The 4th of July was an important holiday. Maybe the most important holiday…at least to someone who had grown up in Texas. Tarin Brooks, had grown up in Texas. A lot of his contemporaries in the state would have talked a lot of smack about the way things were done in New York. The 4th of July celebration that the city put on was not one of them.

Over the past few years, Tarin hadn’t gone to great pains to see the fireworks. There had been other things to worry about, other things to deal with. This year, not so much. Both he and Lee were in New York, healthy, and they were going to go.

There had been 4th of July activities all day around the city and Tarin had made sure they’d found a great spot early so they’d be able to see the fireworks when they started that night. Tarin looked at Lee as they walked around the little park where they were situated and grinned.

”Maybe next year we’ll bring the baby.” he said with a smarmy grin in her direction. ”She’ll be all around four months by then.”

This was a little strange. Yes, Lee kept saying that she wanted normal. She really did want normal, and going to see the fireworks for Independence Day was certainly normal.

The thing is that it felt a little odd at the same time. Even when she and Tarin tried for normal, most times they weren't 100% successful at it. Plus, Lee hadn't gone to any sort of fireworks show, beyond simply happening to walk past by accident, since she was 15, if not younger.

When Tarin spoke, Lee couldn't help but smile back at him. She had been so worried about being pregnant. Still was, to be honest, but now she couldn't help but smile any time Tarin mentioned the baby. At least as long as there was no morning sickness at that moment.

"We will," Lee agreed with bringing the baby next year. They'd have to up the normal, she thought, when the baby came. And while Lee knew it would be impossible to have things be completely normal, but they could strive for the extra bit of normalcy to offset the craziness. "But what makes you think it's going to be a girl?"

Lenna swung around the corner of the doorway to pop her head back into the guest room of her apartment. The bed was made, clean and tidy with cream sheets. A woman sat on the bed reading a magazine. Lenna smiled at the Russian. "Need anything?" She asked her. "If there's anything I can get you...?" She trailed.

She was a babysitter today. Her job was to keep the girl happy and safe, at Sebastian's request.

Sebastian had introduced her to this woman, Svetlana. Her nickname was 'Muse'. Apparently, her power had to do with inspiration. The unicorn-man had explained to her a little something about the woman's power, and of how important it was to keep that inspiration bottled, but Lenna wasn't sure she could contain every last bit of it. Even with her aura in effect, the 'area of effect' power still had her buzzed (hence the smiling). It was the Fourth of July, and the city was bouncing with activity. That didn't help calm the ebullient bubbling that was affecting her like a shot of caffeine.

It was getting close to night, now. There'd be fireworks on the television soon (not that Lenna had cable). They'd spent the day watching old cowboy movies, and classics with Humphrey Bogart. She didn't want to admit it, but she was getting a little stir-crazy. Lenna wanted to get out. So, she tried for obvious. "Anything at all? Anywhere you'd like to go...? Maybe fireworks...?"

That could be fun?

The babysitter of the day was a girl named Lenna. So far she looked really helpful, and cheerful, and she was better than being babysat by some kind of a bodyguard who didn't even speak to her. Sebastian explained to Svetlana something about the girl's aura and how it would keep her powers in check and keep them both safe. She was not sure she understood, but she trusted Sebastian.
She wouldn't be touching the babysitter anyway. She was smarter than that.

>>"Anything at all? Anywhere you'd like to go...? Maybe fireworks...?"

... and she had a chance to win 'babysitter of the year' too.
Sveta was tired of spending all her time in an apartment. She liked to go out any chance she got. Even with someone constantly watching her, and all the safety precautions, she liked being out in the city, and she enjoyed every moment of those trips.

"Fireworks sound good" she smiled at Lenna. She was sitting there as she arrived to the apartment, dressed and ready to go "I like to see them. Maybe we could go take a walk?"

Do I sound like a puppy with the leash already in her mouth?

She wanted to go.

"Well then, let's grab our coats." Lenna agreed. A walk was good. Fireworks, good. The best location would be some place within walking distance, with a smaller crowd. Lenna went through the various possible locations as they got ready to leave.

A few minutes later, Lenna walked out the door with Svetlana. She wore a light denim jacket over her black shirt and slim blue jeans. She locked up her apartment on their way out. They rode the elevator to street level, then started strolling.

It was a nice walk. The crowds weren't too thick around the apartment building that day. Most were out partying for the 4th of July, celebrating their independence with a thorough dependence on fireworks and beer. Lenna and Svetlana made their way to the little park Lenna knew about, walking in silence, or making smalltalk.

Finally, they reached it.

Lenna and Sveta slipped past Tarin and Lee on their walk. Lenna didn't even notice them, until a minute later, and several paces away. She glanced over her shoulder and stared at their backs. "Hmm..."

The more time she spent in various apartments and buildings being babysat by various people, the more Sveta liked walking outside. Not goin anywhere in particular, or doing anything special; but walking down a street as one person in a crowd made her feel less like a freak who should be watched 24/7. More like an average girl she would never be again.
Looking at all the people who managed to survive her brief encounter with Garrett.

She followed Lenna to the park, staying close to her to take advantage of her abilities. She could feel the effect of the girl's strange aura... sh felt less awake with every minute they spent together. It was an unusual feeling; Sveta got used to not feeling tired or sleeping more than a couple of hours every day. Suddenly she felt... normal. Except normal was not normal for her anymore.
Well, at least she didn't have to worry about her powers acting up.

... or causing any harm when she bumped into Lenna, who stopped suddenly, looking at a couple they had just walked past. Svetla turned back too.

"You know them?" she asked curiously.

”She has to be a girl, right? That’s how it was in the future.” Tarin said, still fully confident that the dream he’d had was actually fact. The Medium shrugged his shoulders, ”Though, I guess we’ve changed other things about that future, maybe this will be different too. I’m sure whoever we have next year will be fantastic though. They have to be…they’ll be half me and half you.”

Tarin didn’t bring up powers, he and Lee were both fairly powerful as far as their mutations were concerned, and that seemed to bode well for a rather potent mutant child. They’d deal with that when the time came, though. It wasn’t something to worry about now, not when it was so early and Lee was so nervous.

They were out for a night of fun though, and something occurred to Tarin, ”We have to think of names…would we really want to even go with Alice if she’s a girl?” he mused, taking a few moments to think about it.

They were still walking, making their way around the park when something caught the corner of Tarin’s eye. A familiar face in the crowd of people, one that he really hadn’t expected to see in New York.

”Here, I think I recognize someone…” he said, gently towing Lee in the direction he thought he’d seen the woman. ”Lenna!” he called out.

OOC - I’m almost positive that Lenna gave her real name in Romania…I don’t have time to look it up right now though and I really want to make this post. If I’m wrong, go ahead and act like he said the correct fake-name, and I’ll edit when I get the chance.

Tarin was so convinced that they were going to have a girl, all because of that dream of the future they had had, which he remembered perfectly. And which she simply remembered feelings. But Rupert had remembered it too, had remembered Alice, and simply mentioning her had changed his entire demeanour.

Tarin was being Tarin, and Lee leaned her head against his shoulder with a smile as he said that regardless, their child would be fantastic.

Really, though, this was a little unreal still. Even six months ago, the thought of walking along talking about having children, being pregnant, this calmly and happily would have been unthinkable.

Despite that realization, Lee was still walking along, her head resting on Tarin's shoulder, when he brought up the fact that they were going to have to start thinking about names. "I really don't know," Lee admitted after a few moments of thought. "I mean, I don't really remember her at all. But it might be a little weird, since you're not the only one who remembers her."

Taking a deep breath, Lee lifted her head to look over at her husband. "Do you remember any other names we had thought of?"

At that point, though, Tarin said that he thought he recognized someone, and started pulling her in a slightly different direction. Even before she saw who it was, Lee easily let herself be dragged along. Then she saw who Tarin must have seen and smiled slightly. "Hey, what are you doing here?" She asked once they had gotten closer.

Did she know them? She'd seen one of them die... and the other one, naked. Yeah. Lenna knew Tarin and Lee. Even though she really didn't know them much at all.

Lenna nodded slightly. "Mhm." Had they seen her, though? That was the question of the day. "One of them controls spirits... and fuses with unicorns... which Slate rides... and the other one... dunno. Keep close," She added, smiling at Sveta. She probably hadn't needed to remind her. The girl was good about sticking near. Lenna couldn't help but remind her, though. There was no need for the poor Russian girl to fuse with Tarin accidentally, and become some sort of magical beast.

>>"Lenna!"

The guy called 'Tarin' called out. Yup, they'd seen her. Lenna gave a slight wave. "They're good people," she said quietly to Sveta, then louder. "Hey!" to Tarin and Lee.

>> "Hey, what are you doing here?"

Lee asked. "Taking Sveta here to see fireworks," Lenna replied. "Trust you're out doing the same? It's been a while."

>>"One of them controls spirits... and fuses with unicorns... which Slate rides... and the other one... dunno. Keep close,"

Svetla blinked, and stepped closer to Lenna. Controlling spirits sounded like something dark and dangerous, and Sveta was not sure what 'fusing' meant, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know either. Maybe it was a cover word for something. Ew. These Kabal people were weird. The mental image of Slate riding a unicorn was also a very disturbing one.
Sveta reached out and grabbed Lenna's hand.

>>"They're good people,"

That was good to know. They seemed friendly enough. And they recognized Lenna. Sveta smiled at the man and the woman politely.

"Nice to meet you."

”Mmhmm” Tarin mused quietly when Lee agreed that naming their child Alice would probably be a little strange. He frowned when she reminded him that he was the only one who remembered their daughter from the future. It was a bit of a poignant moment, to be honest, Alice would never exist. Tarin shook his head to rid himself of the feelings…they’d known the future would be different. Lots of things were going to change. This was just one of them. They were going to have a baby though. He smiled.

Names. He didn’t remember any of the other names they’d talked about in the future. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, ”I think we’re on our own. We’ll manage though.”

They’d moved on from talk of baby names thought, it really was Lenna and she was with a friend. They were there too see the fireworks.

”Yup. Shockingly I’ve never managed to get out and see them even though I’ve been here for a few years now. Lee was in the same boat. We thought we’d make the effort.”

Lenna commented it had been a while and Tarin nodded his head, ” Romania seems like ages ago. I didn’t even know you lived in New York.”

The girl with Lenna was introduced as Sveta and Tarin extended a hand politely to shake, ” Nice to meet you Sveta, I’m Tarin Brooks, this is my wife Lee. Are you new to the city?”