Don't really have much to say except my birthday's in ten days and I offer this chapter as a gift to y'all, hope you lovelies enjoy! ~Shaymie

Angela

"Molls used to be blonde?"

Angela laughed at the shocked expression on Luke's face. Since he was coming on vacation with them to Oak Tree, she decided to give him an intro to some of their family history. The pictures of Fritz and Aunt Dee were admittedly way too sparse and mostly outdated but they were better than nothing. She wanted to skip right to the handful of pictures they had of them but Luke wanted to look at everything. He wanted to get to know their family.

There weren't many of them. At least not that Angela knew of. Dad's parents lived way out of town and he didn't really stay in touch with them when he was around. They at least left him the house before they moved, but they rarely ever visited. And Mom's parents never really liked Dad. They blamed him for ruining her career since she had to quit performing when she got pregnant. She always meant to go back, but never found the motivation to. Dad said she'd burned herself out trying to get her parent's approval. Aunt Dee never had anything positive to say about them whenever they came up in conversation. She chose Mom over them. Said it was a choice she would have made every single time because Mom needed her.

How different would their lives have been if she hadn't met her shitty husband and moved away? If Aunt Dee had been able to be in their lives more, would they have known more about Mom? Would she have been able to help Dad grieve properly? They both could have helped each other. It took some time for Aunt Dee to get better, but Dad never did. He spent the rest of his life mourning Mom and Kevin and never really talked to anyone about them. Nobody had the courage to bring them up. Aunt Dee tried, but Dad practically ran away from her every time she visited.

Hopefully Aunt Dee will be willing to share some things when we visit... Molls deserves some closure.

"Apparently Mom's hair was the same when she was younger. Molls got a lot from Mom. Dad used to joke that it was like they'd cloned her." Angela trailed a finger over the glossy page, smiling at the pictures of Molly's cherubic face. She was such a happy baby. Quiet and a bit anxious when Kasey wasn't around, but happy. Watching her grow up was like watching a flower bloom. What type of flower, Angela wasn't sure. Linh's the florist, not her. Molly's favorites were sunflowers and daisies so she naturally associated them with her.

Molly would probably hate the flower analogy. She hated being called anything remotely close to delicate or fragile. She seemed to think growing up meant not being able to rely on people anymore. She used to have no problem with them caring for her. She thrived in the attention, because she knew that Bubba and Sissy would take care of anything that went wrong and Dad would pick up the bits they couldn't handle. Now she'd just rather suffer in silence because she thought it was easier on everyone. She changed after their father's death. Got even quieter than usual. It pained them to see her curl in on herself, but they didn't know what to do. They couldn't force her to accept help if she didn't want it. Therapy was Kasey's suggestion but it didn't seem that helpful. Molly seemed even more withdrawn and anxious than before.

"She's... a lot like Mom," Angela murmured, turning the page to a picture of Aunt Dee cleaning Molly's face at her first birthday party. Dad really went all out for it. Bought her a fancy dress that was almost immediately ruined by the gigantic cake he got. It's obvious now that he was trying to make up for the loss of their mom. He did the same for Angela and Kasey's first birthday party after her death. He'd rented a stupidly huge bouncy castle and paid for some ridiculously high-class catering company. He probably had to spend extra to get them to come on Christmas Eve. He wasn't the best cook and Mom was so he was probably trying to replicate her cooking as best he could.

If he really wanted to do that, he could have had Aunt Dee visit...

It took months for him to be comfortable around Aunt Dee, and she used the word "comfortable" lightly. He was never able to look her in the face after Mom died. They weren't even identical. Molly looked more like Mom than Aunt Dee did, yet Dad had no problem being around her.

"You look like her too," Luke murmured, leaning down to kiss her forehead. She closed her eyes and sighed. Of course he could tell exactly what was on her mind. She's told him about her insecurities before, how she always wanted to be more dainty and delicate like Molly and their mother. "You shouldn't think any less of yourself. Molls is Molls and you're you. I mean, you're a total badass! I love everything about you!"

Sometimes his devotion made her want to cry and wonder what she did to deserve it. He genuinely thought she was one of the prettiest women on the planet. God, he still loved her even after seeing her at her absolute worst. Even when she told him about her past, he just didn't care. Didn't run away or try to change her. He just accepted her, and it felt so much better than Mikhail's conditional love.

She always thought Reina and Muffy were delusional when they told her there was someone out there for her. In fact, she thought it was ridiculous for them to give her relationship advice when neither of them could stay in a steady relationship for longer than a few months. Now their lives are completely different from how they were even six months ago. Reina's head over heels for Syd, Muffy's happier than she's ever been with Jack, and Angela finally feels... respected. Wanted for something more than just her looks.

No more begging for just the slightest bit of attention. No more being lonely. No more wondering if she was even loved. She didn't have to doubt a thing with Luke.

"Why didn't you tell us about this sooner?!"

"I didn't think it was that big a deal!"

Angela glared at Kasey. How the hell could he think this wouldn't be a big deal? This was supposed to be the year they all finally got together for Thanksgiving. Aunt Dee and Fritz have been so excited to meet the twins and Kasey decided now was a good time to mention that he's not coming with them? That he's taking the kids to Mineral Town to spend the holiday with their "Aunt Claire," a woman who until just a few short months ago hated his guts? Angela was looking forward to finally spending a nice holiday with him after all the bullshit he put her through—

Stop it, Angela. It's in the past.

"It had to be Thanksgiving? It couldn't be Christmas? You just had to pick the one holiday where we're all finally going to be together again?"

"Claire didn't want to wait until Chri—"

"So now Claire's more important than Aunt Dee? Claire's known the kids since they were born. Aunt Dee didn't know they existed until a few months ago. I think Claire can wait an extra month to see them."

"Lower your voice, Angela, you're making a scene," Kasey hissed through his teeth. She flinched. She's heard that line countless times from Mikhail. Asshole always said it to get her to shut up when she called him on his bullshit. She looked around the inn and frowned. The only people here for lunch were Owen, Luke, and that new guy Calvin. Yolanda was too busy lecturing Maya on dropping eggshells into the cake batter again to really pay attention to what they were talking about. Angela blew Luke a quick kiss before turning back to Kasey.

"If you didn't want me to make a scene then maybe you shouldn't have told me this while we were out for lunch. God, you're so frustrating."

"We're still going to Oak Tree, Ange. It'll just be a couple days after Thanksgiving. You're staying for two weeks, right?" Angela nodded. Anissa offered to watch the fields (at no charge) to make up for her father being a dick. Gideon didn't want to play at her house anymore so Angela and Molly have been letting the kids use the farm as a playground as long as they were careful and didn't spook the animals. Renee's going to come over to take care of Pretzel and the other animals while they're gone. Kasey stabbed his fork into his salad with a sigh. "I'm not happy we won't be spending Thanksgiving together, either. But it's not just about me anymore. I have to think about the kids. They're already bummed they can't see Claire for their birthday. I couldn't disappoint them twice."

"Fine, I won't give you too much shit about this. Just try to talk to us about these things sooner. What if I had decided to pay for your tickets and hotel room out of the kindness of my heart?"

"We both know you wouldn't have done that."

Angela snorted. He had a point. Molly probably would have, just to surprise him, but she's been putting aside money for a horse. She already had a horse from Horn Ranch picked out and named, and she refused to accept any sort of friend discount from Renee. Angela worried a bit about Molly dealing with such a huge animal even though she knew her sister was doing proper research into horse care. She did the same before she got the chickens and cow. Their move here might have been a sudden thing but everything they did after has been carefully planned for the most part. She even took notes on how to take care of a cat before she adopted Pretzel and was willing to go out of town to take him to a vet for a check-up. Molly would probably do anything for that cat. The little devil seemed to know it, too. He was a master at making himself look innocent so he could get more snacks or go with her on walks.

It would never cease to amaze Angela how easy it was to talk to Kasey now that she wasn't worried about him potentially hating her. She didn't have to dance on eggshells around him anymore. Hopefully it stayed like this and she could build up the courage to talk to him about the things that have been on her mind for a while now. She wasn't quite ready for that yet. She was... admittedly a bit scared he'd blame her for some of it even though he promised he'd never do it again.

Things are supposed to be better from now on...

"You're probably going to miss out on Molly's special pie this year," Angela smirked, finding one good thing about Kasey not being there. More pie for her. Molly never made the same pie twice, but she kept every final recipe tucked away somewhere in case the urge to repeat a pie hit her even though it never did. Aunt Dee was the only other person who's ever seen those recipes. There was really no reason for Molly to keep them a secret. Nobody could replicate what she came up with in the kitchen. Even when Aunt Dee followed the recipes, it tasted different.

Kasey looked a bit like a kicked puppy at the reminder. He always looked forward to whatever Molly came up with. She somehow managed to surprise them even when they tried every single thing she made. Angela was convinced it was some kind of magic.

The rest of their lunch flew by and it was back to work. Owen had a half day of work but luckily he was willing to go down into the mine in town with her. She wanted to collect some pearls to make something nice for Molly. Because of all birthstones for Molly to have, of course it just had to be pearls. Couldn't be something she could find in the Garmon Mine. Owen said the pearls should be pretty easy to find and she was hoping he was right. It'd be nice to take the rest of the day off. Angela just... wanted to do something nice for Molly. Something to show that she definitely didn't think of her as a burden. She wouldn't trade either of her siblings for anything in the world. She hoped Molly would understand that but obviously her feelings weren't clear enough.

Besides, there admittedly was a time when she used to hate having Molly around. It was over twenty years ago but maybe Molly somehow remembered how distant she'd been. She really did treat her like a burden back then.

"Molly can walk by herself, Kasey! You're spoiling her!"

Angela crossed her arms and scowled as she waited for her brother to catch up. Why was he even bringing Molly over to Jack's house? Dad could watch her. She didn't need to come with them everywhere. It was annoying. And because Kasey was carrying Molly, Angela had to lug around the backpack he filled with snacks and toys and diapers for her. It wasn't heavy or anything. It was just annoying. Most of the things involving Molly were annoying. She cried a lot. She got sick a lot. She wouldn't leave Kasey alone. Angela always had to share things with her, but Molly never shared any of Kasey's time.

It's not fair how babies got special treatment just because they were too dumb to know how to walk or talk. If Angela threw a fit because Dad didn't pay attention to her, she'd get chewed out for misbehaving. And there were a lot of times when Dad didn't pay attention to her or Kasey. He spaced out a lot. But when Molly started to cry, he was all over it. He'd drop everything for her.

"She's not good at walking yet," Kasey huffed, though he did set their sister down on the sidewalk. Molly wobbled a bit on her chubby legs and grabbed his jeans so she wouldn't fall. She hasn't walked much outside of their house because Dad and Kasey either carried her or put her in the stroller. Angela wondered how she was ever going to learn how to walk by herself if they kept spoiling her like this.

"Bubba..." Molly immediately started to whine, her bottom lip quivering with the threat of tears. Angela groaned. Jack lived right down the street and Molly's usual fussiness was making things take forever. They should've asked him to come over instead. It would mean they couldn't play his new game but anything was better than dealing with Molly when she wanted Kasey to spoil her. It's going to be worse when she actually learns how to talk. Angela thought that having a baby sibling would be cooler. Why couldn't Molly be... bigger? Happier? Healthier?

Kasey liked being able to take care of her. He didn't mind the way she fussed or how she followed him around everywhere. Angela didn't understand how he wasn't sick of it. She certainly was.

Some things never change. She's always been jealous of Molly. She's just gotten better at hiding it over the years. Her feelings towards her baby sister have always been a bit off. Half of it was jealousy but the other half was pride. She couldn't deny being happy when Molly reached new milestones, especially since there was a time Mom and Dad thought she wouldn't make it. They never said it outright but looking back on it, Angela could vaguely remember their hushed whispers late at night. Mom worrying about losing another baby and Dad trying his best to comfort her.

"So," Angela started, wanting something to fill the silence in the cave other than the constant dripping water and her thoughts, "I'm assuming everything went fine with Ramsey the other day. I don't need to kick his ass?"

She's been meaning to ask Owen about his coming out for a little while now, but she hasn't gotten to spend any time with him lately. Between mending things with Kasey and helping Molly through the apparent crisis that is her sexual awakening, she hasn't had the time to hang out with Owen. She texted him practically every day but there's no way she'd ever have an actually serious conversation with him over text. Judging by his chuckle, she could assume things went well and Ramsey could live another day.

"You don't have to worry, Ange. Gramps and Chloe were completely cool about it."

"Good. Are you planning on telling anyone else?" Angela knelt to pick up a pearl and tucked it into the drawstring bag she had on her wrist. She should have asked Mira how many pearls she'd need to make a bracelet but she didn't want to risk Julius overhearing and ruining the surprise. If she got too many, she could probably sell any extras.

"Nah. I told Luke and Kat and that's pretty much it. Figured nobody else really needed to know." He sounded a lot less confused about things now. More sure of himself. She's happy for him. Molly and Reina were the same way. They seemed happier after they came out. Sometimes Angela wondered if she would have felt the same if she bothered to come out. Though... it's not like she felt like she was hiding anything. She just was never able to find the right time to bring it up, and she didn't even know exactly what she was. Did she need to put a label on it, anyway? She knew she wasn't straight and that was enough. Angela adjusted her gloves and looked at Owen over her shoulder.

"It really means a lot to me that you decided to tell me fir—"

"Ange, look out!"

His warning came just a second too late. She felt the ground crumble under her boots and had just enough time to meet his eyes before she fell through the floor.