Chapter Text
Around his teenage years, Adam dreamt of his late mother.
It was a blurry thing, composed of a mix of saturated colours that blended in with each other and made him oh so confused over the very sight in front of him. There was an abstract feeling that appeared as the dream slowly converged in on itself. It twisted on its own, bearing the unknown with it and slowly peeling back to reveal an inner layer that made Adam think of his siblings.
There was a certain colour all over the walls, and though he wasn’t so sure over what they were, he knew that it fit so perfectly with the mischief that his siblings adore.
His own feet guided him somewhere, and finally he arrived at a room that smelled of milk and lulled the sound of a sweet soft lullaby. It was sung like a secret whisper, with a low pitch and a demure tone that removed the haze in his mind.
Adam stopped in his steps, in front of him stood a young woman just a view feet away. Her hair even paler than his, and her body looking so frail that he thought she would die with just a slight passing breeze.
The woman turned around, and Adam felt his own heart skip a beat.
It was like looking at an older version of his brothers, except with softer lines and a face so mature that Adam believed it would never ever appear in either Amon and Klein.
“Adam?” the woman smiled, “Still awake at this hour?”
“I…” Adam didn’t know what to say to this phantom, but he called her anyway, “Mom?”
She nodded. And Adam finally noticed the crib in the middle of the room when he looked away from her. It was empty, but there was a small dent in it that he imagined must have once hosted a baby. Or maybe two.
“We haven’t seen each other for quite some time, right?” She ushered him to a wooden seat beside her, and when Adam sat down, she held his head to her shoulder and started caressing his hair, “Why don’t you tell me something interesting?”
Adam blinked his eyes and stared at her.
Noticing his gaze, she chuckled. “Really, you’re just like your father.” She laid her head on his while her hand stopped on his shoulder. She felt warm. “Always thinking in a straight line; you two never see the bigger picture.”
Adam broke away from her hold and asked her, “What do you mean by that? Mom?”
She wasn’t offended by his actions. In fact, she just smiled more and bowed down to look at him in the eyes. “Why not try to be like your siblings? More free and carefree than anything else.”
Adam frowned, “But, aren’t they too carefree?”
He remembered when he had to go to their school because their father was busy with his work and seeing the state of the classroom that both of his siblings were a part of. It was messy and filled with so much wet paper that even he felt like dying just by looking at it.
It was a reason for why Adam wouldn’t dare to act like his siblings. Causing people trouble didn’t feel like him, and when there was a consequence for it that could implicate other people who were innocent.
“I mean,” She overlapped her hands over his, “to have fun in life.” She continued, “Your father may be a busy person; maybe he’s been neglecting you and well, pretty much anyone else who’s not his patient. But trust me when I say that he loves you.”
She giggled, “I remember when he first held you in his hands. The amount of emotions that I saw was more than anything I’ve ever seen in him.”
Adam could only stare at her. After all, he didn’t have a memory of that time, and this is a dream he’s having. Who’s to say that this isn’t just his own subconsciousness trying to comfort him?
Maybe she heard his inner thoughts, as she lightly tapped his forehead with her slender finger. “Sometimes I wish that your father could express his own emotions better. And I supposed,” she tapped her chin, “spend more time with his own kids.
“But,” her voice started to fade away, “at least you have your siblings to accompany you now, Adam.”
The dream started to blur in an instant. Panicked, Adam tried to grasp his mother’s hand, but it went right through her as though what he had just experienced was nothing more than an illusion.
“Be happy, Adam.” Her voice rang, “I’ll be watching you.”
In a flash, Adam found himself staring at a face that overlapped with his dream. His mouth almost blurted out the word ‘Mom’ before he noticed the slight difference in its face and reality snapped him back awake.
“Brother?” Klein’s voice sounded in the room.
Adam had fallen asleep on his desk with his notebook still open and his own work halfway finished. He looked towards the window and a clear blue sky immediately appeared in his vision. It was still noon, not the night that he thought it was.
He turned to look at Klein, “What’s wrong, Klein?”
Klein eyes his desk, “You fell asleep and almost forgot about our appointment.”
“Appointment?” Adam tried to figure out what his younger sibling was talking about, but nothing came up. “What appointment?”
Klein decided to look towards the door, where his own twin—Amon was standing like a guard. The other waved at both of them.
“Did you forget, Brother?” Klein said, “You promised us to go out to eat today.”
Really, Adam didn’t know what he was talking about. But since Klein was least likely to ever prank him, he decided to go along with the flow. “Wait for a minute then, I’ll go change my clothes.”
Unexpectedly, Klein shook his head, “You don’t need to. The place we’re going to eat at doesn’t need formal clothes.”
Adam asked with a frown, “Where exactly are we eating at?”
Amon decided to answer his question, “It’s a secret! Adam, you really hit your head today didn’t you?”
Klein glared at his twin, but nonetheless nodded at what the other said, “Yeah, Brother. I’m surprised that you forgot about today.”
Falling into confusion, Adam let himself be silent. There was only a rare five percent chance that Klein would ever decide to scam him. And the chances of him teaming up with Amon to scam him was even rarer. So...should he let himself be dragged or not?
He listed out all the pros of agreeing along with the cons, before finally exhaling a sigh and nodding to Klein, “Fine then, let’s just go.”
Klein had his small smile while Amon made the smile that meant something horrible was about to happen, which Adam decided to ignore.
They dragged him outside, and it was a hotter day than Adam felt when he was inside the house. The sun was shining brightly and there was a damp feeling that somehow made it feel worse than ever. But he pushed it to the corner of his mind and followed his troublemaker siblings to the restaurant that they’re supposed to be on today.
When it was made apparent that it was a much, much more formal place than he had anticipated, Adam felt apprehensive and almost wanted to go back home but his siblings kept their hold on him.
They went through the front door, and immediately he was bombarded by party poopers and the song of ‘Happy Birthday’ that was out of tune.
He watched, eyes wide as the sight of Medici with his friend, Ouroboros who could’ve been the babysitter for the twins had he not been born as a winner in his entire life clap along with the song, Medici with his usual shit grin and Ouroboros with a face so flat that Adam wondered if he even have any emotions.
And then, the climax appeared in the form of a man that Adam only saw in the passing. He had black hair, a smooth face and a rather small smile that reminded him of Klein.
It was his father.
And Adam became unsure of what he should feel. Should he be happy to see him attending his birthday? Should he feel angry over his absence over the years? Or should he cry a river with how isolated he feels now?
He didn’t remember that it was his birthday. Maybe it was because his family rarely ever celebrated birthdays. Or perhaps it was his own stress that managed to make him forget the very day that he had been born on.
His father came closer and crouched down to pat his face. “Forgive me, son, for being so busy in the hospital.” Adam saw his father’s friend standing close to the adult.
“I know I haven’t been the best,” His father continued despite Adam not looking at him. “But I promise you that I’ll be better from now on.”
“Yeah, Old Man.” Medici decided to pipe in, “You sure like to spend your time in the hospital and none at all in your own house!”
Father turned and gave a certain smile to Medici. From Adam’s own observation, he probably wants to punch this red-haired annoyance away from his sight for inserting something unnecessary within a touching moment.
“It’s...fine,” whispered Adam. His mind churned back to the dream that he had just a while ago, “I know at least that you love us.”
Medici cackled in the background.
Apparently tired of the red-haired existence, Klein kicked the adult in the shin, while Amon decided to support his twin by giving him a thumbs up. Klein glared at Amon at the end.
Father pursed his lips but said nothing else other than, “Well, why don’t you tell me about your day then, Adam?”
The birthday boy nodded, and finally they ended the day on a high note: all of their family with their hands interlocked with one another.