Here's the 7th and final part:
After a rather stressful birth, Edi was resting on the massive bed the hospital had provided for her. Normally, it was used for morbidly obese patients who otherwise couldn’t lie on the usual beds. This time, the occupant was probably able to lift the whole thing with just one hand. Still, these thoughts couldn’t be further away for Edi. She was completely occupied by Maria and Agustina, which were resting after the whole exhausting procedure of entering this world. They were both pink and quite squishy, big, happy girls with thin black locks on their scalps and tiny noses, lying on the mighty bosom of their mother.
They would be hungry soon and Edi could sense that she would need her full attention for those two. They already suggested that they would be good eaters …
Thomas was busy with the paperwork at the same time. He had been there for the birth and he had set his hand on the back of Edi’s so as not to get it crushed, but now, there was so much other stuff to do …
The nurse interrupted his concentration and said:
“Sir, these are the things your wife had with her during the birth. We have collected them and if you want, you can return them to her.”
Thomas was a little surprised by the way the woman put it, but took the box she handed him. There were her clothes, neatly folded, some bits and bobs, and the amulet. He looked at it. Somehow, it had lost its shine. He nodded to himself. It had done its work, and now, it was exhausted.
He hadn’t expected otherwise.
He thanked the nurse and returned to his paperwork. He would have to ask Edi if she still liked the amulet.
“Tatay! There’s nothing left to eat and I’m hungry!”
Thomas looked up from the table. He was busy packing up the amulets for delivery. A while ago, he had switched to online sales, and it definitely worked better like this. Also, he could take care of their home and do his part with the kids. Edi was assisting the people of the community mostly, and with her widow’s pension, they were quite comfortable. Of course, the pension lady had required a whole battery of tests before she accepted that the giant musclewoman was indeed the same person, and one hundred and sixteen years old.
After a lot of convincing, things had become easier.
Puberty, however, had turned out to be a challenge.
Maria and Agustina had been … intense kids. Despite being twins, they had developed quickly and had both started to walk at nine months. They were also both pretty big, which caused some confusion to other people because they were both acting like babies while as big as kindergarteners. Thomas had spent a lot of time explaining how they were in fact only a year old and couldn’t be expected to talk or be potty trained, despite running around like crazy and being pretty tall and heavy.
Happily, things had evened out eventually and now, they were big and quite tall, but not unnaturally so. It helped that one of the kids in school was from Samoa, so they didn’t look out of place.
They had ravenous appetites, though.
Thomas got up. He could have shouted something, but as he was closing in on his fortieth birthday, he had become calmer and didn’t like the excitement. He walked to the kitchen and found Agustina rummaging through the fridge. She grumbled:
“Who ate my protein noodles? I spent so much time, and now they’re gone!”
Thomas shrugged. It could have been anyone really. Agustina was six feet tall already and ate like a combine harvester. She had the broad shoulders of a linebacker and indeed played in the local football team with the boys. There had been some debate on whether this was okay, but when she had held the line together with the others and then slammed one of the other players in the ground, she made the team. She was wearing baggy pants and a cutesy t-shirt with a unicorn in aviator shades on it. Her long black hair was tied into a messy bun and she kept looking for her food. She had discussed with her mother about maybe getting to cut her hair, but Edi wouldn’t have it.
There had been quite a lot of shouting involved.
She looked out of the fridge:
“Tatay, do you know who took them? I’m soooo hungry!”
As if to underline her words, her hard, muscle-packed stomach rumbled loudly.
Just then, Maria walked in. She was “the older one”, at least by half a minute, and she adored rubbing it into Agustina’s face lately. It helped that she was two inches taller, a bit bigger than Thomas already. She was slim in the sense that her muscles were brutally ripped, but was otherwise almost as strong as her sister. To Edi’s endless annoyance, Maria loved the goth style and was wearing outfits that her mother couldn’t abide.
Right now, she was wearing those big boots with a lot of buckles she had recently had delivered, custom-made to make room for her calves, some fishnets and a black lace miniskirt. Thomas knew it was teenage rebellion, and it did fit her, but he mostly just wanted her to stop being so provocative to her mother. The top was even worse, displaying her abs behind a thin veil of black mesh and then barely covering her milky white bosom. She wasn’t as buxom as Edi, but it was getting close lately. She had quit acrobatics and cheerleading when she started developing, and had instead switched to martial arts.
Edi was pretty exasperated.
Maria set her big handbag on the kitchen table and pulled out a box of Tupperware to put it in the dishwasher. Agustina stared at it and asked:
“Is that my box?”
The gothy girl looked away.
“Which box are you talking about?”
Agustina rolled her eyes and pointed at the box in the dishwasher.
“This one?”
“Oh … This box. This one. Yes. Uh … I dunno. I just took it.”
“It said ‘Agustina’ on it.”
“It did? Oops. I didn’t … it must have fallen off.”
“What fell off? I wrote it on the plastic with a pen.” She took the box and turned it around: “There, you rubbed the ink off.”
“Are you calling me a thief?”
“Err … let me check … Yes.”
“Well, joke’s on you. I already ate it, so …”
Thomas breathed in sharply:
“Girls, please. Could you not do this?” He turned to Maria: “You took Agustina’s noodles, so you’re going to cook some new ones for her, okay?”
“But …”
“No. Do it. And don’t steal her stuff again.”
“I didn’t … Okay, maybe I did. What can I do? They’re so tasty!” She turned to her sister. “Why are you cooking so good?”
Agustina fumed:
“Why is this compliment not a compliment?”
Thomas rubbed his temples. Teenagers!
“Leave it for now. Maria, get cooking. Agustina, how about you pass round the block while your sister fixes her … mistake?”
The buff girl rolled her eyes and said:
“Fine!”
Then she went to get her skateboard. Thomas added:
“Don’t forget your helmet!”
“Yes, yes …”
And she was off. Thomas was pretty sure her mood would have improved by the time she was back. Lately, there were plenty of nice young men hanging around their grandparents’ houses. News about the girls’ looks had spread, and although Thomas did not condone any boys ogling his daughters, he was quite sure Agustina could hold her own. Any young man who failed to show proper respect would soon find out that his baby girl was able to set heads straight.
With a frown, he got Maria to prepare the food for her sister. Edi would be home soon, and then she’d want lunch herself. He’d have to fix this too.
Suddenly, Maria asked:
“Want me to prepare some food for Mom while I’m at it?”
He smiled. Okay, she could be a bit of a rascal, but she had her heart in the right place.
Thomas nodded and stood on his toes to kiss her forehead:
“Please. That would be a great help!”
“No problem.”
He smiled and returned to his boxes. Maybe the amulet had meant to improve Edi’s life … It certainly had improved his at the same time.
It truly was a miracle.
