Life Used To Be So Simple.... <3

"I-Is she messing with you, or is it a trick o-or...?" Genevieve dared to scoot closer and Amaryllis promptly left the room as well.

Coraline listened to it all before she walked back to the kitchen. "It could be meant for you you know, Genvieve, just addressed to Jean-Claude and I."

"The only way to really find out would be to write a letter to Eliza." Jean-Claude scrubbed at his face and Genevieve was quietly dabbing her eyes with her dress sleeves.

"I don't know what reason she would give a dress to Genevieve for, certainly not our mother's."

Coralline shrugged.

"Let's not worry about it." Jean-Claude firmly reset the lid and started gathering dishes.

Genevieve simply stared forlornly at the box.

Coralline nodded.

"Has Lloyd got school today?" Jean-Claude asked. "If so, would you like me to take him? You wanted to speak to Amaryllis about her...affliction."

Coralline looked at him. "Not until later."

A few days later, Caroline was sitting in the lounge watched Lloyd and Isabelle play together, she looked to be due with her baby any day now and she had a soft smile on her face as she watched the youngest of her family play.

Meanwhile, Jared was sorting out the horses in the stables since a storm was due and he didn't want to take chances.

"Just count your breaths," Jean-Claude murmured. "In, out. In, out." He was rubbing Genevieve's back, trying to regulate her panicked breathing into something easier. Amaryllis was on the other side of the dining room table they were all sat at, hurriedly stuffing her hand back into her glove.

"W-We can stop?" Amaryllis offered, voice quiet and unsure.

"No. It's n-not hurting as much, s-so we're getting s-somewhere, right?" Genevieve flashed a grin at her cousin, who grimaced when Genevieve quietly coughed blood into her handkerchief.

"You've been at this for hours you know." Jared told them as he walked back in.

"And its not as strong," Genevieve said proudly.

"Or you're just used to it," Jean-Claude replied just as quickly. "Which means we don't know what its doing to you."

Jared rolled his eyes when they didn't say anyhing to what he said, that had happened a lot since this experiment started and he walked to join Coraline.

"Don't take it to heart." She told him when he entered. "He's not spoken much to me either."

"I don't think we should continue," Amaryllis said quietly. "I-It's gotten to the point where I can hear you now, Genevieve and...and its uncomfortable."

"We're close to cracking it though, I'm sure!" Genevieve said, leaning forward and Amaryllis jerked back, shaking her head.

"I-I think its getting to the point where its killing you, Genevieve. Your lips have been blue for the past forty five minutes."

Genevieve's hand flew to her mouth and Jean-Claude almost fell out of his chair how fast he turned to face his sister.

"Tried to warn you." Jared and Coraline told them from the living room.

Genevieve abruptly stood, stepped back from the table, and promptly escaped upstairs, hand still covering her mouth.

Jean-Claude just stared after her and Amaryllis miserably stared at her hands on the table.

Coraline and Jared stayed sat, especially now that the children had decided to join Jared as he read to them. But after a few minutes, Coraline knocked on the door to the room that Genevieve was in.

"J-Jean?" Genevieve asked hesitantly. "Is that you?" She shuffled towards the door and peeked out almost nervously, smiling weakly at seeing Coraline. "Oh. Oh, Coraline. I-Is everything okay?"

---

Jean-Claude moved to sit in the lounge with them, watching them but seeming lost in thought.

"You tell me."
__

"Speak your mind." Jared advised.

Genevieve hesitated, only one side of her face visible, and then she opened the door, inviting Coraline in, even as she hid behind the door.

---

"Hmm? Oh, its nothing. Just thinking of Genevieve, wondering if we have enough in storage for the winter. Some of us in this house eat actual food now so..."

Coraline walked in.
______

"If not, then Coraline or I coul run to the market."

Genevieve was stood with a handkerchief to her mouth, the edges of it already blood speckled. She'd gone paler from being downstairs and upstairs, and chose to be sat on the edge of the bed when she started to tremble.

---

"Mm, I'd rather go; I know how this house sits through a winter."

"Now are you going to tell me?"
______

"So do Coraline and I." He reminded.

"We may not have considered long term effects," Genevieve coughed quietly into her handkerchief, folding it to dab at her mouth. "Rather silly, since no ones ever survived to suffer long term effects but..."

---

"Not quite as well as someone who's lived in this old thing since a littl'un." Jean-Claude settled into his chair, looking around the room fondly.

"Ask Jared to heal you."
______

"Let's not start a debate." Jared advised, as Lloyd suddenly landed on his father's lap getting faster each day.