Hush [Anthena]

I don't know sign language. Mercutio does, but not me. He likes communicating with them. Anyways, now I've got six Avoxes. A fair number I guess. Four girls, the new one who's name I am yet to learn, Natalie, Emily, and Olive, then the boys, Trent and Thorn. Of course, I am just suggesting the names from memory. I call my avoxes whatever I want to call them. If I want to call Thorn Sean, I'll go get his name changed to Sean. If I want Emily to have purple hair, I'll get it dyed. It's all up to me. I can do anything. I could cut off the tip of their noses if it looked fashionable. They deserve it anyways, they are Avoxes for doing a crime. A crime, obviously worth losing their tongues for.

"Well, do you know girl or boy yet...?" Mercutio asks jokingly. He knows I won't know for quite a while. I just now found out. The kid's probably only a few cells large! You can't even see it taking effect on my body yet. I'm still my normal, slim self. Rolling my eyes, I motion for the Avox who was standing in the room while the new one came to leave. I need alone time with my husband, don't you know. "You know the answer tot hat, silly." I say. I pull my feet up on the couch and curl up to him. I can have an Avox clean it up later. "Got a name in mind for either gender?" He asks me, strooking my hair. "I was thinking Prenton for a boy." I look up at him, smiling. Prenton was the name of a tribute he liked a few years ago. Died, of course, but he definently liked the kid. District 11, I believe. Not a good district to bet on.

"Why do we have to pick such complex names?" I ask, "Everyone has such quirky names these days. If it's a girl, promise me we'll name her Ann. No 'e.' I want to keep to the traditional name." He looks at me funny, and laughs a bit. "Very well. If it's a boy we'll call him Prenton, if it's a girl we call her Ann, without an 'e.'" He replies. I nod my head, satisfied, and lay back down. "Who's turn is it to show the Avox around?" He asks me, "I went twice." I groan and he winks. "That's part of getting them, you know." He says solemnly, "You can't just expect her to know everything about our house the second she comes." I get up and slump my shoulders like a little girl. Actually, it would be nice to have a little girl to call Ann. Ann is such a pretty name, and having someone my gender would be nice.

I look at the avox girl and wave sheepishly. It's much better she didn't understand what I'd meant when I told her to go, because then I don't have to go in that crowded dirty room. I know Mercutio can do it, but I can't go in places so..... icky. She's the only one in here besides my husband and I now, since I told the other to go. Seriously, sometimes stupidity is the best way. I take a long stare at her. Some time or another, Mercutio leaves the room to go get a snack. He does everything himself, refusing to let anyone do it for him. Nonetheless, I do love him so very much. That's why I'm carrying his baby. Who I hope to be a girl, named Ann without an 'e'.

"Well I'm Vonelli." I tell her, in a bored voice. "My husband, who took you here, is Mercutio, but he's probably already told you that." He usually speaks in novels when he goes out for walks. And since and Avox can't interupt him, I'm pretty sure he had a full-fledged story ready. Either apologized for me in advance or told her strange stories about his history. "Are you ready for me to show you around?" I ask. This was going to be long, since I lived in a rather large house. A bit bigger than most people. But of course, we don't exactly live two blocks from the president's mansion. We live very far away, where there is more space for a bigger house. If she said no, I'd leave her and let her get in trouble when she didn't know what to do. Stubborn people don't get my sympathy.

I take the paper from the girl's hand and stare at the paper for a second before dropping it off in the trashcan. "Alright Athena," I say, emphasizing her name, "Since you seem to have no opinion I'll just show you around." Then I smile. "Maybe we could dye your hair green." I take hold of her arm tightly and guide her around the house.

The first place I take her to is the kitchen. I open the cabinets and whatnot, showing her where everything was, telling her where to put things away. I tell her which type of party drinks Mercutio and I liked. Explained if she got too strong we wouldn't stop vomitting for days, but if she got it just right we'd throw up once then keep eating. I explained to her all I could without passing out from exhaustion. Then I slowly took her around the house. I don't ever loosen my grip, and I don't say anything except explain, explain, explain.

The last place I arrive at is Merc and I's room. It's mostly purple and green colored, nice and bright, just the way I like it. There really isn't anything to tell in here except that she needed to change the bedding every few days. I pull her into the hallway and let go of her arm. I must've had quite a grip on her, because I'm known to do that when annoyed. I lean against the wall and put a hand on a small table. "You might look better if we dyed your hair green." I state, imagining her with green hair. "No, pink. Or blue, I never liked pink." Then I laugh a bit and think about the baby again. On average, I shouldn't be getting a noticable belly 'till month 5. It's day 1. That's good, it means I won't look too fat for too long.

"I'm pregnant, but you probably know that from listening in. You'll take care of the baby, just so you know in advance, so feel free to let me know if you need anything. Don't get too comfortable though, once my baby comes we get serious." I tell her. I want her to feel comfortable in this house. Not out of kindness, but because she'll need to be able to teach Prenton or Ann about the things in the house. If she doesn't know where the bathroom is, she'll never potty-train him or her.