A/N: Hey y'all! I have a bunch of chapters queued up to post, so I'm going to probably post one a day until I'm out. I think that will help motivate me to keep progressing the story. As always, reviews are appreciated. Enjoy!
At 6:30, Emily slapped the button on the alarm to turn it off. She threw the blanket off her and pulled her robe on. She walked around the bed and sat next to JJ, brushing a lock of hair away from her face. "Jennifer. Wake up." She saw her wife start to stir, "I'm going to start coffee."
Emily left her wife and made her way down to the kitchen. To her surprise, Melissa was already in the kitchen, coffee made, working on breakfast. "Ugh, Mel. What did I do to deserve you?"
"Pay handsomely." Mel quipped.
Emily poured a mug for herself and one for Jen. She went back upstairs and found JJ still in bed, but awake and scrolling through her phone. She set the mug down on the bedside table in front of her wife. JJ sat up and grabbed it, inhaling the scent deeply before taking a sip, "Mmmm, I love you."
Emily laughed, "Are you talking about me or the coffee?"
JJ laughed, "both."
Emily leant down and kissed JJ on the lips. "I'm gonna go shower and wake the kids."
"I'm going to hope this coffee wakes me up."
Emily showered quickly and dressed. She had to decide who to wake up first. She decided Lola was probably going to take the longest waking up. She padded to Lola's room. She opened the door and the light from the hallway illuminated the room enough for Emily to smile at the scene. Lola had Luna up by her head, an armed draped lazily across the small dog, and Nova was tucked in the curve of her legs. Nova popped her head up at the invasion. Emily walked over and sat near Lola, stopping to pet Nova briefly. She ran a hand up and down the teens arm, "Lola, Lola?" She sing-songed. "It's time to wake up. We have a big day." Lola groaned and curled into herself further. "I'll give you a minute to wake up, then I won't be so nice about it. You'd be surprised how affective two little kids can be." Emily patted her leg before standing up.
Emily called for the dogs to follow and let them out before waking Henry and Eloise. Emily helped Henry and Ellie get dressed and sent them to JJ, who was now fully ready, for hair and then breakfast. She went back to Lola's room and was pleased to see her coming out of the bathroom, showered and dressed. Lola saw her and smiled, "Morning Emily."
"Good morning Lola. Breakfast is done. Come down whenever."
As Emily turned to leave, Lola stopped her, "Actually, can you help me with my hair?"
Emily chuckled, "I am not the person to help with that. I actually send Ellie to Jen in the mornings to get her hair done. Do you want me to get her?"
"Yes please." She said.
Emily saw JJ in the dining room with the kids, "Hey, baby?"
"Yeah?"
"Lola needs help with her hair, think you can help?" Emily said sitting down.
"Sure. Make sure Eloise doesn't get oatmeal on her clothes." She said, pausing to kiss the top of the brunette's head.
JJ knocked on the open door to Lola's room, "I heard you needed a little help?" Lola nodded. JJ sat on the bed and gestured for the teen to sit on the floor in front of her. JJ used a hairbrush to get through the girls still damp hair. JJ spread argon oil through her hair and separated her hair into two sections. She quickly finished two tight French braids. "Alright, all done."
"Cool, thank you!" Lola hopped up and out of the room.
JJ smiled and followed her out. Lola just sat down at the table with her breakfast and some orange juice. JJ stopped behind Emily, "Okay. I have to go to work. Hopefully I'll see you guys for dinner." JJ kissed and hugged Henry and Ellie, she awkwardly hugged Lola from the side. Emily stood and kissed JJ before they hugged each other tightly.
Emily rushed to get the kids' backpack together and got shoes on.
"Momma!" Ellie whined, "I don't want to wear my boots! I want to wear sandals!"
"Eloise," Emily sighed, "We have this argument every morning. Who always wins?"
"You do." She said dejectedly.
"And why is that?" Emily questioned further.
"'Cause it's cold outside and sandals will make my toes fall off." The toddler sighed.
Emily laughed and slipped the boots on little feet. "Alright, everyone get your coats, we don't have much time." Emily was carrying Ellie out to car, a hand intertwined with Henry's and Lola close behind. Emily let Lola sit up front, so she wasn't squished between the car seats. Emily told herself to remember to remember to talk to JJ about getting a bigger car. She dropped Henry off first, he had to be at school earlier and he could just be dropped off at the front, where Ellie has to be checked in.
When Ellie was at school, Emily set off for the twenty-minute drive to Willowcrest. "Do you want to listen to music?" Emily asked.
"Yeah."
Emily grabbed her iPod from the docking port in her car, "Here. Pick whatever you like." Lola scrolled through her vast library of music before settling on a Dizzy Gelspi album. Emily was surprised at the girl's choice in music. Most teenagers don't like jazz music. "That's a surprising choice."
Lola shrugged, "Yeah, it reminds me of my dad. He loved Dizzy." She smiled at the memory.
"That's amazing. Do you play anything?" Emily asked.
"No, but I was in my middle school's jazz choir. Alto II. It was the top audition choir my school had." She said proudly.
Emily paused the music, "Sing for me."
Lola looked at her, "What?" She squeaked.
"Sing to me, I'd rather hear you." Emily said with a big smile.
Lola took a few deep breaths and sung all of La Vei En Rose, a traditional jazz ballade. When she finished Emily was shocked, that girl could sing. Like really sing.
"Lola, that was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful."
Lola blushed and looked away, "Thank you." She muttered.
Emily resumed the music in the car, giving the girl time to relax again. Emily pulled into the school's visitor parking and walked in with Lola. "I'm Emily Prentiss, I called yesterday. We're here to get her registered." Emily told the receptionist.
"Oh, of course. Please sit. Someone will be right out." The woman replied before picking up the phone and calling someone.
Emily and Lola sat talking quietly when Emily heard a familiar voice behind her. "Emily Elizabeth Prentiss, do my eyes deceive me?"
Emily stood and smiled brightly at her old friend, "Scotty!" She said before accepting his warm hug, "How long has it been?"
"Since you ran away for college and never looked back." The hand blond man smirked. "The Ambassador still causing trouble?"
"Actually, she seems to have embraced domesticity, as have I. How's Senator Brawnsen?"
"You mean daddy dearest?" He laughed, "Living on some beach in Florida. What brings you to this fine school?"
"Oh! This is my foster daughter, Lola. We thought this school would be a good fit for her. What's your affiliation?"
"I'm headmaster." He stepped aside and shook Lola's hand, "Welcome to Willowcrest. We hope it will be a good fit." He stepped back to look at his old friend, "Emily and I used to wreak havoc together. Glad to see we've both changed." He winked, "Alright so first we'll get some testing out of the way. It will take about two hours, each section you have 30 minutes to complete, math, science, English, and History. This is just a placement test, pretty standard. Let me lead you to the test room, a proctor is waiting for you."
Emily sat back in the waiting room and Scott led the girl down a hall. He reappeared shortly after he left.
"Emily, why don't you come to my office, we can catch up."
Emily stood, "Of course. I'd love to."
The pair talked about their lives, Emily was delighted to hear about his five children, and sad to hear about his mother's passing. Scott was shocked by the Ambassador's retirement. He was happy to hear of his old friend's ever-growing family, marriage, and career change. When they got through talking and laughing, there was a light rap on his office door.
"She's finished with her test Mr. Brawnsen." She smiled kindly.
"Thank you, Kara. We'll be right out." He led Emily out of his office to meet back with Lola.
"How did you think it went?" Emily asked.
Lola smiled, "It was easy! Even history was just questions about the dates of major events."
"Good!" Emily turned back to Scott, "When will we get the results?"
"Just a few moments, a system automatically checks the answers, we should have a printout with the scoring in a few minutes." He led the pair to a small conference room, and sat down across from them, "While we wait, why don't you tell me some of your interests, Lola."
"Okay, well, Emily told me you guys had an impressive soccer team. That sounds cool."
"Current state champs. You'll start in time for tryouts, anything else? We need to think about some elective courses for you."
"She can sing." Emily interjected, "Like really sing. I was blown away. She has such a beautiful voice. She's very controlled too."
Lola was embarrassed, but the way Emily advocated for her reminded her of her dad. And that made Lola both sad and outrageously happy. Since her dad died, no one ever went to bat for her.
"That's wonderful, our choir director, Mrs. Dove has an off hour in about 45 minutes. I'll tell her we'll be coming; you can audition for a choir." Scott smiled at Lola.
"What? I don't have a piece prepared!" Lola cried.
"Don't worry about it, just sing what you sang me in the car, I know the piano part for it." Emily assured.
"You play piano?" Lola asked.
"Oh, Emily used to be her parents party trick. She could play whole concertos without a single wrong note. She's quite talented." Scotty answered. "Okay, so choir maybe, do you like art? We have two more possible electives to sort out. Also, one of our school's graduation requirement is a year of a foreign language, would you maybe consider that?"
"Actually, yeah. I kind of speak a little Spanish already, but it's mostly informal. I'd love to learn it formally." Lola beamed.
"Awesome, so Spanish as another. One last choice."
"Do you have photography?" Lola asked quietly.
"Yes! Is that something you'd be interested in?" Scott asked.
"Yes, my dad worked in photography, he mostly did shoots for nature books, some educational books too. But he loved it, and it paid well. I want to learn something similar."
Scott scribbled the last idea on his notepad right as the receptionist came back with the results. Scott looked them over and smiled widely. "You are a very bright young woman. Above average in Math, English and History, and the higher end of average in science. You'll be placed highly."
Emily high-fived Lola.
"Okay, let me make a quick call to the choir teacher, let her know we'll be coming." After he hung up, he looked back up, "Alright, I'll give you about half the tour on the way to the music hall. Follow me."
The music hall was on the other side of the main floor, so Scott made sure to point out any areas of importance, gym, lunchroom, art department, theater department.
The bell rang as they were ending the tour and they trio avoided the flood of girls. Scott knocked lightly on Mrs. Dove's door. "May we come in?" He asked politely.
The teacher was dancing as she cleaned up from her last class, when she heard her boss she stood, fixed her posture, and straightened her clothes before putting on a smile, "Of course. Come in! Show me what you got. Do you need accompaniment?"
Emily stepped forward, "Actually I can accompany if that's not an issue."
The director stepped away from the piano, "Of course."
Emily got situated and looked for Lola to be ready. Lola nodded and Emily played the intro, not missing a note. Lola came in right on cue. She sang a more harmonious version of the song, adding a few small runs, but still managed to stay in time and in the key. When she finished, Emily jumped up and wrapped her in a tight hug, "You did so good." She whispered in Lola's ear.
Emily turned to the director hopefully, she felt her hope jump as Mrs. Dove smiled. "Lola, that was wonderful. That was more controlled and spot on than some of my best students." She looked to Scott, "Mr. Brawnsen, put her in my Jazz choir. That is a voice of the stars."
Mr. Brawnsen nodded and smiled, "Of course, Mrs. Dove."
The trio toured the rest of the school grounds, they ended in the front office again. The receptionist handed Lola's new schedule to her. Lola looked it over and frowned, "Why is it set up like this?" she asked Mr. Brawnsen.
"Oh, we have what's called a block schedule. You only have four classes a day, two hours each, and the classes switch every other day. Day A and Day B. Studies have shown that longer class periods improve overall understanding of course material." Scott explained, Lola nodded in understanding. "Her first day will be Monday. That way it gives our system to add her to her class's attendance list. That day should be Day B. See you then." He finished with a smile.
As they walked back to Emily's car, Lola let Emily look over her schedule. "Oh cool! You have Photography, Jazz Choir, Honors Freshman English, and Honors World History in the same day. That day should be easy."
Lola climbed in the car, "Yeah, but the other day will be Algebra II, Spanish I, P.E., and Honors Biology in the same day, so it'll be harder. I wished it was more balanced."
"Well, all your core classes are honors, so you'll be placed higher on college applications."
Lola smiled, "Yeah, that is good."
"Okay," Emily started, "We have to go to the store that sells their uniforms, get you a couple, and then get some lunch, and then you and I can pick out things to decorate your room. Sound like a fun day?"
"Absolutely."
Lola got enough uniform outfits for two weeks, some had skirts, some had pants, three different styles of shirts. Emily only got a few whines about her not liking the school's shade of green. They got lunch at a local diner. Their last stop was a housing store. They got a desk for her room, lavender curtains, a grey felt papasan chair, a bookshelf, some throw pillows, and a bed set that was almost identical to what Lola had already picked out. They also got her some decorative black and white stills, a full body mirror, a cork board, a vanity mirror for her desk, a desk chair, a desk lamp, an ottoman with plenty of plush blankets to fill it, and a shelf with a few organizing buckets that matched the bed set. Emily paid for a rush delivery on the larger furniture and sent a text to Graiden, letting him know to expect it. Then, Emily thought Lola needed books and knick-knacks to fill her bookshelf, so they practically bought out a Hasting's. Emily also took her to a Staples to get school stuff and a backpack. While Emily was browsing around, she saw the newest Mac Book Pro. She asked if she got the new one for herself if Lola would want her old one. Lola seemed really excited about it. Emily kept browsing and found a new polaroid camera. She though it would be useful with her cork board. Emily got Lola a nice stereo that could connect to Bluetooth devices. Then, because JJ wasn't there to reign her in, she thought about getting Lola a Bluetooth device. So, Lola also got the new iPhone 5s. Emily also bought a card with a code for a membership to a photo editing software for her old computer. She also bought a year-long membership to iTunes music. Emily thought that a digital camera would be a nice gift for her birthday in May.
Emily bought all the expensive items away from Lola, trying to avoid a fight about the cost. When they got home, the housing company's truck was outside their house. Graiden was directing all the stuff up to Lola's room.
"Emily, Jen is going to kill you." Mel laughed from the living room, she spotted the bag in her hands and laughed harder.
"Hey! It's my money! All this was like a week's worth of my income from the company." Emily laughed back. Emily took Lola up to her room. She caught Graiden unboxing furniture. "Hey, Graiden. Would you stay up here and help us put all this together?"
"Well, Emily, I already knew you'd ask me that as soon as I got your text. My toolbox is right there." He said pointing to the dresser.
Emily set the other bags on Lola's bed. Emily sorted through everything, she grabbed her new laptop and carried it to her room, "Come on Lola, let's let the big strong man unbox everything. I need your help to set this up."
Emily and Lola curled onto Emily's bed, and Emily transferred all her history to the new computer through the cloud. Then Emily factory reset her old computer. She helped Lola set up an email and used that to set up an Apple account. "This will be used for your phone too." Emily said casually.
"A phone? What phone?" Lola said, excitement building.
"Oh, this guy." Emily said, pulling the surprise gift from her purse.
"What?! OH MY GOD! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Lola cried, hugging Emily.
"You're welcome, I have a few rules though." Emily warned.
"Anything." Lola said, gently unboxing the device.
"Rule one, you only message people you know, your friends from school, my friends, people you know. Second rule, when me or Jen call, you answer, got it?" Lola nodded quickly. "Last rule, when we ask you to put it away, you put it away. It's a gift from us, so if we take it from you for grounding or anything, we are not violating any rules. Deal?"
"Deal!" Lola said.
"Okay, I'm going to need the SIM card so I can add it to our phone plan." Emily took the SIM card out and used the online service for her phone company to add a plan, then she typed in the Wi-Fi information. She handed the phone back, "Alright you are all set up, now I have to pick up the kids, do you want to come?"
"Yeah!" Lola said uncurling herself and plopping ungraciously from the large bed.
Emily stopped by Lola's room and told Graiden where she was going, and asked him to put things together, and when she got back, they would rearrange. On their way out, Mel stopped them, "Em, I finished all of Lola's clothes, do you want me to go put them away for her?"
"Actually, can you just put them in a hamper and drop it in her room? We haven't decided where to put everything." Emily asked.
"Sure thing, anything else?"
"Can you wash the new bed set? We dropped it somewhere in the living room?" Emily asked.
"Of course, I'll get her new uniforms clean too."
Emily kissed Mel on the cheek, "You are the absolute best Melissa!"
And with that, the pair were off.