This is where the sequel starts! Enjoy!
Takes place 6 months later
Lena poured her coffee inside of her travel mug before turning around and grabbing her keys from the bowl. "Come on guys! Out the door in two! Anyone who's not in the car can walk to school," she chanted as she grabbed her purse from the table.
Callie picked up an apple from the fruit bowl and grabbed another before handing it to Jude. Jude took it and shoved it in his backpack.
"Where's Lux?" Lena asked her other children, whose faces clearly depicted uncertainty. The woman turned her gaze to her wife, who mainly dealt with the newest member of the family.
"LUX?" Stef yelled out, hoping to get a conscious response from her daughter.
Callie pressed her lips together and gazed downwards. Mariana and Jesus exchanged looks.
"When did she get out of the shower?" Lena asked her other children.
Mariana shrugged her shoulders. "I…didn't see her get in the shower," she said casually as if this were the norm already.
"Uh, no no," Stef shook her head. "I woke her up myself. She took a shower," Stef tried to rationalize, as if anything other than that would have been absurd. "LUX?" Stef yelled even louder this time.
Lux eyes opened wide from her bed when she heard her mother's voice. The blonde immediately jumped up from the mattress before grabbing the first pair of pants she found on the floor. "BE RIGHT THERE!" she yelled as she threw them on and made a worried face. "Crap, crap, crap," she mumbled as she picked up a green long sleeve shirt from the floor and smelled it. "I think this is clean," she mumbled in a not-so-sure tone.
Her phone vibrated from her nightstand and she quickly ran over to it.
She smiled when she glanced at the screen as saw that it was from Eric.
MINNESOTA: First day of work today. Wish me luck?
Lux quickly responded back: Like you need it?
Minnesota: I'm dealing with a bunch of High School students. So yeah, I think I do
"You already have a knack with dealing with them," she whispered to herself before she heard her mother's footsteps coming down the stairs.
Lux quickly shoved the phone in her back pocket and took the bun out of her hair, just as her mom opened her bedroom door. "Good, you're up," she sighed in relief. "I was beginning to worry there for a second."
"Of course," Lux said as if anything else would have been impossible.
"Did you take a shower?" Stef asked suspiciously.
"Of course," Lux answered, just as seriously as she did before.
"Really?"
"Uhuh," Lux nodded.
"Because Mariana said she didn't see you take one," her mother decided to mention.
"Then, she didn't see me take one," Lux continued before she grabbed her army-green crossover-bag from the floor and threw it over her shoulder.
The truth was… Lux realized that lying to her mother was so much easier than telling the truth and butting heads with her. And the teen also knew that this dishonesty worked more to her advantage than telling the truth would. If she had told Stef that she had just gotten up two minutes ago, the woman would most likely lecture her about it all and she'd still go to school without taking a shower. At least this way, she could skip the lecture.
To make things even harder, Stef honestly had no idea whether Lux was lying to her or not. Her biological daughter was way to hard to read as compared to any of her five other kids. Lux didn't avert her gaze or tap her feet. She didn't say "huh?" as if she misheard the question or give away too many details. Instead, they were steady answers with little to no emotion. She was a really good liar, if she was in fact lying.
However, Stef also couldn't help but feel like a little lie such as saying she took a shower when she didn't was the least thing she should be worried about. Sure, she didn't want Lux to think it was okay to be dishonest with her just because there wasn't any proof. But she also didn't want to erase all of the progress they all had made over the past six months.
And they had made progress.
A lot of progress, considering.
Stef was really beginning to think that Lux trusted her and Mike.
For starters, Lux wasn't trying to escape their presence every chance she could. Everyone could tell she was trying and it was hard for her. She had developed somewhat of a relationship with everyone…
Well… everyone except for Lena.
That, Stef knew would take a little more time after all that happened.
"Okay," Stef said as if she actually believed her. "Well, Mama's waiting for you outside in the car so… hop to it, yes?"
Lux raised her eyebrows and made an annoyed face, "Greeaattt, can't wait…" she said sarcastically as she walked out of the room and up the stairs. It definitely irked the teen that Stef kept referring to Lena as 'Mama.' She couldn't even fully accept the term 'Mom' for Stef yet and she wasn't positive she ever would, so did they really think it was okay to refer to her as 'Mama.'
Stef shook her head again and wondered how long it would take for Lux to accept Lena's part in her life. She obviously wasn't going away. Stef knew that. The other kids knew that. She hoped Lux would realize this and accept it soon. They were married and Lena lived with them.
"Everyone knows where they're going for first period, yes? You all brought your schedules?" Lena questioned all of her kids as they got out of her car.
"Yes," they all answered, minus Jesus who reached into his pocket and made a face.
Lena took a deep breath. "Jesus," she mumbled.
"I could've sworn I put it there," he answered honestly. "It must've fallen out."
"Come with me. "I'll print you another copy," she answered.
"No need," Jude butted in as he handed Jesus the crumpled piece of paper he found this morning in the bathroom. "I brought it for him. You left it on the floor in the bathroom."
"Thanks Jude," Jesus responded. "It probably fell out of my pocket," the latin boy rationalized.
"Alright," Lena smiled at them. "Good luck."
Lux's eyes widened when she remembered she didn't answer Eric's text. She quickly reached for her phone and began texting back.
LUX: I'm sure they'll love you. They have to.
"Are you coming?" Lux heard Mariana ask, causing her to look up from her phone after pressing send.
"What?" she asked in confusion.
"We have English together… first period, remember."
Lux glanced down at her schedule for the first time since getting it in the mail. "English, that's right," she nodded. "Room 108?"
"Yes," her sister replied. "This teacher must be new. I've never heard of him before. I wish we could just have Timothy again."
"I wish I wasn't here at all," Lux smiled.
"Come on, it won't be that bad," Mariana said as she grabbed Lux's arm and tried to lead her to the direction of the room. "I'm sure Mr. Daniels won't be a total ass. He's new so he can't afford to be. And I don't wanna be late so…"
Lux stopped in her tracks as soon as she heard what Mariana said. "Wait. Whoah! Who?" she asked worriedly. Mariana furrowed her eyebrows at her, which made Lux realize she shouldn't have overreacted in front of her. "I mean, what did you say our teacher's name was?" she tried to appear as casual as possible, even though she could feel her face begin to heat up.
"Ummm, Mr. Daniels," Mariana continued as she eagerly awaited Lux's reply.
Lux glance up and saw Room 108 less than ten feet away from them. Her heart began to pound as she thought of the possibility. Eric couldn't have been teaching here.
At her school.
As her teacher.
"No," she shook her head.
"What?" Mariana asked.
"Um, I have to go to the bathroom. I'll meet you in class," she said as she began walking away before Mariana could ask any more questions. She quickly ran toward the bathroom and reached for her cell phone again.
LUX: Where did you say you were teaching again?
MINNESOTA: Charter School. Anchor Beach. Why?
He never said that!
She wanted to scream.
She would have remembered him telling her that!
The blonde didn't even bother going into the bathroom.
She HAD to get out of there.
BEFORE she ran into Eric.
And even though this was only a temporary solution, it was the best thing they could think of on such short notice.
Definitely not the smartest thing she would soon realize…