There Conclusions Were

Giles: Yes, let's not jump to any conclusions.

Buffy: I didn't jump. I took a tiny step, and there conclusions were.

-Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Phases"

So, when last we spoke, we'd just found out that Summer had been poisoned, and then Marigold had left for reasons unknown.

Summer is doing a lot better now. Doctor M says she can probably go home Thursday or Friday unless she takes an unexpected turn for the worse.

Marigold is still gone. It's late now, and was snowing. We're worried about her. And frankly, we don't know what to think. We don't think she had anything to do with the poisoning - she loves Summer and wouldn't hurt her - but we're afraid she'll think we blame her for it. Maybe that's why she ran. It's dangerous out there, though, and we miss her.

When Doctor M had relayed the news about Summer and then left to continue her rounds, we all took a moment to absorb it. Then Gia quietly spoke up. "I don't mean to leap to conclusions," she said.

We all looked over at her. Although we weren't planning to leap, we were interested to see what conclusions she might think could potentially be leaped to.

"The doctor said it was Nerium poisoning," Gia went on hesitantly. "What people usually refer to as oleander."

"I don't think that grows in Upstate New York," Felicity said.

Gia nodded that Felicity was right. "It requires a warmer climate. I learned about it as a child; in my home country we used the flowers at funerals, and in the past it was sometimes used to poison rats. But my childhood memories aren't what I meant about leaping to conclusions. What I meant was... it was the favourite poison used by The Elders, when they needed to get rid of someone in a way that didn't scream that they were vampires."

We exchanged another look, this time of the concerned and uncomfortable variety.

The Elders were our enemies for months, and they seriously made us worry for our lives. Eventually we had to confront them, and we won with the help of an army of fairy folk. Only three Elders are left, and they agreed to make peace with us under terms we set. They weren't too happy about it, and we assume still aren't. (Gia's on our side now, but she knows stuff about them because she used to work for them.)

"There's one thing I don't understand," Inna finally said. "I wouldn't put it past them from a moral standpoint. If it was really them, though, what do they hope to gain by it? I don't see a logical motive."

"To kill Summer," Molly replied immediately.

"Alright," Inna said doubtfully. "But how does killing Summer actually benefit them? She's only one person in an exceptionally strong family. There are only three Elders left. Killing Summer wouldn't even the odds significantly, and attacking any of us would break their truce with us. They'd trigger another battle that they're in no position to win. Why would they do that?"

Why indeed? The Elders have an understandable grudge against all of us, but as far as I know they had nothing against Summer in particular. Why would they risk reigniting a conflict that they agreed to end because they knew they would inevitably lose? The remaining Elders joined our vampire council, so we know pretty well what they're doing and how strong they are - their current position isn't noticeably better than when we defeated them. So how does this make sense?

It's too early for accusations. We need to think this through more, and try to get more information. In the meantime, we're taking turns staying with Summer and going out to look for Marigold.

Marigold, if you're reading this, we don't think you did it. Please come home! It is your home now, if you want it to be, no matter what secrets you're hiding.

Love,

Bree

And then came the really bizarre part(s)...

Hi, this is Bree again. Summer is still in the hospital, but she's doing a lot better. The doctors figured out what was wrong, but that's not where the story of today really started, so I'm going to begin at the beginning.

As I mentioned yesterday, Summer had to stay overnight in the hospital while the doctors ran tests. Early this morning, her adoption records and birth certificate were delivered, so we could start tracking down her genetic family's medical history. When Maia opened the packet, the first thing on top was Summer's birth certificate.

That was when the first weird thing of the day happened... although it would seem minor compared to what came later. Evelyn said she was hungry, and Marigold offered to take her to the cafeteria to get a snack. Now, the weird part was not that Ev needed to eat - her school normally has a morning snack time, so that's part of her routine - or that Marigold did something helpful. What was weird was that Marigold didn't seem at all interested in the documents and volunteered to go somewhere else without seeing them first.

I mean, yeah, it was Summer's birth certificate, not her own - but they're twins, so most of the information would be the same. Marigold could find out a lot about her birth and her biological family just from asking to see the papers that came today, and the adults would have let her. If it had been me, I would have been dying of curiosity. Marigold didn't even seem to want a look at the records. I guess everyone is different, though, and I figured maybe she just wasn't ready to find out those things yet, so I let it go without saying anything.

Tabitha glanced over Maia's shoulder, and said, "This has been changed."

Maia frowned. "It's supposed to be the original," she said doubtfully, but followed where Tabitha was pointing. It was only one line, carefully covered with a tiny section of the same kind of paper and typed over, barely noticeable. It blended in so well that I think it took Tabitha's vampire eyesight to spot it.

"That's strange," Maia said. "Why would they alter that part?"

Where the birth certificate had been changed wasn't Summer's name, or the names of her parents, or where and when she'd been born. It was where the type of birth was recorded, the part that said it was twins. Maia carefully scraped off the extra with her fingernail, and underneath, it said "single live birth" - not twins.

"Strange," Maia said again. "I wonder if they made a mistake and had to correct it?"

That didn't explain why they wouldn't just print out a new one when they first caught the error, though, instead of changing it. (When Blakeney's cousin was born, the birth certificate had accidentally reversed the mother's name and the baby's name; a replacement was issued with the correct names. That seems more standard than trying to fix it by gluing on more paper.) It also didn't explain why the unedited version of Summer's birth certificate said she didn't have a twin. It seemed like a weird mistake to make. 

Marigold came back with Ev then, and we all looked a little guilty, like we'd been doing something wrong. In a strange way, it felt like we were spying on Marigold, even if that didn't make sense.

Before we had a chance to say anything - whether it would have been a true explanation or an excuse, I'm still not sure - the doctor came back.

"I see you got those records I asked for," Doctor M said. "It turns out we aren't going to need them, though. What Summer is suffering from isn't hereditary. We got back the screens for some of the more unusual toxins, and it turns out she's suffering from poisoning."

Doctor M went on to explain that this didn't necessarily mean someone had poisoned Summer deliberately; it might have been an accident. She told us that Summer would recover and be fine as long as there wasn't a repeat exposure. We were all relieved - except Summer herself, because she'd slept through the whole thing. The doctor went on about what Summer had been poisoned with and the treatments they were doing... but I admit I was only half paying attention, because I noticed something else at that moment.

At some point during the conversation, Marigold had slipped away. She was gone.

Love,

Bree

Bad, Scary Day

Hi, this is Bree. Something scary happened today. I was at school, in my second class of the day - English, and I'd already read the book, so I was kind of daydreaming - when the school secretary knocked on the door and said the principal needed to talk to me. Everyone started laughing about Bree being in trouble, but then the secretary said it was a family emergency; the other kids got quiet, and I was suddenly really terrified. My legs felt like lead as I walked to the principal's office.

The principal told me that Summer had collapsed at school. The ambulance took her to the hospital. When the paramedics got there, she was still unconscious. They didn't know what was wrong - they still don't - and they were worried because she didn't wake up right away. Marigold was with Summer when she collapsed, and was upset, to put it mildly. She was beside herself.

I'm posting this from the hospital. Summer is awake now, but she's still pretty groggy. She has to stay overnight while they run some tests, because the doctors still don't know what's wrong. Earlier in the afternoon, she started getting short of breath and her heartbeat was irregular. She's better now, but they need to figure out what this is before they let her go home.

The doctor asked us about family medical history, but because Summer is adopted, we didn't know very many of the answers. We don't know what diseases run in her genetic family. The doctor said that if possible, we needed to find out.

Summer was born in a province where adopted people can get their adoption records and original birth certificates when they turn eighteen. (Believe it or not, in some places those records are sealed forever, and adopted people can never know their genetic history, so Summer is lucky about that.) Because of the situation, we applied for a medical exception to get that paperwork right away. Even though she's only twelve, this information might save her life. The exception was granted, and we're waiting for the information to get couriered here. Hopefully it'll help.

It also may shed light on the Marigold situation. At the moment, though, we're mostly worried about Summer.

Love,
Bree

Being a Better Sister

Hi, this is Summer again. I read Kiwi's post about the green-eyed monster. (It is green-eyed, not green-haired, Kiwi. Tabitha is right.) At first, I felt offended. How could she say those things about me?

But then... I thought about it more. I realized she was kind of right. Okay, maybe a lot right.

I never intentionally ignored Kiwi. The fact is, though, I did abruptly start spending a lot less time with her. I stopped wanting to go anywhere with her, because I was afraid I would get an e-mail from Marigold while I was gone if I left the house for too long. I stopped focusing as much on her when she was talking, because I was too busy thinking about my own stuff.

Is it understandable that I did that? Yes, I think it is. Tabitha is right - this is all new to me, and it's a big deal. When we have something that is a new big deal, it's pretty normal to obsess a little.

Something being normal and understandable doesn't make it the right thing to do, though. It wasn't right to ignore Kiwi, even if I'm excited about Marigold. It's not fair to make my whole life about one sister, and act like the other sisters don't matter. Even if I never felt that way in my heart (which I never did) it was still wrong to make Kiwi feel that I didn't care.

This afternoon, I found Kiwi in the living room doing a jigsaw puzzle all alone. I could tell that she was trying to act mad at me, but I think that for real she was just sad.

"Let's go to the park, Kiwi," I suggested.

Kiwi looked at me sceptically. "What if Marigold e-mails you while we're gone?" she asked.

I took a deep breath, smiled a genuine smile, and said, "It can wait till we get back."

I did apologize to Kiwi at the park, and she accepted it very graciously. By that point, the tension was already gone, though. The ice broke when I said I wanted to spend time with her. When she saw that I still cared.

I'm still really excited to get to know Marigold. I learned a really important lesson, though. You shouldn't take for granted the sisters you already have, because they're worth a whole lot!

Love,
Summer

The Green-Haired Monster

You were probably expecting another post from Summer, right? Well, this isn't Summer. It's Kiwi. But the post is still about Summer's twin. You know, Marigold.

I'm really happy for Summer. Really. But I'm feeling a little bit jealous, too. Okay, a lot jealous.

You see, I've always been Summer's special sister. Of course, Summer loves all her sisters equally, and so do I. It's not about loving more. Summer and I have been through a lot together, though. We lived in the foster home together before we met anyone else from the family. We promised that we'd always be together. We both turn into cats - most people don't turn into cats - so we shared that too. 

We've always had a special bond.

I'm afraid we aren't going to have a special bond anymore, though, because Summer has a new special sister. Having a twin is way better than having me, isn't it?

I haven't been in a very good mood about this. I've been trying to act excited for Summer, but it hurts that I'm not special sister number one anymore. When I was getting ready to go to gymnastics this afternoon, I saw Summer reading that letter again. I passed her, and she didn't even notice me. That made me even madder. So I went into the kitchen, slammed down my gymnastics bag, and announced to whoever was listening - which happened to be Tabitha - that, "Fruits are way better than flowers! At least you can eat fruit! Flowers just sit there!"

Tabitha stared at me like she didn't know what I was talking about. She probably didn't. You might have needed to be inside my brain to know I was saying that kiwis are better than marigolds. 

"What's going on?" Tabitha asked.

I sighed, and said, "I have the green-haired monster!"

Tabitha blinked. "The what?"

"You know, jealousy!" I told her.

Tabitha laughed. "That's called the green-eyed monster, not the green-haired one. And why are you jealous?"

"Because I'm not Summer's special sister anymore. She has Marigold and she doesn't need me anymore. She probably doesn't even like me! She probably barely remembers me!" I was getting worked up, but I didn't care.

Tabitha shook her head, and said, "Summer would never forget you, Kiwi. She loves you. And you'll always be her first special sister, even if Marigold is her special sister too. Summer is just excited because the whole thing with Marigold is so new. She'll get used to having Marigold in her life, and she'll start spending more time with you again."

I hope so. But the green-haired monster... or green-eyed, or whatever... is telling me that I'm not as good as Marigold.

Love,

Kiwi

Crash

Hi, this is Felicity.

Kirsten and Bree had driver's ed this afternoon. They left after lunch, in their usual manner... bickering about which of them is a better driver. (Bree totally is, but Kirsten is stubborn.) They were teasing each other even as the door shut behind them and they went to catch the city bus to the school where the class is held.

Normally they come home at 4:00, but there was no sign of them. Sometimes they miss the bus and have to catch the next one, but there was no sign at 4:30 either. 5:00 rolled around, and we thought they might have decided to go somewhere after class and forgot to call, but we were starting to get really worried. Our guardian was reaching for the phone at 5:07 to call the school and try to track them down, when it rang. It was Kirsten, and she wasn't calling from class, or from the mall, or from anywhere she and Bree might hang out. She was calling from the hospital.

Kirsten told us that another car came out of nowhere, crashed into the side of the driver's ed car, and then drove off. The cars they choose for the program are like tanks, so neither our sisters nor the instructor were hurt, but the police took them to the hospital just to make sure nothing was wrong. They were pretty shaken up - especially Bree because it was her turn behind the wheel at the time and it hit her side - but they weren't physically harmed.

Obviously we went straight over to the hospital. Kirsten and Bree had to finish giving a statement to the police, but then we were allowed to take them home. They were really relieved the whole thing was over, although Bree is still kind of trembling even now.

Up till the point we got home, we were assuming it was just random. I mean, accidents happen when you drive. Once we were at the house, though, Bree quietly informed us that the people in the car that hit them were the vampire hunters she tried to send on a wild goose chase to Vancouver to protect Clare. Apparently they weren't very appreciative of the detour, to put it mildly. At least it bought Clare some peace.

Knowing this made the whole thing even scarier. Apparently the mean people are really angry now. We're worried about Bree (and the rest of us too, really) if they try to take more revenge. But we're also worried this is going to undermine all the progress we've made with Clare, if she thinks the risks to us have gotten too high.

For tonight, everything is alright. Now we just need to figure out what happens next...

Love,
Felicity

The Police Visit...

And not the English rock band, either.

Hi, this is Kirsten. Last night there was some chaos in our neighbourhood. At almost 3 a.m., we woke up to the sound of something loud next door, like a banging and a crash. We went out on the porch, and a couple of guys were trying to break into our neighbours' house! Before they could react to us, we ran back into our house and called the police. We only live about two blocks from the police station, so the cops were there in just a couple of minutes. I think the burglars heard the sirens, because they ran away.

We had to give police statements! That was pretty different. None of us have ever done that before. We were all pretty nervous, but the police were nice to us. They knew we didn't do anything wrong; they were just trying to find out if we remembered anything that would help them catch the guys who tried to break in next door. Unfortunately it was dark and they were wearing hoods, so we didn't see much, but maybe what we said helped.

Luckily Inna, Maia, Summer, and Kiwi aren't hurt, but they're pretty shaken. Last we heard the police hadn't caught the burglars, but hopefully they will soon. So that was our drama! We're all pretty tired after all the excitement last night. Hopefully tomorrow we'll get a better post done - and things will be calmer!

Love,
Kirsten

Evelyn Can't Fly

This was not the best day ever for the Green Family.

When we left for school this morning, it was sunny. Not warm, but it felt like spring because there was so much light. It put everyone in a good mood - maybe too good. By afternoon, it was snowing again in a gross sort of half-melty way, but the sunshine induced crazies hadn't quite worn off.

We can't really blame Evelyn for not being careful. She and her friends were running back and forth outside once school was over, chasing each other, and apparently Ev slipped on the wet pavement and wiped out. Unfortunately, it wasn't only her dignity and her jeans that were wounded. She landed at just the wrong angle, and broke her wrist.

Obviously, we had to take her to Emergency. Luckily there's a hospital only about five blocks from our house, and it's only a little bit farther in the opposite direction from her school. We didn't have to wait too long for an x-ray and a doctor, but any time feels like a lot of time when you have a broken arm. Ev was really brave, but it was obviously hurting her a lot.

The seven of us girls had to stay in the waiting room, and Blakeney went with Evelyn. Ev says they took some x-ray films of her arm, then moved her to a room and hooked her up to a heart monitor. When they did that she was afraid they were going to make her stay overnight, but the doctor said they just have to put patients on the monitor whenever they have anaesthesia. Once the painkillers kicked in, the orthopaedic surgeon set her bones and then put a cast on her arm. They let her pick what colour to get it in, and she got purple. It looks kind of cool, actually.

Finally we got to take her home. Evelyn said her arm didn't hurt anymore - it was numb and she didn't really feel anything from it except a few prickles. She seemed really groggy from the meds they gave her, though, so we put her on the couch and right now we're watching a movie with her. We even let her pick since she was hurt. She chose The Princess and the Frog, which none of us minded seeing again. Hopefully tomorrow she'll feel better.

So that was our day! Whew! We've been joking with Ev that she needs to stop trying to fly, so she won't fall on the sidewalk again. ;-)

Love,
The Green Girls

Where is our Bree?

Kirsten here, reporting for blog duty.

We announced awhile ago that our cousin Bree is coming to live with us. So where is she?

You know what? We don't know.

If you read our first Stories post, you've probably figured out that our extended family is... um... kind of dysfunctional. Which is the reason for Bree coming here in the first place. Unfortunately, that means that the communication isn't always the greatest. At the moment, we can't seem to find anyone who knows exactly where she is or who she's staying with right now.

Yeah, we're kind of worried. She's probably fine. It's not the first time one of our family members has dropped completely off the radar, but it still doesn't make things better.

We're still expecting that she'll be here eventually. Blakeney is kind of a bulldog about stuff like this (and I mean that in the nicest possible way.) She'll track Bree down eventually, and we'll all laugh over rootbeers about the pointless drama.

In the meantime, though, we have a bed standing empty, and we're concerned. Good news soon, I hope...

~K

Feeling bad today

Hi, this is Charissa. I'm feeling bad today.

My sisters still think I'm lying about what happened a few days ago. (Except maybe Kaya. I think she believes me finally.) It's not fun when they keep bringing it up again. I wish they'd either believe me or just stop talking about it.

The other thing I feel bad about today is that I think I'm too fat. I was trying on clothes and there are a lot of things that don't fit me. Some of my sisters are really skinny. Especially Josefina! They aren't all skinny but I feel like the fattest one of all. I'm a lot younger than some of them (I'm only ten) but I don't think they were as chubby as me at my age.

I play outside all the time and I do sports with the other kids in my neighbourhood. I eat the same things as my sisters. Blakeney says I just have a different body type, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Sometimes I feel bad, though.

Writing in the blog about it helped me feel better. Tomorrow I'll be in a happy mood again. Tonight, though, I don't feel so good about myself.

~By C

Why don't we have any pictures of ourselves?

Because Blakeney broke her camera trying to take a picture of Felicity for the AGPT Dossiers!

I'm serious. I could say it's because of online privacy or something, but it's not. The camera is broken. It broke a really long time ago and Blakeney keeps forgetting about it at payday time.

Once it's fixed (or replaced) we'll show our true selves to the world.

Totally random: Project Runway is on now and that's my favourite show! Gotta go watch!

~Molly