The next day, the boys were at school and Lucille took the girls to tour the schools, starting with East High. As principal Matsui was showing them around, Gabriella spoke up. "How far is the primary school from here?"

"Down the street on the other side of the road, why?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just that my sister and I have always gone to the same school, just a little nervous that she's that far."

Lucille waved her off. "It's fine Gabriella, they'll call us, if they have any problems."

Gabriella wasn't very happy with the dismissive answer but chose to ignore it. She felt a tug on her shirt and leant down to her sister while Lucille and principal Matsui were talking. "Bria, what happens if you're not at my school?"

"If anything does happen, they'll call your mom or dad."

"But I want you."

The teen sighed. "We'll figure it out when we get there Sweet Girl, let's not worry about it for now ok?"

Lilliana nodded and they continued with the tour around East High. When they arrived back at the principal's office, they all sat down. "Alright Miss Montez, what subjects are you looking to enrol into?"

"I'm currently taking AP English Literature, AP Calculus BC, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP US History and social studies."

"I see, well we have spaces in all of your AP classes though we don't suggest taking five but since you've already taken them in your sophomore year and given your current GPA, I think you'll be fine. We don't, however, have space in social studies so your options for that line are: Business Management, Spanish, Orchestra, Physics, Geography, Psychology, Computer Science or World History."

Gabriella considered her options for a moment. "Either psychology or world history if I can."

Principal Matsui checked the class lists before responding. "Psychology is filled but we have four places left in world history so I'll enrol you there." He filled out a few more papers. "Alright, if I can get you both to sign these, then Miss Montez you'll be free to start in two days."

"Thank you Principal Matsui." They filled out the paperwork before heading over to Lilliana's school.

When they arrived back at home in the afternoon, there was still a few more hours until Jack and the boys were due home so they decided that it was a good time to discuss the subject that the two girls had been talking about the previous night. "Mrs Bolton, could we talk to you for a minute." The woman sat down and looked at them, giving her full attention. Lilliana looked at her older sister nervously but the girl shook her head. "You have to do this Sweet Girl, I can't do this for you this time."

Lilliana looked at the woman nervously and tried to articulate her thoughts. "Umm I was wondering... What do I umm do I call you Mr and Mrs Bolton like Bria does?"

"What no of course not Lilly, no you call us mom and dad."

"O-oh ok umm -"

Seeing that her sister was struggling, she hugged the little girl into her side and continued. "I think what she's trying to say is that she doesn't want to hurt your feelings but calling you guys mom and dad is a little uncomfortable for her. Back when we were with our um I mean David and Vivien, they were very neglectful towards us and they were always yelling so I think it's given her a bit of a bad association to the title."

"Lilly, y-you called them mom and dad?"

Gabriella could see the woman's heart breaking. "We referred to them as mama and papa, we didn't know any better. I guess what she's wondering is that if she could call you and Mr Bolton something else until she feels comfortable referring to you as mom and dad."

The woman sighed. "That's a reasonable request, I suppose. Lilly, you can call me Lucille and your dad Jack until you feel comfortable calling us mom and dad ok?" She noticed her little girl immediately look at the junior and added. "Yes Gabriella can call us that too, she doesn't have to refer to us as Mr and Mrs Bolton here." She looked at Gabriella. "You're part of this house now too Sweetheart, the formalities aren't necessary."

"Thank you." The two girls replied.

"Ok well I'm gonna go make some afternoon tea for you girls and the boys."

Lucille left the room and Gabriella turned to her sister. "See, that wasn't so bad, I told you she'd be ok."

"Thanks Bria."

"You don't have to say thank you Baby... How do you like your new school?"

The girl shrugged. "It's ok. I'm nervous that I don't know anyone."

"Well you're in Jakie's class so you'll have at least one friend and I'm sure your brother will look out for you, it's not gonna be as bad as you think."

"Will Troy look out for you at your school?"

Gabriella sighed. "Probably not Livie, but that's not Troy's job too. But it'll all be ok, you'll have fun and I want to hear all about what you get up to at school."

"Ok Bria."

That night, they were all sitting at the dinner table and Lucille started the conversation. "We enrolled the girls in school today, they start in two days. Jakie, Lilly's gonna be in your class so you're gonna look after her, right?" The boy nodded. "Good, I'm glad to hear. And Troy, Gabriella's gonna be in your english lit, calculus, chemistry and world history so be nice."

The teen rolled his eyes. "Great."

After some silence, Lilliana spoke up – the first time she'd spoken on her own accord without being asked a question. "Are the kids at my new school nice Lucille?"

Before the woman could answer, Troy reprimanded her. "Lilliana, you don't call your mom by her first name, that's rude." Gabriella immediately stood up, grabbing his arm and dragging him into the living room. She shut the door in time to hear him complain. "What the hell?"

"Look, I don't care what you do to me, I'm not your sister and you don't like me, so what? But do not ever do that to her again. It was hard enough for her to even have that conversation and that was the first time she had spoken up on her own but then you had to go and pull her up. She spoke to your mom about calling her Lucille, she doesn't feel comfortable referring to her as mom yet and you should respect that."

"She's our mother, why shouldn't she refer to her as mom. And I especially don't see why I should listen to you, you're not even in our family."

Gabriella glared at the boy. "Maybe not, but I've been the only family your sister has had for five years. And the reason she's not comfortable in referring to your parents as mom and dad is because of the people that took us. They neglected us and were always yelling so why in the world would she want to have any association to a similar title? She'll call them mom and dad someday when she's ready, until then, your mother has said that she's allowed to call them Lucille and Jack and you need to respect that for your sister's sake."

With that said, she walked back into the dining room, Troy following a few seconds later. She sat down beside her sister who hugged her arm tightly. She kissed the top of her head, whispering 'it's ok' before they got back to their dinner and light – and somewhat awkward – conversation returned.