The triplets grew with less attention from their parents than their siblings had gotten, yet with more love. Elizabeth and Joshua basked in their milestones, in their laughter, in their happiness, in their love. So when Holden began to call Elizabeth ‘Izzy’, the nickname was taken with a smile. And when Hannah, who Elizabeth quickly learned was not a flower, but more an overly excited and wiggly bumblebee, decided that the ‘ua’ part of Joshua took too much time to say in her fast-paced toddler life, Joshua became Josh.
Until it came time for the triplets to begin school. Which meant it was time to leave the nursery. To begin attending breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. To begin being proper. To begin following the rules. Joshua and Elizabeth watched helplessly as the light began to leave their siblings' faces as they were made aware that they were no longer to act like children.
The two desperately tried to keep the dwindling light from fading completely, and with the help that the three always had each other, they continued to be children. They just learned to be children privately. And their parents backed off. Let them be. Their grandmother had never had a particular participatory role in any of her grandchildren’s lives other than to criticize and correct, so the three kept their light.
But even still, they had to play their parts. And that meant being perfect in front of everyone else. And they tried. They really tried. But they were children. And as children, they found it hard to be perfect, especially when there were two friends always next to them. Hannah had Holden who had Henry who had Hannah. And laughter was contagious. Excitement was contagious. Energy was contagious.
Over their years they found many things to be contagious. One of which was guilt.
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