Welcome to Gaia! ::

Syrelia didn't get a chance to call Thali the night that she had returned with her children, so she settled for the next day, sometime in the afternoon and hoping that her friend would be there.

It was surprising how quickly things returned to normal. Gabrielle was back to throwing tantrums, Lily had gone back to placating her younger siblings, Gavin... was still the spit bubble champ, and Noah was doing his damnedest to float away (which was why he was now tied down in his highchair as Syrelia put out macaroni for lunch).

While the kids ate, the woman flipped through her address book, found Thali's number, and gave her a call.

"Hi! Thali? ...This is still Thali, right?" Syrelia's voice was full of nervous hope, even as there was shrieking in the background -- her young daughter had taken Gavin's sippy cup and there was going to be hell to pay.

"Er. Hang on a sec. GABRIELLE MARIE IND YOU GIVE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW BEFORE I COME OVER THERE." And that seemed to fix things. Oh, the use of full names. "Anyway... Hi."

Syrelia was on the verge of laughter until she heard how long they had been gone. A year? A whole year? Thali had to be kidding, they couldn't have been gone for a year.

Yeah. things had been pretty messed up with that demon and there may have been a bit of dimensional warping, but it couldn't have been that bad, could it?

"A... year. Thali are you -- a year." There's silence on the end of her line as she sat there stunned. Even the kids seemed to pick up on it, the background noise dimming. "Thali, we must have left at least a month ago. I... had a run in with an old acquaintance and we had to leave for a while."

Teenagers. Her twins were nearly teenagers and her boys -- both back to contentedly eating -- were still infants. They were on the cusp of being toddlers, true, but they weren't nearly as old as the other woman's. "We really must have... I mean, I knew it was a possible side effect, but..." Syrelia muttered, passing a hand over her eyes.

The other two voices in the background of Thali's home made her smile, she couldn't help it. "Is that Samantha and Reiya I hear? Look, Thali -- I'm really sorry. There... Someone from my past showed up, made a big deal about things. I had to take the kids and run; it was the best for us at the time."

That had not been fun, the house nearly being blown apart at three in the morning. The terrified yells of her family members still made her stomach churn and it was hard to believe how happy they could be now, sitting in the sunlit kitchen. They had to get out of the house, it made her sick.

Syrelia definitely had to laugh at that. With the smirk clearly evident in her voice, she replied, "Noah might float away at the wedding and I don't think either of your daughters would appreciate being drooled all over, champ that Gavin is. I'll be over in a little bit."

Syrelia hung up and set about packing up the kids. Lily insisted that she stay -- she hardly knew Thali and just wanted some peace (sadly, that was not to be as Syrelia elected to stick her with her sister).

It would be about an hour later that Syrelia and her twin boys would be standing at Thali's house, a-knock-knock-knockin' on her door.

"We had a bit of a temporal mix-up," replied Syrelia dryly.

And it seemed the boys remembered them; Gavin started in full spit bubble force and Noah waved a pudgy arm with delight. Something in the back -- a lawn ornament perhaps -- floated up and away.

"Trust me -- that's the least icky thing he's done all day." The diapers. There are some things you just can't unsee.

Syrelia released the boy into Reiya's care, the infant at once squeaking and giggling. It seemed he did remember her and, if Reiya notices, he'd feel quite light, power going in full force. "Just be careful that you don't let him go, at least not until we're inside. Little guy's been trying to fly away all day."

Gavin let out a shrill shriek, bouncing in his mother's arms. Oh yeah. He couldn't wait to grow up and hang out with the ladies. Wait. Play. Right. And of course he knew one word, the one it seems most young children learn first: "No!"

Syrelia shook her head with a laugh, stepping inside. "So there was something about tea, I heard. I can tell you all about our adventure then."

The white cloud held Noah's attention, the little boy riveted, eyes wide as saucers. He remembered the cloud. He wanted the cloud, little hands reaching for it as he cooed.