Wishing for Some Playmates

Chapter 2
Part 2

Wishing For Some Playmates: Part 2

Mikey blinked as he watched his daddy gently pick up his mommy. Bruce gave his now-oldest a look before taking Kathrina to their room to rest. Mikey watched as his parents disappeared into the hall, blinked, and slowly looked at the four boys in the living room. He stared at the four, confused why they were here and why they were dressed so weird. After a minute of awkward staring, Mikey gasped as he suddenly knew who these four were. He cautiously walked up to the five-year-old, mouth slightly hanging. “Larry…” Mikey asked doubtfully. Larry suddenly became bashful under his now big brother’s eyes and, pressing his shirt tightly against his body, nodded shyly. Mikey blinked, a silent gasp escaping him as he looked at his other…little brothers. An awkward silence fell on the five boys as the others joined Larry. For who knows how long, the five just stared awkwardly at each other, blinking and looking around the room. “...Game?” Ronny suddenly asked, awkwardly breaking the silence. His brothers looked at him, all confused by the sudden question. Ronny shrank slightly from all the stares he was getting, shyly looking at the floor. After a moment of staring at his little brother (did that ever sound weird), Mikey gasped as he realized something; he had some kids close to his age to play with. “Yeah!” Mikey nearly shouted. “Let’s play!” The eight-year-old excitedly hurried off to his room to get some games, leaving his little brothers confused. It didn’t take long for the boys’ confusion to give way to excitement, and they hurried after their now big brother. (SC) With a moan, Kathrina made her way to the waking world, slowly rising from her bed. Holding her forehead, the fifty-one-year-old woman slowly blinked away the sleep from her eyes. She looked around her room and saw the glass of water and the headache medicine next to it. Kathrina smiled slightly at her husband’s gesture and grabbed the items. She took the pills and finished off the water in one go before getting out of bed. As she left her room, Kathrina cringed as she recalled the dream she had. She was quick to banish that thought from her head, finding it chilling that people could suddenly turn into kids. The mother stepped into the living room and came to a dead stop, eyes widening. Kathrina’s breath came out in short, labored gasps as she watched the scene before her. The coffee table had been moved to the right corner of the living room, and her five boys sat around the open area, surrounded by various board games. She watched, body trembling as her former youngest took some dice, threw them, and moaned when he didn’t get the best results. Kathrina brought a hand to her chest, trying to steady her breathing as she studied her four boys’ current outfits. Bobby’s outfit didn’t look all that different from the outfit he wore when he was a teenager: a pair of shorts, red with a white strip on the right leg, and a navy blue tank top. His right foot was in the air, and his black sandal dangled from his foot lazily. Kathrina, heart beating like a raging bull, turned her attention to the twins. Ronny and Donny were dressed similarly; both wore sweatpants, sweaters, and had nothing on their feet. Ronny’s sweater was red with a character his mother didn’t know. Donny’s sweater was blue with the words “sweet boy” in black letters. Kathrina, on the edge of fainting again, looked at her current youngest, and her face paled in shock at Larry’s outfit. Larry was wearing a pair of light blue jeans with claw marks running down from the knee. He wore a black T-shirt with a white skull on it. He also wore a denim jacket with the sleeves ribbed off and black high-tops. Kathrina could feel her shock give way to outrage as she continued to stare at her former oldest. Larry’s hair had been done up in short spikes, and he wore a big, black bandana with a skull on it. “Finally awake,” Bruce said to his wife casually. Kathrina snapped her head in her husband’s direction, eyes flaring in outrage. Bruce was sitting on the couch, using his phone to record his boys playing. He flashed his wife a charming smile, noting the look in her eyes. Kathrine glared at her husband for a long moment, and Bruce, sensing where things were about to head, sighed. He stopped recording and stood up. “You all behave while your mommy and I talk,” Bruce told his boys. The five boys were too involved in their game to acknowledge their father. Bruce stared at his boys for a moment before walking up to Kathrina. The woman looked her husband in the eyes and saw the message in them. She could also tell how serious Bruce was, and reluctantly agreed to what he was silently suggesting. Kathrina looked at her boys, a conflicted feeling rising in her chest when she saw how much fun Mikey was having with his current little brothers. With a sigh, she looked at her husband, and together, both returned to their bedroom. “...What’s on your mind?” Bruce asked his wife after closing the door. Instantly, Kathrina’s fury came back, and she glared death at her husband. She put her hands on her hips and stormed up to Bruce. “What’s on my mind?” Kathrina repeated dryly. “You know what’s on my mind, Bruce Goldison.” Bruce, for his part, wasn’t fazed by his wife’s “scolding” face, as the boys called it, suppressing a sigh. The man went to say something, but his wife cut him off. “Our boys suddenly shrank into children,” Kathrina said, her voice getting sharp and glaring daggers at Bruce. “And what are you doing? You’re filming them playing like this was one of your silly photoshoots!” Now it was Bruce’s turn to glare daggers at his wife. Realizing her mistake, Kathrina looked away from her angry husband. An awkward silence fell on the couple as Kathrina continued to avoid eye contact with her husband. Eventually, her eyes fell on the clock on her nightstand, and she scowled when she saw that she was out for nearly three hours. “...What would you have expected me to do?” Bruce finally asked, speaking slowly so as not to let his anger show. Some of Kathrina’s anger returned, and she looked at her husband with a slight glare. “You could have taken them to a doctor!” she retorted voice raising. Bruce had to resist the urge to groan at his wife’s suggestion. He knew he should take his boys’ sudden transformation seriously, but he was a local man, despite what others may think because of his laid-back persona. So he doubted taking his boys to the hospital would do much. “Oh, I know that look!” Kathrina said sharply. “You don’t plan to do anything to help our boys get back to their proper ages.” Bruce sighed and moved closer to his wife, gently taking Kathrina by the waist and pulling her close. Kathrina groaned under her breath, knowing her husband did this when he wanted to calm her down. “...Look,” Bruce said gently, “I know you want our boys to be successful so they don’t run into the hardships you had before meeting me. But-” “If you knew that!” Kathrina retorted, starting to get frantic, and shoving her husband away. “Why are you just sitting around, letting them play games? And why did you let Lawrence dress like that?” Bruce stared at his wife for a long moment, then sighed. He moved closer to wrap his arms around his wife again, but Kathrina pulled away from Bruce. Bruce sighed again, then said, “Kathy, I know this is weird, but think about this way: the boys now have more time to do things even better.” Kathrina continued to glare at her husband, but it didn’t take long for her expression to turn thoughtful. She looked to the floor as she thought over her husband’s words. Bruce watched the gears in Kathrina’s head turn as she thought the things over. Bruce decided not to tell his wife about how he learned that his boys no longer had the knowledge they spent their lives building. “...You’re right,” Kathrina whispered, then smiled broadly. “My god…You’re Right!” Bruce couldn’t stop the eye roll as his wife began gushing again, going over everything her boys would do the second time around. Though a smile did slowly work its way to Bruce’s face as he finally got his wife to stop fretting over the boys' current age. Bruce suddenly frowned as he noticed something odd about his wife. He stared at Kathrina for a long moment and gasped as he realized what was happening to his partner. Kathrina heard the gasp and looked at her husband, confused. She was about to ask him what was wrong when she happened to catch a glance of herself in her mirror. The wife turned her head to the mirror and gasped as she watched her hair rapidly regain color.