Chase watched him as his smile, that had been slightly terse, suddenly changed to a full out grimace, and Thierry stiffened, scowling at his father. Chase hoisted Selene up farther on her hip, and glanced around the aisle, her cheeks red. She hadn't meant to make it sound like it had.. she was just pointing out that Thierry was older now.. and Fauve... they were beautiful... and not much younger then Chase was to be honest.. she had only been seventeen when she had gotten them.. and both of them had been older then too.. but still.. Chase was the mother, and she had been for the last ten years.. Elijah hadn't been in their lives, even if he had wanted to, she wouldn't have let him, except for the occasional visit to see him and a few other Krums, they had been kept well away from Krums, and each visit grew colder and colder, and more distant until they only ever saw each other when this happened.
"Very handsome." Chase said to the twins, and smiled at them, before her eyes caught site of the little girl behind his legs. Chase smiled and realized she was looking at his daughter, the one that his wife had died having... the poor girl, with no mother.. but now she had no claim on his life, none at all... nor would she ever... which was a good thing. The poor dear though.. growing up in a household like that.. at least Elijah LOOKED as though he were getting more mature.. though his clothes didn't speak very well for his hygiene. Chase's eyes wandered from the little girl, to his finger, where he was twirling a wedding band around his finger. Chase's went to her own unconsciously, and she couldn't help but remember that at one point.. it had been HIS ring on her finger.
Chase knew that Elijah didn't like Calvin, he was upset that she was happy without her... upset that she was able to push through her life, without the need of him. It was obvious that he hated her now.. hated her for what she had done, hated her for doing what was right, but she had always felt sorry for him. Knowing that nothing ever went the way he planned, nothing ever fell into place just right.. "But it's his own damn fault! If he would just pick himself up, brush himself off, buy a new outfit, and move away from the Krums.. he'd be alright.. he could have his children, he could have a life he wanted to lead.. and he could be happy! He's an idiot, and he always will be!"
"He is well.." Chase said in response, and felt herself grow red in the face, there was a rather long awkward silence. Chase looked at Elijah, and then looked away again, putting Selene down on the ground, who resumed a position similar to Alice, standing behind her legs, peeking out at the other little girl. When Alice waved, Selene hesitantly waved back, and smiled shyly, looking up at the man who was watching her with a small cute smile on her face. Selene giggled and grabbed onto Chase's pant leg, watching the other kids with a look of confusion and shyness.
Suddenly the two boys started to talk, and Chase couldn't help but smile when they asked if she would be their daddy's friend... and that they could play with the girls. Selene grew extremely shy when they started to pay her some attention, and she looked up at Chase, who, with a small bit of hesitation, stepped out of the way so that Selene could speak with them. "Yes.. your father and I used to be very good friends." She said softly, never taking her eyes off of Selene, who was standing there, her arms clasped behind her back, rocking on her feet and staring at the ground. "I like ponies..." She whispered, an adorable smile on her face. "Momma lets us go out to the country sometimes... we has ponies there." She said and then went quiet staring at the ground.
"You have no idea how weird it is to see her like that..." Chase said casually. "She is normally quite the talker... she doesn't get shy to often.." She said, looking at the children as they interacted, not knowing what had happened between their parents, or that a couple of them were related. Althought Katherine wasn't there, it occurred to Chase that she and Alice would be half sisters, with the same father but different mothers... Chase stared at the little girl and then sighed. Selene suddenly pipped up. "Katy loves ponies! She likes fireworks too! But I dunno bout blowing stuff up!" She got quiet again, and then giggled happily as she moved closer to Alice. "Hi.." She said nervously, looking at the other girl like she was an alien or something. She hadn't been around many children her age quite yet, for Chase was going to put her with some neighborhood kids quite shortly.
"I like dolls!" Selene exclaimed, and was suddenly looking up at Chase. "Can we go over! Please! Please!" She said and tugged on Chase's pant leg again. Chase looked up at Elijah and knew what he was thinking. "I don't know sweetie.. your daddy has to go on that business trip remember? We'll have to ask him, alright?" She said gently and picked Selene up and put her in the cart again. Selene waved at Alice a bit unhappily, but soon busied herself with entertaining Antony, who looked as though he may start crying.
Just at that moment, Fauve and Katherine came back, holding a springy type dress, and talking. Fauve stopped and her eyes went wide. Thierry, who had been glowering behind the cart for most of the conversation between the children, looked panicked for a moment, his eyes darting from Katherine to Elijah, before he stood slightly between them. Katherine, who hadn't realized who was in the aisle with them, was still chatting, before she sense the tension, and stopped, looking around and her eyes met her father... Similar eyes met, because if there was one thing Katherine had that looked like the man who had helped make her, it was her eyes. Her eyes locked with her father's, and she blushed hard, hiding behind Fauve for a second, before she stepped out and cleared her throat.
Chase spun around, and her eyes landed on her daughter, the girl that looked so much like Chase, and yet had eyes that could make you feel like she was x-raying your soul, just as her father's did. Chase felt her face heat up, and she looked at Fauve, who bit her lower lip, and shrugged, placing the dress in the cart. Chase had let the other two kids go and see the Krum family every now and then, but she had never let Elijah see Katherine... And now here they were, face to face with each other. Katherine looked like she was staring at an alien or something. She had heard stories of her father, and knew what he was like, with a biased opinion of Chase's to help to influence her thinking, but of course, she had always been curious as to what her father was like, because it was no mystery in their household, that the only children who were their parents children, were Selene and Antony, and the others stuck together because of that, especially in the beginning, because they felt as though they didn't quite belong, though now they were all comfortable and happy, a perfect family, Katherine still wondered what her father was like.