Perlita Espino did not expect her day to go like this. She was supposed to study, and then help her mother with her younger siblings, and cook dinner. She was not supposed to collapse partway home from class, bleeding, and suddenly in labor.

She wasn't even pregnant. She wasn't even seeing anyone.

Now here she was, with two newborns she didn't want and couldn't take care of, not now. They had come so fast, too, one right after the other, a girl and a boy. She wasn't even sure which one came first.

Her mother held the boy, while the girl sat in Perlita's lap. "What are you going to do with them?" Her mother asked.

Perlita looked down at the baby in her arms. "I don't know," she said, "Think anyone will want them?"

Her mother shrugged. "I don't know. We can try."

So, when two months later some old English man came looking for "the miracle children", Perlita leaped at the chance to talk to him. She and her mother took care of the two babies as much as they could, keeping them healthy, but Perlita knew that she couldn't keep them. And, if this man wanted to take them, she would let him.

It turned out that he came to them, striding through their front door looking all pompous and rich. He scanned the room: Perlita, her mother, her youngest brother, the babies. He zeroed in on Perlita, where she stood with the boy in her arms. "You," the man said, in English, "you are the girl with the unexpected babies?"

Perlita nodded. "Why do you ask?" She shifted the boy to hold him better.

The man smiled. "I'd like to take them off your hands, if you'd be willing. I can compensate you quite well for them." He was eager. Perhaps too eager. Perlita didn't really care.

She glanced at her mother. Her mother glanced at her. "All right," Perlita said. The man smiled.

--

As soon as he left the city, Reginald Hargreeves put a hired nanny in charge of the twin miracle babies. He had places to be, couldn't be bothered taking care of them for as long as it would take.

He pulled a pair of gloves on and adjusted his monocle. These children would save the world, he knew they would.

--

Number Three was, funnily enough, three years old when she discovered her power. Early one morning, she found herself floating towards the ceiling instead of slipping to the ground. Her leftover sleepiness disappeared, the little girl wide awake as gravity suddenly stopped working on her.

At first, Number Three was too startled to do anything, but once she realized that she was floating suddenly, she opened her mouth and screamed.

She heard the sound of several pairs of feet hitting the ground all at once, and doors banging open. Then her door slammed open, and her twin stood in the doorway, his eyes wide. One and Six were behind him, both staring up at her. "Woah," Number Two said, "How'd you get up there?"

"Can you get down?" Six asked.

Three shook her head, trying not to cry. She couldn't cry, Dad would find out and he didn't like it when they cried. He'd gotten mad at Four last week for crying. "I don't know!" she said, "I wanna get down."

One, taller than the other boys already, pushed past Two and climbed onto her bed, reaching up to try and grab her ankle. She was too high to reach, though, and she burst into tears when he couldn't grab her. Two made a face. "Come on Three, don't cry!" he said, bouncing on the tips of his toes.

Six glanced down the hall. "He's coming!" he said, and disappeared back in the direction of his own room, leaving them able to hear Dad's footsteps coming down the hallway. He didn't come to their rooms a lot. But he was here now, and that scared her.

Three gulped, and sniffled, and ran her hands over her face, trying to get rid of her tears. It mostly worked. Two took a step back, right into Dad.

Dad frowned down at Two, then One. "What is going on in here?" he demanded, his voice hard and cold as always. Silently, the two of them pointed at where Three was floating above her bed. She sniffled a little, trying really hard not to cry in front of him.

His eyes widened, and he stepped forward. Until then, One was the only one of the eight of them who'd discovered his power, and that was mostly because he kept breaking things. Three was scared, but she wasn't that surprised that there was something special about her like this. She just...didn't expect this exactly.

"Miraculous," Dad breathed, staring up her. Three sniffled, and wrapped her arms around herself. Then, she began to sink again. It was slow, but she still cried out, surprised, and kicked a little. Dad reached up, grabbing her ankle, and pulled her down faster, until she was sitting on her bed. He never touched them if he could help it, not even a little bit. As soon as she was stable on the bed again, Three pulled her knees to her chest and pressed her back against the wall.

Dad stepped back. "Come with One to training after breakfast," he said, then whirled to look at Two. "And you. I know you've been holding your breath since I came in. You come with them." Then he left.

The three of them exchanged looks, Three still sniffling. Two gulped. Number One glanced between the two of them. "You heard him," he said, "We have to get ready."

--

She was seventeen, almost eighteen years old, when she left the home of Sir Reginald Hargreeves. Diego was at her side, as he usually was, as he had been since the moment they were born. They just packed up, having spent the last several days angrily discussing the pains of their childhoods, of everything they went through. Several times Valentina cried about Ben. And at the end of that, they only really had one option: leave.

And that's just what they did.

Five disappeared years ago, and Ben was...dead. Allison had left not long ago, heading to Hollywood. Valentina was pretty sure Vanya and Klaus would follow her and Diego in the next few days weeks months. Luther, she couldn't be sure about. But while Diego found Mom to say goodbye, Valentina found herself standing in the doorway to Vanya's bedroom, listening to her practice.

Over the last few years, Vanya's violin skills had grown so that she was really quite good. At least, in Valentina's opinion. She did like classical music, so she thought she had a pretty good grasp on what was good in terms of the violin. She crossed her arms over her chest, the brand-new denim jacket chafing a little against her skin. Vanya didn't seem to notice her, so Valentina waited.

When Vanya lifted her bow from the instrument, taking a deep breath, Valentina shifted. "That sounded great," she said, "You're really good, sis."

Vanya turned to her, the violin falling to her side. "Oh- thanks, Val," she said. She looked down, her eyes catching on the suitcase at Valentina's feet. "Are you leaving?" Her voice sounded scared now, and her eyes were wide as she looked up at Valentina.

Valentina sighed, and nodded. She stepped towards Vanya, reaching out to hug her as her sister put down the violin. "Yeah, me and Diego," she said. Vanya threw her arms around Valentina. "I'm gonna miss you, V. You know, you can come with us if you want."

Vanya pulled away and shook her head. "I can't, Val, you know that," she said. "Not yet." She glanced at the open door, then back at Valentina. "I...applied to a music school," she said, "A college. I should be hearing from them soon." She tapped the violin. "I want to get better, you know."

Valentina nodded. "Of course," she said, "And that's great. I'm sure you'll get in." She gave Vanya a quick squeeze. "I'll call you," she said, "okay?"

Vanya nodded. "Okay. I promise, I'll be all right."

Valentina smiled. "I know you will. I think you're stronger than the rest of us, to be honest," she said with a laugh.

There were footsteps out in the hall, and Valentina turned to see her twin standing in the doorway, bag in hand. "Ready, Val?" he asked, nodding briefly at Vanya. She smiled.

Valentina sighed. "Yeah," she said, and stepped back towards the door. "Yeah, I'm ready." She picked up her bag, straightened her jacket, and waved to Vanya - and Klaus, across the hall, though he probably didn't notice - one last time.

As she stepped outside the Hargreeves mansion, for the first time as her own woman, Valentina couldn't help but tilt her face towards the sky and take a deep breath. "Here we go," she said to Diego, "out on our own."

Diego snorted in laughter. "Out on our own," he agreed. "Let's go."

—

1524 words.
Welcome to The Griffon! I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out, honestly, and I hope you guys are too!
I would like to note that I did want to emphasize Valentina's compassion: she's a very caring person and I wanted to show that from the start. I also decided to include Diego's comic-book power of being able to hold his breath pretty much indefinitely, cause I think it's cool.
Tell me what you think! I don't know when I'll be able to have the next chapter out, but hopefully soon!
💛 Elspeth