Disclaimer: I don't own anything. If I did, well... certain people who shall remain nameless would care more about her brother than her forbidden boy toy.

So I know, this has taken me FOREVER to update. Between life, school and writer's block, I got a little scared that I would never end up updating. BUT I DID! And have no fear, I am working hard to finish the next chapter.

And as always, I must dedicate this to Taylor, Lisa and Michel, as well as Nic for beta-ing. ;)


Chapter 2

The day seemed to drag on within the four walls of the vice principal's office at Anchor Beach Charter School. Two of three prospective teachers had been a bust. The first would have been lovely… if it weren't for the very obvious Miss Trunchbull impression she was giving off: all tight bun, and mean attitude. Even Sanchez had to admit she was a concern.

The second started out fine, until both principal and vice principal noticed his inability to stop talking. After almost two hours of nearly indiscernible babble, Lena had never been more grateful for two waves of morning sickness in her entire pregnancy to date.

An hour and one missed lunch later, Lena was sitting at her desk regretting her gratitude as she desperately tried to stave off another wave of nausea when there was a knock at her office door.

The curly-haired woman grumbled out something similar to 'come in'.

Timothy poked his head in, "You busy?"

Lena didn't bother to open her eyes, as she responded, "Not for another few minutes. What's up?"

Timothy opened his mouth, but then closed it as he took in her harrowed appearance. Lena was looking more and more pale, her body becoming noticeably weaker with every passing day. In Tim's opinion, it was downright heartbreaking.

He opened the door, and stepped into the room, "Don't take this the wrong way, but you look dreadful."

"Honestly, Tim?" She forced her eyes open, and sighed, "I feel dreadful."

"The joys of pregnancy not all they're cracked up to be?"

"Not so much, no."

Timothy hesitated before continuing. He and Lena had always been friendly, but he was never quite sure where their friendship stood. "The kids have been saying you're really sick..."

Lena nodded, "That I am. And you know, I thought it was easing up. I was sleeping at night, I could almost eat full meals... And then it came back."

Timothy shoots her a sympathetic look.

Lena winced. She did NOT want to start complaining. It would just be too easy for her to lose what little resolve she had left, "Sorry, I don't mean to unload on you."

Tim shot her a kind smile, "Don't worry about it. And my door is always open if you need to unload some more."

"Thanks," Lena shuffled files around to give the semblance on normalcy, "So, what can I do for you, Timothy?"

"Your last interview is here."

The exhausted woman glanced at the clock in surprise, "She's early. That's a very good sign."

The Brit could do nothing but nod.

"Do you know where Karina is?"

Tim was hesitant to answer, "Sanchez said she was going to go find a fork to gauge her eyes out, then she'd be in."

Lena rolled her eyes, "Wonderful. Karina finally develops a sense of humour, and she uses it against me."

Timothy chuckled.

Lena gestured to outside the door, "I'm going to assume you talked to her, so what is my last hope like?"

"Looks wise? She's a little out there."

"I do not need "out there". I need talent." Lena rubbed a hand over her forehead in frustration. As if she needed her day to be even longer.

"I never said she wasn't talented."

Lena looked up at him with hope radiating from her eyes.

"Granted, I've only seen one piece of her work, but it looks stellar." Timothy shrugged, "I would definitely consider her, out there or not."

"I will keep that in mind."

"She's also quite the world traveller."

"And Sanchez loves travelling. That's a point in her favour. " Lena paused before conceding, "Not a huge point, but it's still a point."

Timothy stepped out to grab the last of the applicants. Lena was slow to rise out of her chair, searching around for the possible candidate's resume as she moved. The woman breezed in as Lena was still looking, with Timothy following closely behind her.

Tim noted the candidate kept tugging on the hem of her blouse, silently giving away her discomfort in the obviously foreign clothing. Her skin was light brown, just one or two shades darker than Lena's, which was offset straight jet-black hair that fell to the middle of her back. What Tim himself found the most interesting, however, were the tattoos. Tribal designs and flowers started at her hand and snaked up her right forearm, to wrap around her elbow. The left arm had two solid black bands that he could see, the top of which was cut off by her sleeve. Timothy silently hoped this woman ended up getting the job; she clearly had quite the life story to tell.

"Wow, nice digs."

Upon hearing the new voice in her office, Lena's eyes widened, and she spun around. As both women's eyes meet, the unknown woman's jaw dropped.

"Holy shit. LENA?!"

Lena was stunned, "Nessa..."

Nessa grinned, ran up, and wrapped her arms around Lena's neck.

"What... What are you doing here?"

Timothy quietly took in the hug. The new woman seemed boldly attached to Lena, while the curly-haired woman was hesitantly reserved; awkward in a relaxed sort of way. The whole thing made Timothy groan in response.

"Please tell me she isn't an ex.." His comment was directed at Lena, but Nessa answered.

"Nope, I'm the baby sister."

"Baby sis-..." The Brit's brow knit in confusion, "And you didn't recognize her name from her resume?!"

Lena was still a little dazed, "I never actually got a chance to look at the resume..."

"She may not have recognized it anyways." Nessa shrugged, "I technically haven't gone by 'Vanessa' since I was seven years old."

Lena turned to her younger sister, "Didn't you legally change your name?"

"Yeah, but only after I graduated, so any time I mention my degree, I have to write Vanessa."

Nessa tilted her head towards Lena, and beamed at her. There was no one in the world she loved more than she did Lena. Her older sister was her idol, and more importantly her rock. Her entire reasoning for applying for jobs in San Diego was to be closer to her sister again. But actually working under her? Nessa had never thought she could get that lucky.

Timothy took the vibrant look as his cue to leave, "I've got a class to teach..."

Lena waved him off. She didn't mean to be rude about it, but her sister's reappearance sparked further inquiry, "Thanks, Timothy. Oh, and don't forget, we have a new student."

He nodded briefly at the women before heading off.

Nessa turned back to Lena, "So... Lena Foster?"

"Stef and I got married last year." The vice principal gestured for her to sit down.

Nessa's jaw dropped. She had spent more than her fair share of time off the grid. The art world was not something she took lightly, and her circling the globe for inspiration and furthered education had left the younger Adams woman with little time for interacting with her family. The last she had heard was in email from her father mentioning something about a man with a gun, and two new children in Lena and Stef's care.

Nessa sat down hard, letting her backpack fall to the floor next to her, "Tell. Me. Everything!"


Kelsey, Mariana and a newly returned Lexi were all crowded around the mirror in Mariana's locker, following their mid-afternoon ritual of fixing their appearance. They could not have boys seeing them at anything less than their very best.

"So I told him, 'I don't have sex with guys who have longer hair than I do.' I am not into that hippie thing." Kelsey flipped her hair back as she reapplied her lip-gloss.

Lexi's eyebrows shot up in amusement, "What did he say?"

"I have no idea. I walked away before he could comment."

The cavalier tone in her voice sent Lexi and Mariana into a round of giggles.

"I am so glad you have standards." Lexi plucked the lip-gloss from Kelsey's hand, and started in on her own lips. It was odd, despite their very different skin tones, the friends were always able to share lip wear. It was a gift.

"And I'm so glad you're back, Lexi." Mariana shot her best friend a wink through the reflection in the mirror.

Lexi smiled kindly at Mariana, "So am I."

"Ditto." Kelsey turned to Lexi, "By the way! You never told me, is Jesus as well hung as I think he is?"

Mariana didn't even hide her grimace, "Eww, okay that is disgusting!"

"For you, maybe. Your brother is sex on a stick."

Mariana shuddered, and faked a gag. She would probably never get over how all her friends seemed to have a thing for Jesus. He was weird; he always had his stupid skateboard, and his voice did that weird high-pitched, puberty thing sometimes. Plus, he was her brother.

As Mariana turned to tune out the conversation, she noticed a new girl walking up to the locker not too far away hers. The newbie was about as tall as Lexi, with a noticeable scar going from her left eyebrow down the side of her cheek in a curved line. Her dark hair fell out from underneath her beanie just past her shoulders, and rested on her tank top.

It was only as they noticed Mariana's unabashed stare, that Kelsey and Lexi turned around and spotted her.

Kelsey's eyes immediately widened in horror, "Oh my god, are those cargo pants?!"

Mariana fought off an eye twitch, "I'm still stuck on the ratty flip flops."

"Is she homeless?" Lexi's 'whisper' was less than quiet.

"You'd THINK they wouldn't let dirty, disgusting people in here. And yet..." Kelsey finished her comment with a gesture directed at the new girl. The girls understood her point.

The new girl chose that moment to stop placing her books in her new locker in order to turn on them.

"You'd think they wouldn't let useless wastes of space in here..." The girl sized them all up, as what they assumed to be an English accent clipped her words, "And yet here you are."

Kelsey's voice changed pitch as it raised in volume, "Excuse me?!"

"You're excused." The girl went back to what she was doing.

Kelsey took a step forward, obviously looking for a fight, but Mariana and Lexi dragged her away.

"She's not worth it, Kels." It didn't matter who her moms were, Mariana wasn't big on violence. And Kelsey was known for getting into fights.

As she and Lexi shoved Kelsey around the corner, Mariana glanced back to find the girl gone.


Captain Victoria Roberts could not find a harder worker than Stef Foster. Doing her paperwork, writing up incident reports, helping other officers out... She was a rock star.

But Stef really had no reason to be overworking. Captain Roberts had generously pushed to give her a pay bump when Stef and Lena had been trying for a baby, something that had not decreased again after they'd gotten pregnant.

The captain was well aware the blonde had told Lena and the kids that she needed to work longer hours because they needed the money. And when she left work on time every night to head to the library, she told her fellow cops it was because she had to study. In actuality, she was avoiding going home, whether she wanted to admit it, or not.

Roberts knew damn well that Stef was totally and completely prepared to write the detective's exam; she had been for years. The captain understood why the blonde refused to tell her family. It was a lot of pressure on an already stressful household. At home, Stef had five kids who always seemed to either be in trouble, or covering for each other. At home, she had a wife who was so sick, she could barely get up in the morning, despite her best efforts to hide it. Her home life made her feel more and more guilty by the minute, so Stef reverted back to her high school ways, and hid behind books and half truths for as long as possible.

Roberts watched intently as Stef stood up, and made her way over to the coffee maker for her fourth cup of the day. Roberts could sense a burnout raging within her officers weeks or sometimes months in advance, and the older woman was prepared to do everything in her power to stop it.

Roberts figured desperate times called for desperate measures, "Hey Mike?"

"Yeah boss?" He jogged over to her.

The Captain paused, grasping for any possible excuse as to why she called him over. Desperate times didn't necessarily mean a lengthy plan. In fact, her plan really only had the one phase, and she hoped her poker face was still up to par.

"Stef hauled in a drug dealer the other day named Desmond Henderson. Do you mind asking her if she's filled out that report?"

Mike eyed Roberts with intense curiosity, "Umm, sure. I guess."

She flashed him a quick smile, "Thanks."

He immediately headed over to Stef, and Roberts sighed in relief. Something was eating at Stef, and if anyone could get the truth out of her, it was Mike.

Mike sidled up to his ex, "Hey Stef, do you know where the Henderson file is?"

She didn't answer.

"Stef...?" He put a hand on her shoulder, only to pull back as she jumped a foot.

"Jesus Christ, Mike!"

"Sorry. I called out, but you didn't answer." Mike looked her up and down, "Where'd you go?"

Stef shoved a stack of papers into a file, and placed it onto the edge of her desk, before opening another file, "What do you mean?"

"You're kind of out of it."

"I'm busy."

Mike leaned his hands on the back of an empty chair, "I didn't realize reports take up all your attention."

Stef rolled her eyes, "I have to write up two drug busts, and a hit-and-run by the end of the day. That takes priority over your need for attention."

"Oh come on, Stef." He glanced around before helping himself to the empty seat, "You've gotta lighten up a little."

"I really don't have the time to lighten up."

He eyed her suspiciously, "What's up with you?"

"Hmm?" She stopped writing long enough to glance up at him, "What are you talking about?"

"You're acting weird."

The blond shot him a look, "I'm always weird."

"That's true, but weirder than usual." Mike leaned forward in concern, "Is this about Brandon?"

Stef looked up sharply, "What? No! It has nothing to do with Brandon."

Mike sighed in relief, before nodding slowly, "Then it's about Lena."

The blonde clenched her jaw, and kept writing up her report, "That is none of your business."

Mike did his best to hide his smirk, "So it is Lena. What'd she do?"

"Nothing, she's perfect as always."

"But you're only ever this distracted when it's about things at home, meaning Brandon or Lena."

Stef was quick to correct him, "You always seem to forget there are now nine of us in the house, and not just Brandon, Lena and me."

Two very furry eyebrows knitted in confusion, "Nine? What do you mean nine?! Please tell me Lena didn't bring home another couple strays..."

Stef's pen stalled. When Brandon had stopped speaking to his father and Mike was suspended, Stef basically lost all contact with her ex-husband. She completely forgot that he didn't know about the impending changes to her family.

"Actually, Lena's pregnant..." She bit her lip, "With twins."

Mike stared at her for a full minute, before erupting with laughter.

It took him a lot longer than expected to calm down again, "That's a good one, Stef. Are you fostering again, or did you finally convince her to get those dogs you wanted?"

Stef frowned deeply, and started again. Apparently Denial really wasn't just a river in Egypt…

"Mike..."

It was only then that he really took in her facial expression and her body language. Honesty, and a great deal of guilt was written all over her entire being, and he knew she wasn't kidding.

"Wow, that woman is something else." The older cop couldn't hide the edge of disgust in his voice, "And I thought the whole foster thing was bad, but going out and getting pregnant is just a whole new-"

Stef's voice was barely above a whisper, "It was my idea."

Mike's jaw dropped, "YOU'RE idea?!"

The blonde took a deep breath before she answered him. Their relationship had finally come to a sort of truce, and she did not want to send it careening back into the dark ages, "We considered having another child, and I thought Lena giving birth would be amazing."

Mike's eyes bore holes into Stef, "How long?"

"I'm sorry?"

"How long has Lena been pregnant?!"

Stef pinched the bridge of her nose. As if she needed a headache on top of everything else, "She's seventeen weeks along."

Mike leaned back in the chair as he took it all in. In the span of eleven years, Lena had managed to take everything he had ever wanted in life away from him. And now she was pregnant with kids that, in his mind, might have been his and Stef's. Life really did suck sometimes.

After long, drawn out minutes of silence, Mike forced himself to stand, "Well, thanks so much for telling me."

He stormed off, nearly bowling over a couple rookies as he went.

Stef rubbed her hands over her face, and sighed. The blonde proceeded to spend the next twenty minutes making a valiant effort to pretend she was actually doing work, before she chucked her pen across her desk in frustration. Eventually, Stef got up and disappeared around a corner beyond Roberts's line of sight.

Well, that plan had backfired.


Lena walked back into her office looking a great deal paler than usual. She was counting her lucky stars; she had spent the last few trips to the bathroom throwing up everything in her stomach, so she had mostly been bringing up bile at that point. It certainly didn't stop her from feeling lightheaded, and so she made sure to take slow, careful steps as she walked back to her seat.

"Sorry about that."

Sanchez waved her off, "That's no problem. I was getting to know Vanessa a little better."

Lena bit her lip in amusement as Nessa cringed upon hearing her full name. Nessa had been the younger woman's nickname since she was four years old, and suited her quite well. 'Vanessa', however, meant trouble. It was the name that was usually screeched whenever she did something she shouldn't have, and almost always by their mother. It was just another nail in the coffin of Dana and Nessa's relationship.

Lena placed a hand low on her belly as she eased back down onto her couch, "So, where were we?"

"I was just telling Vanessa that I like to call references prior to meeting each applicant. It gives me a better understanding of what to expect." Sanchez leaned back in her chair, and meets Nessa's gaze, "The word 'genius' was mentioned more than once in reference to you."

Lena beamed at her sister.

Sanchez wasn't so quick to show praise, "As a result, I am expecting you to wow me."

Within an instant, Nessa's demeanour changed from young and playful, to serious and professional. Sanchez mentally noted that that this version of Nessa was a lot like Lena.

"I graduated top of my class at Stanford with a Masters of Fine Arts in Art Practice. I excel in most visual art mediums; anything from painting and drawing, to sculpting, to more recently, photography."

Sanchez quirked an eyebrow, "Favourite art style?"

"Surrealism." The twenty-eight year old anticipated Sanchez's next question before she can even open her mouth, "I'm sure many of the other applicants prefer realism or Impressionism, but I enjoy creating art that matches my mood at the time. Most of it is a combination of how I see the world, and how I imagine it, which is why surrealism is my favourite."

Lena took that moment to interject.

"May we see your portfolio?"

Nessa reached into her bag, and pulled out a portfolio case and a sketchpad, and handed them both to Sanchez, and let her pass one to Lena.

Nessa sat quietly and watched them scrutinize each piece. She spent less time on her sister, knowing that Lena had always been the biggest supporter of her art since she was seven years old. Instead, she watched Sanchez. The older woman held an impassive, yet stern look on her face as she looked over the art.

Lena reached out to exchange books with her superior, "What would you teach the students? And how would you go about doing it?"

"I would start with the more free form art forms for the younger students, moving to the more specific and complex with the older grades." Nessa absentmindedly traced the flower tattooed on her wrist.

"And why would you do that?" It was rare for Lena to see this side of her sister. She was actually quite curious about her reasoning.

"In my experience, younger children have a shorter attention span, with a broader realm of creativity; I know I did."

Nessa and Lena shared a smile.

"Starting with expressionism for the earlier grades gives the students a cathartic outlet for things that they can't or don't know how to express." Nessa pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, "The older students generally have greater concentration and control."

Lena turned to look at Sanchez, who scrutinized Nessa for a long while.

Karina levelled Nessa with a look, "I expect to see you first thing tomorrow to go over your course syllabus."

Two pairs of brown eyes widened in surprise, "Wait... I got the job?"

"Unless Lena has any objections…" She gave Lena a questioning look.

Lena was quick to reply, "No, I don't."

"Good." She turned back to Nessa with what could almost be construed as a smile, "You have impressed me, Ms. Adams. I cannot say that happens very often."

Sanchez stood stiffly, and offered Nessa her hand, which Nessa quickly shook.

"I look forward to having you on my team, Vanessa."

The younger woman grinned, "Thank you so much."

Sanchez nodded, and turned to Lena, "I have another meeting to get to. Would you mind giving Vanessa a tour of the school? Possibly show her her new classroom."

Lena let her sister pull her to standing, "Of course."

The principal nodded at the both of them, and walked out. The girls waited ten seconds before grinning at each other, and rushing into a hug. After ten years of minimal contact, they were going to be working together.

"I am so proud of you." Lena planted a kiss on her baby sister's temple.

Nessa pulled back, and gave her sister a watery smile, "For real?"

"Definitely." She took her hand, and pulled her sister towards the door, "Come on. You will love the art room."


"Let's discuss gender roles." Timothy turned to write on the chalkboard, "What are the roles of men, especially if we look at sympathetic characters of Odysseus and Telemachus? And what are the different roles women play in The Odyssey?"

Mariana muttered a response as she doodled in her notebook, "Woman had no role. They were always "causing problems". Women were either seen as a huge, if not deadly distraction to the men..."

Another voice finished her thought, "Or they are glorified body slaves; there so the men could shag them... Or think about shagging them."

Mariana stifled a laugh, before taking in who had made the comment: The new girl.

Timothy droned on, "Tonight, I would like you to pick a character, and rewrite their part using modern gender roles and norms."

"Yeah, but if we do that, there will be no bloody difference." The new girl huffed. "Odysseus would still be having it off with every single woman he meets, and all the women would still be 'dangerous'"

Mariana rolled her eyes, "Why are all your answers about sex?"

"Odysseus and I have something in common." The scar-faced girl turned, and gave Mariana a cheeky grin, "We both like sex."

Mariana rolled her eyes again. That's all anyone ever talked about these days, and it was getting on her last nerve.

The new girl tilting her head in interest, "What, don't you?"

Mariana shrugged, "I've never done it."

"Fair enough."

They sat in silence as Timothy continued to talk.

"So..." Small talk with new people was never Mariana's forte, "What's your name?"

"I'm Lisa." She reached over, and shook Mariana's hand, "And you are...?"

"Mariana."

Of course, her brother chose that exact moment to speak up.

"Shut up, Mariana!" Jesus glared at her, "Some of us are trying to concentrate."

Mariana sneered back, "Shut up yourself, Jesus!"

He scowled, and turned back around in a huff. Mariana turned back to Lisa, only to find her smirking.

"What?!"

"Is he your boyfriend, or..."

Mariana fought the urge to hurl, "Eww, no. He's my brother."

Lisa glanced between Mariana and Jesus for a second, as if to study them.

"You're twins."

The petite Latina couldn't help but smile at that, "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"I have twin brothers." Lisa muttered bitterly, "Menaces, the both of them."

Mariana giggled. She could definitely relate to annoying brothers. She had two of them. Jude was the only boy in her family that she actually liked. Before she could get too lost in thought over her family, Mariana happened to glance up and out the window, and grinned.

She tried to inconspicuously nudge Lisa as she pointed out the window, "You see that woman who is about to walk past the door?"

The new girl glanced up to find two incredibly attractive women in the hall. The first she recognized as the vice principal, having met her almost as soon as she walked in the school. The woman with her shared in her beauty, but in a more carefree manner.

"Which one?"

"The one with the curls."

Lisa nodded along, "Ah, okay. What about her?"

"That's one of my moms."

It was as if Lena heard her. Her stride slowed, and she turned to look directly at her daughter. Mariana waved at her mom, which resulted in Lena stopping, putting her hands on her hips, and giving Mariana a half-assed stern look. Mariana made a flourished point of writing, then stuck her tongue out at Lena. Lena laughed, winked at her, then blew her a kiss and walked off.

"Isn't she the vice principal?"

Mariana nodded.

Lisa smirked, "I didn't realize she is a polygamist."

Mari screeched in horror, "WHAT?!"

The whole class turned to look at her.

Mari gave a sheepish look as she searched for an excuse, "Sorry, I was reading ahead..."

Tim gave her a half smile, "That's quite all right. But next time, would you mind keeping your exclamations at a quieter pitch?"

Mariana nodded and sunk further into her seat, "Yes, sir."

He continued his lesson as if he hadn't been interrupted, which brought everyone's attention back to the front. Mariana glanced beside her to find Lisa with her book standing up on the desk, shamelessly laughing behind it. Mariana glared at her, before she reached over and smacked her shoulder.

"My moms are lesbians, not polygamists!" Mariana hissed.

The teenaged Brit could not stop laughing, "Yeah, I figured as much. I just really wanted to see your reaction to that."

Mariana hit her again, but smiled as she did so. If she was honest, it was pretty funny. And it certainly made the last few minutes of class more interesting.

Mariana turned to ask the newcomer a question at the exact moment that Timothy decided to dismiss the class.

It was as if Lisa had read her mind, "Hey, do you wanna go grab a bite?"

Mari slowly and neatly packed up her stuff, "I don't really drink tea."

"Whoa, hang on!" Lisa looked confused, "No one said anything about tea."

"But you're English, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but that's not the point. I asked if you wanted a bite, not if you wanted tea." She shrugged, "But if you don't want to, I could-"

Mariana cut her off, "I want to! But, can I pick the place?"

"Only if you don't want to get lost."

Mariana shoots her a questioning look as they walk out the door of the classroom. The new girl was getting weirder by the second; something that Mariana couldn't deny was growing on her.

"I moved here a week ago, and I have absolutely no idea where anything is."

She smiled up at her, "Then, yes. I will pick the place."

"Brilliant."

They grabbed what they needed out of their lockers, and Mariana stalled.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Lisa grinned as she teased her, "I think you just did."

Mariana rolled her eyes again, "Not including that last one."

"In that case, certainly."

Mariana closed her locker, and they headed out of the school, "Why were you so mean to me and my friends before?"

"Technically, your friends were mean to me first."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." Mariana ducked her head in guilt.

"No worries." Lisa could see another question forming behind her eyes, and hazarded a guess as to what it was, "You're wondering why I am being nice to you now."

"Yeah, I am."

"Your friends seem very superficial. Judging people based on what they wear is a miserable way to treat people. " She bumped shoulders with Mariana, "You, despite dressing like them, and acting like them, don't strike me like that."

"Thanks."

The rest of their conversation was cut off as Jude jogged up to them, with concern and panic written all over his face.

"Mariana, are you grabbing a ride home? Because I wanted Connor to come over, and-" The poor kid didn't seem to stop for a breath between the running and his talking.

"Actually, I was gonna hang out with Lisa..." She gestured to her.

Jude cocked his head, as he gazed up at Lisa with great interest. The other girl was taller than his foster sister, with a powerful look about her. She kind of reminded him of a mix between Scar from 'The Lion King', and Spinelli from a show called 'Recess' that he used to sneak off and watch before he and Callie were put in the system.

The twelve year old shot her a shy but polite smile, "Hi Lisa, I'm Jude."

Lisa returned the smile. The boy was too cute, "Pleasure to meet you."

Mariana's brow knit in confusion, "Hang on. What about Mama? With her in the car, it's still one too many."

Jude shook his head, "Mom needed to get away from work, so she left early to meet the contractor guys, which means Mama is staying longer to finish all her paperwork. Brandon will drive back and pick her up later."

"Makes sense." She glanced at Lisa briefly, "Go ahead and invite Connor over. I will see you later, 'kay buddy?"

He beamed at her, "Okay!"

Jude hugged her tight, then dashed off.

Lisa could do nothing but watch him go in amusement, "I take it he's your little brother?"

"Unofficially, yes."

Lisa shot her a curious look, "What do you mean?"

Mari shook her head as they continue walking, "Long freaking story."

"I don't have anywhere to be for hours if you feel like sharing."

The smaller girl glanced around suspiciously, "Not here. Maybe when we find a good place to eat."

"All right." Lisa changed the subject, "So what do I need to know bout living in America?"

Mariana said the first thing she thought of, "You can't legally drink until you're 21."

Lisa's immediate grin was downright conniving, "Oh darling, what gave you the impression that anything I do is legal?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Mariana could see Lexi and Kelsey waving her over. The girls had planned to go shopping, looking for perfect outfits to wear to a party that weekend. Kelsey, naturally, had gone fishing for an invite, making sure to emphasize her need for her posse to join her. Kelsey hadn't even waited for the go-ahead before forcing a change of wardrobe upon her best friends.

Mariana pointedly looked at her friends, before turning back to Lisa. She felt guilty for the lack of guilt she felt over ditching them, but she refused to think on that. She had more important things to think about.

"I do believe this is the start of a wonderful friendship."

Mariana hooked her arm with Lisa's, and led her away from the school, leaving a stunned behind Lexi and Kelsey.


Aaaaand, chapter two is done.

For all those who were unaware, I (obviously) didn't know Sherri Saum was PREGNANT WITH TWINS when I started writing this, and now that I DO know? Welp, I am super duper excited.

I really hope you all enjoyed it (and that it was worth the wait!)

Let me know what you thought?

~Syd