a couple hours later, they had dinner, but it was mostly quiet, seeing how all thirteen of the children in the house didn't know of the other's existence until now. reginald sat at the head of the table, his usual stern expression on his face. beside him, grace was serving the food. all thirteen children were seated around the large dining table, each quietly eating their food.

silence hung in the air. only the clinking of silverware on plates was heard.

reginald cleared his throat loudly, trying to break the tense atmosphere. "children, i expect you all to get along this summer," he said in his usual commanding voice. the seven all looked up from their food, surprised by their father's words. normally, he didn't care if they got along or not. allison glanced at her siblings across the way before speaking up. "of course, father. we'll... try to get along."

reginald nodded but looked unconvinced. "i expect you to try a little harder than that, number three. remember, you are all members of this family, and i expect you to respect each other." ella glanced at allison questioningly. number three? she thought. it seemed like there was more to her uncle and cousins than meets the eye. fredrick, sitting beside ella, noticed her confused expression. he leaned over and whispered to her, "what's wrong? you look confused."

ella kept her voice low, so as to not attract their uncle's attention. "i just don't understand... why are they called numbers? i mean, i know they have powers, but it's strange to refer to your own children by numbers as if they're test subjects." fredrick shrugged, equally puzzled by the numbering system. "i don't know. it's like they're more scientific experiments than actual people."

natthew, overhearing their quiet conversation, joined in. "yeah, i was wondering the same thing. it's like they're less human and more like... i don't know, soldiers or something."
vivienne nodded, also concerned. "it's just... dehumanizing, you know? treating children like that can't be healthy." vivienne picked up her fork and resumed eating her food. "i wish i knew the truth. it's like there's a whole other side to our family that we don't know about."

matthew ate some potatoes, deep in thought. "yeah, there's so many unanswered questions. it's like we're only seeing part of the puzzle." "delmo." camille said. which side of the family is uncle reginald in? ella, vivienne, matthew and fredrick shrugged. priscilla continued to happily play with her mashed potatoes. camille's sudden word broke the conversation.

reginald was the first to react, looking at the baby with a stern expression. "what did you say, young lady?" "delmo." camille said again. reginald let out an exasperated sigh. "that's not a word, child. you need to speak properly." "camille doesn't speak fluently yet." fredrick said. "she does know some english words." "and italian." matthew said. "mom taught her some of that." "and father taught us some latin." fredrick added. "but camille and cilla mostly just use baby talk."

"grun!" priscilla said, crossing her arms. it's not 'baby' talk! reginald nodded in acknowledgment of the explanations. "i see. so, the two small ones communicate mostly in baby talk. how...charming." his tone was laced with sarcasm. vivienne rolled her eyes. "i'm sure she'll start speaking proper english soon enough."

reginald, trying to regain control of the conversation, spoke up again. "anyway, children, i expect you all to spend time together this summer. i don't want any arguments or disputes."

later in the evening, the six children were getting ready for bed, when there was a knock on the door. fredrick was just getting changed into his pajamas, turned towards the door. "who could that be?" matthew was in the bathroom brushing his teeth, responded, "i don't know, but whoever it is should leave us alone. it's late, and we're getting ready for bed."

ella opened the door to let see whoever was in there, she was carrying camille in one arm. on the other side of the door, were their cousins, who were wearing matching light blue pajamas with a black umbrella stitched on it. for a moment, ella just stood there, holding camille. "asill." camille said. oh great, it's them. klaus chuckled at camille's greeting. "nice to see you too, small one."

luther cleared his throat, obviously trying to sound polite. "hi. we just wanted to say goodnight." "oh..." ella said. "goodnight." there was a brief, slightly awkward silence as the umbrellas just stood there, looking at ella. "yeah, goodnight," allison said with a faint hint of a smile. the others mumbled their own "goodnights" as they turned to leave and head back to their rooms. "see you in the morning." ella said, but the only reply was the close of a door. once the cousins had disappeared back into their rooms, fredrick poked his head out of the bathroom, toothbrush still in his mouth. "who was that?" he asked, his voice muffled.

matthew, now sitting on his bed putting on his slippers, replied, "just our cousins paying a brief goodnight visit." "aww, how sweet," fredrick said, sarcasm in his voice. the boy returned to the bathroom to finish brushing his teeth. his twin shrugged. "I guess they just wanted to be polite." vivienne piped up, she was already in bed. "or maybe they're just trying to make sure we don't sneak out or something." "why would they?" ella questioned, putting camille in her crib. "who knows what's going on in their heads," vivienne said, a hint of distrust in her voice. "maybe they think we're going to cause trouble."

fredrick shook his head. "you might be overthinking it, viv. they're just our cousins. they don't have some secret agenda against us." "bax." priscilla said. do they? matthew had just returned from the bathroom, chuckled at priscilla's comment. "nah, they probably have better things to do than worry about us." fredrick agreed with his twin. "yeah, they're probably just as nervous as we are. this is the first time they've met us." "it must be a shock." ella said sympathetically. "to find out you have six cousins you never known about in your lives."

it is now necessary for me to use the rather hackneyed phrase "meanwhile, back at the ranch." the word "hackneyed" here means "used by so, so many writers that by the time this author uses it, it is a tiresome cliche." "meanwhile, back at the ranch" is a phrase used to link what is going on in one part of the story to what is going on in another part of the story. it has nothing to do with cows or horses or with any people who work in rural areas where ranches are, or even with ranch dressing, which is creamy and put on salads. here, the phrase "meanwhile, back at the ranch" refers to what the umbrella academy was doing while their cousins were placing their suspicions on them.

meanwhile, back at the ranch, reginald hargreeves was leading his children through a series of difficult combat drills. his voice barked out orders as the children moved and fought with practiced precision.

as for the six guests, they could the noise of the training all the way from their room.

fredrick huffed in annoyance. "how are we supposed to sleep with all that noise?" ella rolled over in bed, trying to drown out the sounds of her uncle's commands. "they're not going to stop anytime soon. we just have to deal with it." "vanent." priscilla said from her crib. it's too loud. matthew rolled onto his side, looking at priscilla in her crib. "i know, cilla. but we can't do anything about it. they're not going to stop just because we're trying to sleep."

ella sat up in her bed. "hey, you know, if uncle reginald doesn't mind, maybe we can... we can set up a blanket fort. like we did last night before we were sent here. we can sit on some pillows and we- we don't have the music box, but... we can sing, or-" vivienne raised an eyebrow. "you want to build a blanket fort at this time of night?" matthew and fredrick, who were already settling into their beds, looked at each other skeptically.

matthew shook his head. "no offense, el, but i don't think that's going to make it any quieter. besides, it's pointless. we're only here for the summer." ella paused, and then said, "okay. okay. we'll just...go to sleep like normal." fredrick nodded. "yeah, that's probably for the best." matthew yawned. "yeah, goodnight, everyone." vivienne muttered a sleepy "goodnight, all" as she pulled her blanket up over her head.

priscilla and camille babbled their own goodnights, before trying to go back to sleep in their respective cribs. the six siblings laid quietly in their beds, trying to block out the noise of their cousins training.

fredrick yawned again, his eyelids starting to droop. "god, i hope tomorrow isn't as chaotic as today..."

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