A Constant Test

by Rose Quill

Which one do you want?

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Which one do you want?" I asked my wife.

Rainbow sighed as she juggled her work bag. "I'll take Windvane," she said. "I connect with her easier."

I nodded. We knew which parent each took after. "Ah'll drag Bushel down to the west field," I sighed. "Maybe some hard work'll make him simmer down some."

Rainbow snickered. "Fat chance," she said as she snatched up her keys. "Windy!" she shouted up the stairs. "Last one to the car buys the ice cream!"

"Dashie," I started, but Windvane was already pounding her way to the stairs, hopping the bannister the second she had enough clearance. She was always testing her limits, like her mother that had born her. Where Dash had been a soccer pro, Windvane had gone the gymnastics route, and on her off time, she practiced something called par-core, or something like that. The fifteen-year-old blonde broke her fall by rolling upon landing and skidded around the corner as she nabbed her jacket from the tree in the living room but froze as she caught sight of both of us with annoyed expressions.

"No fair!" I head Bushel shout as he clomped down the stairs. He was built rather like his uncle had been at his age. The younger of our twins rounded the newel post of the stairs and frowned when he saw both of us standing there, my arms starting to cross.

"West end," I said as I fixed my eyes on him. "Now."

Rainbow lofted the keys to Windvane. "Wait for me in the car," she said, the same tone she used on her students.

The twins looked at each other and dropped their heads as they headed for the spots we had designated for them.

I leaned in and kissed my wife, then straightened up and plucked my hat from the tree. "Don't be too long," I whispered. "And Ah want butter pecan."

The shorter woman flipped me a salute and a wink before we headed out.

I walked out to the western orchard, sorting things out in my head. Bushel was leaning against a tree, a stack of empty apple boxes on a wagon next to him, a glower on his face.

"How many?" he asked sullenly.

"Two," I said. "And Ah'm not helping this time."

He frowned. "You know that Ah don't mind being out here, right?" His yellow and red hair was shaggy and in sore need for a trim, and he kept flicking it out of his face. "This isn't much of a punishment."

"Weren't meant to be," I replied, sitting on the wagon and crossing my legs. "But you seem a mite more willin' t'talk when you're working. What brought that ruckus about this morning?"

He glared at the tree as he picked some of the golden delicious apples. "Ah don't know," he said. "Windy and Ah were just talking about the race we had the other day and she exploded."

"Mmm-hmm," I hummed, reminding me of the hundreds of nuances my sister-in-law could eke out of that sound. "Who won that race, if Ah didn't already know."

"She did," Bushel sullenly. "But she didn't race fair, Ma! She kept taking to the lower tree branches when Ah had to duck around them! Fair race means running the same track."

Memories of the races Dash and I had run as teenagers and since flickered through my mind as I leaned forward. "Did ya say that?"

"What?"

"When you took Windvane up on the race," I said softly. "Did you tell her to keep it on the ground?"

He took a blank look as he tried to remember. "Maybe? Ah don't remember."

"When Ah raced your Mom," I said, tilting my hat back. "Ah knew that she was faster in the turns, but I had just as much speed in the straightaway. If Ah didn't state the rules outright, I deserved to lose if she cut corners or tapped into her magic." I chuckled. "Can't believe it took me two races before telling her 'no wings'."

"Ah shouldn't have to tell her, though," he said, setting his second box on the wagon. "Ah ask for a foot race an she starts hopping through trees."

I smile and stand up, putting my hand on his shoulder before he can climb back up the ladder, tossing my head towards the house. As we walked there, I ruffled his messy mop with my hand. "You need a haircut, kiddo," I said. "But lookie here. Ya cain't just get upset with your sister just cause the two of you had different ways of running. She just thinks like her Mom, always pushing boundaries, and she sees the world different from you. It's probably the wings."

As we entered the house, I heard gravel hiss as the car pulled up. Bushel sighed. "Ah got to apologize, don't Ah?"

I smiled and gave him a loose hug. "Ah can't tell you to do it," I told him. "It don't mean anything if forced."

"Ah know," he said. "It's just..."

"Ya hate losing," Rainbow said as she came in with Windvane and set a canvas shopping bag on the kitchen table. "I know the feeling, squirt. But you can't rig the game." That last was directed at Windvane. She pulled out a pair of small cartons and handing them to the kids. "Now get outta here."

They walked into the living room, giving each other apologetic glances.

"Kids," Dash said, digging another spoon from the drawer.

"Ya know you love 'em," I said as I put my hat back on the coat tree. "You get anything outta Windy?"

"The usual," she said, digging in the bag. "He challenged, forgot to set rules, and she just free ran. Kid's a little devious sometimes, it's a little scary."

"Ah know," I sighed. "They're getting to where our word don't hold as much weight anymore. We're getting to the hard part, Rainbow." I felt a tear well up in the corner of my eye. "Seems like yesterday Ah was holding 'em both in my arms."

A carton was held under my nose.

"I wondered why you asked for butter pecan," Dash said as she held out the spoon.

"Hush, you," I said, taking a spoonful of the ice cream. "Let me have my little empty nest moment."

She held up her hands and tilted her head, eyes sliding closed. "Fair enough," she said. Then she smiled. "Though you should know Windy's got a crush."

I whirled on my wife.

"What?"

Comments

[MySisterBroughtMeHere]

Ohhhhh, so Windvane has a crush, does she? I wonder who it could be.

[AJtheRaven]

Cute!!!:!

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

A parenting story eh, nice!