slap in the face.

The social worker spoke as he reached them, apprehensiveness in his tone. "Hello, Eric," he greeted, spitting out the words in a tone normally reserved for something sick and vile. He looked back to the pair of twins. Well, this is Eric. He's your new adoptive father. He and Keegan, both actually." He motioned to Kennedy. Eva flinched at the near forgotten name. She felt Kennedy gently squeeze her arm. She didn't have to look at the other woman to know that anger had begun to flare up in her eyes. "I believe the woman who approved you may have mentioned your..." he cleared his throat. "Hobby."

"Her name is Eva and she is their mother," Kennedy said, glaring at the social worker. "And my name is Kennedy. I believe we discussed this with you in the interview we had, and we told Marie too. Repeatedly."

"You could at least make an effort when you're standing on our front porch." That was Jupiter, blue eyes narrowing as they watched the man.

The social worker looked the teenager over disapprovingly. "You must be Kevin."

Jupiter ignored the use of their birth name and lifted their chin. They clearly had some sort of comeback to snap back with, but held their tongue, knowing that now wasn't the time to start a fight.

The social worker looked back to the twins. "Call me if things don't work out."

"I'm sure we'll be fine," Kennedy said coldly.

And then, the paperwork was done and the man gone off the porch. As he left, Kennedy turned to the pair. "I'm sorry about that," she said gently. "Nobody's mad at you. People like that just upset me." She paused and turned to Eva, who remained quiet and seemed slightly shaken. "Are you all right?" She directed the question to Jupiter as well.

"Fine," Jupiter said simply.

"I'm okay," Eva said. "I knew he'd do it. I just never really get used to it. But thank you." She gave her partner a small smile, and Kennedy reached up to move a piece of Eva's hair away from her face, leaning up to peck the taller woman on the cheek before turning back to the twins.

"But anyway, I think an honest introduction is in order. My name is Kennedy and this is Eva. This is Jupiter, Ronan, and Hugo."

"Hello," Jupiter greeted.

"Hi! Ronan chirped, sunny as ever. Hugo gave a small wave from where he stood, still trying to calm himself from the earlier tensions.

 

[WickedlyLurking]

"I feel sick." Teagen groaned, from she sat at the foot of her bed -well it wasn't her bed anymore, it'd go to the next kid who came to the foster home- watching Embry pace the length of the room. They both had hardly slept the night before and Teagen already had a scattering of bruises on her arm where she'd worried at her skin all night.

Stopping his pacing, he touched the back of his hand to her forehead, "You're warm. It's not a fever though, so don't go getting sick now. The last thing they'll want to deal with is a sick kid." They being the couple who the twins were going to live with now and the primary cause of this undue stress. The knot in Embry's stomach had been getting worse ever since Marie had told them the good news last week and now that the day was finally here, he found himself restless and on the verge of throwing up what little food he'd managed to force down for breakfast.

"I don't think they'd mind too much, Marie said they were nice people and they did decide to adopt us. That must mean something."

"Marie says a lot of things, so don't get your hopes up. They'll get tired of us eventually and wh…" He was interrupted by their door opening and their social worker David looked in, "Good, you're both ready. Let's go."

Marie was there to see them off all teary eyed and smiling, "You guys be on your best behavior and don't give them too much trouble." She reached down to pull them into a hug and Embry ducked under her arm and hurried to the car, he didn't plan on getting Marie's hopes up that they'd finally found their forever home. If his experiences had taught him anything they'd be back here in a month maybe two.

Teagen patted Marie's back before she pulled away, "We'll be good. Promise." Unlike her brother, she didn't think Eva and Kennedy would go through the trouble of adopting them just to get rid them if they proved too much trouble, she refused to even entertain the idea.
~~~
Pulling up to the house, David turned in his sit to look back at them for a long moment before he spoke, "I know this is scary and confusing, but I'm sure Keegan and Eric are nice people...if you can look past their lifestyle choices." He tried for a reassuring smile, "But that's not for you guys to worry yourself with."

Teagen was the first out of the car and as nervous as she at meeting new people, it didn't detract from the excitement of actually getting a new family who she hoped didn't take one look at them and run in the other direction. She looked back at her brother who sat staring up at the assembly of people on the porch, he looked like he was going to be sick and when he grabbed onto her offered hand, his skin was cold and clammy.

"They look nice...right?" She said, her voice low as they followed David up the stairs. Her eyes darted over the small group of people, her heart hammering in her chest. This was it, there was no turning back now. She tried to smile and failed miserably, her lips trembling and eyes burning. She would not cry in front of these perfectly nice looking people. It would probably hurt their feelings and she didn't want to be called a crybaby. She hated that name and she didn't want to hate these people.

David was being an ass and Embry wanted to hit him, it was bad form to stand on someone else's porch and openly insult them about their hobbies. And just because Embry didn't trust these people and was at a loss on how to remember all their multiple names he wouldn't purposely be spiteful.

The tension was thick and heavy and the ice in Kennedy's voice had Teagen taking a step back, using her brother like a shield so as not to have any of that anger directed at her. But Kennedy wasn't made at her and that was good. She didn't want any of them mad at her, people got scary when they were mad.

"Call me if things don't work out" David didn't stick around long, once the paperwork was done he practically ran down the stairs and Embry watched the silver car speed out of the driveway before he turned back to the porch where Kennedy was introducing the rest of the people.

"Embry." he croaked, before clearing his throat, "this is Teagen."

She waved at them, "Can I use the bathroom?...If its not too much trouble."

 

[PunkPrince]

Eva smiled at the pair before her. The second pair of twins to be brought into their home. They reminded her so much of the way Ronan and Hugo had been when she had first met them. She led them into the house, followed by the others. Ronan bounced cheerfully into the house. Jupiter strode inside with their chin held high, glancing behind them once, as though to make sure the car really was gone.

Hugo slinked through the doorway and anxiously glanced over his shoulder at Teagen and Embry. He didn't say anything, just offered a timid smile before skittering off up the stairs.

"He'll be back," Kennedy said as she heard the boy's bedroom door close. "He's just anxious. Probably went to calm himself down." Hugo frequently panicked at even the slightest little tiff. He had improved somewhat in the time he had spent with them, but was still terrified of even the slightest agitation.

"Of course you can use the bathroom," Eva said, her voice soft and gentle as ever. "We can show you your bedroom afterward if you'd like. I hope sharing a room is all right. We thought you might prefer to stay together, being that you're in a new place and everything. The bathroom is just down the hall."

 

[WickedlyLurking]

With a mumbled thanks Teagen hurried to the bathroom leaving Embry to fend for himself. He rocked back on his heels while shifting through a list of possible things to talk about, dismissing each one as they came to him. Standing around in silence worked too but that only helped to mount his growing anxiety, "So are any of you actually blood related? Besides the twins obviously."

Teagen emerged from the bathroom wiping her wet hands on her clothes, "All better now." This time her smile came easier but she still kept close to Embry, there were still too many unknowns.

Now that Teagen was out of the bathroom, he didn't see any reason to stick around here any longer and he looked over at Eva, "Bedroom?"

 

[PunkPrince]

Teagen hurried down the hallway to the bathroom. They stood in silence for a few seconds before Embry spoke up. A fair question. Ronan answered before anyone else could. "Nope!" he said. "Just us. Jupiter was an only child before they came here, and Eva doesn't have any siblings. Kennedy has a brother but she doesn't talk to him anymore."

At the mention of the bedroom, Kennedy led the way up the stairs, and she paused at the sight before her. One of Hugo's curly blonde wigs--part of it speckled with sequins--was moving up and down the hallway floor. Hugo stood completely still, like he was waiting for the right time to pounce. After a moment, the wig stopped moving and the boy snatched it up, a black and white spotted rat dangling from the end of it.

"Why are you like this, Ace?" he sighed, pulling the rat off the wig and sitting it on his shoulder. "I don't come into your house and take your things away when you're using them."

Eva chuckled softly at the scene before her. Hugo looked sheepishly over his shoulder and grinned before vanishing into his room again.

The group headed down the hall and Kennedy opened the door to the bedroom the twins were to share. "I'm sorry it's so plain," she apologized.

"We weren't exactly sure what you liked, so we couldn't really do much decorating," Eva added. "We can go out within the next couple days and pick out some things more to your tastes, if you'd like."

"But, now that you've seen the place," she said, "Is there anything you want to ask us, or anything you'd like to say?"

 

[WickedlyLurking]

~~
The blonde wig moving down the hall had Teagen grabbing onto her brother's arm as she let a small squeak. No one had said anything about ghosts being in the house and she'd never heard of a haunted wig before. But the source of movement just turned out to be a rat that Hugo called 'Ace' and no seemed the least bothered that he was keeping a rat as a pet.

The rat was momentarily forgotten when Kennedy showed them their bedroom. Teagen sat on the bed farthest/furthest from the door, "It's nice, thank you....do you think we could paint the walls?"

There was something that had been bothering Embry ever since they'd arrived, but he wasn't sure how to ask without upsetting them, "David sai..." He stopped his eyebrows drawing together and he shook his head, "You said your name was Eva but David called you Eric. He said we shouldn't have to about this stuff but I don'....I don't-"

He glared down at his feet for a long moment before his attention turned to Eva, "Are you a boy or are you a girl? And why does Jupiter look like a boy but dress like a girl? Is it a...hobby or something? Are we supposed to call you something else in public?" His head hurt from all the warring contradictions and he just wanted, no 'needed' to understand. Was he expected to dress like a girl too? And what about Teagen?

 

[PunkPrince]

"If you'd like to," Kennedy said as Teagen asked if they could paint the walls. "Whatever makes you happy." That was all she really wanted. For these two to be happy and feel safe and loved, and if painting the walls helped with that, so be it.

And then the question came. It was one they had expected from the get-go, and to be honest, Eva was surprised that it hadn't come up sooner. Embry seemed embarrassed to be asking, staring down at the floor as he spoke. His voice wavered when he finally did turn to face her. Eva gave a small smile as she spoke.

"My name is Eva," she told him. "Eric was my birth name. Nobody uses it for me, and I don't like hearing it, but it's what's on all my legal documents and paperwork and such. I haven't managed to change it yet. The laws in this state make it a lot harder than it needs to be.I'm a transgender woman," Eva said. "Kennedy and I both, actually. People thought we were boys based on how we looked when we were born, and then we told them otherwise when we got older."

"And as for Jupiter," Kennedy said, "it's pretty much the same except for instead of being a girl they feel more like they aren't a boy or a girl. And no, you aren't supposed to call us something else in public." She chuckled softly at the last part. "But we also perform in drag--which is like performance based around gender--a few times a week at bars."

 

[WickedlyLurking]

Embry stared at them for a long moment, a thoughtful expression on his face. That had gone better than he'd expected and he relaxed a fraction, his lips twitching with the ghost of a smile, "Okay." He had made it out to be more complicated than it really was; Kennedy and Eva were girls and that was simple enough to understand. But Jupiter was still confusing him and he turned to them, "So if you're not a boy or a girl... than what are you?" He had never thought of the possibility that there may be others who weren't one or the other and now that he was aware of it, he wanted to know more.

Bored with the current conversation, Teagen moved to the window, pressing her nose against the sun warmed glass, "Do we have to go to school?" She asked, absently picking at a loose string on her shirt. Just the thought of school left her cold and wanting to cry but she kept her face pressed to the window, her body rigid and unmoving. It wouldn't do if she started crying now without a plausible reason.

 

[PunkPrince]

Jupiter shrugged as Embry continued to question them, clearly interested. "Neither," they said simply. "I'm just...me. A person. I'm not really a girl but I'm definitely not a boy. Some people aren't boys or girls, some are both, some fluctuate between the two, and some are neither."

Kennedy looked over at Teagen. The girl looked terrified at the idea of going to school. "Not if you don't want to," she said.
Ronan spoke up then. "We haven't gone to public school since we moved here. Most of our classes are online now. I didn't really like public school anyway. But I'm sure you could go if you wanted."

 

[WickedlyLurking]

Embry mulled this over while rocking back on his heels. Today had been quite the learning experience and he decided he liked Eva and Kennedy and their little merry band of misfits. Trust them, he didn't but he wouldn't out right try and be a pain in the ass just to prove a point like he'd done with many of the people they'd stayed with before, "Thanks...for putting up with my questions."

Teagen nodded letting out a trembling sigh, "I think I'd like to take online classes...if its not too much trouble."

Going to public school would prove to be a new experience for Embry but if Teag didn't want to go he'd stay. This was a stressful new situation for the both of them and Teagen was prone to hurting herself if the stress got to be too much for her, which meant Embry had to stay close by to make sure she didn't hurt herself.