Caste to Class

Braid

Characters in this chapter-
Selene
Ember-Mummy
Nova-Mumma

*Iris' P.O.V*

I was cuddling up to Mummy, playing with one of the chess pieces. Mommy had left to go do something so that meant I got Mummy all to myself. Mummy kept taking chess pieces from me for no good reason though so I kind of wished Mommy would come back. So what if I was trying to chew on the pieces? That's what they were for I'm pretty sure.

The door to the room slams open and I flinch into Mummy, hiding my face into her shoulder as I feel myself shiver in fear. I didn't like loud noises, they made me upset. I felt tears hitting Mummy's sleeve as she tried to soothe me as much as she could.

"Selene, we do not shove doors open," Nova scolds quietly. I settle down when I realize that it's just her and Selene.

"Sorry Mumma," Selene whispers back, sounding just slightly ashamed. I hear her footsteps as she approaches Mummy and I so of course I peek out to look at her.

Her blonde hair has been pulled back with several hair pins and a hair clip. It seems like it was thrown up just to keep it out of her face. She wasn't wearing makeup anymore and it looked like she had changed into a pair of overalls.

"I want to play with Iris," Selene declares to Mummy who I glance up to. She raises an eyebrow as she sits me up on her lap, making me whine since I had just gotten comfortable. My head rests on her breast as I play with the neckline of her dress.

"You may ask Iris if she wants to play but if she says no then you must respect that," Mummy says as she pats my bottom. I glance up at her since she says my name but I am much more interested in continuing to play with her dress.

"Iris," Selene says as she pokes my arm lightly. I whine as I glance at her, covering my arm with my other hand. Mummy kisses the top of my head and I settle down as I look at Selene with confusion. I didn't know why she had poked me. It had hurt...only a little bit but still! "Would you like to come play with me," she says as she glances at Mummy. I feel Mummy move but she doesn't say anything, whatever she did seemed to make Selene happy since she smiles.

I glance up at Mummy who looks down at me, raising an eyebrow when she sees me staring at her. "Well would you like to go play with Selene?" she asks softly. I nod after a moment, sliding off her lap after a second.

Selene takes my hand, skipping out of the room as I follow behind her. I hear Mummy stand up because the chair creaks but I don't look back to see if she is following. If she decides to follow then that is on her and not on me. I did kind of want her to follow though.

"Aren't they so cute?" I hear Nova whisper behind us.

"No one wants your opinion Mumma," Selene retorts as she turns around. She stuck her tongue out and I frown slightly when I hear Nova clear her throat.

"You better watch that attitude little miss because that behind of yours will be over my knee if you keep it up," Nova states.

"No," Selene says immediately as she lets go of my hand to cover her bottom.

"Then watch the attitude," Nova says. Selene nods her head after a moment as she glances at me.

"Mumma is a meanie sometimes," she whispers to me as she takes my hand again as she leads me down the hallway. I giggle slightly as we end up in her room. There are puzzle pieces scattered about on the floor and also some books that are just haphazardly stacked.

"I told you to clean your room," Nova sighs as she enters the room, going to pick up books that are stacked up.

"I diddddd," Selene rolls her eyes as she pulls me down to sit with her. "What do you want to play?" she asks after a moment. She clearly seems intent on getting my opinion.

I shrug as I glance at Mummy who smiles down at me. I glance around the room before pointing to some building blocks. Selene pulls them over to us, putting one into my hand. She seems more intent on putting a puzzle together while I stack blocks next to her.

"This is like when you invite me to drink with you and Opal while Adira works on paperwork," Mummy mutters to Nova. I had made a little triangle of blocks so I scooted back to build a little wall around me out of blocks.

"Well I would invite Adira but she always says no," Nova replies. I glance at them and realize Mummy has moved to sit in front of Nova, sitting between her legs as Nova braids her hair. It's just two braids that have the hair pulled out slightly to make them look bigger but I watch mesmerized for a while before I crawl over to them, not caring that I end up knocking my blocks over.

"Well hello to you little miss," Mummy says as I sit on my knees next to her, watching as Nova braids her hair. I don't respond to her, continuing to watch Nova braid as she glances at me.

"You're a curious little one hm?" Nova asks as she pats the spot next to her. "Come darling, you can sit next to me," she offers. I pull myself up onto the chest she is sitting on, watching her hands as she keeps braiding the whole time.

"You do my hair?" I ask quietly after a moment, reaching out to touch Mummy's two braids.

"When I am done with Ember's hair I will," Nova promises as she smiles. "Do you want to hold the twine I am using to braid her hair?" she offers. I nod as I take it, holding it carefully.

"Thank you Mumma," I whisper, happy that she was letting me help.