"Bloody hell…" Gaia murmured, her eyes scanning over the parchment for the third time. Catherin had sent her a very enthusiastic letter, stating that her mother was pregnant. How incredibly unexpected… It had always been just the Lumbach twins; nobody ever would have dreamed of their family expanding. Gaia knew her own mother would NEVER have another baby: she was too busy and, in Gaia's opinion, too old. Not to mention she'd need to be in a relationship to have a new child…

Falling back onto her mushy bed draped in a lavender comforter, Gaia distractedly unhooked Glace's cage and allowed the ferret to hop over to her. Once the weasel situated itself on her master's stomach, Gaia gingerly ran her fingers through the snowy fur. Always, the image of the Lumbach family was Mrs. Lumbach, Mr. Lumbach, Catherin, and Caitlyn. Thinking perhaps harder than necessary, Gaia tried to add a baby into the picture. Could she do it? No. Instead, however, her mind took control of itself and imagined the anonymous Lumbach baby in its first year at Hogwarts. Catherin and Caitlyn would be in their 20s by then… They'd probably have kids of their own. Gaia couldn't help but scrunch up her face in disgust and slight jealousy as she pictured the father of Catherin's child as Satoshi.

Wiping her mind free of those thoughts, Gaia reflected back on her own family. She had an older brother- his name was Jonathan. Being 18, he'd just enrolled in an American muggle college. The Robertson siblings weren't remarkably close, but they did love each other greatly and shared a fantastic bond. As a result, it filled Gaia with remorse when she never received 1 letter from her brother. He's probably busy, or just too far away, she reasoned with herself. She knew this could very well be the case, yet she had trouble believing herself.

Sighing, Gaia sat up with one hand on Glace and reread the letter once more. She'd been so absorbed in the fact that there would be another Lumbach sibling in the world that she had barely noticed Catherin's request to go bowling with her. Smiling slightly, she remembered the last time she'd gone bowling. It had been before- her smile slipped off her face. She sluggishly stood up, slid Glace back into her cage, and trotted off to the kitchen to find her mother.

As expected, Mrs. Robertson was washing dishes Muggle-style at the sink, singing quite loudly above the rushing water. "Mum?" Gaia called. Her mom glanced over her shoulder, halting her singing midsentence, turned off the water, and wiped her hands on a towel.

"Yes, Gaia?"

"Catherin sent me a letter… Get this: her mum is pregnant," Gaia indicated. Mrs. Robertson choked on air.

"Is she now? Blimey, I would've been positive Dianne was done having children… Well, I'll just have to call her up and give her my congratulations- or condolences, whichever."

Gaia laughed. "She can probably handle it. She's still young, unlike YOU. Oldie." She stuck out her tongue at her words. Mrs. Robertson placed her hands on her hips, glaring yet also grinning.

"Watch yourself. I may be an oldie, but I'm still a goodie."

"Keep telling yourself that. By the way, Catherin also said she wanted to make plans to go bowling."

Mrs. Robertson turned back to the sink, picking up a dirty bowl. "Bowling, huh? Wow, we haven't done that in forever." She lowered her voice. "In fact, the last time we went, your father and I-"

"Were still together. I know," Gaia interrupted, her voice losing every last ounce of cheeriness. "So can I go?"

"I don't see why not. I'll get more details when I call her mum."

Gaia nodded half-heartedly. "Alright, thanks…" With that, she dashed out of the room, throwing her bottom onto the patched, multicolored loveseat in their small living room. She clicked on the television, but wasn't paying attention to it. She was thinking about that last time they'd gone bowling…

It was in summertime, when Gaia was 10- with her birthday being in late May, she wouldn't be attending Hogwarts until after the following summer. It was a family trip, plus 15 year old Jonathan brought along his girlfriend, Allison. The 5 of them shared a lane, Jonathan and Mr. Robertson dominating. In the end, Mr. Robertson knocked down the most amount of pins, while last place went to Gaia. This upset her, of course, because even though she WAS having a great time watching the others fail, it made her extremely self conscience to be doing even worse than them. Still, her family members all either patted her shoulder or ruffled her hair; Allison gave her a high-five and Jonathan actually offered to buy her some juice.

In the end, they all went out for pizza and were greatly entertained by the Robertson siblings for the rest of the night. It had been the first perfect day in a long, long time…. And possibly the last.

Gaia wasn't at all surprised when she received a letter informing her of her parents' divorce during her first week at Hogwarts. Honestly, she'd been expecting her parents to split up since she was 5. The only time they kissed or snuggled was to make the kids go "EW!" and even though they said "I love you" to each other every day, they never seemed to mean it. It was like a routine thing, something they knew they had to do even if they didn't particularly want to: like letting your dog outside to do its business at 5 in the morning.

One day, after one of her parents' countless fights, Gaia had asked her mom why she'd married her Muggle father.

"Oh, sweetie… Remember this: The best advice I can ever give you is to never do as I do. That being said, I married him because I thought he had money…."

Those words haunted Gaia forever. With the shouting, pointless fighting, sleeping in separate beds, and lack of affection, Gaia was actually hoping her parents would end their jaded marriage. It would make everything so much easier and happier… For the most part, it did, except that her mother was getting death threats from her ex-husband on a weekly basis. When she learned that these threats had been going on for years before the divorce, Gaia just wanted to cry.

She pulled her feet up onto the couch cushion, hugging her bare shins (she was wearing denim shorts) and propping her chin on her knees. Thinking about her parents being happily together, laughing, grinning, and kissing, was just like thinking about riding a dragon to school. It could never happen… but boy did she wish it could. Growing up with two parents who hated each other, it was difficult for Gaia to believe that love existed out there. The word "love" brought two thoughts to mind: joyful parents, and Satoshi Ueda. Gaia's chest felt tight as these two topics immediately led her to Catherin Lumbach.

It just wasn't fair… Catherin's parents were so happy together that they were having another baby. Rumor had it that Satoshi was crushing on Catherin. She had a healthy relationship with her sister. She was funny and pretty… Gaia felt tears well up in her eyes, and she took in a precarious breath. How could anyone be so utterly jealous of their best friend? Catherin had done absolutely nothing wrong… As she wondered for a false, dreadful moment whether or not she in truth hated Catherin, she allowed her tears to drip down her face.