A/N: I won't even apologize. "The Distance" is still being a beast, but that isn't why I've started...this.

Call it a character study. In it, we'll delve into the history between Nia and Mia and kinda sorta Gavin (if I can stomach it OTL). And several instances that Nia mentions in passing during the main "Cause and Effect" story-line.

CHAPTER 01: FAVORITES

The hybrids' cheeks felt soft beneath Hamato Nia's fingers, like peaches. Her attention shifted from left to right. Selene to Nyx. Silent to grunting.

"Something wrong, Baby?" Mia asked.

Nia sensed her mother turn from the laundry pile that had brought them together and sighed. "How do some women do it?"

"Do what?"

"Pick favorites."

A swoosh sounded from beside the washer and dryer; the unraveling of a bed sheet. "Do you feel like you're supposed to? Should we give one up?"

"What? No!" Nia twisted on the floor so she no longer watched the infants sleeping on their mats. Her mother met her with a bemused grin as the older brunette continued folding a bed sheet across her wheelchair. "Not funny, Mama."

"You made it easy."

"It's a serious question."

"How come?"

Nia's hand crept towards her babies' fingers, stroking them. "It's been hard sleeping since Raph and the others left. Last night I was up with Nyx, watching a documentary."

"About?"

"A single mom with a big family. She talked about the struggles of food, schooling, clothes."

A pile of colorful onesies were stacked in Mia's hand before Nia could draw her next breath. "Excuse me. I'm happily making sure my grandbabies are clothed and fed."

Nia chuckled, albeit forcedly. "Which I'm thankful for. That wasn't what kept me watching, though."

"Then what did?"

"The mother could afford few gifts. Even the camera crew noticed. She doted on the oldest middle child. Let him pick dinners and favorite clothes. Asked his opinion most. Surprised him with gifts. I think he was the only one born from a marriage."

"Did the marriage fall apart?"

"The show never said. But…I think he died." Nia's fingers traveled further up Nyx's hand then to Selene's arm, so she touched them both. "Even if the kids shared different fathers. And even if she hated those fathers. How could she favor one? I—I wondered before the twins were born how I could love them as equals. But the moment I saw them, I did. It just…happened. How could she just decide one was better than the rest?"

"I'll tell you a secret." Leaning over the clothes in her lap, Mia whispered. "I'm guilty too; you've always been my favorite."

Nia fought a smile as her mother bopped her nose with a finger. "Only children don't count."

"Of course they do, Ni. Especially adopted ones. I picked you."

"And why? What made me better?"

Mia's sunken cheeks sucked in further, their depth leaving her with the illusion of dark blush. "It's not that you were better, Baby. It was about our connection. That feeling you had when you first saw Nyx and Selene? I felt that too. When I met you."

"Even though I wasn't really yours."

"You know blood means nothing."

"But you picked a favorite. Me. Out of all the other kids who needed homes."

"I couldn't adopt everyone." The older brunette laughed through her nose, although the humor was morbid. "Sometimes, mothers can't help it. Like my Mom."

"Your mom had a favorite?"

"You're looking at her." Mia moved the clothes from her lap to the dryer top, pulling out new sheets to fold. "My brothers used to be so jealous on my birthday. I was the middle child, but like that boy, first to get everything. A computer. A phone. A car. It drove Brett batty."

"Isn't Brett…?"

Mia paused, mid-fold, with a strained smile. "I was such a bitch to him and Tanner."

"Mama!"

"It's true. As a teen, I was spoiled rotten. If I could go back in time, I'd slap myself. Tell me to appreciate my brothers, so I could at least meet my nephew and nieces. I'd also tell myself not to believe the adults about Amy's depression. Maybe then Brett would've been spared…"

Cold pangs pierced the center of Nia's brain—like death's claw suddenly chilled her from the top down. She flinched, yet stayed silent. Selene twitched under her mother's hand. Her arm hit Nyx, riling a whine as Mia resumed folding. Nia scooped up Nyx before her cry woke Selene and situated her in a football hold.

"Daddy does this better, but." Nia bounced the tiny hybrid, her hand patting the hardened scutes along Nyx's back in hopes her muscles would ease.

"The answer is: no one knows, Ni," Mia said softly. The chill of her guilt lingered inside Nia, spreading. "We don't choose our connections. They're…sparks. But we should appreciate them."

"I do," Nia whispered. She glanced down. While the green being clinging to her forearm had hardly grown since her birth, the joy she and her twin brought increased day by day. That, too, was hard to fathom. "I could never pick Selene or Nyx over each other."

"Personally"—Mia wheeled forward to tuck some loose hairs behind her daughter's ear—"I can't picture you with favorites. No matter how many kids you're blessed with."

A smile tugged at Nia's mouth. "You think I'll have more babies?"

"Considering how often Raphael asks about your stitches? If they're healed by the time he comes home, you'll have to beat him off with a stick."

Mia snorted as Nia sniggered. The woman reached for Selene and, with aid, cradled the coconut-size hybrid. She ran a finger along Selene's smooth profile until the chill in Nia melted, blossoming with warmth through her chest and stomach.

"You're a good mommy," Mia whispered.

Nia mirrored her mother's smile, whispering in return, "Thanks. So are you."