The Twins Of The Last Crown

POV: Nora

The toast caught fire before I could stop it.

"Mom, it is burning!" Ember shouted from the kitchen table.

I grabbed the bread from the toaster with my bare fingers and dropped it straight into the sink. The heat bit my skin and I hissed through my teeth.

"Ow ow ow." I shook my hand and turned on the tap. "Okay. Lesson learned. Do not argue with the toast."

Ember did not laugh. She stared at her plate like it had insulted her on purpose.

"I wanted the toast." She folded her arms. "Now I have nothing."

"You have cereal."

"Cereal is not toast Mom."

"No." I grabbed a second slice of bread. "It really is not."

"Can you make it not burnt this time."

"I can try. I make no promises."

"You made a promise yesterday about pancakes and then we had eggs."

"That is because we ran out of flour. That is a completely different situation." I dropped the bread into the toaster and pushed the lever down.

"It felt the same to me."

Harbor Glen woke up gray that morning the way it did most mornings. Rain tapped on the window and drummed on the roof. It fell on everything like the sky had one setting and refused to learn a new one.

My shift sheet lay on the counter and a pen sat tucked behind my ear. I had to sign it and pack two lunches and keep Ember from starving over one slice of burnt bread. All at the same time.

Rowan sat very still at the table the way he always did. He watched his sister complain about toast like it was the best show on television.

"Mom can I have the peanut butter one." His voice was small and calm.

"Peanut butter it is. Triangles or squares today."

"Triangles."

"Always triangles. Never squares." I smiled.

"Squares are weird."

"You can have whatever you want baby. Just tell me before I close the jar."

"Okay."

That was it. Just okay. Rowan never asked twice for anything. He waited and if you missed him the first time he let it go. That worried me more than if he had shouted.

"You feeling alright."

"Yeah."

"You sure."

"Yeah Mom. I am sure." He did not look up from the table.

"You have that face on. The quiet one."

"I always have this face."

"No. You have a different quiet face when something bothers you." I tilted my head. "I have seen it before."

"I am fine Mom." His voice was firm like a door closing.

I let it go. I had a shift sheet to sign and lunches to pack. I also had seven years of practice letting things go when I did not have time to chase them.

"Mom are you even listening" Ember waved a sticky hand in front of my face.

"I am listening." I scratched my signature across the page.

"You are signing papers. That is not listening. That is nodding."

"I can do both."

"Nobody can do both." Ember licked jam off her thumb. "How long have we lived here Mom."

"Seven years baby. Since before you could even walk."

"That is forever."

"It feels like forever some mornings."

"Mom the toast again" Ember yelled.

I spun around and yanked the second slice out before it could join the first one in the sink. Smoke curled up from the edges but nothing was on fire.

"See." I held it up for her to inspect. "Perfectly fine toast."

"It is dark on one side."

"That is called character Ember."

"That is called burnt."

"Eat it or do not." I slid the plate toward her. "I am not making a third one."

She picked it up and took a bite like she was doing me a huge favor.

I turned back to the shift sheet. My pen scratched across the page. That was when the kitchen light flickered.

Once. Twice.

"Weird." I muttered without really thinking about it.

It flickered again faster this time like something was trying to get my attention and did not know how to knock.

"Mom why is the light doing that." Ember looked up at the ceiling.

"Old wiring baby." I said it the way I had said it a hundred times before. "This house is older than me. It likes to complain."

"It never used to do that."

"Everything gets old eventually."

I did not look at Rowan when I said it. But I felt him look at me. He had a way of watching quietly like he was keeping score of every time I said something that was not quite true.

"The light in my room does that too." Rowan's voice was soft.

"Does it."

"Every night. It buzzes right before I fall asleep."

"I will ask Mr Patterson to look at it." I scribbled a note on the shift sheet so I would not forget. "He fixed the porch light last month."

"You said that about the porch light for three weeks before he came."

"And he came did he not."

"Eventually."

"Eventually counts."

Rowan did not smile. His cereal sat untouched in front of him and the milk had gone flat and pale.

"You okay over there." I nodded at his bowl.

He looked up slowly like he was coming back from somewhere far away. "Just thinking."

"About what."

"Nothing."

"Nothing is a very big thing to think about for that long."

"It is not a big thing. It is just a thing."

"Okay. Fair enough." I rubbed the back of my neck. "Finish your cereal. The bus comes in ten minutes."

"I am done."

"You barely touched it."

"I am not hungry."

"You said that yesterday too."

"I am not hungry today either."

I wanted to push. I really did. But the shift sheet needed a signature and the lunches needed lids. Ten minutes was never enough time to fight about cereal.

"Fine." I pointed at the hallway. "Go brush your teeth."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes you have to. Teeth do not brush themselves Rowan."

"They could if someone invented it."

"Someone did invent it. It is called a toothbrush."

"I meant a robot one. One that does it for you."

"When you invent that you can skip brushing. Until then go."

He slid off his chair without another word and walked out of the kitchen. Then I noticed something I always noticed and always pretended I did not. The shadow under his chair did not move the way it should. It stretched toward the hallway door a second too long like it was following him instead of just sitting there being a shadow.

I blinked and it looked normal again.

Normal. That word did a lot of work in our house.

"Mom." Ember spoke with toast halfway to her mouth. "Can Rowan and I stay up late on Friday."

"We will see."

"You always say we will see."

"Because I always mean it."

"No you do not. You mean no but nicer."

I laughed. I actually laughed. She was not wrong and she knew it. There was something about a seven year old calling out my parenting tricks before eight in the morning that I could not help but respect.

"Fine." I crossed my arms and tried to look stern. "Maybe. If you finish that toast without complaining."

"I am not complaining. I am reviewing it."

"Eat your review Ember."

"What is for lunch today." Rowan walked back in and slid his backpack onto his shoulder.

"Turkey sandwich and apple. The good crackers and not the sad ones."

"There is a difference."

"There is a huge difference Rowan. The sad crackers are stale. The good crackers are new. I know because I bought them yesterday with my own money."

"I did not waste it." Ember spoke with her mouth full of toast. "I am saving it for later. That is different from wasting."

"That is exactly wasting."

"It is strategic."

"It will go soggy."

"Soggy cereal is still cereal."

I shook my head and went back to the shift sheet.

Above Ember's head the light gave one long buzz like it was clearing its throat.

"Mom it is doing the thing again." Ember did not even look up.

"I see it."

But I did not. I was watching her and not the bulb. What happened next happened faster than I could reach her.

The bulb popped.

It did not flicker or buzz. It cracked like a knuckle and glass rained onto the table in front of her plate.

Ember froze with the toast in her hand. Her eyes were round and fixed on the broken bulb hanging crooked above her head.

"Ember!" I was already moving with my heart slamming against my ribs.

She looked up at me. Her lip trembled and her eyes shone the way they did right before the tears came.

"Mom." She whispered so quietly I almost missed it. "I did not mean to.”

POV: Nora

I knelt beside her chair and tucked her hair behind her ear. Her fingers were still gripping the toast so hard it had cracked in half.

"Hey hey look at me."

"I did not mean to Mom." Her chin trembled.

"I know you did not. Bulbs break all the time." I forced a smile that felt too wide.

"They do not pop when I am scared."

"Sometimes they do. It is an old house." My voice came out thin.

Rowan stood in the doorway with his toothbrush clenched like a tiny sword.

"You always say that."

"Because it is usually true." The words left my mouth too fast and he noticed.

Rowan looked at the glass and then at me. He did not argue. But his eyes stayed on my face a moment too long.

"Okay."

"Everybody grab your shoes." I checked the clock and winced. "I will sweep this later."

Ember slid off her chair and sniffled. "What if the bulb breaks again."

"Then I will buy more bulbs." I tapped her nose until a tiny