Hey, guys! Sorry for the long wait. I swear I haven't given up on this fic, Sunsparklestelz. Introducing my new fic took some time. Real quick shout out to Cute cupcake! That's right, she's back and with an all-new revised next gen story called Friends. You should check it out. It's awesome.

Also, check out my new story The Finer The Line. It's Phase 2 of the Cliché Project and it is also a next gen fic. Summary: The Winx Club all grow up and have goody-two-shoes daughters at the exact same time. Shocker. Well, this story isn't about them; this is about their sons, the Cabal Knights. They're evil warlocks and they love tormenting the squeaky clean daughters of the Trix, Diaspro, Chimera, and Mitzi (a.k.a. The Magix Club). But when a bigger, badder villain threatens the girls, can the boys put aside their prejudice and admit that something stronger than hate runs between them? I hope you check it out and give it a big old review. I'm super excited for this new project, but don't think I'm forgetting about this fic. I plan on seeing this through until the end.

Anyway, here's my girl Aisha.


Aisha

I woke up to someone knocking very loudly on my apartment door. I stifled a curse word as I crawled over Bay and Marlowe, who had both snuck into my bed some time in the middle of the night, and stumbled down the hall wiping the sleep out of my eyes. Whoever was waking me up this early was going to have some serious hell to pay.

"What do you want?" I asked as I swung the front door open, blinking quickly as the light flooded into my eyes. "What could possibly be so important at eight in the morning?"

"I'm here to escort you to work," said a deep voice that rolled down my spine and made me shiver. I glared at the voice's owner.

Nabu stood at my doorstep bright-eyed and bushy-tailed wearing his official Red Fountain robes and holding his wizard staff proudly. My eyes widened as I grabbed him by the collar and quickly yanked him inside. Sticking my head out to see if anyone was watching, I shut it and locked both locks.

"What the hell were you thinking?" I asked, turning on a very confused looking wizard. "You can't just walk around dressed like that. You'll expose magic to the world."

He at least has the sense to look sheepish about it, but that didn't make me want to lighten up on him. Instead, I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorframe, regarding him aloofly.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"I told you," he answered. "I came to escort you to work."

"It's Sunday."

All I got was a blank stare.

"On Earth, many people don't work on the weekend," I explained slowly as if I were explaining something to my five-year-old. "Most people, anyway. I've got an appointment tonight, but I was planning on sleeping in."

"Sorry," he apologized, bashfully rubbing the back of his neck. "The boys and I agreed that we would watch all of you over the course of the day."

I crossed my arms. "You know that I don't agree to that-" he nodded- "but these are my kids so I will tolerate you guys until I can defend myself."

"How are you going to-"

"I'm dropping my first job. I'll spend the day at home practicing magic. That way I can spend more time with my kids and they'll be protected," I answered, walking up to the sink. "Since I'm already awake, I'm going to start on breakfast before the kids wake up."

Nabu perked up.

"I can do that!"

With a snap of his fingers, on the table appeared a breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon complete with buttered toast, a bowl of strawberries, and glasses of orange juice. He beamed at me. I glared at him. Walking over to the table, I picked up the glasses, dumped them out into the sink, and used my magic to fill them with water. He frowned.

"In this house, we drink water," I stated plainly.

"Momma."

I turned away from Nabu when I heard Bay's sleepy voice. Smiling at the five-year-old standing in the doorway to the kitchen, I said, "Breakfast is ready."

His sleepy eyes looked over to the table and then widened in wonder when he saw the meal Nabu had made.

"Oh boy!" he exclaimed, rushing over to the table and clambering into his seat. A cry from my room told me that his exclamation had woken up his sister.

I sighed and, turning to Nabu, I said, "I'm going to be right back. Don't do anything."

I pointedly looked at his staff to make sure he got the message: no magic.

Walking into the room, I saw Marlowe tangled in the sheets and struggling to get out. I held back a laugh and walked over to help her. Once I finally got her out, I lead her back to the dining room, where Nabu and Bay were deep in conversation.

"So you say you don't know your daddy?"

"Nope."

"Wow, that must be hard. Does Tess know her daddy?"

"None of any of us know our daddies."

"Who's us?"

"Me and Tess and Alex and Bella and Lilly and Arty and Eddie and Vera and Toni and Prim. Oh, and Marlowe," Bay added as an afterthought.

"Wow, that must be hard," Nabu sympathized. "Did your momma ever tell you anything about your daddy?"

My eyes widened in alarm. I hastily sat down at the table with Marlowe and asked as casually as I could, "What are you guys talking about?"

"Daddy," Bay answered through a mouthful of eggs.

Nabu gave me an accusatory look from across the table, so I turned my attention towards cutting Marlowe's eggs into small enough pieces. Please don't let him figure it out. Please don't let him figure it out, I chanted in my head.

"I can do it myself, Momma," Marlowe whined, trying to snatch the fork and knife out of my hands.

"No, you can't, Mar. You'll cut yourself."

She pouted and sat back in her chair, crossing her arms to make sure I knew that she was mad at me. I wasn't too perturbed because I knew she'd forget about it in under three minutes.

"She's so cute," Nabu said, gesturing to my daughter. "That hair is pretty bright. How did that happen?"

I shrugged nonchalantly, but the challenging look in my eyes when I answered was anything but.

"Her dad."

That seemed to strike a nerve because now he was the one avoiding my eyes. It seemed that the mention of the father of my children makes him uncomfortable. For a second I felt bad, but then I remembered that we weren't the same couple we had been six years ago. I can't trust him to be a part of my life if he's going to run off on missions without talking to me about it first. I understand that he had to and I'm not mad about that. I just wish he had told me beforehand. That kind of behavior had no place in my life. I'm a mom now and I need someone dependable.

We finished breakfast in silence with occasional commentary from Bay or Marlowe. When they were done, I took them to their rooms to dress them and then dressed myself. After fighting to get Marlowe into a pair of pants- because today was apparently a no pants day and someone had forgotten to inform me that we would not be wearing pants today- I took them both back out to the dining room where Nabu had magicked away the whole meal.

"So..." Nabu started awkwardly, "what do you guys normally do on Sundays?"

"Well, other than sleep in," I answered, fixing him with a pointed look, "I like to take them to the park or we help out at Carriage House."

"Momma! Momma!" Bay asked excitedly, tugging on my sleeve. "Can we go to the smoothie music place? Please, please, please!"

Suddenly both him and Marlowe were jumping up and down chanting 'please, please, please, please.'

I laughed and said, "Sure, guys. We can go to the Frutti Music Bar. Maybe after we can go to the beach."

"Yay!" they cheered.

"Go get your beach things," I told them and they ran off to their rooms in a hurry. Nabu was laughing too.

"I take it that they like the Frutti Music Bar?"

I nodded, heading towards my room to get the beach stuff together. Nabu followed me, even though I didn't invite him. That's not the part that bothered me though; the part that bothered me was that I didn't mind.

"Not as much as they like the beach," I answered, getting the bathing suits and putting them in the beach bag. "I figured I'd make a day of it."

He nodded and watched as I pulled a beach chair out of my closet. Underneath it, I saw another beach chair that gave me an awful idea.

"Nabu, would you like to go to the beach with us?"

I regretted it the second I said it, but judging by the way his face lit up, there was no taking it back.

"Sure!" he said excitedly.

Grimacing, I said, "Come on. We'd better go help them get their pool toys together, or they'll end up fighting over the octopus sand mold again."

He gave me a strange look like I was speaking a foreign language. Maybe to him, I was. It should have been funny, but all it did was remind me of the people we used to be and how far away those people were now.

Oh, Great Dragon, give me strength.


We walked to the Frutti Music Bar since I don't have a car. Nabu talked with Bay and Marlowe the whole time. I was almost annoyed with how good he was with my kids. Nobody lives up to Marlowe's standards.

"Hey, kiddos!" Bloom greeted cheerfully as we walked through the door. On the stage, Musa was singing a fun summer tune and Roxy waved at me from behind the bar. Bloom's smile dimmed when her eyes landed on Nabu.

"They're over there," she said flatly, pointing to a table in the back where Sky and Riven were none too discreetly peeking over the tops of their menus. I rolled my eyes.

Nabu cleared his throat awkwardly at the sight of how obvious his teammates were and answered, "Actually, I'm going to stay with Aisha."

That actually surprised me, although I don't know why. He was obviously excited when I offered to let him come with us instead of watching us from a distance. I guess I just kind of subconsciously expect him to disappear like he did before. Bloom looked surprised too.

"Oh. Well, then I guess I'll lead you guys to your seats."

Bloom led us to the table by the stage. Bay kept bouncing in his seat and pointing up at Musa saying, "Auntie Musa! Auntie Musa!"

She managed a little wave down at him before she started the next verse. Nabu immediately started up a conversation with Marlowe once they sat down. It struck me again how easily he won over my high maintenance little girl. Shaking my head to distract myself from the thought, I ordered our usual watermelon smoothies and got one for Nabu as well. While we waited for our food, I watched him tell Bay and Marlowe "fairy tales" about a magic group of fairies who fought evil and always saved the day. That was one thing I noticed; he made it a point to emphasize that the fairies always saved the day, despite all the odds stacked against them. His story captivated me, even though I knew how it was going to end. He had me on the edge of my seat with his storytelling skills, something I had always been envious of. Stories were never my strong suit, much to my children's chagrin. It only made me wonder how perfect we would be back together again.

No, Aisha, stop, I chastised myself internally. He's from another world, another life, that you left behind a long time ago. Change isn't what you need right now. It's not even something you can afford right now. Stop swooning and drink your smoothie.

By the time the final battle came around, the smoothies had been long forgotten as Bay, Marlowe, and I sat hooked on his every word. With a grand explosion, the fairies saved the day and the world.

"The end," he finished, smiling down at Bay's beaming face. Satisfied, the little boy returned to his smoothie. Marlowe, however, wanted to know more.

"What next?" she demanded. "What happens to the fairies and the heroes?"

"They rode off into the sunset," Nabu answered as if that was obvious. Marlowe nodded seriously and mumbled, "Of course," but I snorted at the cheesy ending. Looking over at me with a smirk, he added, "And then they shared true love's kiss."

I almost choked on my smoothie. My face turned bright red as I coughed violently into my napkin. He looked very content with himself.

Glaring at him, I said, "Okay, that's enough of smoothies. Let's go to the beach."

Bay and Marlowe jumped out of their seats cheering and ran to the beach. I started to clean up the mess they left behind to make life a little easier for Bloom when Nabu said, "You know, that's my favorite story."

"Yeah, well, it was a little sugarcoated if you ask me," I responded grumpily.

"You didn't like it?"

I shrugged as I brought the trash to a bin by the door. He followed with the beach bags.

"Compared to the original? Not really."

"You always were more of a realist," I heard him mutter under his breath as we walked out to the beach. Letting his words roll around in my head for a while, I changed Bay and Marlowe into their bathing suits and covered them in sunscreen as he set up the umbrella and chairs. Did he really know me so well?

I let Bay and Marlowe play in the surf, warning them not to go past the first sandbar. Nabu took a seat next to me and tried to strike up a conversation.

"Are you going to get in the water?"

"Maybe later."

"Do you come here often?"

"Yeah."

"The weather sure is lovely today."

Noncommital grunt.

He eventually gave up and leaned back to take in the sun. I breathed a sigh of relief when he stopped talking because every word out of his mouth was another hit to the walls around my heart. I don't know how much more of this I could take. This was a bad idea. This was-

"Momma!"

My train of thought was cut short as Bay and Marlowe ran up to me and dumped a load of sandy, soaking seashells in my lap. I entertained them as they babbled about the shells to distract myself from the man listening intensely at my side. I had never been more grateful for my kids. (That's a lie, but I was feeling it in the moment.)

The rest of the day went by without a hitch. Once the sun had passed its high point in the sky, I joined my kids in the ocean as Nabu watched from the shore. Bay started begging that I take him and Marlowe out deeper, so I didn't even have to look at Nabu which was good. He was making me weaker by the minute. Next thing I know, I would be asking him to move in with me. I needed to get a grip. Dunking my head under water, I let myself get lost in the waves. The water always calmed me down, and right now was no exception. I immediately felt a sense of peace wash over me as the salt water tangled my hair. I opened my eyes and saw Bay and Marlowe floating underwater beside me, eyes wide and cheeks puffed out like little blowfish. I let out a laugh that made bubbles float up to the surface. I dragged them up with me and we laughed together. I may not be good at telling stories, but one thing I could always connect with my kids over is the ocean. All three of us felt the same pull towards the sea and I reminded myself that nothing- not even a storytelling, swoon-worthy wizard- could take that away from us.

When the sun started to set, we finally headed back to the shore. Nabu was starting to pack up our stuff, so I focused on changing Bay and Marlowe out of their bathing suits instead of fawning over how much of gentleman he was. Slipping on a coverup, we went back into the Frutti Music Bar, where Bloom was wiping tables and Musa was packing up her guitar. In the corner, Sky and Riven were still sitting and watching, now with orange and red smoothies in their hands, respectively. I walked over to where the band was packing up.

"Leaving early?" I asked Musa as she hopped off the stage.

She cast a sidelong glance at Riven from across the Frutti Music Bar and answered, "Yeah, I can't take much more of this. Plus, the guys have their own gigs later tonight."

I watched Nabu walk over to the two Specialists as Bloom joined me and Musa. Bay and Marlowe ran after Nabu; I went to stop them but then Nabu smiled down at them and held Marlowe's hand. I decided it wasn't a fight worth picking right then.

"Tell me about it," Bloom said as she joined us with an empty pitcher and a wet rag. She started cleaning off the table in front of them and she said, "If I have to hear them complain about Andy one more time-"

"Bloom!"

The redhead rolled her eyes and walked over to Sky's table where he and Riven were standing up and cleaning off their table. Musa and I followed for lack of anything better to do.

"Yes?" she asked in her waitress voice.

Sky smiled charmingly at her politeness, oblivious to how fake it was. I could see the hard look in her eyes falter at his innocent smile, before hardening again. Good to know that I wasn't the only one who was weak when it came to the ex-love of my life.

"Riven says he's going to head back with Musa soon-" Musa gave the magenta-haired specialist a look of disbelief- "so I was wondering when you'll be done."

Bloom started laughing and I joined in. Bay started laughing too, but I could tell he didn't understand why.

"That's funny," Bloom said as her laughter died down. She expertly wiped down their table. "The night shift just started. Stella isn't even here yet."

Sky cocked his head in confusion.

"Stella?"

Bloom opened her mouth to explain, but a loud argument drifted in from the front doors before she could.

"I've known Stella since June," a deep voice bragged.

"Well, I've known Stella since we were teenagers," a deeper voice gloated.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I-"

"Guys!" Stella interrupted as she got between both men standing in the doorway. "I get it. You both know me. Can I go to work now?"

Both men had the sense to look sheepish.

"Sorry, Stella."

The sun fairy sighed and said, "It's fine. Thanks for walking me, Ismail."

"Sure thing," the blond replied as he turned to leave before stopping suddenly. "Is he staying?"

Ismail and Stella turned to Brandon. Brandon looked back at us and then Ismail with a very un-Brandon-like smirk on his face.

"All night."

"Then I'm staying too," Ismail declared.

Stella put a hand on his shoulder.

"No, you are not. You have work in the morning. I'll see you tomorrow."

Brandon grinned triumphantly, but then Stella leaned forward and planted a kiss on Ismail's cheek. The brunet stomped over to us as Stella waved Ismail goodbye and went to clock in for work.

"What was that about?" Sky asked.

"There's this stupid boy with this stupid floppy hair who always walks Stella to stupid work."

I rolled my eyes and shared a look with Musa. It had taken a long time to convince Stella to pursue who made her happy, so I only hoped the Specialists wouldn't derail all the work we had done.

Bloom walked over to Stella and helped her tie her apron as the bright girl pulled her hair into a ponytail. I could see from all the way over here that she was listening to Stella rant. Hopefully, this wouldn't put her off men completely. Ismail was a nice guy with a good job and a great way with kids. It also didn't hurt that he was easy on the eyes. She deserved someone like him in her life.

"Brandon, you better back off," I heard as I turned back to the conversation Musa was having. "We worked really hard to get those two together and you can't just come in here messing everything up with your biceps and your big brown eyes."

Brandon smiled, pleased with himself, as Musa wagged a finger in his face. The music fairy glared at him.

"Who is that guy anyway?" Riven asked the petite fairy. "What's his deal?"

"That is Ismail Heyer," she answered. "He works at the same law firm as Tecna and he and Stella have maintained a steady flirtationship since summer."

Turning back to Brandon, she added, "So back off."

The brunet held his hands up defensively, but he did not look at all sorry for his actions. We would have to work on that.

"Ready to go?" Musa asked me.

"Yeah, sure. Let me just grab the kids. Bay, Marlowe, it's time to go."

Both kids started whining, of course, because obviously, I had just shattered their entire world, but I ignored their complaints and their pleas for five more minutes at the Frutti Music Bar as I grabbed Marlowe's hand and made her hold her brother's hand. Musa grabbed some of the extra beach gear in the hand that wasn't holding her guitar case and led us out to the parking lot where her van was parked. She put down her guitar case and unlocked the door, letting the kids inside first. Then we put all the beach gear and her guitar case in the trunk. When we turned to get in the van, we saw Riven and Nabu watching us expectantly.

"Do you need something?" Musa asked none too nicely.

"No," Riven answered. "But we are coming with you."

"Uh, no, you're not."

"Are too."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are-"

"Musa!" I had said at the same time Nabu shouted: "Riven!"

We both looked at each other sheepishly before turning back to our childish friends.

"Seriously?"

"What?" the Asian girl defended. "He was getting on my nerves."

"Come on."

I gave her a look and she caved.

"Look," she said, turning to the two quietly bickering Specialists. "I have to pick up Tess from daycare. I don't have time to drop you guys off wherever you're staying."

"Where are you guys staying anyway?" I butted in.

"Uhh..."

Riven and Nabu shared a panicked look. After a few seconds of indecipherable half sentences, I decided I should just cut them off.

"We were-"

"It's in a-"

"Kind of-"

"Nevermind. I don't care anymore."

Turning away from the two men, I climbed into the van. I felt like more should have been said like a polite "I had a good time" or a cordial "you should come with us next time" or at least a "sorry we're abandoning you in a parking lot." In the end, I just settled for waving out the window as I took a seat.

I focused on buckling Bay and Marlowe in two of the many car seats that Musa kept in her van for the many kids who took a ride to daycare in it. Musa's van was really cool in that she had gotten it from this old hippie guy she used to play shows with. The entire inside was gutted and hideously cushioned seats were lined up all along the interior so that it wrapped around the van. It was as big as a shuttle bus, but the windows were covered with faded paisley curtains and hanging from the roof in the back were two atrocious hanging plants. On the dashboard sat a wide variety of bobbleheads and two fuzzy dice hung from the rearview mirror. Next to a plastic crate full of vinyl records, a folding TV dinner table covered with assorted snacks and trash sat by the driver's seat which was directly across from the school bus-like door. An emergency exit on the roof was covered with Lisa Frank stickers and glow-in-the-dark stars, courtesy of our children, and the floor was covered with a patchwork carpet made up of a variety of garish 70s designs. A green throw rug stapled to the roof for no apparent reason tied the whole look together. Musa graciously accepted the hippie man's offer after checking that there were no drugs stashed away in the throw pillows or storage compartments. While not exactly my style, I felt the haphazard van suited Musa perfectly.

Musa talked about how her day went while Bay and Marlowe fell fast asleep, but all I could think about was the man we had left behind in the parking lot. Was he truly back for good? And if so, should I just let him back into our lives?

If only they hadn't come so late.


When we got to the Carriage House, we went around the back to the entrance to Flora's actual home. We were surprised to find that the one who opened the door wasn't Flora or any of the triplets, but Helia.

"Hello, girls," he greeted as pleasantly as always. "Are you here to pick up Tessitura?"

"Yes, but, um, where's Flora?" Musa asked, standing on the tips of her toes to look over his shoulder.

He took a step back to let us into the bright yellow kitchen. The walls were handpainted with smiley flowers and winking suns. Tiny handprints in bright primary colors wrapped all around the crown molding. Dangerous objections were safety-proofed with rubber or plastic caps and all the appliances had labels with their names in English, Spanish, and Mandarin written in bold comic sans. It wasn't that hard to guess that she worked in a daycare.

"Flora's upstairs with the kids," Helia answered, leading us through the house even though we knew our way already. He looked into every room like he was trying to imprint it into his mind. He started turning down the wrong hallway when the sound of children's laughter turned him in the right direction. He led us to Vera's room, a nightmare of hot pink and sequins everywhere. All the kids were playing there along with Flora, who had busted out an antique dollhouse for the kids to play with.

"Mama, come see!" Tess exclaimed when she saw her mother at the door. Musa laughed and went to kneel down with the kids and join their game. Bay and Marlowe rushed to join them.

I looked between Tess and Musa, once again amazed by their similarity. If Eddie was the spitting image of his father, then Tess was an exact replica of her mother. They both had impish smiles and milky white skin as well as inky black hair. Tess even wore hers in little pigtails like Musa used to except instead of bobbing on the top of her head, Tess's pigtails sat on the nape of her neck. She was also the tiniest of all the children, excluding Marlowe, despite the fact that Tess was the second birth after Bloom's twins. They also shared the same love of music and performing.

I noticed both sets of twins were still there playing. Pulling out my phone, I scrolled until I found Bloom's contact name fire fairy with two flame emojis behind it.

"Who is this?" a deep voice demanded when the phone picked up.

"Uh, no, who is this?" I asked.

"Listen, I'm asking the questions, buddy. Who is this?"

"Woah, no need to get testy. Where's Bloom and why are you answering her phone?"

"She's working. Seriously, who is this?"

"Dude, calm down and give the phone to Bloom."

"Not until you tell me who you are, Heartthrob."

"Heartthrob? Why would you- ohhhh... Sky. Is this about Bloom's contact name for me? Wait a second, are you jealous?"

"Pfft. Me? Jealous? Why would I be jealous of a guy with such a girly voice?"

"That's because I am a girl."

"Wait, what? Who is this?"

"It's Aisha, idiot. I can't believe- never mind. Just give Bloom the phone."

"Yeah, sure, okay."

To my left, Helia was silently laughing at the exchange as I waited for Sky to find Bloom. From the other side of the phone, I could hear distant yelling about how it's rude to answer someone else's phone and how he had no right to interrogate her friends. Then he got mad because she had a whole bunch of cutesy contacts names in her phone. From my side, it sounded pretty stupid, so I just waited patiently for Bloom to finish scolding him and answer the phone.

"Hey, Aisha, sorry about that."

"No problem, dude. Listen, I'm at Flo's right now. Do you want me to grab the twins?"

"Seriously? That would be awesome. You're the best."

"Sure thing. Do me a favor and ask Stella if she wants me to grab Lilly and Arty too."

"Will do." There was a muffled shout across the Frutti Music Bar as Bloom held the phone away from her face to ask Stella. "She says she would be eternally grateful."

"Okay, give her my love. I'll see you later tonight. Love ya."

"Love you too."

I turned back to the playing kids and filled Musa in on the plan. We started gathering the kids together when Musa's phone rang.

"Bloom?" she asked. "Is this Sky?... Why do you want to know?... Is this about the contact name?"

I burst out laughing along with Helia who knew what was going on.

"What does she have it as?... Love of my life? That's so Bloom. Tell her that I feel the same... You need to chill. This is just Musa... Okay, whatever. I'm hanging up now. Bye, Sky."

A second later Flora's phone rang.

"... This is Flora... Sweetheart? Aww, Bloom is so sweet... no, this isn't a suitor... Sky, Earth doesn't have suitors anymore... mhmm... okay, well, it was nice talking to you. Okay, buh-bye now."

The nature fairy hung up the phone and started laughing which led to the rest of us falling over in laughter. It wasn't till Bay tugged on my sleeve that I sobered up.

"Momma, can we go home?" he whispered once I knelt down to his level.

"Sure thing, baby. Hey, Muse, Bay's getting tired. We should go."

"Okay, let's go. Again, thanks so much for watching them, Flo. You're a saint."

Flora smiled sweetly as Flora does and answered, "No, it was an absolute pleasure. Tessitura is an angel."

"Okay, I'm going to ignore that out-and-out lie," Musa laughed, "because we all know that Tess can definitely be a hellion. Especially when she's with the twins."

I laughed and bid my goodbyes to Flora with a hug and waved goodbye to the triplets. Helia led Musa and I along with all of the children back to the van. I noted that the sun had set a long time ago and the city was dark. I wondered briefly how long Helia's walk would be, which led to another thought as we were corralling the kids into the van.

"Helia, where are you guys staying?"

His eyes widened for maybe half a second before a calm smile spread across his face and he answered, "Sky has it all sorted out."

"Uhh... okay. Goodnight then."

He nodded and headed back inside.

After buckling all the kids into their multitude of car seats, I went to sit up front with Musa. She turned the radio down so as not to wake the kids who were quickly falling asleep.

"That was... weird," I commented. Musa nodded, pulling out of Flora's driveway.

"He's always been kind of off to me. He's a little... bland if you ask me."

"He's Helia. He's always been that way. Though the short hair is really throwing me off."

"Same."

We sat in silence for a few minutes before Musa asked, "Is this weird for anyone else?"

"Is what weird?"

She shrugged and pushed her bangs out of her face. "I don't know. It's just... they're back. The one thing I learned to get over is now back in town and he won't leave me alone. He's there and he's talking to me and he's smiling at me and he's got a new weird haircut, but it's him."

"I know what you mean."

"Do you? I saw you with Nabu today, having a little family day at the beach. Don't think I didn't notice you getting all goo-goo-eyed at him."

"Excuse me?" I asked. I could not believe she just said that. "I'm not going to apologize for being susceptible to love, no matter how buried it is. He's so different and I'm so different, but he's still Nabu and I'm still Aisha. I can't just forget the fact that once upon a time it was him and me forever. Don't judge me for being able to do what you're too afraid to do."

Finally voicing my thoughts made me feel better but chewing out Musa made me feel like a bitch. I was only defending myself, but still, she's my best friend.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's just... I feel so alone, y'know? All day today Bloom and Sky have been flirting like we're back in high school and meanwhile I can't look at Riven without feeling scared for my life."

I gave her a concerned look and she explained, "Not my actual life, but, like, the life I've built for myself here. I know I'm supposed to run right back into his arms, but Riven's never been an easy guy. He's still so... y'know, and that terrifies me. He could change everything and I don't know if I want that."

In that moment, I decided I wouldn't let Nabu get to me so much. What we were doesn't mean we have to be anything in the future. Musa was right; I liked my life now, despite the measures I have to go to just to make ends meet. Nabu was a variable and I was much stronger than this. Plus, my girl needed me and, as a wise woman once said, hoes before bros.

"You're right, Musa," I told her. "I let myself get all swept up in the emotions that I used to feel. I mean, I'm not ready for another relationship. Not after Daniel." She nodded in understanding. "I'll stand with you. Hopefully, we can get through this and they won't figure out who the fathers are before they figure out who's hunting us."

Musa smiled at me. "Thanks, A. You just saying that means a lot."

"Anytime, girl."

She pulled into the driveway of our apartment building, so we woke up the kids, barring Marlowe who would never go back to sleep, and led them all inside. She took Bloom's twins and I took Stella's, helping them set up a pillow fort in Bay's room so all three of them could sleep together. It was difficult getting them down, but fortunately Lilly and Arty knew how to put themselves to bed considering the late hours Stella had to work. Bay, of course, still demanded a glass of milk and at least three stories, ten kisses, and four hugs. That's my boy for ya.

Even as I laid Marlowe down in bed and went to shower, my conversation with Musa kept replaying in my mind. Was this really the best decision? Who was I to get in the way of true love? But was true love really what I had with Nabu all those years ago? Or is the love I have now for my kids the true love that I'm destined for? And is hiding the paternity from my children and their father truly the right way to go? I couldn't sleep and that night I dreamt I was in Nabu's story, fighting the final battle against Valtor. Except this time he won and there was no true love's kiss at the end.

I woke up to screaming.


If you don't know what I'm talking about when I mention phases or the Cliché Project, check out my profile page where I explain it in detail. I have the whole plan written out on there. While you're there, take the poll on whether or not I should name Icy's son Caspian, Winter, or Frost. Check out my new Winx next gen story The Finer The Line and shoot me a PM if you have an idea for my stories or the Cliché Project.

Also, FireSpark500, I'll tell you the same thing I told Dragonheart. Write your own story and PM me when it's done. You seem to have some great ideas of your own, and they've crossed the line from suggestions to demands, so I would appreciate it if you let me write my story without forcing your opinions on me. I'd love it if you kept reading and reviewing, seeing as I do appreciate any and all input, but from now on, please keep in mind that we all have different ideas and opinions. Thank you.

Love, Ru