Two of a Kind

Two of a Kind

Chapter Two = Seamus Turns Five

(Still from Seamus' PoV)

Seamus opened his eyes and jumped out of bed so quickly, he didn't notice his sheets wrapped firmly around him. He fell to the floor in a mess of tangled covers, covers with golden Snitches on them.

"Oof!" he said loudly, disengaging himself from the imprisonment of his blankets and kicking them away. He ran over to his mirror and stared at his reflection. He didn't look any different. He didn't feel any different, either.

He wondered why, but just shook his head and ran to his chest of drawers, pulling clothes out. He took off his pyjamas and dressed in a pair of tan pants and his favorite red shirt with his name on it. Seamus ran out of the room and into the bathroom, looking around. Ah hah! There it was!

He found his mummy's brush and ran it through his hair once and carefully put it back where he'd found it. Then he went back to his room and looked in the mirror again. He still didn't look any different.

He was five years old today! Why wasn't he changing?

Deciding that this was a very important question, he ran from his room and down the hallway. He opened the door to his parent's room slowly, and shut it softly. Both of them were sleeping peacefully in their bed. His mum's arm was wrapped around his dad's waist and she was sighing softly against him.

Seamus climbed into their bed and shook his dad a bit. He didn't budge. Narrowing his eyes in concentration, he poked him. He merely rolled over. Seamus let out an indignant tut and turned to his mum, who was murmuring softly. "Mummy," he whispered. "Mummy, wake up."

"Hmm," she purred, and her eyes opened slowly. She gave a shriek of surprise and then said tiredly, "Seamus, what is it, honey?"

"I should be different today and I'm not!" he said, throwing his short arms into the air.

"What?" his mum said, rubbing her eyes, and sitting up in bed.

"I'm five today but I don't feel like it," Seamus whined, unaware that his mother probably didn't want to be conversing with a five year old with a high voice at six thirty in the morning.

"You're not supposed to feel different," his mum told him. "It's how you carry yourself, honey."

Seamus had no idea what this meant, but just said, "Okay, mummy," and hopped off of the bed. He was at the door when he paused. "Mummy, can you make me breakfast?"

His mum smiled and got out of bed. She put on a robe and yawned widely, and walked hand in hand with her son to the kitchen. "By the way, happy birthday, baby," she said, pouring him some cereal into a bowl and setting it in front of him.

"I'm not a baby!" Seamus said, eyes widening. "Natalie is."

"Yes, she is," his mum agreed, now pouring herself some cereal. "Are you excited about your party?"

Seamus' eyes lit up. "Yes!" he said excitedly. "Presents! And my friends! Do you have the cake yet? Can I help pick it out? I like chocolate cake, mummy!"

"Slow down, honey," his mum said patiently, as Seamus began to describe exactly what he wanted his cake to look like. "Cakes can't be made as big as this house, Seamus."

Seamus stopped gesturing in midair, and looked at his mother, an expression of puzzlement clear on his face. His mummy laughed at his wide eyes and scrunched up eyebrows. "Why not?" he asked warily, as though he didn't want to believe this was true.

"They'd fall over, probably!" his mother laughed.

"Oh," said Seamus, a little disappointed, and he went back to his cereal, milk dripping down his chin. Yes, he certainly was a big boy.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Later that day, after lunch (macaroni and cheese), Seamus was watching the telly. Then the doorbell rang. "Mummy, I'll get it!" he said loudly. "I'm a big boy!"

His mother watched him run across the room and down the flight of steps laughing. He reached up to the door handle and opened it. "Hi Ms. Cindy and Mr. John," he said, opening the door wider so that his parents' best friends could come in. Natalie was in her father's arms.

"Happy birthday, chap," said Mr. John, ruffling his hair a bit. Ms. Cindy smiled at him and pinched his cheeks and they walked upstairs to greet his mum. Seamus followed as quickly as he could, but his legs weren't any longer than they had been yesterday.

"Now Seamus," his mum said, once he had walked back into the living room, "we are going to set up for your party, and we want you to watch Natalie very closely, okay?"

Seamus nodded, feeling very important. The grown ups left the room, and he sat himself on the couch, watching Natalie crawl across the brown carpeted floor. "My mum said I could walk by the time I was as old as you," he told her conversationally, while she rolled over onto her back on the floor and chewed on her fist, "and I had my teeth too!"

Natalie responded by sucking on her fist some more. Seamus picked up the remote from underneath the sofa cushions and flipped the channels, trying to see if anything on TV would appeal to him. Nothing did.

Sighing from boredom, he placed himself on the floor next to baby Natalie. "Can you crawl?" he said, giving her a fine example by crawling on all fours across the room. He must have looked silly, because Natalie giggled. "Well, then," he huffed, "you do it."

Natalie giggled and rolled over onto her stomach, her fist still in her mouth. She wormed her way over to him, slowly but surely, then rolled onto her back again. "You remind me of my old dog, Pepper," said Seamus, grabbing her under the armpits and standing her up. "But he died."

Natalie giggled, and Seamus said, "It was not funny. It was sad. Have you ever been sad?"

Natalie swayed in his arms, as though squirming to get away, drool still hanging from her mouth. "You babies are disgusting," he muttered, wiping the side of her mouth with her jumper. "I don't drool. I'm five." He stuck up his chin proudly.

Natalie hit him on the chin with the fist she had been sucking on and giggled. He let go of her to grab his chin. Babies hit hard! "Ow," he said to himself, then looked angrily at Natalie. "What did you do that for?"

Then he realized something. Natalie was standing on her own. His eyes widened. "Ooh, Natalie, walk to me!" he said excitedly, backing away from her a bit. The tiniest of baby frowns crossed her face, and with an indignant sigh, she took several steps toward him at once, stumbled over her feet, and fell right into his arms. "You did it, Nat! You walked! You're a big girl, now! Well, not until you're five like me, really...mummy! Ms. Cindy! Mr. John! Natalie walked! She did it!"

The three adults ran into the room, looking shocked. "What did you say Seamus?" said Ms. Cindy breathlessly, looking at her daughter.

"She walked!" said Seamus admirably, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh, Natalie!" Ms. Cindy shrieked with happiness, and she swept the blue eyed one-year-old into her arms. "You did it, honey! I'm so sorry I missed it!"

As the three adults oohed and ahhed over Natalie's big step (excuse the pun), Seamus looked on, smiling. He had taught her to walk. He really was a big boy.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

At five o clock, the party had started. Streamers were hanging from the ceiling, music was blasting from the speakers, and there was a large banner by the front door that said, "Happy birthday, Seamus."

All twelve children were sitting in a circle, playing a Muggle game called, "Duck, Duck, Goose," which made sense, considering most of the people there were Muggles. Seamus' friend, Annie, was It and she was going around the circle, patting the other kids on the heads.

"Goose!" she finally said, her hand thumping on top of Leo Leonard's head. Leo looked startled at first and then began to chase her around the circle. He tackled her to the ground; Seamus thought he's make a good football player when he was older.

Annie sighed and went again.

All the grown ups were fussing over Natalie, talking about her first steps and going on and on about how adorable she was. Seamus was jealous; it was his birthday, they were supposed to be talking about him, not her.

"Seamus, are you going to chase me? Goose!" said Annie staring down at him with a smile. Seamus grinned, stood up, and chased Annie around the circle, and tagged her on the back. "Man!" she whined, stomping up and down. "This isn't fair!"

Seamus sat down back at his spot and crossed his arms. Natalie was walking toward the circle very slowly and he looked away. Just as Annie finally tagged someone, Rosie Newman, Natalie began tugging on Seamus' hair. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" he said, shoving her away. She fell flat on her bum, looking shocked, and then burst into tears.

"Seamus!" he heard his mum say, but he walked straight to his bedroom and locked the door.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

There was a knock on his door a couple of hours later, and Seamus gave the closed door a withering look, as though cursing it for having the properties to echo the sound of knocking. He sat on the floor, playing with his Tonka Trucks, and after another knock, stood up and opened the door.

His dad walked in. "You like your Tonka Trucks?" he said nervously.

Seamus nodded. "They're fun."

"We miss you out there, you know. You're the birthday boy!" he said, with a little more confidence.

"Everybody likes Natalie better than me," Seamus said sadly, sitting on the floor and crashing two of his trucks into one another.

"No they don't. They're just proud of her because she took her first steps! That's a big accomplishment for a baby. Why, when you did it, we had a tiny party for you."

"You did?" Seamus said curiously and felt comforted somewhat. "Is Natalie going to have one?"

"No," his dad said, shaking his head, "that'd take away from your special day."

"I helped her walk," Seamus said hopefully, hoping for more praise.

"Yes, you did. Now she owes you. You're like her big brother."

"I am?" said Seamus incredulously.

"You bet! Now could you pretty please come and eat your cake and open your presents? We're having macaroni and cheese for dinner, by the way."

That was the ticket. Seamus' eyes immediately went as round as silver dollars and he ran from the room, and down the hall, stopping short in the kitchen, where his mother was making the beloved dish. "Sorry for being mean, mummy," he said quickly and went into the dining room before she could see anything.

All the children were sitting around the long table, plus Ms. Cindy and Mr. John, and Annie's mum as well. Seamus sat down between Annie and his friend Jack, and they began to talk about Tonka Trucks until the macaroni and cheese was all prepared.

When his mum set down bowls of the noodles and cheese in front of everyone, Seamus silently bowed his head and prayed. His father had told him that even though he was magical, he should still pray, because God was much more magical than he could ever hope to be.

Then he looked up and started eating. Dinner was a very loud affair, and Natalie started a bit of a food fight when she began to throw her macaroni and cheese at all the girls at the table. Annie and Melissa and Patty all squealed and jumped up. Natalie giggled, but stopped when her mum threatened to smack her bottom.

After dinner, there was cake, chocolate icing with chocolate cake. Seamus got the largest piece, and was feeling very content. Next, he opened his presents, but was disappointed when the one he was especially hoping for, he didn't get.

When nearly everyone had left, it was just Annie and her parents and Natalie and her parents. "Your party was fun!" Annie said, twirling her curly hair in her fingers. "Bye!"

"Bye!" Seamus said, waving to her as she left. "Hey, Annie!" She turned around at the door, and her mum waited patiently. "Want to be my girlfriend?"

"Seamus!" said all the grown ups, not able to restrain their laughter. Annie's mum was laughing so hard, she was wheezing. Annie looked very confused, and as her mum pulled her out of the door, she asked in a whisper (that was loud enough for everyone to hear) "What's a girlfriend?"

"It's a girl that's a friend," her mum said breathlessly.

"But I'm already his girlfriend then," said Annie as the door shut. "Boys," was the last thing Seamus heard her say.

"Seamus, what do you know about boyfriends and girlfriends?" said Mr. John, still laughing. He had a very red face.

Seamus shrugged. "I heard it on the telly," he said, as Ms. Cindy lifted Natalie from her high chair and balanced her on her waist.

"Sara, I think you need to have a discussion with your son on how to approach girls," Mr. John went on, and Seamus' mum hit him on the shoulder.

"I hoped you liked your party, honey," his mum said finally as Ms. Cindy, Mr. John, and Natalie left.

"It was interesting, to say the least," his father muttered, closing the door and smiling. "We have an extra present for you, that we couldn't give you in front of the Muggles."

His mum drew out her wand, and said, "Accio gift!" A brown package came zooming toward her, and grinning, she gave it to Seamus, as his father came up the steps. Seamus took the gift and ripped the wrapping paper off as quickly as possible.

His eyes widened. "A broomstick!" he said proudly, staring in awe at the small brown-yellow broomstick with the inscription, 'The Toy Cleansweep Three'. Seamus grinned and immediately climbed on. The broomstick lifted from the ground and hovered about a foot above the air.

"Cool," he said.