Nicole let out a loud, heavy groan, "You don't have to do that, Mom." She mumbled, slowly wrapping the towel around herself so she could open the door, "See, not dead," She joked, but instantly regretted it, "Bad choice of words, sorry." Nicole said quickly after, seeing the look on Stef's face, "Mom, i love you and all, but i'm like.. naked and i would love to get dressed before we start this lecture i'm sure i'm going to get." Nicole felt awkard, it was her mom after all and all she had on was a towel. "Okay, but don't take forever, yeah? Other people have to use the bathroom." Stef smiled a little softer this time, not wanting to Nicole to get any bad feelings. "Yeah mom, i know." She said softly, closing the door behind Stef after she left. Nicole let out anothe sigh, she didn't want to have this talk.
"Well?" Lena said as she raised an eyebrow seeing Stef walk back into their bedroom so quickly. "She's okay. She's getting dressed and will be in shortly," She sighed, sitting next to her wife on the bed. Nicole wasn't easy, she had only been with them a year, and everyone was still learning how to work around her. "Stef, i'm worried. She's not usually like this, and i know that says a lot because she's only been here a year, but i love her and she's my baby. I don't like this." Lena ran her hands though her hair as Nicole entered the room, clearing her throat. "Come sit, my sweets," Stef patted the spot between the two of them, "I just want to say before anything, that i'm sorry for my behavior latley. I know i've been out of line." She stuttered as she sat bewteen Stef and Lena, "But i don't know what's exactly wrong with me, i don't. One minute i'm fine and the next, something just hits me and i cant get out of this slump." Lena and Stef shared a look, before they wrapper her up in a hug, "It's okay, my love. You're going to be okay." Lena said softly into her ear, Nicole may be difficult, but what child wasn't?
Everyone sat around the dinner table, sharing stories and bickering like the usual siblings. "Stop looking at me," Mariana mumbled to Jesus, her older brother, "I'm not looking at you," He pried, knowing exactly how to annoy his younger sister. "Jesus, serioulsy stop!" She yelled a little louder, causing heads to look toward them, "What? He wouldn't stop looking at me!" Mariana said quickly, defending herself. "Jesus, why do you always feel the need to annoy your sister?" Stef said as she shook her head, "Because it's fun," He smiled, kissing his sister on the cheek, "Relax, Mariana, i was just messing with you." Mariana just rolled her eyes, "If you were a girl, my life would be so much easier," Mariana groaned, "If he was a girl, you probably would have killed him years ago." Everyone laughed at that, after their talk, which lasted much longer then she would have liked, Nicole was starting to feel like herself again, sarcastic and goofy. "She's got a point, when they were eight she held his head under the water at the beach and nearly downed him for talking her bucket," Brandon laughted, giving his little sister a wink, "Well if he didn't take my bucket that wouldn't have happened." Mariana laughed. Stef and Lena shared a look, one that gave eachother reassurance, their children all seemed happy.
"Hey, Mari?" Nicole said in the darkness of their bedroom. Everyone had fallen asleep hours ago, but Nicole was still wide awake, she always had a hard time sleeping when her mind was racing. "Yeah?" Mariana said softly, lifting her head up so she could look at her sister from across the room, "What was it like when mom's first adoped you and Jesus?" She asked, scooting futher up her bed so she could talk to her sister better. "Well, it was scary obvioulsy, i mean, we were always scared they were going to give us up." Mariana said honestly, "But i guess over the years, it got easier and we realized that they were going to keep us. Nikki, if you're that worried about mom's not keeping you, go talk to them. If you don't, it'll only make things worse for you. You're going to overthink it way too much, trust me, it'll eat you up inside. It happened to me." Nicole just nodded, she liked talking to her sister, she had really good advice sometimes. "Thanks, Mariana. That makes me feel a lot better," She smiled. The room went quiet and Nicole soon slowly feel back asleep, letting their conversation seep into her head. Mariana was right, she needed to talk to her moms.
"If everyone isn't ready in the next five minutes you're walking to school!" Stef yelled up the stairs, they were already late to school, any later and they would have to explain to Lena as to why. "It's Mariana and her hair," Jesus said as he ran down the stairs, "Nicole too, they're up there killing eachother over the blowdryer." Stef shook her head, "Go out to the car, and dont run in the house!" Stef called after him as she walked upstairs to the bathroom, "Come on my love's, we don't have enough time for this and i'm not going to be the one telling Mama why we're so late for school." Mariana rolled her eyes, "Mom, relax it'll be fine! Mama doesn't care if were late or not," She finished curling her hair and did a quick check, "Okay, i'm ready, i'll be in the car," She smiled, kissing her cheek before skipping down the stairs. "In my defence, she takes a lifetime to do her makeup," Nicole was just finishing her own hair and double checking her makeup before following down after her sister. "You love them, you can't kill them. You love them, don't kill them." Stef repeated to herself.