Rebel 3.11

We'd been living in the new house a few years, an the twins were turning Fifteen, time really does fly. So for their party I went all out, finally I was able to give them a real party.  They both wanted identical cakes, so that made it easy, all their friends from school came as did dad and mom,  Melina couldn't make it, but she sent along a gift.

 I got them both a makeover as a gift. Tanner definitely took after my side of the family, Berlin on the other hand looked just like her father.

  Mom and dad stayed a while after the party to catch up on everything, though I was starting to wish they lived closer. For the longest time all I wanted was to be free of them, but now I realized how much I missed them. Before they left I made sure to apologize for all the crap I had done when I was younger.

In the days following the party, the kids started high school, and I encouraged them to find their path in life. Berlin took after me, she loved music though her taste leaned towards the classical side. She wanted to become a composer, and spent many hours at the piano. Tanner had so many interests that I had no idea what he was going to do next. He did spend lots of time learning how to mix drinks, all non alcoholic of course.

My music career was better than ever, I had recorded several albums, and one even went platinum. I was a well known celebrity, and had branched out on my tours. I still stayed within the country, though I manager wanted me to tour internationally. I had to turn him down, my kids were more important, I couldn't leave them for months at a time, maybe when they were out of school an international tour might be possible.

Late one night, I heard a knock at the front door, I normally didn't answer the door myself, let alone that late at night, but for some reason I did. "Coming!" I shouted towards the door as walked over to answer it. I didn't even make it to the door, I caught a glimpse of the man at my door,  and I couldn't breathe, the room started spinning, and the floor was getting closer. I fainted.  The kids must have heard me faint, because I woke up and both of them were standing over me. "What happened?" Tanner asked visibly upset. I couldn't even get the words out, I just looked out the door.

Tanner saw him too, so at least I wasn't imagining it, he took off out the door before I could stop him. "Who are you?" He shouted at the stranger. "What did you do to my mom?" The shouting continued. The stranger got defensive, "look kid, I didn't do anything, I didn't even get a chance to say anything to Isabella. Just give her this please,  I'll leave now." He handed Tanner a slip of paper, and walked off.

When Tanner came back inside both he and Berlin bombarded me with questions, "who was that, what happened, was I okay, what was on the note".  I told both of them to have a seat at the table and I told them, "That was your father, Nathaniel." They both looked at each other confused before Berlin said, "But you said he was dead, he died before we were born." "That's what I  thought too" I answered. I told them about the phone call I got informing me of his death, how he had been hit by a car while riding his motorcycle, and both had gone off the road over the cliff and by the time help had gotten there the car was on fire, there were no survivors. I told them how we had a funeral, and I had lived every day since missing him. I looked down at the crumpled paper in my hand, reading the words over and over : "I'm not dead, I'm here." Followed by the name of a hotel here in town.

Rebel 3.10

Winter arrived and with it came a pay raise, which was a blessing. We had tons of snow, and the kids had several days off of school due to the snow. On one of their snow days, I decided to take them to the winter festival. "Are you ready?" I called to the kids as I headed to the door. "Ready!" They shouted in unison, running out the door ahead of me. We piled into the car and drove to the fair grounds. I had plenty to spend on them this time around. "What do you want to do first?" I asked as we got out of the car. "I want to ice skate" Berlin said. "Skating is for girls, I want to snowboard" Tanner chimed in. "Well, Berlin and I will skate, and Tanner you can go snowboarding. How's that sound?" "Sounds great" they both said. So Tanner headed off to snowboard, and us girls went skating.

We skated for a while, till we fell down laughing. Getting back up I suggested going to get some hot chocolate, calling to Tanner as we made our was to the food cart. On the way the kids saw the snowball fight zone, and just had to stop for a game. Well one game turned into five and pretty soon it was getting dark. "Come on guys, time to go!" I called. That was met with "aww, mom! One more game!" "No, guys. It's getting late, we need to get home." "Can we get some hot chocolate to go?" Tanner asked. " That's a great idea." I said. I ordered three cocoa's to go, and we piled back into the car headed home. Both Berlin and Tanner were fast asleep before I even reached the house. I pulled up in the drive, got the house open, and carried them to their beds one at a time, kissed them goodnight, and went to bed myself, falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. 

Since I had a bit of extra money for the first time ever, I got the kids to something they had been begging for for the last year at least. I got them a puppy, her name was QT, and she took to Berlin right away. Tanner played with her occasionally, but most of the time she was with Berlin.

My birthday was coming up, though I had no plans other than spending it with my kids. When the day came, Berlin surprised me with a cake she had made herself. "Happy birthday Mom!" Berlin shouted, showing me the cake. "Blow out the candles and make a wish!" Tanner said. "What could I possibly wish for? I have everything I could want in you two!" I said as I blew out the candles.

No sooner had I finished, than my phone started to ring. "Hello?" As I listened to what the voice on the other end of the line said, I could feel my eyes getting bigger and bigger. My shock must have showed, because Berlin and Tanner stopped what they were doing and stared at me waiting for me finish my call. When I finally hung up, I needed to sit down, I made my way to the table and sat as both kids sat down as well. "What's going on, mom?" Berlin asked concerned. "Well" I started "That was my boss at the studio, apparently one one of the songs I had recorded in my free time had made it onto the radio, and the head of the studio heard it, as did thousands of other people. The phones at the studio have been ringing off the hook with requests for them to play my song. The head of the studio offered me a deal, and a rather large sign on bonus." As I talked I could feel myself getting excited, though both kids looked at me not fully understanding what had happened. "Guys, I finally get to make an album of my own, and the money they offered means we don't have to worry about anything again. Basically we're rich!" That got their attention, they started talking excitedly making a list of all the things they wanted me to buy. "Wait, wait, wait. I still have to sign the contract, and I have an idea for the first thing we should buy." I interrupted them. "What's your idea?" Tanner asked. "What if I showed you instead of telling you" I said with a smile. "Come on, let's go" I headed towards the door knowing they would follow me. We all got in the car, Berlin and Tanner trying to guess what I had in mind. I drove across town, and stopped in front of a huge house right on the beach. "Well, what do you think?" I asked. Both kids were speechless for a few minutes, then both started talking excitedly, planning out which rooms would be theirs. "I take it that's a yes?" I inquired. "Yes!" They shouted. "Okay as soon as I get home I'll call the realtor and make an offer. I took the kids back home, and headed over to the studio to sign the contract that would change all our lives. Once the contract was signed, and the check was in my hand, I went to the bank, and deposited a third into my account, one third went into an account for Berlin, and one third into an account for Tanner. Neither one would get their money till they turned twenty-one, but at least they would have a good start to their lives on their own. As soon as that was done, I went to the salon and got a makeover, it was time for the purple hair to go, so I got it all dyed black, and bought some more mature clothes. Next stop was the realtor's office, when I inquired about the house, I was told the price had just dropped that morning, as the couple selling it needed it sold as fast as they could. I put in my offer and told the realtor I want to close as soon as I could. Heading home, I thought about how perfect this birthday had turned out to be.

One week later I went to the realtor's office again to sign the papers and get the keys to my new house. As soon as I got home, I got the kids and we went to the new house to have a look around. The house was huge! It has two bathrooms, three bedrooms, a double living room, a huge office. It was perfect! The kids immediately ran upstairs to pick out their rooms. I just stood there looking around thinking I've finally made it, I've got everything I wanted.