Sara bounced from one foot to the other and rubbed her arms. It was an unusually cold day for early March in Star City, dropping below the average 40 degrees to 33 degrees. There was frost on the trees and the plants along the sidewalk of the apartment building when she saw Sin off on the school bus from the bakery that morning, although it had melted when the sun chose to shine that afternoon.

Sara checked her watch again, yep, the bus was late. A whole ten minutes late. She'd been pacing in and out of the small foyer to the steps and the sidewalk, before deciding to just stick it out on the curb. She could wait inside the entryway for the bus to pull up, but she felt the need to sit out on the sidewalk and freeze because she missed her kid that damn much.

It was Monday, so not her usual day off as the bakery and cafe was open on weekdays, but an entitled asshole had come in to pick up their online order of cupcakes and had insisted on a discount they didn't have. The role of kicking them out usually fell to Amaya and Sara, and Amaya was out delivering a wedding cake leaving Sara to deal with them alone. It didn't go well. It was one of the few times that she was thankful her dad was a cop. Quentin had dropped everything to rush over to the shop after that asshole got violent and took a swing at her.

After Amaya got back, she insisted Sara take the rest of the day off and go spend some time with Sin. Sara tried to switch with Kendra and pick up the kids, babysitting until four when they closed, but they all but pushed her out of the shop and told her to go home. Her plan was to take Sin to the skate park then, rent that new superhero movie, pop some popcorn, and settle in for a quiet night.

Finally, the yellow, number thirteen, Glades Elementary school bus turned up the street and stopped in front of her, the doors swinging open. Sara smiled as she saw Sin's black pants and matching converse at the top of the stairs, her little punk rocker. The bus driver Mona, stepped out of her seat behind them with her hand on Sin's shoulder. As she followed them down the stairs, Sara's smile fell when she saw Sin step off the bus.

Their usual happy face was somber, with red eyes that sparkled with tears. Their hands were straight at their sides and clenched into fists. Sara rushed to them, kneeling down to their level and placing her hands on their shoulders.

"Sin what happened?" Sara tried to keep her voice even, but her heart broke at the sight of them crying, and her mind rushed to the worst case scenario.

Sin didn't even look at her. Instead, they stared down at the ground then, they quickly brushed off Sara's hands and ran past her, up the stairs and into the apartment.

Sara stood up in disbelief and looked at Mona with pleading eyes. "What happened?"

"Some of the other kids were bullying Sin." Mona said, then quickly added. "I stopped it as soon as I noticed it happening and pulled the other kids to the front of the bus."

"Do you know what it was about?" Sara asked, still in disbelief. Nothing like this had ever happened before, not even when Sin had come out as non-binary over the summer.

"I'm not exactly sure, but the girls were calling them unintelligent. They used the R word. I radioed the school to let them know what happened and they'll probably want to meet with you tomorrow."

"Okay," Sara said. Still in disbelief, she started to turn away.

"Sin's a great kid, so I don't know what they're talking about," Mona said, giving her a small smile.

"Thank you," Sara said nodding, with a tight lipped smile of her own.

Mona let her go and she rushed up the stairs and into the apartment building, not bothering to take the elevator to the third floor. The apartment door was left swinging open in Sin's haste, and Sara quickly closed and locked it. She headed over to Sin's room and grabbed the tissue box along the way. The door was closed and Sara hesitated, knocked under the letters that spell out Sin's name, painted Black with silver spikes.

"I'm coming in," Sara announced when she heard no response and opened the door to see Sin sprawled out on their bed face down sobbing with their backpack and shoes still on.

"Oh baby," Sara sighed, walking forward and sitting on the bed next to them. She leaned down and wrapped her arms around them, backpack and all.

"They.. they called me stupid... and… and… dumb... and..." Sin said through tears, their voice shaking.

"I'm so sorry baby. They should've never said that to you. You didn't deserve that." Sara whispered in their ear.

"It's all her fault!" Sin yelled.

"Whose fault honey? Tell me, it's okay."

"Ms. Sharpe."

"What?" Sara was shocked at Sin's revelation. Although she had only met the 4th grade teacher a few times before on orientation night, parent's night, and stuff, she really seemed to care about her students. Sure she could be strict, but she was kind and Sin had always come home from school happy, going on about how great school was.

"Come here" Sara said, pulling Sin up. She wiped away their tears and slipped their backpack off, leaving it on the floor. "Why don't we grab some ice cream from the freezer and you can tell me the whole story, okay?"

"It's too cold," Sin whined.

"Then we'll make hot chocolate, with the big marshmallows."

"On the stove, like Papa Quentin makes?"

"Of course!"

Sin nodded and Sara pulled them up, carrying them out into the hall. Sin barely weighed 60lbs, but they weren't a toddler anymore. Sara specifically worked out just so she could still do this, even if the times she did had become few and far between.

Sara set them on the counter, then got to work pulling out the chocolate chips and the double boiler. They made the hot chocolate with extra big marshmallows and once they got settled on the couch with their favorite mugs, Sara waited for them to start.

"I didn't do my math homework from this weekend," Sin admitted with defeat. "I just don't like it, it's too hard!"

"Okay," Sara said, choosing to ignore the admission in favor of hearing the whole story.

"Well, Ms. Sharpe has this hour at the end of the day for us to work on homework and stuff, and she talked to me about it. She showed me how to do long division, but I just didn't get it. Then she said I would have to go to the special ed class, because I'm re…."

"Sin," Sara said softly stopping them there. "You are not the word that the kids on the school bus called you. Everyone struggles with math at some point. I know I did. You are capable of anything and we can figure this out together. I promise!"

Sin nodded, drawing strength from Sara and sitting up straighter. "Will I have to go to the special ed class?"

Sara knew her kid, and she knew that with a little extra help Sin could catch back up to her class.

"You will remain in your class with your friends and I'll try and work things out with your teacher." Sara assured them, "In the meantime, I'm gonna help you with your homework and we'll get it done together."

"Us against the world?" Sin asked with a smile.

"Us against the world," Sara said, matching their smile and holding out her fist. Sin enthusiastically fist bumps her, making the explosion noise afterwards.

Sara paced back and forth in the hall, holding her phone to her ear, waiting for Kendra to pick up. She caught Sin looking over at her from their spot at the kitchen table and sent them a smile and a thumbs up, before turning back to the dark green walls. She didn't know why their landlord wouldn't let her paint, even with the extra floor lamp Sara had squeezed in by the door, the dark hallway was never lit enough.

"Hey you," Kendra said, finally picking up and enthusiastically greeting Sara.

"Did you know that she has them doing long division with three digit numbers?" Sara whisper yelled into the phone.

"Umm," Kendra hesitated before Sara heard her yell at Carter. "Honey, is Hector doing three digit long division?"

Sara didn't hear his reply, but a second later Kendra gave her an answer. "Yes."

Sara sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Why didn't I start helping her out when it was just division?"

Kendra chuckled, "If it makes you feel better I can't do it either and I thought Laurel was helping Sin with their homework?"

"Yeah apparently they were telling Laurel that I was helping them, so they were giving both of us the runaround."

That night Laurel was planning to head out with friends so it would be just the two of them. Sara was hesitant to move in with her sister after she and Nyssa were forced apart two years ago, but Laurel helped her out a lot. She was always there for them. Sara tried to return the favor by doing more than her fair share of the housework and making sure Laurel didn't drown herself in work.

"Well at least you're helping them now," Kendra said, and Sara just shook her head.

"Not by much, It's been an hour and we're only halfway through this worksheet that was supposed to take twenty munites."

"Why don't you come over now and Carter can help you two get a hold of it?"

"Thanks, you're a lifesaver," Sara said, grabbing her coat and Sin's from their hooks. "We'll be there in five and can we come over tomorrow as well? I'll bring dinner."

"Yeah, sounds good. So what clued you into the fact that Sin was lying about who was helping them with their homework?"

Sara sighed, leaning up against the wall. "Sin came home in tears today after a couple of kids were bullying them on the bus. Apparently, they overheard Ms. Sharpe telling Sin they might need to go to the special ed room for math help."

"What? She said that?" Kendra said in disbelief.

"I know right! How dare she tell Sin that before even consulting with me!" Sara tried to keep her voice down, but she was just so angry. "I have a meeting with her tomorrow morning so I'll let you know how it goes."

"Okay, see you soon."

"Yeah, thanks again."

"No problem."

Sara hung up and then walked back into the kitchen. "Hey so I called Auntie Kendra and she said that we could come over and Uncle Carter is gonna help us get your homework done."

Sin nodded and gathered their papers in their backpack, Sara pulled on her coat and held out Sin's coat for them to put on. Sin ran out the door and down the hall pressing the button on the elevator as Sara locked the door behind them.

"Mom, how come I have other aunts and uncles?" Sin asked once Sara had joined them waiting for the elevator.

"What?" Sara asked, still thinking about that last math problem.

"You know like how Auntie Laurel is your sister, and Aunt Lisa was Dad's sister, but Auntie Kendra and Uncle Nate, they aren't related to us?"

"Well," Sara said, putting her arm around them and leading them onto the elevator. "Auntie Kendra, Uncle Mick, and the others became my family when I was in college and when I had you, they became your family too."

"Were they Dad's family too?" Sin asked.

Sara smiled, but she felt a familiar pain in her heart. Talking about Leonard, Sin's father and her then-boyfriend had gotten easier since he had died six years ago.

"Yes, your Dad and Uncle Mick used to get into all sorts of trouble."

"Really?"

"Yes, like there was this one time…"

Sara walked the halls of Sin's school with Sin by her side that morning. She felt confident as she went over what she was going to say to Ms. Sharpe in her head. The night before Carter had walked her through the steps on how to do long division. They were able to get the homework done in time to be in bed at a reasonable hour. Working with Carter had solidified Sara's belief that Sin just needed a little extra help.

Now all Sara had to do was talk to Ms. Sharpe and things would be taken care of. Sin could go back to class without being bothered and Sara could spend the rest of the day knowing her kid was happy and taken care of. Sara hesitated at the door to Sin's classroom, peering in the window to see that Ms. Sharpe was sitting at her desk. She had to be civil about this if she wanted it to go anywhere. She felt Sin squeeze her hand and looked down, so she gave them a smile and squeezed Sin's hand in return. Then she took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and plastered her fake customer service smile on her face.

Sara would never admit it but, she kind of had the hots for Ms. Sharpe. She was tall, with soft blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and an oval face that had soft features. Not usually Sara's type, but then again she never really considered herself to have a specific body type, she was bisexual. However, she did like people who were confident and passionate, if not a little wild. These days she just wanted someone who was kind and treated her and her child with respect.

"Hello, Ms. Sharpe, I'm Mrs. Lance, Sin's mother."

Ms. Sharpe stood up and straightened her white button up shirt and buttoned her suit jacket. "Mrs. Lance, a pleasure as always. I didn't know you were bringing Sin along."

"They are the reason we're here," Sara said, placing her hands on Sin's shoulders and leading them over to Ms. Sharpe's desk.

Ms. Sharpe gave her a tight smile, and Sara knew that most teachers prefered to have meetings without the children present, but nonetheless she gestured to the thankfully adult-sized chair in front of her desk. "Please have a seat, Mrs. Lance and then why don't you grab a chair as well Sin."

While Sin grabbed a chair from the nearest desk, Sara took a moment to look around the classroom. The morning sun peeked in through the blinds, casting its glow over the desks. They were pushed together in groups of four at the front of the classroom, facing the projector and white board. The side of the board listed the schedule, as well as the topics for that day's lessons. There had been talk of getting smart boards, but Sara knew it wasn't in the budget; regardless, Ms. Sharpe worked well with what she had. In the back she had child sized comfy chairs with a floor lamp that looks like the one they had in their apartment hallway surrounded by wooden bookshelves.

It wasn't like the classrooms of Sara's childhood, there were no bright colors or boards filled with the same kids projects, colorful maps and bright alphabets. Instead, there were lots of plants, succulents and other little house plants lined the shelves, there was one palm tree in the corner about halfway to the ceiling.

There was a large map of the U.S. in greens and browns, and a list of words were organized with magnets on the left whiteboard that Sara had seen some of the kids use many times. The other wall was filled with artwork and each child's abstract picture was unique with different colors, styles, and shapes. The way it was displayed on the wall was more alike to a parent putting their kids pictures on the fridge than an overt display of work. The only bright and colorful things were fish in the large tank at the back of the room. All in all, the classroom looked homey.

"Well, let's get right into it," Ms. Sharpe began, once they were both seated. "I've been informed that Sin was verbally assaulted by Cassandra Savage and Freydís Eriksson on the bus ride home yesterday. I've spoken with both the girl's parents and with the principal over the phone this morning and rest assured it will not happen again. I've moved Sin's desk away from the two girls and Mona has agreed to keep the kids separate while they're on the bus and when she's helping in the classroom. Going forward, I will be keeping an eye on the situation and I will not let it happen again under my watch."

"That's good," Sara said, letting go of some of the stress she had and partially relaxed back into the chair. "When can we expect an apology from the girls?"

"They will write an apology and present it to Sin this afternoon."

"They're gonna be at school today?" Sin asked, suddenly timid.

"I thought they'd get suspended?" Sara asked.

"That's not the school's policy. We believe in having the children face up to what they have done, with more appropriate methods, such as the apology letter and a true understanding of why what they did was wrong. Not a vacation from school. Kids like Cassandra and Freydís will benefit from being here more than at home."

"Having a tough home life doesn't excuse their behavior," Sara said.

"I'm not excusing it. I'm telling you why, and what I'm doing to try and help everyone."

Sara huffed. "That makes sense, but you really shouldn't be openly talking about your student's home life like that."

"I never said anything about..." Ms. Sharpe started, then paused and gave Sara a look like she wanted to continue, but instead, she took a deep breath and straightened her jacket again.

Sin tugged on Sara's arm and gave her a nervous look, "Mom do I have to go to the special ed classroom?"

Sara wrapped an arm around them and tugged their chair closer to her and whispered to them. "No, it'll be okay."

"You have nothing to fear Sin, this class is a safe place for you." Ms. Sharpe said, having assumed that was what they were whispering about.

"Yeah, about that," Sara started, taking a less than amused tone. "Yesterday Sin said that you wanted to place them in the special ed classroom after they struggled to finish the math assignment that you gave them."

"I said that…"

"Why would you say that without talking to me first?" Sara demanded.

"Let me explain."

"Oh please do!"

Ms. Sharpe looked away from Sara to Sin, who still sat at Sara's side, leaning into her and gripping her arm, while bouncing their leg.

"Sin, Miss. Nora is in the library setting up for today, I'd bet she'd love your help!" Ms. Sharpe offered.

Sin looked up at Sara, who just gave them a squeeze and turned back to Ms. Sharpe. "Anything you want to say to me you can say to Sin."

Ms. Sharpe took a deep breath before speaking. "I believe Sin may have Dyscalculia. It's a learning disability like Dyslexia, but it involves numbers rather than letters. It's characterized in children who have difficulty organizing and memorizing numbers and other math concepts, even telling time can be a struggle. I had a few examples of Sin's work that highlights these aspects if you'd like to see."

She held out some of the math work Sin had done and Sara took it from her and quickly glanced over. "I believe Sin would benefit from going over to the special education classroom or getting some extra math time with one of our Paraeducators like Mona, for the last hour of class and receiving some extra guidance in this area a few times a week."

"Sin doesn't have any learning disabilities."

"I know this is hard to hear."

"I know for sure!" Sara said. "After their father died, I took Sin to therapy to help them. The therapists noticed something just like you did and thought it would be wise to have her tested as well. We went through the whole process and nothing came of it. The school should know about it, Sin's teacher knew and we kept the school in the loop. What we did find was that Sin just started making more mistakes when they felt nervous. Which isn't so unusual for any kid."

At that point, Sara was surprised that Ms. Sharpe gave her a confused look. "I never saw or heard anything like that when I went over Sin's file at the start of the year."

"Well I'll have the paperwork sent over to you," Sara said, with more malice than was necessary.

"Well, I'd be happy to read it," Ms. Sharpe said, giving Sara every ounce of sass right back to her.

"Great."

"Great. I think we're done here," Ms. Sharpe said standing up and offering her hand to Sara.

Sara remained seated and she could feel Sin glanced over at her but there was one more thing she wanted from Ms. Sharpe.

"I believe you owe me and my child an apology, especially since your words were the reason Cassandra and Freya were bullying them." Sara said, raising an eyebrow at her.

Ms. Sharpe clenched her teeth, but nonetheless looked down. "I didn't know that's why they were bothering you Sin."

Her words were sincere, then she looked back up, looking them in the eye. "I am sorry for what I said to you in front of the other children. It should have been discussed in private."

"Thank you," Sin said, standing up and offering her hand for Ms. Sharpe to shake. Sara's eyes bugged out as they did so, they had done the mature thing and forgiven Ms. Sharpe.

"Of course," Ms. Sharpe replied with a smile that Sin returned.

Sara decided to do the right thing and shake Ms. Sharpe's hand as well. She stood up and went to leave with Sin.

"You could stay if you wanted to," Ms. Sharpe said. "I usually open up my classroom for the early kids right about now."

"We've still got a half hour or so and I figured we could play on the playground. That sound fun to you kiddo?" Sara said.

"Yeah," Sin said excitedly, grabbed her arm and raced ahead of her.

In the hallway Sara put her arm around Sin's shoulder, giving them a side hug.

"I'm really proud of you holding your hand out to shake your teacher's hand and accepting her apology. That's what I mean when I ask you to be the bigger person sometimes."

"Thanks Mom. I'm proud of you too, you stood up for me."

"I am always on your side," Sara said. Then she switched to her 'monster Mom' voice wrapping her arms around Sin and swiping them up in a hug. "Because I love you so freaking much."

"Mom," Sin complained, trying to sound angry at her. "You're ruining my hair."

"Right, sorry," Sara said, returning to her normal voice and setting them down.

Sara grabbed the compact mirror from Sin's backpack and held it up so they could fix their hair. Sin ran their fingers through it, styling their short black hair into a spiky swept back style. Their Uncle Nate had helped them cut it and learn to style it when they had first cut it short. Sara was grateful for friends in their lives who were there for both of them like family.

It was almost time for school and there were several kids in the hallways milling about and talking with other teachers and kids. Sara figured she could play on the playground with Sin for a few minutes before sending them back into the classroom. However, once they got outside, they hesitated instead of running towards the playground as they usually did.

"Mom, do I have to go to school today?"

Sara followed their line of sight to where Cassandra and Freydís were playing on the playground.

"I think we could take a mental health day and spend it at the skatepark if you wanted to?"

"Can we?" Sin asked in a way that made Sara's heartbreak as she heard the pain and need in her child's voice.

"Of course," she said, putting her arm around them again and leading them over to the car.

The second the door closed behind Sin and her mother, Ava slumped back into her chair. In her ten years of teaching, she had never had a parent come after her like that, although there were several who had been particularly terrible. Parents never wanted to hear about their child's potential disability or struggles in class. She wished they were more open about it, as they were only hurting the child they were so desperate to protect.

But maybe Ava was wrong, maybe Sin didn't have a disability like she thought. She sighed and looked over Sin's homework again, as she looked over the little mistakes the child had made. It could have simply been because they were stressed, or there could be something more to it. Honestly it could go either way, and Ava would have preferred to have a more professional opinion, but without Mrs. Lance's approval, she knew she would never get that answer.

Ava looked up at the clock on the wall. School wouldn't start for another hour and the majority of her early students wouldn't be there for a couple more minutes and they probably wouldn't mind hanging around in the halls or on the playground. She grabbed her keys and locked her room but, before she headed over to the library, she peeked in the classroom of her grade neighbor and brother, Nate Heywood, to check on her son Gary. She smiled when she saw him completely absorbed in one of his adventure books. Nate saw her and waved her in, but Ava declined with a shake of her head, not wanting to disturb Gary during his favorite pastime.

She turned around and headed down to the hall, quickly finding Nora among the shelves as she put away the books that had been returned the previous day. The library was mostly empty, save for a couple of students in the reading nook around the corner.

"Hey," Nora said when she saw Ava approach her.

"I just got the tongue lashing of a lifetime from one of my student's mothers," Ava whispered to her.

"Oh?" Nora said pausing. "What for?"

Ava looked around, all of the bookshelves were no taller than her rib cage and the other kids over at the reading nook could easily overhear them.

"Let's go to my office," Nora said, putting the book away and wheeling the cart down the aisle.

After being seated in one of Nora's comfy chairs, Nora brought Ava a cup of tea and waited for her to start.

"Okay, so I said something to one of my students about introducing them to Ray so they could get a little extra help understanding math. My plan was to have Ray drop by at the end of class if he had some extra time to give her a little extra tutoring, with their parent's consent, of course, but now that's never going to happen. And just to be clear that was all I said, nothing more, but everyone knows that Ray is one of the special ed teachers. So some of the other children in my class overheard what I said and on the bus ride home yesterday they started teasing this child."

"Oh that's terrible," Nora said, tilting her head. "But that's not your fault."

"I know!" Ava said, raising her voice a little, but it felt good to talk this through with Nora and get all her emotions out. "So this child goes home in tears and tells the parent that it's my fault because they thought I wanted to have them placed in the special ed classroom, which is something I would never do; it's much more helpful to have the kids stay in their own classrooms with their peers."

"Um hum," Nora nodded, having heard both Ray and Ava discuss the benefits of such on multiple occasions.

"So I got a phone call about what happened on the bus and I set up a meeting with the parent through the online appointment system the school has and they came this morning. We all sit down and at first, it goes great. I tell them how I'm handling the bullying and everything's going great until this mother insists that I apologize to their child for what I said. She won't even let me fully explain myself, she just insists that it's all my fault. So I just tried to explain why I wanted them to get some help from Ray, and I pulled up some of the child's work to try and show the parent that maybe their child should be tested for a learning disability. And the parent just goes off insisting that it's because the child just stressed about math, which I guess is a possibility, but I've been observing this kid for months I think they could really benefit from at least a little one-on-one time with either Ray or Mona."

"Did you get a chance to explain to the parent about all of this?" Nora asked.

"Oh no, she just got so defensive saying she already had her child tested, but that was years ago, things change, new things come to light. Anyway, I think what I'm going to do is just try and give this kid a little extra one-on-one time during my study hour at the end of the day. I'll just keep observing them and helping them and if things don't improve, I'll meet with the parent again at parent-teacher conferences in April."

Ava finally let out a breath and slumped back into her chair. "Thanks for letting me rant a little."

Nora giggled, "It was more like a lot, but I'm happy to listen."

"At least none of the kids are getting bulled for being queer," Ava said taking a sip of her tea for the first time. "I feel like I could handle that, I mean I am a trans woman and a lesbian, I've faced my fair share of homophobes."

Nora giggled, "Yeah I remember that time we were at the department store, buying clothes with Gary and that lady kept flowing us around and whispering, 'lesbians can't raise a son.' in that confused and angry tone and you just spun around and laid into her. I thought she'd die of embarrassment."

"Yeah, that felt pretty good." Ava looked up at the clock, realizing that she had fifteen minutes before school started. "I should get going."

Just then Mona peeked in like she usually did after she had parked her bus to the depot and returned to the school for her shift as Paraeducator. "Hey, I'm glad I caught you both, are we still on for book club tonight after school? Also, the secretary told me to tell you that Sin Lance won't be in class today. "

"Thanks Mona," Ava said. She should have known that Mrs. Lance would pull her out of class that morning, but she was glad that she at least had Sin's trust back and could help her student further.

She returned to her class after checking on Gary again to find several of her students waiting for her in the hall. They all greeted her with big smiles and happy hellos, and she gave them all hugs or high fives as she let them in the classroom, smiling as they all filtered in and went to their desks. This was why she got into teaching, because she loved watching all these little kids learn and grow, and the joy they admitted whenever they accomplished something, filling her with pride. Apart from being a mom, to her, it was the best job in the world.

Sara and Sin had rushed home to the apartment to grab their skateboard and head out to the skatepark. By the time they got there, all the high school students had left and they enjoyed the freedom of the empty skatepark. Sara had been riding a skateboard since middle school, and when Sin was three years old she put them on a board and her toddler had taken off. If it was up to them, they would have never gotten off.

After spending the morning going up and down the pipes and riding along the rails they grabbed some lunch at Big Belly Burger, calling Laurel beforehand and agreeing to meet her at Quentin's precinct.

"Papa!" Sin called out the moment they stepped off the elevator, running in between the cops and detectives towards Quentin's office. Most of her dad's coworkers were used to Sin's antics and just smiled as they ran past them.

Sara followed behind, choosing to walk through the bullpen and leaned up against the door to her Dad's office.

"Shouldn't you be in school, you rascal?" Quentin playfully asked as he had Sin wrapped up in a bear hug.

"Mom said I could take the day off and we went to the skatepark," Sin answered as they pulled back.

"Oh did she now?" Quentin asked looking up at Sara. "Hey kiddo."

"Hi Daddy," Sara said, walking over and leaning down to give him a hug as well as depositing the bags on his desk.

"Yeah, it's cuz Cassandra and Freydís were mean to me on the bus yesterday," Sin said quietly, looking down at their hands.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," he said, he still had his arms around Sin and gave them an extra squeeze.

"We worked it out with their teacher this morning," Sara said, sitting in one of the chairs across from him. "But they just didn't want to go back yet."

"Hey, hope I didn't miss much," Laurel said, appearing in the doorway and dropping her purse and herself into the chair next to Sara.

Sin immediately ran from her place at Quentin's side to hug Laurel, who gave them a tight squeeze.

"There's my favorite Niblet," Laurel said, using the gender-neutral nickname for Nibbling she had started using when Sin came out.

"Auntie Laurel, I'm your only Niblet."

"Yes, and therefore my favorite," Laurel said bopping their nose as they both giggled.

"You know ever since I had a kid, I always feel like you guys love them more than me," Sara said with a pout.

"That's not true," Quentin insisted.

"Yes it is," Laurel said, with a sly smile.

"Rude," Sara replied, waving her finger at Laurel.

"Be nice," Quentin said, while Sin just giggled. "You know for Christmas I think the only thing I'm going to ask for is for a whole day where my daughters don't fight."

"That's completely unrealistic," Sara said.

"Yeah that's not going to happen," Laurel added, before the two of them burst into laughter.

Quentin and Sin joined in laughing and they all dug into the burgers and fries Sara had brought.

"I don't want you to go to work tomorrow!" Sin whined as they stood at their desk in their classroom.

Sara took a deep breath, closed her eyes and counted to ten before responding to Sin. This was the argument that they had been having ever since Sara had told her yesterday that they would be opening the bakery and cafe on Saturdays.

"Saturday is our day!" Sin insisted.

Sara opened her eyes and kneeled down so that she was at Sin's level, putting her hands on their shoulders. "I know. I know you don't want me to go to work. I know you want me to just stay home and hang out with you all day long."

She poked their stomach trying to get them to giggle while using an exaggerated voice, but Sin didn't respond as they usually did. Sara tried to keep smiling, but she was at her wits end. They had been fighting all day yesterday, and this morning Sin had dug their heels in and wouldn't let the issue go. Sara thought that driving them to school and dropping them off herself would help so that they could spend some extra time together, but clearly it hadn't worked.

Sara looked around and spotted a glitter jar on one of the shelves. She quickly ran over and grabbed two, brought it back and handed one to Sin. "I know you're mad, so take all your anger, push it into the jar, and shake it out."

Sara shook up the jar as hard as she could, watching as Sin did the same. They shook the jars for a few moments and then Sin stopped to watch the glitter in the bottle spin around. After several minutes they looked up at Sara.

"Do you have to go to work Saturday?"

"I do kiddo, and I'll drop you off at Aunt Zari's around the time you would go to school in the morning, but before I leave we can try to go to the skate park."

Sin still looked disappointed and their face scrunched up, as they shook the jar again so hard Sara thought it would break.

"Do you know why?" Sara asked, just wishing she could take some of the hurt feelings away.

"No," Sin said, as they stopped shaking the bottle and continued to gaze into it. Like it held all the answers to their problems.

"Because your aunts and I are not just making pies and cakes, we're helping the Wedding Fairy," Sara said in an absolutely serious voice, it was a thing they said around the bakery quite often especially as of late, as it was an epithet for over the top brides and mothers. However to the kids the wedding fairy was very real.

"Really?" Sin asked, looking over at her.

"Yeah," Sara said with a smile on her. "You see, wedding fairy needs some extra help making some special treats for some special people, her kitchen is just too small to try and do it all this year."

It was partially true, they were swamped with June and May weddings and all the last minute wedding planners flooding them with orders. With the wedding season rush kicking into gear as spring approached and the bakery and cafe being so popular, they had to add an extra day to their schedule if they wanted to be able to take on the new orders. Amaya hated turning people away, especially if they were cute couples in love. It would only be until spring break and summer, and in an effort to avoid the insane cost of childcare, they were alternating Saturdays so that one of the four of them could watch the kids.

The business had always made just enough money for everyone to live comfortably. Amaya's hope was that with the extra orders, everyone would be able to splurge that year. Sara agreed to it because she wanted to be able to afford a good summer vacation for Sin. Of course, Sara didn't tell Sin any of this, as she didn't want them to worry about money.

"The wedding fairy isn't real."

Sara turned around to see Cassandra Savage standing next to them, but before she could say anything Ms. Sharpe approached them. "Yes she is and I'm sure she's very thankful to have Ms. Lances' help."

Cassandra sneered and looked like she was about to say something else but Ms. Sharpe led her away, talking to her on the other side of the room.

"Why can't I help the wedding fairy?" Sin asked, with curiosity rather than disappointment.

"You can! How about tonight you and I work on thank you cards for all of the orders!"

Sin thought it over and nodded. Sara sighed in relief and smiled, then leaned up and kissed Sin's forehead.

"Have I told you that I love you and that you're the best kid in the world?"

"Yeah, you say that every day," Sin teased, rolling their eyes.

"Well I mean it every day," Sara teased her back, then tucked a stray strand of hair behind their ear. "Are you going to be okay today?"

"Yeah," Sin said, with a somber nod.

"You want me to go or stay a little longer?" Sara asked, her eyebrows knitting together, she couldn't help but worry, especially when it came to Sin.

Sin looked around before answering, they still had a few minutes before class started and most of the kids were already there milling around. Sara looked around as well and saw Hector wave at them from his desk. They both smiled and waved back.

"You're picking me up today, right?"

"Yep."

"Okay," Sin said and then took off their backpack and walked over to talk to Hector.

Sara smiled and watched them for another minute before heading out. She stopped in the doorway, realizing that she was still holding the glitter bottle.

"You can take it if you want to," Ms. Sharpe said, catching her at the door. "I'm sure Sin would love to have one at home."

"Thanks," Sara said.

"I keep the bottles around for situations like this and I'm glad you were able to use them. You handled that really well," Ms. Sharpe replied.

"Thank you," Sara said, surprised at her genuine words. The two had been exchanging petty notes and words since their meeting a week before.

Ms. Sharpe gave her a genuine smile before turning back to her classroom. Sara took one last peek at Sin, who was laughing with Hector before leaving. She looked back over at Ms. Sharpe who was talking with one of the other students, maybe Sara had her pegged wrong, maybe she should give the teacher another chance.