Cam and Alex followed Miranda up the stairs and down the hallway to the left. At the end of the hall there were two doors, one on each side of the hallway. The doors had a name and symbol carved into them. Cam and Alex separated, Alex going left and Cam right. Cam lifted her hand and ran it over the engraving, it read, "Apolla" and had a sun, identical to that of her necklace, engraved under the name. Alex rested her forehead against her head and closed her eyes, finding a strange sense of peace from her door, hers had "Artemis" engraved on it and her moon symbol underneath.
"Your father carved these when we had decided on your names," Miranda explained, "However, if…"
"They're perfect," Cam smiled at her mother.
"I love them," Alex smiled an identical smile, "I just can't believe that we didn't see them the last time that we were here…"
"That's because we didn't have them put on before," Miranda explained, "We didn't have the time. But I am happy to say that you girl will be in your element in these rooms. Apol… Cam, you can see the sunrise from your room, and Alex, you can watch the sun set and the moon rise."
"You can call us by our birth names if you prefer Mom," Alex smiled warmly, "After all, that's what we will be called by on Coventry, is it not? We should probably get used to it now – because now we are full-fledged DuBaers."
Miranda's beautiful gray eyes began to water when Alex called her "Mom". At the end of her spiel Miranda hugged both her and Cam so tightly that they couldn't breathe.
"Do you feel the same?" She asked Cam.
"Of course," Cam replied, "It may take some time to get used to calling you 'Mom' though…"
"I completely understand," Miranda cried, "and please don't feel obligated to call me mom, Miranda is fine…"
"No," Alex affirmed, "You are our mother, and deserve to be recognized as such."
"You girls are so wonderful," Miranda wept, trying to gain control, "You should probably get unpacked now, dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes."
"Okay," Cam smiled, "See you in a bit… Mom."
Miranda smiled and headed down the stairs. Ileana looked up from her magazine and smiled at the woman who she viewed as her surrogate mother. Ileana noted that Miranda looked as if she had been crying, and knew that the girls moving in with her meant everything to her.
"How are the girls doing?" Ileana asked as Miranda sat down beside her and wiped her face.
"They're just unpacking now," Miranda replied, "They are really quite remarkable, beautiful and kind young women. I makes me sad to think that I have had nothing to do with it…"
"Of course you did!" Ileana exclaimed, "You brought them into this world - that counts for something! You have also been a major part of their lives for the past two years; you can't tell me that that hasn't affected the outcome of their lives today. Besides, when I was looking after them they were brash, selfish and petty…"
"They were teenagers Ileana," Miranda laughed, "I'm sure you were the same way."
"That's what you think," Ileana huffed and went back to reading her magazine, while Miranda went to check on the cooking.
The moment that Alex stepped into her room she was mesmerized. It seemed that Miranda made a huge effort to make her feel at home and welcome at LunaSoliel. Her room was decorated in deep blues and blacks with white trimming. She had dark mahogany desk, vanity set, dresser, and four-poster bed (that had dark blue bedding and black curtains). There were moon symbols painted onto her walls in white.
Alex dropped her boxes off onto the floor and jumped onto her queen-sized bed. Miranda had obviously spared no expense for her children. Rolling around on her comfy bed Alex noted that the headboard had "Artemis" engraved into it. She smiled at the gesture and touched her necklace.
'Cam,' she sent her thoughts, 'is your room half as cool as mine?'
'No,' Cam replied curtly, 'mine is definitely cooler, Ms. Punk.'
Before Alex had sent her the telepathic message Cam was awestruck at the amount of sheer love and thoughtfulness that her mother had spent on her own room. It was the mirror-twin of Alex's, except all of her furniture wasn't dark mahogany, but a light oak. Her room was colored in pinks and oranges, with the design of her sun charm painted white onto the walls. Right now, she was convinced that her mother was totally awesome.
Cam, like Alex, dropped her boxes and jumped onto her pink-covered, four-poster, queen-sized bed. She rolled around contently and noticed that her headboard had the name "Apolla" engraved into.
'Better get used to it now like Alex said,' Cam thought sadly.
She was homesick already, missing her friends, her boyfriend Jason, and most of all – her family. The Barnes' house would always be home to came, no matter where she lived. She couldn't help that, that was where she grew up and shared most of her precious family memories.
Alex interrupted her musings with her cheerfulness here. Cam, of course, retorted with a quip. At the same time, the twins decided that they should unpack their things. Opening the first box, they began to move into their new/old home.
'Girls,' Miranda's voice echoed through their minds a little while later, 'It's time for dinner.'
Their mother was slowly regaining her powers, as well as Ileana. Witches could suffer from loss of their powers if they suffer severe emotional and traumatic shock. Both Ileana and Miranda, the most talented witches that the twins had ever met, had met this fate. Miranda lost her gifts when their father had been brutally murdered by their uncle (his brother); Ileana met the same fate as Miranda when she had discovered that her father was their other uncle, Thantos – Ileana's arch-nemesis. It was no surprise when the gifted women started to regain their powers, and mind-reading and telepathic messaging was one of the first regained.
'I'll be right down,' the twins replied simultaneously.
Miranda smiled at their response and laid their plates on the table, opposite each other. She then sat down at her place at the head of the small table with Ileana at the other end, and waited for her daughters. They were down momentarily and sat at their places. This was their first family dinner (save for the men who were either incarcerated, dead or in exile) and it was enjoyable. Afterwards, they went to the family room and had a girls' night. They ate popcorn, drank soda and talked about everything under the sun (and moon). There was laughter and tears, and laughter so hard that it caused tears. The DuBaer women were finally reunited, for good.