Stimulate

We Remember

"Listen, kiddos. Dad has something to tell you." Mitchell walked into the room, closing the door behind him, and walked up to the twins sitting on the bed and crouched.

"I heard your conversation earlier." The twins' reaction was just as he expected it to be. Shock filled with a bit of fear.

The twins looked as if they were about to burst into tears. Mitchell couldn't help but find it funny.

Not long ago, they were having a conversation like mini adults, but now they look like this.

'Regardless of how smart they are, they're still kids.' Mitchell thought to himself.

"Daddy understands, it's my fault. I haven't been honest with you or made you feel that you can not trust me. But believe daddy when he says that although I make mistakes regarding your matters. Daddy has your best interest in mind always." Mitchell stretched his hands out and ruffled the twins' hair.

"But aren't we strange? " Adrian mumbled his doubts. And Mitchell shook his head.

"No to me, you and your sister couldn't be more perfect. " spreading his arms open. "It doesn't matter how smart you are or how old you'll get in the future. You're my babies, forever and always. Now give Daddy a hug."

The twins glanced at each other before walking over to their father calmly and hugging him. Chuckling to himself, Mitchell kissed the twins on their heads and mumbled,'I love you,' to them.

"Kids, I'm not perfect, I'm going to make mistakes, and so will your mother. I'm sorry you guys feel like mom is treating you differently," Mitchell told them.

"No, it's not a feeling. She treats us differently." Adrian pulled away from his father and struggled to free himself. "Mother, she told Adelaide to go back to sleep. It's just a nightmare. Just a nightmare, it's not just a nightmare!"

Adrian struggled really hard, his little face scrunched up in anger. Shocking Mitchell, Kelly never told him that Adelaide was having nightmares. This made Mitchell let go of the fuming child and looked at Adelaide, who was playing with her fingers in his arm.

"You told your mom?" Mitchell asked Adelaide, his brows knitted in confusion. Kelly never told him that Adelaide was having nightmares.

"On our birthday, it started on our birthday. You had to leave and go on a business trip. Adelaide has had nightmares every night since then!" Adrian explained at the behest of his sister. "Mom told her it was just dreams and to go back and sleep. So I pretended to have a nightmare. Mom stayed with me the entire night when she only told Ade to go back to sleep."

Mitchell took in a sharp breath, and his eyes widened in shock. No wonder these kids thought Kelly was biased. She was clearly biased by the looks of things.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Mitchell asked, upset that his children wouldn't come to him.

"Why should we? Maybe you will act like her." Adrian grumbled while folding his arms across his chest with a pout.

"I would never....." Mitchell sighed as he looked at his children's faces. 'That f*****g irresponsible bitch.' he thought to himself.

"It's okay, Daddy. The nightmares aren't bad." Adelaide spoke up, causing Adrian to gape at his sister in disbelief.

"Don't lie to me, Adelaide. " Mitchell sternly told his daughter. "I heard you earlier. You said they were getting worse. Adelaide, Daddy can't help you if you keep your pain to yourself. It's my job to provide and to protect you. In order to do that, I need you to trust me. Trust that I can help."

Adelaide bowed her head silently. She was contemplating Mitchell's words. Should she trust her dad or not? Her mom didn't like her, and her dad was always nice and loving to her and Adrian.

So she decided to trust her father like he asked her to. Looking at her dad patiently waiting for her to answer. She nodded her head at him.

"Okay, I can tell you about them." Adelaide said while twiddling her thumbs. "Please don't think I'm a weird girl."

"Nothing will ever make me think that, baby." Mitchell said as he rubbed her head lovingly .

"Okay, my dream began like this. I wake up in a strange place. I'm outside and in pain. My skin feels hot like I'm burning. It's really hot and uncomfortable, then a man appears. He's talking, but I can't hear anything. Then everything goes black. And when I wake up again, I'm in a dark space. Like a box, and I can't move, can't see, can't scream, and I spend a lot of time in that dark place screaming in my head." Adelaide began to explain while Adrian and Mitchell listened seriously, not interrupting once.

"It's getting worse, as I spend what feels like hours in the box in my dreams. Every night feels longer than the last." Adelaide hesitate to continue. Mitchell noticed this and softly encouraged ger to continue.

"Go on, sweetheart," Mitchell softly said to her.

"When I feel myself waking up, there's the feeling of me not being able to breathe. Like someone's pressing on my chest."Adelaide told him. Looking at his daughter silently for a few seconds, Mitchell softly smiled.

"Okay, I understand. How about Daddy sleep in here tonight with you. So I can watch over you while you sleep." Mitchell suggested softly.

"I wanna sleep here to. I promised to kick the bad dreams away!" Adrian shouted after hearing that his sister was feeling like she was suffocating in her dream. Adrian wanted to be near her at all times.

"But is that okay? Won't mom have a problem?" ignoring her twin, she turned to her father and asked.

"She'll probably want to sleep here, too." Mitchell smiled and told her.

"No. She won't." Adelaide looked her father dead in the eyes and said in a serious tone.

Mitchell's smile wavered a bit. Dozens of thoughts swirled in his head, and he couldn't help but ask. "Why are you so sure your mother doesn't love like Adrian."

"Because she asked grandma if it's normal to hate your daughter to the point of neglect. " Adelaide answered.

Mitchell's smile completely vanished when he heard that. At this point, he was in the state of panicking. 'Kelly said that in front of Adelaide? Was she f*****g stupid?'

"When did your mother say that?" Mitchell forces his rage down and asked her steadily.

"Around the time she began to neglect Ade when we were babies." Adrian answered with a shrug.

Mitchell was stunned. Looking at the two children with shock. He finally realized what was going on. And to his horror, they confirmed his thoughts.

"We remember everything." Adelaide told her father slowly.

"From the day we were born."Adrian added Mitchell's head spun. Three years, they had three years of making a steady opinion of their mother.

They were still small, even though they couldn't fully understand Kelly's actions. They or rather Adelaide still have hope their mother would treat her the same, love her the same.

"Oh, okay, kids, I'm going to talk to your mother. You guys should get ready for bed."Mitchell stood up and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

He hunched over and almost went over on his head. Who knew chatting with three year olds could be so stimulating.