I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! It got longer than I meant it to. I'm excited about what's coming soon, although I'm not exactly certain of what comes next since I'm prone to add or discard chapter ideas on a whim.

Also, go read Heroes of Flowers because TheSparklyKitten is trying to get just 15 more reviews by chapter twenty, which really isn't a lot if like three more people went and reviewed five of the chapters from this point. It's so good and it's definitely worth the investment. Updates every Saturday, which is more consistency than you'll ever get from me. Also, better character descriptions than you'll ever get from me, haha.


Wasabi was on a mission. Well, he was on several. The new year had started so he was worried about his curriculum, worried about his wife and her pregnancy, worried about packing and moving, worried about Khary, worried about everything. But he had a checklist, dedicated spaces of time for worrying. And now he was going to address a nagging worry that had been in the back of his mind for some time.

"Reese, how about we spend some time, just the two of us, this afternoon? We can go get lunch, maybe go to that sporting store you like." That was all it took to sell Reese on the idea. Really she just liked the occasional one-on-one time with either of her parents, but throw in a chance to go to Sports Palace? She was there.

"Awesome."

"Go ahead and get ready and we'll leave in a minute, okay?" Reese went off to get ready for the day and Wasabi sidled up to his wife, gently wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm taking Reese out," he said quietly. GoGo had already gone back to work and he officially started back on Monday, though there had been plenty of meetings already. He felt guilty about how tired she'd been lately, felt guilty that his job didn't demand more from him, guilty that she couldn't take more days off.

"Mm-hm, I heard, why are you telling me?"

"I wanted to talk to her about things. I feel like… Well, you told me what she said. Reese and I are more alike than she knows. I want to see if I can get her to open up a little about things, let her ask questions and stuff."

GoGo kissed his chin, "that's a good idea. I did what I could but if you can connect to her maybe she'll be able to see that there's attainable help out there."

"Exactly. And I was thinking, since Reese and I will be gone, you could spend a little extra time with Luca. Scout's not coming over today because he has a study group and Luca just really hates being alone."

"Of course. You and Reese will have your day and Luca and I will have ours."

"I know he'd be happy just staying in and hanging out with you. Don't overexert yourself, darling. If you get tired, rest."

"I've been tired non-stop for three weeks, Wasabi. I think I know to rest."

"Just because you know it doesn't mean you follow it," Wasabi pointed out with a smirk and a kiss, "the woman I married would hardly sit down for anything, except maybe to put her feet on the table." She jabbed him a bit with her elbow, but he had a point.

"I'm ready!" Reese called, wearing basketball shorts and a t-shirt that proclaimed her involvement in the Berkeley Junior Triathlon.

"I love you!" Wasabi said, kissing GoGo's cheek, "have fun with Luca!"

"You two have fun!" GoGo called back, watching her husband and their daughter leave before seeing if her teenage son was even awake yet. But just because she'd been sleeping in on Saturdays as of late didn't mean Luca wasn't up as early as always.

"So, Reese, is there anything you want to talk about?" Wasabi asked as they drove towards Joe's Diner.

"Like?"

"Like school, life, anything that's been on your mind." Reese thought for a second before coming up with the most pressing topic.

"Why'd you kick out Uncle Khary? I mean I know it was because he mentioned your mom but… Why is that a big deal?" Wasabi inhaled sharply. He'd said anything, though, so he would talk about anything.

"Reese, you know that I have OCD, right?"

"Yeah."

"It's manageable, now, everything is manageable now, but when I was younger it was a bit self-destructive. I didn't seem or feel normal and people like Uncle Damon and Uncle Khary were really concerned about me," Wasabi sighed.

"The first time I went to therapy I was ten and I felt like such a freak that it couldn't help me, I wouldn't let it. I remember waiting outside the office before it started trying to remember how to breathe because the concept of being dissected made me feel like a mutant or something. I didn't know it was normal to get help, I didn't know it was okay, that I was okay, because there were people in my life who treated me like a freak. And one of those people was your grandmother. She always measured me against Damon, she would guilt me for needing more from them than my brothers did, for needing order and control. She'd punish me for the slightest rule break, being a minute late for dinner meant a month of grounding. She was horrible to me and made me feel like it was all my fault. And when therapy failed the first time she just gave up on me. It was far easier to pretend that her kid didn't have OCD and any other issues than to admit that it wouldn't be as easy a fix as they hoped. Everything else she did to me didn't matter as much as that did. She basically told me that I wasn't normal, but I better behave like I was or else I'd earn her wrath. She basically told me that she didn't care about me enough to fix me as long as I acted like I was fine."

"She sounds like a-" Wasabi gave his daughter a look.

"-bad person," Reese finished.

"What happened to her?"

"Nothing happened to her. I just cut her out of my life because it was much healthier to live like I didn't have a mother than to interact with her. Your mom and I did what we could to help Khary, and we've been avoiding her ever since."

"What's up with Uncle Khary, though? Do you think he's okay? Do you think he did something wrong?"

"I'm always inclined to think that I did something wrong instead, but yes, Reese, I think he's dealing with some things. I have no idea what, though. I hope he figures it out. Your mom and I are always going to be there for him if he decides he needs our help, but if he needs space, we'll give that instead."

"So…" Reese started, "So, like… You didn't kick him out for good? You still want to help him? You forgive him despite what he said about you?"

"Of course I forgive him. He's my little brother. I love him. I couldn't kick him out of my life for good."

"But what about your mom? You kicked her out of your life for good."

"Khary is someone who is hurting and in his pain, he lashed out at me and has apologized for the pain he caused me. Hurt people hurt people. I can forgive him for lashing out. I can't forgive my mother for hurting me for so many years, never once considering that my rejection of her was her fault. But I think I know what you're getting at, Reese, and I want you to know that there's not a single thing that you could do that would cause me to cut you out of my life."

"But what if-"

"I've been there, Reese. I've gone down every single possibility. There's nothing shy of murdering our entire family that would make me hate you. I might get mad at you sometimes, and there will be consequences for the things you do, but I will always love you. Your mom and I both."

"Did it help?"

"What?'

"Going to therapy the second time."

"It did."

"So you'd recommend it?"

"Highly."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"Then we'll try again when you're ready, and only when you're ready. But we won't stop trying to help you, even if therapy is not the right way to go about it."

"Was the whole purpose of this day to convince me to go to therapy?"

"No, of course not. I just couldn't see my baby girl be unhappy anymore."

"I'm not your baby girl," Reese said, blushing at the affection, secretly just a little bit liking it.

"You'll always be my baby girl," Wasabi promised, smiling when he saw a small smile stretch over Reese's face.

"What happened to your dad?" She asked suddenly.

"Dad refused to admit that what mom did to me was harmful. I know he cared about me, but he chose mom, so I chose you and Luca. You met him once when you were born, and I met with him a couple of times when we still lived in Berkeley, but he stopped deserving second chances."

"And you promise you could never give up on me or Luca like that?"

"As long as I'm alive."

"Even if you love the new kid more than us?" Reese said, half-joking.

"I'm going to love all my children, no matter what."

"Scout's totally your kid right?" He'd said they could talk about anything, so Reese hopped from topic to topic as soon as a new one came into her mind.

"Hm?"

"Like there's no doubt about it anymore, you totally love him like a son, right?"

Wasabi chuckled, "Yeah, I can't very well lie about that. It's hard not to be there for someone who needs what your mom and I needed when we were kids."

"I'm going to tell Luca he's not allowed to bring in anymore strays," another half-joke, "but I kind of like him though. Scout. As a brother. He's not half bad."

"He is not half bad. Hopefully, with a little help from people like us, he'll continue down the path of not being half bad."

"That's four kids then, plus Khary. I just… I don't get how you have that much love." Reese was frugal with her love. The largest portion of it went to Luca, her womb-mate, her best friend. Then her parents, then trickle down to family, faux aunts and uncles, her friends, Luca's friends. When it came to Luca's friends, there was a drought.

Wasabi laughed suddenly, "You know? I think the very same thing when Luca talks about how many friends he has."

"Thank you! You get it!" Reese exploded with happiness, "His lunch table is a fire hazard!"

"It's okay to not feel comfortable around people, sweetheart," Wasabi said as they pulled up to Joe's Diner.

"Mom said that too."

"And we mean it. And if it feels like right now you don't have a lot of love to give, that's okay too. Things change, hearts change and grow. People become more comfortable with the right people. I'm confident that there will be a lot of good people in your life who will teach you that." He thought about how he and GoGo had slowly warmed up to physical touch.

"I just don't know if I'm worth waiting for," Reese blurted as they got out of the car.

"I get that too," Wasabi said with a sad sigh, "trust me when I say that it's more important to love yourself before you worry about loving other people. But if, sometimes, it's easier to love other people that's okay too. Whatever capacity for love you have now will, in the long run, help you love the people in your life deserving of love, whether that's yourself first or others first… Does any of that make sense?"

"Not completely," Reese admitted, as they headed into the diner, the gears turning in her head, "I think you're saying it's okay if my love is small right now, and that I should try to love myself before I love other people, but if I can't, that's okay?"

"It's okay as a starting place, Reese. Not as a destination. At the end of the road, you should be able to find love for yourself."

"How does one do that?"

"Well, one good place to start is to keep the people who love you in your life. Me, your mom, Luca, your aunts and uncles…" They paused the conversation to order and Reese began to rip apart her straw wrapper, throwing balled-up bits of the wrapper at her dad.

Wasabi laughed, "Stop that." Reese laughed as well, looking at her lap.

"Do you want to keep talking about this? Wasabi asked, picking up on her distress and knowing how stressful it could be to address these things all at once. How overwhelming it could be.

"Not really. But I'll let you know when I am. And I'll uh… I'll let you know when I'm ready to talk to anyone else, too…" Wasabi smiled.

"You can come to me at any time. I'll never be too busy for you sweetheart. I'll never give up on you." Their food arrived within minutes and they settled in to eat.


Luca was cooking at home. He'd insisted, and he knew a little, so he was making mac and cheese while GoGo scrolled through Disney + for something they could watch.

"How is school?"

"I mean it just started back up," Luca said with a shrug, "so it's fine."

"Anything special happening?"

"Oh, there's a new girl, Charlotte."

"You going to talk to her?"

"Already have." GoGo laughed.

"Of course you have. I'm proud of you," Luca brought over a bowl of mac and cheese and she ruffled his hair. He scrunched his face up a little and smiled. They weren't supposed to eat on the couch, but no one cared.

"Are you actually excited about having a new sibling?" GoGo asked, having been a little worried that Luca was putting on an act.

"Oh yeah, I'm glad our family is growing. The more people the better."

"I'm glad you feel that way," GoGo said, leaning forward as she selected a superhero movie, "I'm a little nervous, honestly." Luca was surprised.

"You're nervous?"

"Yep. Change always makes me a little nervous," she admitted.

"Me too," Luca said, resting his head on her shoulder. She wrapped an arm around him.

"I'm just happy that I know I have my family with me every step of the way." Luca glanced at the movie.

"I know how this one ends," he said.

"Sometimes it's good to have a happy ending you can count on."