"Mum, Mum!" Jerome whispered as he snuck into the house. His business with Ravea had messed up his sense of time, causing him to return at an ungodly hour. The party had long ended by then and everyone was probably at home in bed.

"Over here", his mother whispered back from the kitchen.

He calmly walked over to the kitchen and shut the door behind him. The door leading to the backyard was open and his mom sat on a stool just beside it.

"I needed a little fresh air", she said, as if explaining her reason for being there.

Jerome quickly grabbed a stool and sat on the other side of the door, beside her. There were a lot of things he wanted to say, and even more he wanted to ask but he figured some of the questions weren't relevant and jumped straight to the point. "You knew Ravea framed me?" He asked.

She smiled. "What sort of mother would I be if I didn't know what my only son was capable of?"

Jerome kept silent for a while. "How do you always know? And dad doesn't. You always know what I'm feeling even when I don't even know myself. You always know what to say, what to do." He began smiling. "I thought my acting was pretty good though."

"It was!" She chuckled. "I couldn't have guessed it myself because at the time I just couldn't think of a reason as to why you'd do such."

"I don't understand."

"Who do you think arranged for the sanctuary helpers to come take care of you while you were being penalized?"

"You did?!" Jude replied shocked, then slowly fell into disappointment, "I thought Father did."

Hilma wasn't going to let him lose faith in his father, "I arranged for the helpers but it was your father that pretty much gave me the go ahead. I don't think the other Elders would've agreed."

Jerome said nothing.

She continued, "The sanctuary helpers reported that you were unusually clean and healthy for someone in your position, so I decided to check myself."

"So you saw her coming to feed me?" He asked surprised.

She nodded. "You're probably tired now, you should go to bed."

"What about you?"

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"I'll be up in a few minutes."

"Alright," he said then went to bed.

That night, his lust was driven by Ravea's face, her smell, her touch, her lips, her hair. It was imprinted in his mind like a sandal sole design on wet mud. He hugged his pillow and imagined it was her, just an unusually soft version. Then he pressed his lips against it and squeezed it so hard that the feathers and wool within it began to seep out. He stopped after he realized that if he squeezed Ravea that much she'd probably die of suffocation.

Early the next day the Semira Inn was up and running, and so was Ravea. She moved like a filly, spry as ever. She engaged with customers, queried the rude lot and laughed with the jolly. She felt alive.

"What's with you? The last time I saw you this happy was when father forgot he gave you your allowance and ended up giving you another", Rima asked. She held unto Ravea and pulled her into a corner in the kitchen.

"It's nothing", Ravea replied and stared at Rima. Rima stared back, then she burst open, "He kissed me!"

Rima was confused. "Who kissed you?"

"Who do you think?"

"Hopas?"

"Eew!! What the hell?!" She punched Rima on her arm.

"What? Then who?" Rima rubbed her arm.

"Je-Jerome", She stuttered.

Rima took a step back, "So you stole from him-"

"Rima"

"-Then you framed him for rape. Then you take care of him out of guilt. And now you kissed him?"

"I said he kissed me! Not the other way round!"

"Yes but there were two parties involved in the kissing were there not? So what did you do?"

"Well, I sIapped him."

"Oh, that's quite unfortunate."

"What's so unfortunate about that?"

"I mean you clearly like him, and you clearly liked and enjoyed the kiss, so I don't get why you'd slap him." Rima turned and looked at her, "Sometimes I wonder which of us is actually older."

"Whether I like him or not, did you seriously expect me to just go along with it like that?" she got pissed, "I'm not that sort of girl."

Rima knew she had hit a nerve. She walked over to a big bowl filled with unwashed plates then bent down and started washing. "So, I'm guessing that was your first kiss?" She asked.

Ravea turned red, "W-What do you mean by that!"

"You know exactly what I mean, that was the first time you kissed someone right?"

Ravea pouted. "I'm not answering that."

"You don't have to, only someone who hasn't kissed someone before would be this-", Rima looked at Ravea. She was red as a tomato. "-excited, to talk about it."

"Well at least I've kissed someone", Ravea smirked.

"So have I", Rima replied.

"What?! When?! Why didn't you tell me?!" Ravea was furious and curious.

"Because I hated my first kiss. I'm not talking about it." She cleaned a wet plate with a dry towel then placed it into a basket. "And here I was, thinking that you and Hopas were a thing."

Ravea's earlier mood was now completely obsolete. She wanted to ask Rima what she meant but she was aware that Rima wouldn't answer. She was like that sometimes, for as long as she could remember.

Rima was her twin sister and although they looked a fair bit alike, with Rima proven to be the more attractive of the both, puberty had made sure that they acted nothing alike. Their mother had gone into labor earlier than expected; two hours before the first cock crow on a weekend was a bit too early for the midwives to make it in time, leaving Mr. Semira to assist with the delivery.

Luckily, the delivery was successful and Ravea and Rima were born. Except, Mr. Semira was unable to identify who came out first after all was done and settled. So he decided who the first was by flipping a gold coin. The only one he had at the time.