Scream Me a Dream

Sunday November 21, 2010
3:45pm

Soya’s fingers tapped out the rhythm of the song that played on the radio as she drove the streets of Helsinki towards Burton’s home, where Aida was having her piano lesson. Every Friday and Sunday Aida would spend an hour and a half with Burton learning the piano, she’d gone from hating the instrument with a passion to never wanting to part with it, though Soya and Ville had a feeling it had more to do with Aida’s crush on the teacher then the instrument itself.

While the rest of their week had been busy, mostly Soya going to her studio to finish her paper work and making sure winter and summer dance schedules were done before she left in January. She’d made time to keep her promise to Regan having had dinner at her flat with him and Emmy Wednesday night while Ville and Aida had their own night in.

Soya had learned quickly that Aida and Ville loved having alone time to bond, even if it meant sitting on the couch, Ville with his guitar, Aida with her coloring books, a box of pizza on the table and a movie playing in the background. They both loved the time together and Soya was more then happy to give it to them.

Thursday, Ville had gone out with friends while Soya had had lunch with Toni, Vedrana and Natali as well as Inka and Elli to let her two friends know about her engagement. As predicted the girls had been over the moon that Soya was going to marry her ‘sex shop boy’ and once they found out that the wedding was soon approaching they’d all launched into wedding talk that had made Soya’s head spin.

That had also been the day she’s made the dreaded call to Josef to tell him. He had reprimanded her, as somehow, the man had known that out of all her friends he’d been the last to be told. Though after the very long winded lecture, he’d finally given into his excitement and demanded she tell him when she was planning on going dress shopping so he could catch a flight out to Helsinki to help her.

It wasn’t until Friday that Ville and Soya had finally sat down, while Aida was in school, and talked about their plans for the wedding. She had looked up wedding to-do lists, to at least get an idea as to where to start with the planning. After seeing that most to-do lists were made with the assumption that the couple had a year’s worth of time to plan, Ville had spent an hour trying to calm her down when she’d come to the conclusion that they were already five months behind. He’d assured her that they would be fine and that everything would work itself out.

So they’d talked and decided. They’d decided on a small simple wedding of no more then 100 people at the ceremony while the reception itself was a different matter. They didn’t want a church wedding but an outdoor ceremony, seeing as weather in Helsinki in May was perfect for an outdoor wedding and they both weren’t all that religious to have a church ceremony.

They’d started on their guest list, just making one list rather then separate ones, naming their mutual friends first, before naming other people they wanted to invite. They had argued of course, as Soya didn’t understand why Ville wanted to not only invite Bam and his crew but the entire Jackass crew, while Ville didn’t quite get why she had to invite her entire dance company, including Rebecca, whom she hated.

Once the argument started getting a bit too heated, they’d stopped with the guest list and decided on her maid of honor and his best man. Rosalind and Jesse had won the roles. Then they talked about whether or not they wanted more groomsmen and bridesmaids, but they were at a standstill. While they wanted to ask other people to stand up with them, they also didn’t want to have a bridal party of ten for a small wedding.

Once they’d both gotten headaches from not only trying to think of all the people to invite, but from staring at wedding websites all day, they’d called it quits and went to pick up Aida from Burton’s, spending the rest of the afternoon watching movies.

Saturday had found Aida and Ville on another one of their bonding trips, Ville taking Aida to Sea Life Helsinki, after much pleading on Aida’s part that all her friends had gone and she had yet to go. Ville had given in and had taken both Aida and Olivia to the aquarium. The trip had been perfectly fine with Soya, who had turned down the offer to go with them, as it had given her and Linde time to put the final details to Ville’s birthday party.

While Linde had been more than happy to not only help Soya with her planning but give her Kat’s number, it hadn’t meant she had talked to the woman. She’d left a message on Kat’s phone explaining who she was and she had some questions to ask her. She was hoping she would get a phone call back soon, so she could explain what she needed and hoped that Kat would be willing to help.

While Saturday had been for outings and final planning, Sunday had been for sleeping in and staying in, except for Aida who’d been shuffled to her piano lesson. Parking in front of Burton’s home, Soya got out and smiled lightly when her grey Converse met the slight slush of snow that had fallen lightly that morning. Winter was quickly approaching Helsinki and Soya couldn’t have been happier with it.

She got out of the car, pulling the dark grey sweater down, stuffing her keys into the pockets of her light blue distressed jeans. She walked to the front door, not even having time to knock before the door was pulled open.

“We were just waiting for you.” Burton said with a smile, leaning in to kiss her cheek. She returned the kiss as he ushered her inside to the warmth of his home.

“How was today’s lesson?” Soya asked, smiling when she saw Aida packing sheet music into her bag.

“Well Riku the piano dog didn’t starve today.” Burton teased, causing Aida to grin.

“Good to hear.” Soya laughed, knowing the Burton used the same method on Aida that his mother had used on him when he’d been learning the piano. “Ah and before I forget, Ville and I would like our money.”

Burton laughed as he turned towards his kitchen. “I was wondering when you guys would remember that.” He called out to her as he picked up the jar that he’d stuffed the money in and walked back into the living room, handing the glass jar to Soya. Her eyes widened when she saw not only the size of the jar, but the amount of money stuffed into it.

“Seriously?”

Burton nodded. “It was a 200 Euro buy in and a lot of people bet in week blocks, I haven’t counted it, but…”

“This would probably pay for half our wedding.” Soya said looking up at her friend.

Burton laughed. “I wouldn’t go that far, but it’ll help, I guess.” He looked down at a grinning Aida and ruffled her hair, causing her to wrinkle her nose at him and duck out from under his hand. “I’ll see you next Friday Aida, practice those scales I gave you.”

“I will.” Aida said with a smile, smoothing down her hair and adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder.

“Go wait in the car for me.” Soya said handing Aida the keys to the car as they both watched Aida skip down the walkway towards the car.

“I never knew they made skinny jeans for kids.” Burton said as he watched the little girl climb into the car.

Soya laughed. “Leave it to Ville to buy my sister her first pair of skinny jeans.”

“She’s taking after you in her fashion sense.” Burton teased; he was use to seeing Aida in either her uniform or a skirt and simple shirt. He’d been surprised when she’d come tromping up his walkway in a pair of dark skinny jeans, a pink and brown plaid long sleeved button down top and little black ankle boots. He swore the little girl was a carbon copy of Soya.

“You’re free tomorrow night right?”

Burton nodded smiling at her. “I’ll be at Tavastia baring gifts.”

“Good.” Soya smiled.

“Hey.” Burton called before Soya left him home entirely. “I want you to know that I know of Aida’s little crush on me.”

Soya blushed for her sister, and gave laugh. “Do you?”

“And I’m not doing anything to urge it on nor am I doing anything to stop it. I figure she’ll get embarrassed if I point it out to her and she’ll get over it eventually…right?”

Soya laughed, leaning up to kiss his cheek. “She will. It’s just because you’re so cute Burton.” Soya teased, pinching his cheek before turning. “See you tomorrow!”

“Bye!” Burton called, walking back inside and closing the door. Soya pulled open her door, getting in and placing the jar of money in the back seat with her purse and Ville’s grey pea coat, which he’d forgotten back there. She turned towards Aida making sure her sister was buckled before buckling up herself.

“Soya?”

“Yes?” Soya asked making sure the road was clear before pulling back onto the street.

“Tomorrow is Ville’s birthday right?”

“It is.” Soya nodded with a grin.

“Did you get him a present?”

Soya laughed and nodded. “A couple of them actually.”

“What’d you get him?” Aida asked innocently. “I promise I won’t tell him.”

Soya laughed, really one of the presents she wanted to keep close to her chest, it was bad enough Linde knew and the other wasn’t appropriate for her to share with her sister. “Well…” she said thinking of the third present she’d gotten Ville. “I called a friend of his to see if she’d be free to give Ville a tattoo he’s been wanting.”

“I want to get him something, but I don’t know what.” Aida frowned. “And I don’t have money to buy him anything.”

Soya smiled at her sister’s gesture. “You know he doesn’t care if you get him anything or not Aida.”

“But you got him stuff.”

“Well yes…” Soya laughed. “But I’m pretty sure I have to as his fiancé, that and if I don’t, it gives him a reason not to get me anything for my birthday.”

Aida giggled. “What if I made him something?”

“Like what?” Soya asked.

“Did you already get him a cake?”

Soya laughed. “I have, but he won’t get it until tomorrow night.”

Aida pouted. “I wish I could go to the party.”

Soya gave her sister a teasing grin. “And when you’re eighteen, you can. Now what do you want to make Ville?”

Aida shrugged. “I don’t know.” Soya watched as Aida chewed on her bottom lip and looked out the window before her eyes widened and she bounced excitedly in her seat. “I know!!”

Soya laughed at her sister’s reaction. “What?”

“I can make cupcakes!! And I can take them to class with me and share them!”

Soya smiled at the idea and headed towards the grocery store that was a few minutes away from the tower. “All right, lets stop by the store and get the things you need. Now tell me, how is this a present for Ville if you’re going to take them to your class?”

Aida bit her lip, before grinning at her. “We can put those little heart things on them.”

“Heart things?” Soya asked, pulling into a free spot in front o f the market.

“The heart thing you and Ville have on you!” Aida said, pulling up Soya sweater and pointed to Soya’s ribs.

“Heartagram.” Soya corrected with a laugh, tugging her sweater back down. “And I like the idea; we’ll need to get one of those detail pens though, so we can draw them.”

“Do you think Ville will like it?” Aida asked, chewing on her lip again.

“I think he’ll love it sweetheart.” Soya assured, opening her door, only to wince at the cold. Sighing she turned to the back and grabbed Ville’s grey coat, the jar of money along with her purse. Getting out of the car, she opened the trunk putting the jar in there, before pulling on Ville’s jacket, smiling to herself as she was immediately surrounded by Ville’s scent.

She grabbed Aida’s hand, shouldering her dark grey purse as they walked to the store. Grabbing a cart, she and Aida walked towards the baking aisle. Since it was Aida’s present for Ville, she only made suggestions when Aida asked, letting Aida decide what flavored cupcakes she wanted to make, along with what frosting and other types of decorations she’d wanted to put on them. Soya indulged a bit and got a decorating kit that came with every utensil one would need to decorate cakes, cupcakes and cookies.

An hour later, she and Aida left the grocery store, with not only the items needed to make the cupcakes, but actual groceries. Soya had decided to get the grocery shopping done rather than drag Ville out of the tower to do a chore that he hated doing. He always argued that she knew what he liked to eat, therefore food shopping shouldn’t have to be a group effort, she had a feeling he just hated going in and out of the aisles.

After packing all the groceries into the trunk, they made their way to the tower, Aida bouncing in excitement at the prospect of spending the evening in the kitchen baking. Once she was parked in front of the tower, she popped the trunk, grabbing Aida’s bag and helped her little sister gather the bags of groceries.

“Start putting all this away Aida.” Soya said as she set her bags on the counter and Aida set hers on the floor. “I’m going to go grab Ville to help me with the rest.”

“All right.” Aida nodded, taking out a loaf of bread from the plastic bag on the floor. “Do I leave all the cupcake things out?”

“Yes please, leave it on the counter and we’ll get started after we fix dinner all right?”

Aida nodded and started putting the groceries away, while Soya went upstairs where she knew Ville was holed up. Sure enough she found him sitting on the couch in his studio, the guitar settled on his lap as he scribbled in his notebook, exactly how she had left him nearly two hours ago when she’d left to pick up Aida.

“Ville?”

“Hmm?” he answered distracted, crossing something out on the sheet of paper that sat in front of him.

“Ville, kultaseni.” Soya laughed crossing over to him.

“Vain minuutin.” He muttered. (Just a minute.)

Soya rolled her eyes, having learned quickly that a minute with Ville and his music could easily turn into three hours. Tugging the guitar out of his grasp lightly, he looked up in annoyance only to smile slowly as he looked at her.

“Hi.”

“Welcome back.” Soya laughed, setting his guitar on its stand. “Can you come help me for a minute?”

“Help you with what?” he asked, turning back to his notebook with a frown, he really didn’t need the guitar anyway.

“Ville.” Soya laughed, leaning down to kiss his lips lightly, getting his attention again. “I have groceries out in the car, can you help me bring them in while I help Aida put everything away.”

“Groceries?” Ville frowned.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the refrigerator is empty.”

“I haven’t.” Ville teased, leaning forward to kiss her again, only for her to dance out of the way.

“I’ll give you another kiss if you come down and help.”

Ville groaned, looking at his notebook, then back at Soya before getting off the couch grudgingly. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“So very lucky.” Soya laughed, taking his hand and leading him out of the room.

Ville greeted Aida, who was still putting the groceries away before heading out to Soya’s car to get the rest of the groceries. Ten minutes later he was setting the last of the bags on the counter not at all surprised by the amount of food Soya had bought. They tried to buy enough food to last them a month so they didn’t want to do the chore every week.

“Do you have mixing bowls?” Soya asked, catching Ville before he could escape the kitchen.

“I should.” He said moving around the litter of plastic bags Aida had left on the floor.

“Aida, pikkuinen, pick up the bags from the floor before one of us trips.” Ville said as he opened the cabinet to search for mixing bowls.

“Sorry.” Aida muttered as she started cleaning them up.

“It’s fine.” Ville shrugged. “I just don’t want you or Soya getting caught in them.” He said reaching to get the glass mixing bowl his mother had most likely left for him and handed it to Soya before starting out of the room again.

“I was going to make a salad for dinner.” Soya said stopping his escape again. “Is that ok or did you want something different?”

Ville shook his head. “That’s fine.”

Soya watched as he turned again and couldn’t help but stop him again; laughing silently at the look of annoyance that crossed Ville’s face before he quickly covered it.

“So I’m guessing by the escape you’re trying to make you won’t be joining us at the table?” she teased.

Ville groaned before he leaned down to kiss her. “I’m sorry.”

Soya shrugged, truly not minding. “The down falls of being with a rockstar.” She teased kissing him back, Aida’s groan of disgust in the background. “You can write a song about me to make up the missed dinners.”

Ville grinned. “Always.”

Soya pushed him away with a roll of her eyes, “Go on then, go play with your notebook and guitar. I’ll bring you dinner once it’s done and I expect you to eat it Ville.”

“I always eat my dinner.” He argued, winking at a giggling Aida.

“Last time you let your soup get cold and then complained because you swore I never told you I had left it there for you.”

“And I won’t be making that mistake twice.” Ville promised, turning to leave once more only to hold in the groan when Aida called him. He turned to the eight year old with a raised eyebrow, noting Soya biting her lip to keep her laugh in.

“Will you come down and help us later?” Aida asked.

“Help with what pikkuinen?”

“She’s making cupcakes for your birthday; she wants to share them with her class tomorrow.” Soya explained.

“Really?” Ville asked, looking back at Aida.

Aida nodded. “But I need your help drawing the heart-a-things.”

“Heartagrams.” Soya corrected absently.

“You’re making cupcakes to take to your class for my birthday?” Ville asked, still somewhat surprised Aida wanted to do something.

Aida nodded. “It’s your present.”

“I’m assuming I’d get one of these cupcakes.” Ville teased.

“Duh.” Aida said with a roll of her eyes.

Ville snorted before nodding. “Yes, I’ll be down a bit later to help you with the heartagrams.”

“Thank you!” Aida grinned.

Ville stayed in the kitchen, as Soya pointed out to Aida what she needed for the salad, waiting to see if the girls had any other questions for him. Soya turned to him with a teasing grin and waved him off.

“You really can go now, rakkaus, we won’t stop you this time.”

Ville looked at Soya with a raised eyebrow, before nodding and leaving the kitchen. He gave a quiet sigh of relief when he got half way up the stairs and he wasn’t called back. Walking into his studio, he grabbed his guitar from its stand and settled down on the floor in front of his notebook where he’d been scribbling lyrics and notes, before Soya had pulled him out of the room.

When he and Soya had first started dating in August, he’d been so grateful for the break from both touring and writing in general that he really never sat down to immerse himself in his music like he usually did. Sure, he constantly had lyrics or music in his head, but he would write them down and forget about them, unconsciously not wanting to neglect Soya so early on in their relationship.

He really didn’t even worry about neglecting here. He genuinely did want to focus 100% of his attention on her which had never happened in any of his relationships before. He’d never been able to balance his work, both in writing and in touring, with his relationship. He always gave his music 100% of his attention and the other person received whatever was left to give. He’d always known that that wasn’t the way to maintain a healthy relationship, but it was all he was willing to give, never finding a reason to change and silently hoping he would never have to.

With Soya, it was different. He knew he’d done right by not starting their relationship off by him working non-stop. He knew that had he looked at Soya in annoyance at being interrupted from his work early in the relationship, he would have been met with a look of hurt in return.

Now that they were more stable and Soya wasn’t as…well fragile as she had been, his look of annoyance was met by amusement. She was the only woman not to resent his mistress, called music. She encouraged it and humored him when he locked himself away only pulling him away when he’d been at it for hours and even then he was more apologetic about losing track of time then annoyed at being interrupted.

She understood him and his need because she had that need too. She lost herself in her work, let it be her studios, sketching out new outfits in one of her drawing pads, or helping Josef with chorography ideas, which often resulted in her moving the furniture around to clear space, brandishing her ballet shoes and dancing out the chorography Josef had sent so she could advise accordingly.

He was constantly amazed at how well they balanced each other out. He was able to pull her out of her work, just as successfully as she was able to pull him out of his. Their work had been their life for so long that now that they both had something else they loved more than their careers they wanted to work at balancing everything so they wouldn’t come to resent each other.

And it worked, Ville thought, unaware of what they had done, they had carved out time to be together during the day. For the most part they ate breakfast together once Aida was at school, they made sure to lunch together at least twice a week if they were set on working during the week, and in the evenings once Aida was in bed, they would meet in the living room and watch TV or a movie before heading to bed, and even that time was spent either talking or kissing rather than watching the screen.

While they loved spending time together, they both weren’t afraid to let it be known they needed their space. That was usually time that Ville went out with friends or worked on his music, while Soya tended to spend time with her own friends, her sister or, as he had learned, her dance studio to clear her head.

For one of the first times in his life he was happy, truly happy. He wasn’t afraid to tell Soya he loved her every night before they went to sleep. He wasn’t afraid of their upcoming nuptials or the future where he and Soya had kids. He was at a point in his life where he eagerly awaited the future because he was finally with a woman that understood him and accepted him, faults and all. Just as he accepted her.

He shook his head to clear it of his musings, turning back to his notebook, placing his fingers on the neck of the guitar, playing the melody that had been circling his mind, quickly losing himself in his music.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been working; he did know he had heard Soya’s voice letting him know she’d brought him dinner. He was sure he’d ‘hmmm’d’ in agreement. In the back of his mind he also heard the music that Soya and Aida were playing loudly in the kitchen, though he had tuned it out.

When he surfaced again, satisfied with the melody he’d written out. He looked around the room and saw his chicken salad sitting on the table near his elbow untouched with an unopened bottle of coke.

He could smell the sweet scent of cupcakes the girls were baking filling the tower and could hear the loud music playing, currently it was Guns n’ Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine”. He stood up, picking up his phone and wincing when he saw it was nearly nine, putting his guitar in its place, he picked up his untouched food and drink and followed the music downstairs.

“You live!” Aida giggled when she caught sight of him. He heard Soya snort in amusement as he settled down at the counter with his food.

“I do.” Ville laughed accepting the fork Soya handed him as he’d forgotten his upstairs. “How are the cupcakes coming?” he asked, though smirked when he saw that both Aida and Soya were wearing aprons that nearly matched. Aida’s was pink and brown the top of the apron pink and brown stripes while the little skirt was brown with pink polka dots a pink satin ribbon tied at her back. Soya’s was near the same expect hers was brown with little blue polka dots, blue pockets on the skirt and a blue and brown striped ribbon was tied at the low of her back.

“Great!” Aida said with a grin.

“We’re making the frosting while the cupcakes cool.” Soya said.

He looked into the bowl that she was mixing, “I didn’t know you knew how to make frosting from scratch.”

Soya laughed. “I’m quite the baker.”

“She looked it up.” Aida said dryly.

“Don’t give away all my secrets!” Soya admonished teasingly. “We have blue over there.” She said pointing to the other bowls sitting on the counter. “And black and I’m mixing the purple right now.”

“So what color are the heartagrams going to be?” He asked Aida as he opened his coke and took a drink.

“Black.” Aida answered. “We have a pen so you can draw them.”

“A pen huh?” Ville asked finishing his dinner. He stood and placed the empty bowl in the sink, not bothering to wash it when he saw the other dishes sitting there.

“All right, the purple is done, Aida get me those bags for frosting.”

Aida handed Soya a clear triangle shaped bag. Soya showed her how to hold it open, only for Ville to help Aida up onto the counter so she would be closer to Soya as she scooped the frosting into the bag. He watched as Soya picked up what he assumed was a chocolate cupcake and showed Aida how to hold the piping bag and frost the little brown cake.

Once Soya was sure that Aida knew what she was doing, she turned to Ville. “Now you.” She pointed for him to sit and grabbed the bowl filled with black frosting and showed him how to fill the plastic decorating pen and how to push the frosting out.

He tested it out by drawing a heartagram in frosting on the counter which had caused Aida to giggle and Soya to wince. He smirked at her before grabbing the cupcakes Aida had already frosted and started drawing.

Soya pulled the blue frosting closer to her, filling up another piping bag and started frosting the vanilla cupcakes. They worked in a comfortable silence, the only sound coming from the iPod that Soya had docked. He’d found out quickly that Soya had set her songs to play at random when The Cure “I Melt with You.” was quickly followed by Beethoven’s “The Fifth Symphony”

They’d been working for at least half an hour, both Soya and Ville singing softly along with the music that popped up, only for Ville to quickly shut his mouth when he heard very familiar drums and guitar riffs start to echo around the kitchen.

“Don’t you dare.” Soya warned as Ville began to get up to change the song. “I love this song.”

That was when his voice filled the kitchen. Aida looked up in confusion, tilting her head as she listened before turning to Ville. “Is this you?”

“Yes, it’s Ville.” Soya answered, with a smirk to Ville.

“Soya,” Ville started as “Buried Alive by Love” still echoed around the kitchen, he quickly quieted though as Soya sent him a glare. One of her annoying quirks, he thought, she hated changing a song on her iPod when it was set to random preferring to let the list play uninterrupted. It meant he had to listen to a lot of himself as Soya had all of their songs on her iPod.

He looked at Soya as she distracted herself by singing along softly, low enough that he could barely hear her, and refilling her piping bag. He started to move towards the dock only for Soya to see him from the corner of her eye and place a hand on his chest to stop him. He saw her eyes widen and looked down to see her frosting filled hand on his chest, a smear of blue now on his shirt.

“Oh Ville! I’m sorry” she said trying not to laugh. “It’s just, I really do love this song, and it’s almost over anyway.”

“That’s fine.” Ville nodded as Soya removed her hand, leaving a perfect blue handprint on his chest. “Turnabout is fair play, isn’t it?”

Soya eyed him wearily as he reached into the bowl behind him and came out with a handful of black frosting. Anticipating what he was about to do, Soya ducked just as Vile threw the glob, missing her completely but hitting Aida’s side, causing the girl to drop her piping bag to look down at her side.

“God, Aida I’m sorry.” Ville laughed reaching over to get the frosting off her shirt. “I was aiming for your sister.”

Aida wrinkled her nose, taking advantage of Ville’s distracted state before reaching her own hand into the purple frosting. Soya clamped her fingers over her mouth to keep form laughing as Aida smashed her hand full of frosting onto the top of Ville’s head, smearing it into his hair.

Soya wasn’t sure what had happened after that. One minute she was laughing at Ville’s look of utter disbelief that Aida had actually put frosting in his hair, and the next she had a face full of frosting while Aida tried to run her purple little fingers into Soya’s hair to spread it.

It had turned into an all out war after that. They’d started throwing frosting at each other, mostly hitting the cabinets all around the kitchen or landing on the floor. Aida had escaped the frosting battle, since Ville and Soya had started aiming for each other, when Soya had hit the small of his back with an actual cupcake. When she saw him reach for the bowl with the remaining cupcake batter, she knew she had to put a stop to the little war.

She started to reach for his arm, only to slip on a fallen smashed cupcake and grab onto his waist, which caused many things to happen at once. Ville lost his grip on the bowl, causing it to fall. Ville tried to turn, but with Soya grabbing onto his waist to keep her balance, Ville lost his own, tripping on the fallen batter. He landed on the kitchen floor with an ‘omph’, bringing Soya down with him, his arms around her waist to keep her from landing on her back; instead she landed on his chest.

“God, you’re heavy.” He muttered with a groan.

Soya hit his chest, as she straightened, using his chest to push herself up. “Mean.” She groaned, only for Ville to pull her back down against him, leaning forward to lick the side of her neck.

“So sweet.” He murmured.

She squirmed against him, leaning down to catch his lips with hers, tasting the mixture of frosting that was covering his lips and the taste that was purely uniquely him. They kept the kiss innocent, though a bright flash brought them out of the kiss itself and caused them to turn and see Aida at the entrance of the kitchen, with Soya’s digital camera in her hands, fumbling with the buttons.

“Where did you disappear too?” Ville asked as Soya moved off of him, wincing when she sat on mushed cupcake.

“You guys started massacring the cupcakes.” Aida pouted.

“I’m sorry kultaseni.” Soya said motioning Aida forward, so she could see the picture Aida had taken. “If you want I can run out and see if I can get more mix so I can make them tonight and you can still take them to school.”

“And if it makes you feel better, I had fun with a present.” Ville grinned, pushing himself up and leaning back on his hands.

“Good!” Aida grinned, handing the camera to Soya as she settled on the floor between Soya’s legs as Soya looked at the picture her sister had taken with a smile, showing it to Ville, who leaned in and grinned when he saw the picture. They were lying on the food covered ground kissing, both of them covered from head to toe in purple, blue and black frosting.

“Sweet.” Ville teased, causing Soya to roll her eyes at the horrible pun.

“Come here.” Soya said motioning him closer to her and Aida “We don’t have a picture together with Aida.”

Ville scooted closer to her, shifting Aida from the floor between Soya’s legs, to sit on one of Soya’s legs and one of his so she was between them, Soya lifted the camera and tilted her head closer to his.

“Ready?” she asked looking down at Aida who was grinning. Soya looked at Ville who winked, before they both looked at the camera, Soya pushed on the button, taking the picture.

“I wanna see!” Aida said, scrambling to get up to see the screen.

Soya laughed at her sister, before showing her the picture of all three of them grinning at the camera, still covered in frosting. “All right, we’ve had our fun.” Soya laughed, handing Ville the camera, using his shoulder to stand up. “Let’s get you showered and off to bed Aida, it’s past your bedtime.”

Aida nodded, not bothering to fight as she gave a yawn. “Can I still take cupcakes to class?”

Soya chuckled as she started ushering her sister out of the kitchen. “I’ll see what I can salvage from the war zone.”

Ville laughed as he got up, setting the camera on a clean patch of counter, looking around and sighing, while the little war had been fun, it would be hell to clean. He was about to see how many cupcakes he and Soya had ended up killing, when a knock came at his door. Looking at the clock on his stove with a frown, he noted it was nearing eleven.

Hoping it wasn’t a fan, he ran a hand through his hair, wincing as his fingers tangled in the hardening frosting, tugging at his scalp. Giving up he went to the door, looking through the peephole, only to frown once again and pull the door open.

“Nathan.” Ville said in surprise.

“Hello, Mr. Valo, is Miss Soya in?” Nathan asked, not blinking once at Ville’s appearance.

“Ah…yes, she is.” Ville said waving the man in out of the cold. “She’s upstairs at the moment, cleaning Aida up. Is there something I can help you with though?”

“Ah, no, I have to talk to Miss. Soya if that’s all right?”

“Sure,” Ville nodded, not having a good feeling about the older mans presence. “I’ll go grab her.”

“Thank you.” Nathan nodded as Ville started up the stairs towards the bathroom. He knocked on the door, hearing the shower running, as well as the sink. Soya pulled open the door, running a wash cloth over her face, stepping out of the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

“Nathan’s downstairs.” Ville said softly, watching as Soya frowned at him.

“Nathan?” Soya said slowly. “The family driver Nathan? Did he say what he needed? I could have sworn I told him to go home with his family until my mother came home.”

Ville shrugged. “He didn’t say why he was here only that he needed to speak to you.”

Soya nodded, handing Ville the wash cloth, letting him wipe his face as best he could, before they made their way downstairs.

“Hei Nathan.” Soya smiled at the man. “I would hug you, but I’m a bit messy at the moment.”

“It’s all right Miss. Soya.” Nathan said with a small smile.

“Ville said you needed to speak with me.”

Nathan nodded slowly, looking back at Ville then at Soya. “I…” Nathan sighed. “Your mother came home this morning.”

Soya tensed, feeling Ville’s hand instantly on the small of her back, his thumb making small soothing circles, though she knew nothing could soothe her at the moment.

“She’s back?”

“And it wasn’t until now that she’s requested Aida come home.”

“Now?” Soya asked with wide eyes. “It’s nearly midnight! She has school in the morning!”

“I understand that.” Nathan said patiently. “You understand I’m not fond of the idea but…”

“You work for my mother.” Soya sighed, rubbing her hand over her face with a wince. “There’s no arguing this?”

“I’m afraid not.” Nathan said softly. “She was quite adamant that Aida come back to Sipoo tonight, so she could resume her regular schedules.”

“I am not going back to Sipoo.”

They all turned towards the stairs where Aida was standing, midway up in her pink Tinkerbell Pajamas, a towel in her hand, her hair dripping water on the stairs.

“Aida,” Soya started.

“No!” Aida said before running up the stairs again.

“I’ll…” Soya shook her head leaving the two men upstairs before running up the stairs after her sister. She was surprised that she hadn’t heard a door slam as Aida was fond of slamming doors when she was upset. Though after looking in the bathroom first, she found Aida in her little corner of Ville’s studio room, holding the stuffed dolphin Ville had gotten her from the zoo in Barcelona.

“Aida.”

“I don’t want to go back to Sipoo with mamma, I want to stay here with you and Ville.” Aida said softly.

Soya crouched down next to Aida, running her head through her sister’s wet hair. “Kultaseni, we knew that you staying with me was just until mamma got back from wherever she went. I don’t like this anymore then you do, but I don’t have a choice in the matter.”

“Tell her that you’ll take care of me from now on! She won’t care Soya! She’s just going to leave me with Niina anyway.”

Soya sighed, this time running her hand over her face tiredly, before sitting on the edge of the air mattress next to her sister. “Aida…”

“You don’t want me.” Aida said softly.

“God no, that’s not it at all, you know that.” Soya said quickly, looking over at her.

“Then why can’t you keep me? Is it because Ville doesn’t want me here?”

“Of course he does, Aida, it’s not that we don’t want to keep you, it’s that we can’t.” Soya groaned, feeling like she was talking about Aida as if she were a puppy. “I don’t work here Aida, I have to go back to New York in a couple of months and Ville’s coming with me. Even if I could keep you here with us, I can’t just pull you out of school and transfer you to one in New York. I’m going to be traveling, and eventually so will Ville. Our work doesn’t keep us in one place.”

“You said you always wanted me around, you said I wasn’t something to be shipped off.”

“And you’re not!” Soya said quickly, her heart breaking at her little sisters accusing tone. “I have no say in this matter Aida, you’re not my child. I wish this were easier Aida, I wish this were a simple matter of me just saying ‘yes you can stay’ but it’s all in mamma’s hands. I don’t control this.”

Aida didn’t say a word, she put her dolphin down and got off the bed, grabbing her pink backpack that she always set by the bedroom door and leaving the room. Soya covered her face with her hands, feeling like she had just failed her sister in the most simple of ways.

Getting up, she left the room and made it half way down the stairs, before sitting down, watching Aida put on her coat and shoes. She said goodbye to Ville in that polite little tone of hers, even thanking him for letting her stay in his home, before taking Nathan’s hand and letting him lead her out.

Ville closed and locked the door, leaning back against the door, looking over at Soya sitting on the steps of the stairs.

“What just happened?”

Soya shook her head, not quite sure herself. She got back up, feeling Ville follow her as she made her way to the bathroom, stripping off her frosting caked apron and shirt, letting them fall on the bathroom floor, before her jeans, socks and shoes followed. Feeling Ville stripe off his own clothes behind her and the bathroom door close. She leaned into the shower, turning the knobs, tensing slightly when he felt Ville unhook her bra, before turning to him as he motioned her into the shower.

She pulled down her underwear and stepped into the water, Ville behind her, pulling the shower curtain closed.

“I know you’re not going to talk about it yet,” he whispered, reaching past her for her body wash and the body sponge. “And that’s fine.” He said, squirting the body wash into the sponge, before putting the bottle back and gently taking her arm, the water doing a good job of dislodging the frosting from their bodies. “Just know that it hurts me too.”

“I never doubted it.” She whispered, looking up at him, her eyes sad, letting him wash her, before she did the same for him. He let her wash her own hair, as he knew he’d probably make the frosting situation in her hair worse before making it better. She stepped out of the shower, wrapping her body in a towel as Ville washed his own hair.

Once he was done, he found the bathroom empty, and a clean towel hanging from the rod. Drying off, he wrapped the towel around his waist, padding out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, where Soya was pulling on one of his shirts. He went to his dresser, pulling on a pair of underwear and some sweats before following Soya into the bed.

She turned into him, her fingers automatically going to his chest, her eyes focusing at the center of his upper body, while her fingers found the Heartagram around his nipple and started circling it. A nervous habit she’d picked up back in May when they’d stayed with Bam. He arm wrapped around her back, sneaking beneath her shirt to run his finger up and down her spine, his own habit he’d picked up.

“She made it sound like I was just forcing her to go.” Soya said so softly, Ville had nearly missed it.

“Soya,”

“I kept telling her I didn’t have a say in the matter, and she was so…hurt. I feel like shit.”

Ville kissed her forehead, causing her to look up. “We have our hands tied Soya, there was nothing we can do and I know as much as you want to keep your sister with you at all times, you know you can’t right now.”

“I hate that I feel like I failed her. I hate that she feels like I’m just shipping her off, she practically compared me to my mother Ville!” Soya groaned, covering her face with her hands in frustration.

Feeling her shoulders shake, Ville pulled her closer as she cried into her chest. He felt his own frustration rise as he thought about the situation, he didn’t like Soya feeling the way she did, and he hated feeling so hopeless about the situation. If Soya couldn’t do anything about the situation as Aida’s sister, he sure as hell couldn’t.

He let her cry, her fingers continuing their up and down motion, trying to sooth her as best as possible, kissing her temple, murmuring that it was going to be okay in her ear. Feeling her finally calm, her breathing even out from its hitching and her quite sobs stop, he looked down to find her asleep.

Moving carefully off the bed as to not wake Soya, he left the room, making his way back downstairs. He ran a hand through his still damp hair when he saw the kitchen, feeling his heart clench, before moving to grab the broom to start sweeping up. Once all the cupcake was swept off the floor and into the trashcan, he grabbed the mop, cleaning up the frosting that was now caked onto his tile.

After his floor was clean, he grabbed a rag, wetted it and started on the cabinet doors as well as the counters. He cleaned the rag once he was done; looking at the clock on the stove, noticing that it was already half past one. Sitting at the counter, he saw the cupcakes that he had already drawn on, along with the ones Aida had finished frosting before He and Soya had started the little war, along with a batch that still needed to be frosted. When he counted them, he realized Aida still had enough to take to class to share.

Looking into the bowls, he made sure he still had enough frosting, before grabbing the piping bags to start working on the cupcakes. As he sat down to start drawing the heartagrams he stopped and sighed, listening to the sounds in his tower and couldn’t help but feel like his tower was much too quiet without the eight year old.