Looking through old things in the attic, Keith found a box of old film and a projector. Some rolls were labeled in his father's neat handwriting, albeit vague. Only the dates were written along with the location. He could recognize his first birthday and a summer holiday. With the box in his muscular arms and an insatiable intrigue for what was in those films, he descended into the hallway and went searching for his sisters, hoping to alleviate the argument between the three of them.
Both girls were in the living room, sitting on opposite ends of the couch. Mona was reading a thick novel written by some Russian man that Keith had no interest in. Meanwhile, Ronnie was flipping through a fashion magazine, occasionally brushing some long hair from her face. There were the violent sounds of pages being flipped angrily. Without any ceremonious greetings, he dumped the box on the coffee table with a loud thud. The girls jumped then glared at their brother.
"What's this?" Ronnie asked with a frown.
"Home movies, I think," the boy replied. "Help me set up the projector. I wanna watch these."
"Do it yourself," Mona replied though she was closing her book and peering in with slight interest, failing at looking disinterested and still livid.
He did, in fact, have to set it up by himself. Loads of dark mumbling were heard as he propped the projector towards a blank wall and shut off the lights and put the film in just right. The girls remained in the couch, teetering between irate and fascinated. The first one began, and it barely took a few seconds to notice that there was no sound but that was the least of the worries. Keith was just surprised it even worked even with his miserable attempt at setting it up. The second they realized the film was rolling, both girls stopped reading immediately to find that their newborn selves were showcased on the wall.
A big close up of one of the baby twins fills the screen, obviously the person filming had some technical difficulties. Eventually it zooms out to reveal the kids' mother, Linda, situated on the hospital bed, weary but happy as she holds one of her daughters. Beside her is the father, John. He has a baby in his large arms as well, grinning proudly. Once he catches sight of the camera, though, his giddy expression turns into a grumpy scowl. How typical.
"Mum looks so tired," Keith commented as he watched, testing the waters to see if one of them would snap.
"That's what happens when you give birth to twins," Mona replied sarcastically.
The camera focuses on Linda as the newborn in her arms begins to cry. A worried expression falls on her face while she immediately goes into full on mother mode, trying to shush the infant. Her hand reaches up to fix the white cap on the baby's head and she leans forward to kiss her forehead, mumbling words of comfort as she rocks the newborn in her arms.
"I'll bet that's Ronnie," Mona said. "She always did cry a--" Suddenly a pillow coming from Ronnie's vicinity met Mona's face.
They watched as the babies were passed along from each of their father's bandmates. Each one was surprised that there was more than one baby to carry and say hello to. It suddenly stopped when one wailing baby was handed to John by a puzzled Moon.
"Five bucks says Ronnie was the one crying both times," Keith quipped while he put another roll on the projector then ducked before a magazine came flying at him.
"Shut up!" Ronnie whined, fighting a laugh, making the frigid ice between the three of them slowly beginning to thaw.
The next one is outdoors with a congregation of familiar faces passing by the lens. There's Linda's mother putting candles on the cake. One of the twins suddenly runs by, long brown hair flying behind her. A favorable cousins waves at whoever is filming. The camera soon brings attention to a little blond boy that's currently wearing a paper crown. He grins at the camera, proud to be dirty. The boy then grabs the cameraman's (John's?) hand and drags him towards the table on which the cake sits.
"This was the birthday party where we shoved your face into the cake," Mona recalled with a small grin.
Two brunette girls stand on either side of the blonde boy. He's grinning as everyone sings the Birthday Day. Once that's over, he leans forward to blow out the five candles. Just before he's able to, the girls push the boy's head into the cake. He lifts his head then laughs, taking some frosting off his face and smothers it on both of his sister's cheeks.
All three busted out into genuine laughter just as the home movie concluded. It faded once it stopped playing. The bickering from an hour ago was out of the girls' mind as Ronnie grabbed the box and Mona exclaimed, "What else is in there?!"
"Maybe the time Keith tried sledding in the middle of summer is in here!"