Thanks for all the nice comments everyone 
Here's the next chapter. I've got another chapter almost ready - but I'll wait a little with posting it, since I've got a huge school project to finish (which means that I don't get much time to go ingame and make updates for around a week or two - but I'll see if I get the time somewhere in between). I hope you'll like this chapter -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 15: Glitter and dinosaurs -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I want a pink backpack with lots of glitter on it," Lily said excitedly, as we were checking out all the choices in the store.
"What do you want, Aidan?" I asked him. He held on to my hand a little harder than usual, while I led him over to the table with all the backpacks. His right ankle and foot were a bit stiffer than the left ones, so he walked somewhat unsteady. He had already started using braces at night, and sometimes during the day. He didn't like wearing them, but they helped stretch his ankle tendons so his feet wouldn't develop deformities. At least he could still walk, but he had given up trying to keep up with Lily several months ago.
"That one," he said, and pointed at a blue backpack with a green dinosaur on it.
"It looks really cool," I said, and took it down from the shelf. "Do you want to try it?"
He nodded, and I helped him put it on.
"Mommy, look at me!" Lily yelled and danced around on the spot, so I could see the shocking pink, glittery, and extremely flowery backpack she wore. "Isn't it just perfect?"
"Yes it is, dear," I said, and smiled.
Aidan giggled.
"What?" Lily barked.
"You look funny when you dance. And pink is yucky!"
"I DON'T look funny - and pink is WAY better than dinosaurs!" Lily snapped.
"It is NOT!" Aidan protested.
"IT IS!!!"
"IT'S NOT!"
"IT IS!!!"
"Stop it, you two," I said, and tried to separate them. "People are watching!"
"Oh, sorry," they whispered at the same time, both of them looking around, a bit embarrassed.
"Besides - you both look good, my little school kids." I ruffled Aidan's hair.
"Don't do that, mommy."
They were six years old now, and on their way to start school in just a month. They were both equally excited and almost couldn't wait. They'd loved their year at kindergarten, and hoped Elementary would be equally exciting.
"Are you sure you want these ones, then?" I asked them, indicating the backpacks they still wore.
"YES!" They both yelled in unison, smiling up at me.
"Well, then what are we standing here for?"
We also picked out a couple letters in their favorite colors to sow onto the backpacks, pink for Lily and blue for Aidan, and we went over to pay. The twins followed on my heels.
They insisted to pay for their own backpacks - with my money, of course, so I handed them the amount of money they would need.
"Do you want to wear the backpacks, or shall I put them in a bag?" the cashier asked.
"Can we, mommy?" Aidan said, blinking his deep blue eyes up at me, followed by "Pretty please!" from Lily.
I stared down at the two of them with a mock serious expression, almost laughing out loud from seeing their too innocent doey-eyed faces.
Doing a little art break before answering; I finally said "Ok, then. But only on the way home."
"YIPPEE!" they both squealed, and smiled like two bright suns as we left the store.
I was glad their fights never lasted more than a few moments. Or... well, not exactly fights. More like tiny disagreements. They had never ever fought each other, at least not to my knowledge, and if they had a disagreement they'd sorted it out and become friends again before you got further than the first warning. A few minutes ago they had been yelling loud enough for the entire store to hear, but now they smiled and held each other's hands (which they did all the way home). They would get into fights and disagreements with their older siblings several times a day, though - more often than not in a two against one style.
I guess the two of them truly were best friends, which was the best you could ask for when it came to siblings. Especially since Aidan didn't have a lot of other friends, except for the ones he and Lily had shared in daycare and kindergarten.
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At the end of the next month, near bedtime the evening before school started, Lily ran to and from her room, checking her backpack almost ten times an hour.
Aidan sat in the couch, mostly staring into empty air.
As Lily ran past me for the umpteenth time that day, I said "your backpack is ready, Lily. You don't have to check it more."
"But what if I forget something?"
"You won't. And if by any chance you do, you can take it with you the day after tomorrow."
Thiz didn't stop her, so instead I went over to Aidan and sat down beside him.
"Are you OK, Aidan?"
"Not sure." He looked a little pale around the edges, almost like he was about to throw up.
"You don't have to worry. I'm sure it will be really fun, and both of you will learn a lot of new things and get lots of new friends."
"You think?"
"Of course! Who wouldn't want you for a friend? They'd have to be crazy!"
Aidan nodded half-heartedly; before he picked up the ABC book he had gotten from the teacher three months earlier, and started reading. Or - more likely - just looked at the pictures. He had learned the alphabet and the numbers, and liked to look at pictures in his books, but he never read out loud like Lily loved to do. His favorite was a Peter Pan book he'd gotten for his last birthday. He'd spend hours looking at the pictures, and wanted me to read a chapter for him every evening at bedtime. We'd read through the book twice already.
When Lily came back, carrying her own ABC book, she sat down next to Aidan.
She often insisted on reading together with Aidan, and I think she had her mind set on teaching him how to read simple words before they started school. She could read a little, and I was almost sure she knew the ABC book by heart now - but she still struggled with the longer or more difficult words.
I studied them both. At least I hoped both of them would like school. Learning new things was only one aspect about school.
It was the social part I really worried about. Lily had always been very outgoing, so I saw no troubles there. But Aidan... he had always been a bit shy, and mostly kept to Lily. He often had troubles getting to know other children, and I feared he would feel lonely at school.
There had been times when other kids had teased him for his awkward way of walking. I worried about bullies, and I knew they more often than not picked targets that couldn't defend themselves easily. I feared Aidan would become a very likely target. I just hoped I was wrong.
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