Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 57th cycle. Now cycle 58!

This is a shift day. There are two updates today.

"Meetings & Beginnings"
Nora (AU!Beth), Grace
Sunshine Girls 2 series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

Her stepmother and father had arrived just days ago from New York, in anticipation of her little sister's birth, and now there she was with stepmother, just about nine months pregnant, and her mother, seven months along on her own. They spent most days so far, the two of them at her mother's house, with her. On that morning, she'd had an idea, to go out and get them some ice cream. It was to be a surprise, so she told them she was going out to the park. It was across from the store, so it wasn't a big lie.

After she walked out of her house though, she paused when she saw a large truck parked in front of Brian Matheson's old house. He was two years older than her and he would always mess with her when she'd go by his house, so she was glad he was gone. She did have to wonder though, who her new neighbors would be. She walked up the sidewalk on her side of the street, to get closer to the house with the truck in front of it, on the other side. It was a few houses away, and as she approached, she saw what looked like kids things… That was promising. The house was obscured as she passed the truck, but when she'd come out on the other side, that was when she'd seen her.

The girl with the red hair sat on a large trunk on the grass, holding a backpack in her lap. She looked sad, probably wasn't too happy about the move, something like that. She looked like she could be eleven, her age, and seeing her there, so sad, Nora couldn't just do nothing. So she crossed the street.

"Hi," she spoke, and the girl looked up.

"Hi."

"You just got here?" she asked, and the girl nodded. "I'm Nora, I live over there," she pointed.

"My name's Grace," she spoke, and Nora smiled when she heard the accent.

"Where are you from?"

"We moved here from Scotland because of my dad's work," she explained.

"You miss it, right?" Nora guessed, and Grace gave a hard nod. "Well, if you like, we could be friends," she offered. Grace looked at her.

"Just like that?" she asked.

"Why not?" Nora shrugged. Grace considered this, and then she smiled.

"Okay," she stood from her perch on the trunk. "You want to see the house?"

"Sure!"

Grace had led her up to the house. Nora had never been inside, as she and Brian Matheson weren't exactly friends, but she'd always been curious about it. The place was bare, with furniture and boxes laid out in temporary places here and there. The first person they'd crossed was a boy, older than them.

"Who's that then?" he asked, spotting Nora.

"She lives across the street. This is my brother Donny," Grace introduced. "That's Nora."

"Mom and Dad told you to stay out of the way while we're getting everything inside."

"I'm just showing her the house, so what? Come on," she frowned at her brother before leading her new friend along. They had gone up the stairs, and as they passed one bedroom, Nora recognized it as Brian's old room. She knew from the times he would throw things at her and the other neighborhood kids. This wasn't Grace's room though. Hers was the next one. The doors were all open, and Nora saw some of her belongings were now in the room.

"It's almost like my room," Nora noticed.

"It's bigger than my old room, also because I shared it w…" She shouted in surprise when a smaller boy emerged, having been hidden in her closet. "Aidan!" she scolded, and the boy ran away. "That's my other brother. He's an idiot." Nora chuckled and nodded – understood.

Grace had shown her the rest of the house, and they'd ended up in the backyard. Nora paused when she saw the swings hanging from the tree. The Mathesons must have left them there. Grace had deemed it her favorite part as they sat in the neighboring swings, one facing one way, the other facing the other way.

"I'm going to have two sisters soon," Nora revealed as they began to swing, keeping up with the other even if they were facing opposite ways.

"Twins?" Grace asked.

"No, just my mother and my stepmother are both pregnant."

"Oh, so your parents divorced and got married again?"

"No, they were never married. They were in high school when I was born," she went on. "But that's okay, I like the way things are, most times. Sometimes my father and my stepmother live in New York, sometimes here, so for a while I don't see them, and…" she frowned, not wanting to get into it. "But they're here now, my stepmom and my dad. I can introduce you later. Oh, but you should meet Emily."

"Sister?"

"Almost," Nora smirked. "She's my best friend, so she can be your friend, too."

They were quiet for some time after that, swinging higher and higher, and Nora could feel Grace was scared to go any higher, but she wasn't saying anything. Did she think Nora wouldn't want to be her friend anymore if she said she couldn't go higher?

"I'm getting dizzy, let's slow down," she'd spoken up.

"Okay," Grace had agreed without another word, and they'd slowed until they were just swaying, only they'd lost their timing, so they'd meet and pass one another, and meet and pass again. "I don't know if I like it here," Grace had finally admitted. "I miss home."

"You'll get used to it," Nora promised her, sympathizing. "I know it's not the same, but when I would go from one house to the other, Lima and then New York or the other way around, the first couple of days I'd just miss my other room, and my other parents, and it just sucked…"

"And then what?" Grace asked.

"I remembered what I liked about the place I was in then, and it got easier."

"But I've never been here before," Grace pointed out.

"That's okay, we'll find things for you to like," Nora smiled optimistically.

"I like the swings," she smiled back.

"There you go, that's one thing. And now you have a friend, so that's two," she nodded proudly, and Grace agreed. "Oh, I know what should be number three," she dug her feet in the ground to stop her swing, and Grace did the same.

"What's that?"

"Ice cream."

THE END