"The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa the bad things don't always spoil the good things or make them unimportant. And we definitely added to his pile of good things."

-11th Doctor; from Doctor Who (2010)

From the second Izabela Ricci stepped foot into the apartment, she knew there was something off. There was a certain tension that she couldn't quite put her finger on, and she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Not to mention it was unusually quiet. Since moving into the apartment, there was a certain level of noise that Izabela would hear before she even walked in, and the quietness made her very uncomfortable. It made her wonder what exactly happened before she came home. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Izabela put her purse and some of her groceries near the front door, so she'd at least be able to close and lock it behind her. Picking up her groceries, she went into the kitchen and saw Titus and Jai sitting at the small dining room table, murmuring to themselves with their homework scattered around them.

"Hey boys," she said, placing the bags on the small counter. "How's everything?"

"Everything's fine," Titus said, his tone dismissive. That usually meant nothing was fine. Whenever Titus became dismissive, that would mean something did happen and he was trying to find a way to cope with it. And given the look on Jai's face, the sharp look he gave Titus, that only solidified Izabela's hunch.

"Where's Remy and Gemma?" she asked.

The two brothers shared a look before Jai spoke up. "Gem's in her room," he responded. "I think Remy's in our room." The apartment itself wasn't the biggest, and that meant some of the Ricci siblings had to share living quarters. Jai and Remy shared a room, Gemma got her own room (even though she did tell her mother she didn't mind sharing with anyone), and Titus slept on a pull-out sofa. The living arrangements weren't the best, but it was the best Izabela could offer until she had enough money saved for a nice home.

"Did something happen?" While Izabela didn't like interrogating her kids, she knew that they wouldn't tell her anything unless she pried it from them.

Titus simply shrugged, ignoring the second sharp look Jai gave him. "Remy and Gemma got into a fight," Jai sighed, "they're not in a good mood."

Sighing, Izabela hung her head. All she wanted was for a sense of normalcy for her and her kids, and if her kids were going to be misbehaving, then it would be difficult to adjust to a better life. Gemma's attitude to Queens was already proving to be difficult, and even though Remy was adjusting well to the new living arrangements, he could come off a bit strong sometimes when it came to certain things.

"Could you guys put the groceries away, please?" Izabela asked. "I'd appreciate it."

The brothers nodded as they watched their mother go find their siblings.

~8~

Queens, New York, hadn't been Izabela's first choice after the divorce. She wanted to stay somewhere close by, but considering her children were feeling such hostile emotions toward their father, and Izabela wasn't going to lie, she felt hostility towards her ex-husband, too, that she decided further was better. Syracuse had always been the Ricci family's home, and it was sad to leave it behind, but it was for the best.

Being a single mother of four kids wasn't easy; it wasn't glamorous or amazing. It was tiring and left Izabela wondering if she was even doing a good job as a mother. How could she be expected to raise four kids alone? How was she supposed to help pay the rent, even if she got some assistance? All Izabela wanted was for everything to work out, she wanted her kids to appreciate everything she did for them, she wanted things to at least feel normal. Maybe it was asking too much. It had only been a couple months since the divorce's finalization, so maybe expecting normalcy almost immediately was just too much to be expected.

Going into Remy's room first, Izabela knocked on the closed door. "Rem? Can I come in?" she called. There was a long silence before the door opened. Remy looked sullen and a bit pale, his eyes cast downward. "Titus and Jai said you and Gemma had a disagreement on something?"

"It was just a fight," he sighed, "it's nothing."

"It can't be nothing," Izabela said. "Listen, I can understand you guys not agreeing on things every now and again, but this has to be bad. What is it, Remy?"

There was a long silence before Remy said anything again. "Gemma got into something at school," he sighed. "She tried to explain it to me but I wouldn't listen. She...She got mad at me."

Izabela's blood ran cold. Gemma 'got into something'? She hadn't been notified about anything, so it couldn't have been anything major, right? Then again, just because a school official didn't notify Izabela didn't mean it wasn't major. Sighing, she buried her face in her hands.

Maybe asking for normalcy was too much.

~8~

Gemma sat on her bed while she scrolled through her phone. She had gone on her various social media sites in hopes of keeping herself distracted. Remy hadn't attempted to communicate with her after their final spout, and Gemma was happy with that. Her eldest brother could really put her in a fowl mood, and sometimes she needed to just get away from him. It wasn't that hard, right? But when she heard the apartment door open, that was when a sense of dread filled Gemma's body. Her mother was home.

Had Izabela talked to Remy yet? Undoubtedly, she probably did. He probably started throwing everything out of proportion, telling Izabela all these over exaggerations about what Gemma tried to explain. Though no one was raising their voice, so had Remy really started his over exaggerated campaign? What about Titus or Jai? They heard the entire argument, would they say something? Sighing, Gemma tossed her phone on her bed, uninterested in the device. Everything had been going so smoothly, why did everything always have to go south?

Tomorrow'll be better, she thought. Don't worry about what happens today, OK? It's not important anymore. Once tomorrow rolls around, you'll be able to really enjoy being at your new school with your new friends.

The positive thoughts — that were, evidently, a bit forced — were helping calm Gemma's nerves; but she was still a bit on edge about what her mother would say and do. Would she be mad at Peter? Or would she focus her attention on the one who actually hit her? Remy's attention remained on Peter, blaming him for the bruise on Gemma's cheek. Peter had done nothing wrong, and Gemma would continue sticking up for him until Remy cam to an understanding. But, looking back at it, knowing that their mother was now home, Gemma came to the realization that she'd probably have to convince Izabela on Peter's innocence, as well.

Scowling slightly, Gemma let out a frustrated growl. Of all the days for things to go absolutely wrong, it had to be her first day of school?

(A/N):

I can tell you, with absolute certainty, I hate this chapter. It's not my best, and I am honestly running on fumes. Summer quarter's almost done for me — I think I have a little less than two weeks? — and my brain is FRIED. And it's not even finals week yet. Nevertheless, I thought I'd give you guys a chapter; though I was hoping for something better.

MCU isn't mine. I own my characters and my plot.

Give constructive criticism where you think it's necessary. I'm all for hearing words of improvement!

If there's an OC or a subplot you'd like added to the story, don't hesitate to let me know, OK? Leave a PM or drop a review and I'll add it in as soon as possible.

Love. Fiction. 2017: I'm glad you're liking how I write Peter. I thought I was writing him incorrectly, and that got me nervous. Hopefully I can continue writing him well, and I am hoping to improve Remy's character as the story progresses. Thank you for all your reviews, hope to hear from you again!

Guest: My understanding on Inhumans is that they are simply genetically altered humans. I went onto a MARVEL WIKI page, and what I read was that, from what I understand, the first Inhumans were created by the Kree maybe hundreds or thousands of years ago, and the only way for an Inhuman to acquire their powers is through Terrigenesis. Modern-day Inhumans are simply the descendants of the first Inhumans. And what I read about Terrigenesis, it's a transformation they go through once their Inhuman genes are activated. Terrigenesis is done when Inhumans are exposed to Terrigen Crystals. Again, I got this info from a MARVEL WIKI page, I only found out about them a while ago, and I thought it'd be interesting to write a story with the main character being Inhuman. I'm sure if you have access to the internet, you can just google it. Did I at least answer any questions you may have?

TheUltimateBibliophile: I've thought about how I may adjust Liz into the story, and while it's not 100% solid, I think I may have something to go on. I'm probably not going to be focusing on her a whole lot in this story, at least until I start writing the HOMECOMING sequel (yeah, it's a bit early to be thinking about sequels, but whatevs), if that makes any sense. I'll try to give Liz some moments in this story, either way. As for Gemma's powers, I know what I'm going to give her, it's just a matter of whether or not it'll fit her character well.

Before I wrap this up, for those of you who have more of an understanding on MARVEL's Inhumans (not the upcoming show, just Inhumans in general), PM me or leave a review on what you know on them. I only started hearing about them fairly recently, and I know that there is going to be a television series based solely on Inhumans and that AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. has heavily involved Inhumans into their storylines. I don't watch AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., so I don't know how they write them into the show. And I don't really know if I'll be watching that INHUMANS show, either. I might, just out of curiosity. Anywho, I think you get the idea with this.

One thing I did find interesting was TheUltimateBibliophile's review on how Liz would be adjusted in my interpretation of SPIDER-MAN. Like I mentioned, I am not 100% solid on how I'll have her character written, but I have at least an idea on how it'll go down. For anyone who's seen HOMECOMING, you guys know how things go with Peter and Liz, but this is a Peter/OC story. How do you think things would go down between the two? She's not going to be playing such a major role in this story, so I won't be adding anything major in just yet. I'm just curios on what you guys think.

Let me know if there's anything I should improve on.

Thanks.

Jasper