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Vector had only wanted to put the clean laundry into his daughter's room, but now he had been staring at her bedroom wall for a few minutes. At a poster on the wall, to be specific.
Amidst the pictures Thalia had taken of various bugs and creatures, hung a poster of a young man in a state of undress. A very inappropriate state of undress.
“Where did she even acquire this?”, he asked his wife, still in disbelief, an hour later. He had called Celeina over during her lunch break for an emergency parent meeting.
There were a few seconds of silence before she broke into a fit of laughter, “This is the emergency?” was what she eventually managed to say. “A poster?”
“With a half-naked man on it!” he protested.
“His shirt has only two buttons undone!”
“Two buttons is entirely inappropriate!”
Celeina threw her hands up in bemused defeat. “You Imperials and your morals…”
“We would appreciate it, if you would take this seriously.”
Celeina took her husband's hands. “Vector, my dear, this is a poster. Depicting a singer from a band she likes. I thought you called me here because you found drugs in her room, or something like that.”
“It is just…very unlike her, to have something this suggestive in her room.”
His wife suppressed a laugh again at his statement. “She is turning 14 soon. It’s normal to have a poster of some celebrity in your room at that age. Even if they’re in a state of undress”
Vector tried his hardest to see his wife's reasoning but couldn’t. All Thalia did in her free time was spending time with her friend Hidaya or look for interesting insects in the woods (also usually with Hidaya. They were inseparable.). When would she have gotten interested in celebrities or boys in general?
The oddities continued a week later. Vector had been excited to sleep in with Celeina for a day. Their twin toddlers, Amir and Avrair, were having their first sleepover at Theron’s place. They had wanted to be grown-up children like their sister and demanded to have a sleepover with their friend Rikki, Theron's daughter. There had been no calls to pick them up during the night, so Celeina and Vector could have a late morning, while Theron and Ky’rii wrestled the three toddlers.
Vector would have never guessed that Thalia would be the one to bother them, as she came storming into their bedroom with a bunch of clothes.
“I have nothing to wear” she declared, and let the clothes fall to the ground dramatically, before she threw herself onto the bed.
Celeina extracted herself from Vector's arms and moved to stroke Thalia’s hair. “Did the clothes stop working, darling?”
“Mama, this isn’t funny! Nothing in my closet matches. Nothing! I can’t go outside in an ugly outfit.”
Vector propped himself up on his arms “We fail to see your issue. The clothes in your closet have been worn by you for a while now. What could suddenly be wrong with them?”
Thalia looked at him like he was an idiot. She clearly wanted to say something but was interrupted by her mother. “Come darling, I’ll help you find an outfit. Don’t listen to your father, he’s still half asleep and not thinking properly.”
Thalia stared him down for a moment longer before she took her clothes and left. Celeina went out of bed as well, pulling a robe over her sleep wear to go and assist their daughter. “Wrong thing to say, my dear.”
“But she has worn these clothes without issue before? Why are they suddenly unwearable?”
“Sometimes the closet just doesn’t cooperate. It happens."
“We merely find it odd that she suddenly cares that much. Remember when she wore a turquoise shirt with her orange pants?”
Celeina chuckled, “That was certainly a choice…but one day we all wake up and discover fashion. For her that day is now.”
Vector threw his hands up in defeat before lying back down. It was considerably too early for matters of fashion.
When Vector wanted to ask Thalia if she wanted to go outside with him and her brothers, he couldn’t find her in the usual spots. He eventually discovered her sitting in front of her mothers dressing table, rummaging through one of the drawers. “Are you looking for something specific?”
Her eyes met his through the mirror. “I need something to cover this monstrosity up.” She pointed at her face. Only as Vector stepped closer he saw the tiny pimple on her forehead. He thought about saying something about not having to cover it up, but decided against it as the outfit incident from a few weeks prior came to his mind.
“We do not think you will find something in your mothers make-up.”
“Why would Mom not have a Concealer? She wears make-up everyday.”
Vector looked at his daughter, a little confused. She was a carbon copy of him. From the shoulders, to the jawline to the green colour of her eyes, which he used to have before joining the nest. If one would cut her hair short and hold an old picture of him next to her, you would not know the difference. Celeina often joked that Thalia had rejected every single one of her genes, as not an ounce of her features were to be found in their child. That included the brown colour of Celeina’s skin.
“You are right, she does. But your mother has an entirely different complexion than you. Even if she has a concealer somewhere in here, it would not have the desired effect on your face.”
Thalia's gaze turned back to her reflection, looking at the dot on her face with disdain and defeat. Vector hugged his daughter from behind and kissed her on the side of her forehead. “How about joining us and your brothers for a walk in the woods? It would be better than sitting here, judging your reflection.”
Vector watched as Thalia’s gaze turned to horror. “I can’t go out like this, Dad!”
Now he was confused again. “What is keeping you from doing so?”
“I look ugly, that’s why!” She broke out of the hug and went straight to her room.
Vector went after her calling out “Thali, wait!” but she locked the door on him. Just as he was about to knock he was interrupted by the twins pulling on his pants, demanding to go outside. Now.
He surrendered to their demands. Perhaps it was best to leave Thalia alone for now. He quickly sent a message to his wife briefing her on what occurred and asked her to switch the planned dinner for Thalia’s favourite food.
He would talk to Thalia later about why she suddenly seemed to have such low self-esteem.
Hidaya had stayed over a thousand times already. But this time the sleepover took a more lavish turn than usual. They had been in the kitchen all day together, preparing something that did not smell quite right, but as long as he didn’t smell smoke, it was probably fine.
When Vector made the mistake of walking by the kitchen to check on them, he wished that he believed in a higher power like his wife, so he could ask for guidance.
He was sure that the girls had managed to involve almost every crockery in their attempt to make dinner. The kitchen looked a total mess.
“Might we ask when you intend to clean this up?”
Thalia shot him a look that said Leave, you’re ruining the vibe and replied with a short “Later.”
“And when exactly will 'Later' be? Your mother is coming home in an hour. With what dishes will she make dinner?”
“We have dinner.” Thalia pointed at a half-failed attempt of a Lasagna that was currently in the oven. It was however, in the small dish size, that his wife had bought for the girls back when they had first started to eat dinner separately from them during sleepovers.
“Darling, your Lasagna looks delicious. But we doubt that the size of this dish is able to feed 6 people.”
“Well, then just put some nuggets or fries in the oven once we’re done here. I’m sure Mom won’t mind not cooking for a day.”
Vector tensed for a moment, listening if the boys had heard their sister mentioning the nuggets. You could not mention foods like these around them, without them fixating on it. Luckily, all he heard was them smashing their toys together.
“You know that your mother has a fixed meal plan for the week. So yes, she would mind. And if you would like to eat dinner in the following days as well, we suggest that you clean at least some of these dishes, while your food is still in the oven. You don’t have to do everything at once, but at least enough so your mother can cook in here after you.”
His daughter gave him an exhausted look before forcing out an annoyed “Fine”.
Vector smiled at his daughter, “Thank you, darling.” At that, he saw something twitch in her aura, like she was suppressing something, but she didn’t say anything further and turned back to Hidaya. The Cathar had watched the interaction unfold and looked a little annoyed that she would be forced to do the dishes as well. He left them to go check on the twins. When he turned his back, the girls started to whisper.
Sadly, this wasn’t the last incident during this particular sleep over.
When Celeina had come home, she had looked at the state of the kitchen with horror. Thalia and Hidaya had cleaned up some of it, but it still looked like a bomb exploded. The culprits had already vanished to their room for the night though, so that was a conversation for tomorrow.
“We need to be optimistic about it. It’s good that they are learning how to cook” His wife started over dinner, looking at the remaining piles of dishes in dismay. “Though we should try and reroute them to one of the communal kitchens on the base. They have dish washer droids.”
Vector did not look up at her when he replied “That would be easier, but then how would they learn to clean up after themselves?” He was currently watching his sons wolf down chocolate pudding with their hands. Lately they had both refused to eat with spoons, throwing tantrums every time their parents tried to convince them otherwise. He was too exhausted to deal with tears right now, but dreaded their little chocolate handprints nonetheless.
“Celeina, dinner is delicious as always, but we need some fresh air. It has been a long day.”
She looked over to him with a mix of worry and understanding. “You can go. I’ll manage.”
Vector pushed himself out of the chair. “We’ll take a while.” he said as an explanation, as he already gave the boys a Good-Night kiss, maneuvering himself to avoid their pudding hands.
He went for a walk in the woods behind the base. The headache that had been forming finally disappeared as he experienced some peace and quiet for the first time since the early morning hours. The twins had always turned his hair gray since they were born, but Thalia adding herself to the mix was a development he had not seen coming.
She had always been a quiet child. A little odd with her interest in insects but she had a friend who shared her love for bugs, so there had never been a reason to worry. Thali still was that child, but her recent mood swings were new. Him and Celeina would have to reevaluate their strategy of raising their child, but that could wait until tomorrow. All he currently wished to do was go to bed.
As he reentered their apartment he was met with pop-music coming out of Thalia’s room. It wasn’t too loud, but loud enough to be annoying.
Celeina was already knocking on the door, trying to be heard over the music. “Thali, could you please turn the music down? Your brothers are going to bed now.”
The music got louder in response. Vector saw his wife take a deep breath before trying to open the door.
“Ugh, can I ever have some fun in this house?!”
“You can have fun when your brothers aren’t trying to sleep. So either be quiet or go with Hidaya somewhere we can’t hear the music.”
Thalia rolled her eyes and slid the door closed without further protest. The music was thankfully turned down.
Celeina turned around to him and they both shared an exhausted look. Vector was the first to speak “We think it best to go to bed. There is no use talking about it now.”
“You’re right. Go ahead, I still need to clean off the pudding from the table.”
Vector briefly considered helping but found himself too tired. He went to bed hoping that Thalia’s new attitude would be a brief and temporary chapter in her life.
The following morning Vector had given up and decided to forego the drama by conquering some of these dishes himself. Celeina meanwhile tried to make them breakfast among the chaos.
He was surprised when Thalia appeared next to him, holding a Datapad for him to look at. She was usually never up this early when she had a sleepover.
“Dad, can I go to this concert with Hidaya?”
Vector skimmed the poster for said concert. It was some sort of boy band, one of the members was the poster man. But it seemed his daughter might have missed a little detail.
“Thali, this concert is on Coruscant.”
“So?”
“Both us and your mother are technically Imperial citizens. Despite being with the Alliance now.”
“Okay, cool. What does that have to do with the concert?” He could see his daughter's Aura getting irritated.
“You are considered Imperial as well by default. And the concert is on Coruscant. The Republic’s Capitol."
“Meaning?”
“You can not go.”
Thalia’s aura exploded with anger. “That’s unfair! Hidaya gets to go!”
Vector tried his best to reason with his daughter. “The Jorgan’s are from the Republic. So unlike you, she would not be detained on Coruscant.”
Thalia rolled her eyes. “Well then make me a Fake ID or something! Mom’s a spy, she probably has 10 of them lying around somewhere.”
“I will certainly not do that!” came from over by the fridge.
Vector was getting frustrated. Why wasn’t it clicking for her? “Thalia! We will not let you travel to Coruscant with fake documents! Do you have any idea what would happen if you were found out?”
“But, Hidaya is going! This is my favourite band!”
He tried to calm down her temper with a compromise. “If they ever play on a neutral world, we will take you there. We promise.”
“But Hidaya is going to this concert! We do everything together!”
“You are not going to Coruscant!” and “The answer is No!” came simultaneously from Vector and Celeina.
He had never known his daughter to get angry. And he had also not known that her already anger-filled Aura could explode into a Super Nova.
“I HATE YOU!” Thalia screamed at full lung capacity before storming off to her room.
If the door would have been slammable she would have done so, Vector was sure of it. He could tell by the force she had hit the button to close the door with.
As the door to Thalia’s room slid close, Vector found himself unable to move. What had just happened?
Celeina came up beside him and intertwined their hands. Together they stood there gazing at their daughter's door. “She hates us…I suppose that makes it official. We have a teenager on our hands.”
Vector used his free hand to run his fingers through his hair in frustration. He had never thought much about the looming threat of puberty. He always figured that since his daughter was so much like him, she would just stay the way she was, like he had. That she would become a little more open to socialisation and that was it. How wrong he had been.
His wife moved in front of him and pulled his head down until their foreheads were touching. “Hey…we have survived much worse than a teenager.”
Vector closed his eyes and took comfort in their closeness. “You are right, of course…This feels hard to face nonetheless. It has come about so sudden.”
“I know, but I’m sure we’ll manage.” She gave him what ended up feeling like a good luck kiss before a battle. When Celeina spoke again her voice had taken on that bemused tone again. “Ready for the last stretch of raising a child?”
“No…but it’s not like we have a choice…” His wife laughed at that and kissed him on the cheek, before going back to making breakfast.
He left the dishes and went to make himself a cup of tea to soothe his nerves. He had a feeling that he was going to need a lot of those in the next few years.