AN: It's a little on the shorter side and not really exciting. Hopefully the next chapter will make up for that.

AN2: I know that the next couple chapters have a little more to them. And tiny spoiler...the main couple is set in motion soon.

AN3: Also a Halloween chapter will be up soon so leave suggestions for costumes. I have a few ideas, but not for all the characters. It will include pretty much all the characters that have appeared in the story.

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"This is my life... my story... my book. I will no longer let anyone else write it; nor will I apologize for the edits I make."

-Steve Maraboli

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"We're home," Rossi announced as he opened the door for Emily to step in.

Erin had text him a hour ago saying the girls were at the house. Emily closed her umbrella and shook the stray raindrops off her coat.

"Are you sure they're here?" Emily asked, "My kids are never this quiet."

"We're here," Mattea stated stepping out of the kitchen. She wiped her hands on the apron Erin had loaned her.

"What are you making?" Rossi asked setting his keys down.

"Pizza, and don't worry your kitchen is in pretty good shape," Mattea reassured him. That's when she noticed the bandage on her mother's forehead. "What happened?"

"Plank of wood," Emily replied like it was no big deal.

Mattea sighed. "That's twice. You've got to be more careful."

"I'll try," Emily told her. "Where are my other two girls?"

"Elise is in the bathroom with her book, and Chloe is roaming the halls looking for a secret room," Mattea replied.

Emily chuckled, "Should have known."

"How long until dinner's ready?" Rossi asked taking of his damp jacket.

"Now," Erin said peeking out of the kitchen.

"I'll go get the girls," Mattea volunteered; walking off before anyone could object.

Emily turned to Erin. "I hope they weren't too much trouble."

"None sense," Erin tells her. "Though I would like to know how you failed at waitressing so bad," She added with the hint of a smile.

Emily blushed. "Mattea told you about that?"

"And Nonna Carmeilina," Erin added.

Emily's embarrassment was suddenly over taken by a grin. "You'll love her," She let her voice fall to a whisper, "I haven't told the girls but she's planning a trip to the U.S."

"From what I've heard I think you're right; we will love her," Erin replied.

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Before long they were all seated at the table eating dinner. "Now that we've had a few dinners together how would you feel about coming to one of the team's family get togethers?" Rossi asked.

"Please," Chloe begged.

Emily bit the corner of her lip. "If it's okay with you girls?"

"Yes!" Chloe exclaimed forgetting her indoor voice.

Mattea turned to Rossi. "Can I help cook?"

"If everything's as good as this pizza you're definitely allowed to cook," Rossi tells her. "Do you have any vegetarian dishes?"

"I cook for Dad sometimes so yeah," Mattea replies without realizing it.

Emily glances at her daughter before planting her eyes on her plate. Rossi doesn't question on it. "That's good because one of our teammates is a vegetarian."

"I have a pretty good bit of recipes I think will work," Mattea informs him.

Elise speaks barely above a whisper from her spot next to Erin, "Allie be there?"

"Allie?" Erin, Dave, and Emily all ask at once.

Mattea breaks out in a smile when she realizes who Elise is talking about. "Dr. Blake is my teacher. She's not on mom's team."

"Oh," Elise says returning back to her dinner.

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"Hey!" Mattea yells as she's knocked back to third place

"Are these games always so competitive?" Emily ask Erin as she watches Rossi teach the two older girls how to play a racing game.

"When Dave plays," Erin replies.

Emily was glad to see Mattea enjoy something that was in the more normal range for teenagers. And even if she wasn't playing Elise seemed happy watching and giggling at them. "I'm glad we found each other."

Erin pulled Emily into a hug. "Me too."

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"Mom," Mattea whispered as she poked her head in Emily's room.

Emily looked up from the photo album Erin had given her and patted the spot next to her. "Come here."

Mattea climbed up on the bed and glanced down at the page Emily was looking at. "I know you told us what happened, but-"

"You want the full truth instead of the quick answer I gave your sisters," Emily finished for her.

"Kind of," Mattea admitted.

"There was a group of people who stole children and then illegally put them up for adoption. It was shut down a few years ago, but I guess my file was never found. That or no one connected the dots between the case," Emily explained.

"How'd you know they were your parents?" Mattea asked with a yawn.

"When I picked Elise up the other day Erin was humming-"

Mattea finished for her, "And you recognized it?" Emily nodded. "Did they know you were their daughter?"

"When you ran into Erin that day at the grocery store she noticed how much Elise looked like me when I was little. They connected the dots when I told Rossi about a memory from my childhood," Emily told her.

Mattea leaned her head on her mom's shoulder. "The world is a small place after all."

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"I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then."

-Lewis Carroll