She wasn't one for nightmares.

Her sister got nightmares. Her mother got nightmares. Her father did, her aunt did, her uncle did.

If she had experienced nightmares, she didn't remember.

She missed those nightmare-free nights.

They had plagued her consistently since recovering from the LSD she had allowed to unknowingly be slipped into her system.

"Okay, how many times do I have to tell you that you did not 'allow' LSD to be slipped to you?" asked Naomi.

"As many times as it takes for me to believe it," said Adrianna, "and you must give it up, Naomes, because I am never going to believe that I couldn't have prevented this if I had been more on my guard and less accepting of flirtation."

"Everyone has told you aren't responsible," said Naomi, "even your parents."

"My parents most of all," said Adrianna. "But that doesn't change how I feel."

They were walking in a slow pace down the halls of Cedars-Sinai, Naomi in the uniform of a hospital volunteer and Adrianna helping her distribute items to the patients.

"Why did you want to be a volunteer again?" asked Adrianna.

"It was the simplest way to get to Ty," said Naomi.

The name invoked a sense of severe dread in Adrianna.

"I need answers from him," said Naomi, "and I take it you do, too. So I figure until his ass wakes up, I'll just keep showing up every day."

"Volunteering in hospital isn't your thing, Naomes. It's more Maddie's thing."

"But you've got to admit I look super cute in this outfit," said Naomi.

Both of their names were called.

"What are you two doing here?" asked Navid and Kai.

"What are you two doing here?" they asked in return.

"I'm doing a story," said Navid, "and Kai had an in."

"A story," said Adrianna. "Why does that not surprise me?"

"You could join the paper," said Navid. "It would be nice to get a perspective from a fine, upstanding, American with a British passport like yourself on how your life in Los Angeles compares to your life in London."

"How does my life compare?" asked Adrianna. "Well, let's see. My dad keeps coming up with reasons for my mum to let him stay around, everyone's walking on eggshells around me since homecoming worried I'll tip over any moment, my aunt has hired the woman I may hate more than anybody else in this world for what she has done to my family, and my sister is as much of a nuisance as ever. Except for the last one, none of this would have happened in London. Satisfactory enough for you?"

"Maybe another time," said Navid, putting his tiny tape recorder away.

"I thought you said the interview went well," said Naomi.

"It did," said Adrianna, "at first."

It had been fun, getting her hair done by one of the top celebrity hairstylists.

Brenda had sat nearby, getting her own hair done above the lapel of a long raincoat.

"Mum, you must be sweating in that raincoat," Adrianna had said.

"I will remove it during the interview," Brenda had replied. "Then there will not be another need for hoodies or raincoats, unless they are appropriate for the weather."

"How'd you get Dad to agree to an interview?" asked Adrianna.

"Your dad insisted that I not do this alone. We thought it best to come together as a family for the announcement. That will, of course, mean some family pictures, which your sister will not be pleased about."

"I'll ensure she doesn't make this difficult."

"We are projecting a happy family unit to the gossipers of the world," said Brenda. "I will not have my family drama be fodder for the tabloids if there is something I can do about it."

"Projecting?" asked Adrianna. "Can't we be one, for real? Dad watches you when you sleep. Did you know that? He stands by your door and watches you. He says it comforts him to know you're sleeping well."

"I'm not getting into this right now," said Brenda, "especially not with my daughter."

"He loves you, Mum. He just wants to take you to dinner. Free food. How can you turn down free food?"

"You're ready for your nails, love," Brenda had been told.

Brenda had followed the esthetician.

Adrianna had gone to find her father.

"You look dashing," she told him.

"I told your mum I'd wear a nice blazer, but a suit for something as small as an interview was pushing it," said Dylan. "Where is your mum?"

"Getting her nails done," said Adrianna. "And wearing the blazer Mum loves most on you, that was just coincidence?"

"She said I couldn't wear the hat," said Dylan, "and then she got the network this interview's going to be on to say the same, some bullshit about how the hat will block a shot. I've been forbidden from wearing my own fucking hat. This is my retaliation."

"A purple blazer," said Adrianna.

"That your mum bought for me," said Dylan.

Adrianna had seen her mother's reaction to her father's wardrobe choice.

It had not been the reaction of a woman determined to end her marriage.

"Did you have to wear that blazer?" Brenda had asked.

"Wishing you'd let me worn the hat now, are we?" Dylan had answered.

"The hat blocks the shot," Brenda had said.

"Of what?" Dylan had asked. "The wall?"

"I'm just making it as easy as possible for the camera crew to get the shots they need," said Brenda.

Adrianna had waited in the wings with Callie as Brenda had answered the interviewer's questions. Dylan had remained with his leg pressed against Brenda's, arm stretched around her shoulders, letting her do most of the talking unless he was directly asked a question or needed to amend one of Brenda's answers.

"If Mummy and Daddy are doing an interview together, does that mean they're getting back together?" Callie had asked. "Because Christy thinks they're getting back together and I'd really like her to be right."

"I don't know," Adrianna had said, "but you can't say that too loudly, Cal. We don't want the media to know."

"I can be discreet," said Callie.

"Standing close to photographers, asking about the status of our parents' marriage, is not being discreet. The media will take any crumb and run with it; you know this."

"I can be discreet," Callie had repeated. "I'll show you."

"Now that we have discussed your upcoming projects and potential storyline," said the interviewer, "there have been rumors circulating of trouble in your marriage that have your respective sets of fans at odds with each other on social media. Would you like to take this opportunity to squash those rumors?"

"I would," said Dylan. "I would like all the tabloids out there to stop printing these lies of what you think Brenda did to me and if any of my fans are shitting on her for it, stop. I can assure you she didn't do anything that's been written about her. I can further assure you I will not be fighting Brenda for custody of our children, so you can stop printing that shite, too. My wife and I are not going to be against each other in a courthouse. What we will be is together in a hospital room."

"A hospital room?"

"For the birth," said Brenda, undoing her raincoat.

"Oh, you're pregnant!" said the interviewer. "How exciting!"

"We are," said Brenda, wearing a genuine smile that had previously adorned her face far more frequently.

"So leave my wife alone now and let us have a healthy pregnancy without all this fabricated crap being thrown around about her," said Dylan. "Thanks."

"You heard it here first, folks," said the interviewer. "Brenda McKay is pregnant."

A certain sector of tabloids had twisted Dylan's words to claim that he had zero interest in custody of his children because he had zero interest in continuing to be their father.

Other tabloids had claimed Dylan McKay was not the one who had gotten his wife pregnant, with alleged sources from their so-called inner circle who had backed up the claims.

The transcription of the television interview did fairly well at sticking to their words verbatim, until it encouraged readers to cast their votes on who they believed had fathered Brenda's child, along with whether the McKays' marriage would survive ongoing rumors of infidelity.

"And this is why we didn't tell them it's twins," Dylan had said, ripping up the stack of magazines he had purchased at the newsstand down the street, with the sole intention of destroying them all.

"Do you think Mum will be able to hide that it's twins?" Adrianna had asked.

"If we're lucky, they'll think it's a big baby," Dylan had said. "They might speculate on twins, triplets, quads, whatever; we don't have to confirm anything beyond the one baby we already have. For now, let's be glad your Mum no longer feels the need to conceal the pregnancy behind things like hoodies and raincoats so your siblings can breathe a bit more."

"Did you mean it?" asked Adrianna. "About not going up against Mum in a courthouse?"

"Bren wants me there in the delivery room," said Dylan. "She's going to want to hold my hand through it all. She's going to want to cling to me and if she doesn't realize before then that she can't give me up, she'll realize it when I'm the only person she'll want massaging her. Giving birth to the twins is going to change her mind, Ade. We'll get our family back the way it was; just you watch."

"You can't even get Mum to agree to dinner."

"She hasn't been in the mood for Mexican, that's all it is."

"Maybe Mum's had enough of Mexican."

"Your mum can never have enough of Mexican."

"So that's what we need to do?" asked Naomi after Adrianna had recounted her story. "Get Auntie Bren to agree to go for Mexican with Uncle Dylan?"

"We need to trick her into it," said Adrianna.

"That shouldn't be too hard," said Kai.

"It doesn't have to be fancy," said Adrianna. "Neither of my parents are fancy people."

"My neighbor owns a great Mexican place," said Navid. "They don't normally do catering, but I could ask. Nothing fancy, but damn if it isn't some great comida de mexicana."

"We'll need a place that means a lot to both of them," said Naomi. "Somewhere your mum wouldn't mind going."

"That rules out Baja," said Adrianna. "She flicks off the TV any time an ad for Baja comes on."

"We'll set up the best dinner for uncle and auntie," said Kai.

"While you're at it, we should set one up for Aunt Val and Uncle David, too," said Naomi.

She told them that she had been interviewing Valerie for a class project when Valerie had jumped up to answer the door.

"I'm busy," she had said. "Naomi's here."

"It won't take but a minute," said David. "Hey, Naomes."

"Hi, Uncle David," Naomi had said.

She had barely let them close the door before she had charged to the back window to hear their discussion.

Or, rather, their argument.

"I've been talking to Steve," David had said. "He told me something very interesting."

"What did Steve tell you?" Valerie had asked.

"He apologized to me for keeping you from Myanmar with a ticket he claimed you bought," said David. "Funny how I never heard about this alleged ticket, or that you didn't use it because of Kai."

"What do you care?" asked Valerie. "You have a girlfriend."

"Oh, don't bring my fake girlfriend into this," said David. "Did you or did you not buy a ticket to Myanmar? Were you planning to follow me?"

"I don't follow people, David."

"Did you buy a fucking ticket, Val?"

"Yes," Valerie had confessed. "I bought a ticket. I was going to go to Myanmar. But it didn't happen and there's a reason why it didn't happen."

"The reason is Kai hurt his shoulder," said David.

"The reason is it was better for both of us if we left this arrangement the way we've had it."

"What, fucking each other when our respective relationships don't work out? I want more than that with you, Val, and if you're honest with yourself, you want more than that with me, too."

"I have to get back to Naomi," said Val. "She has an interview to complete."

"Val."

"We haven't been together since we were kids, David. Since before Ruby was born. Since before you married Donna. Why all of a sudden do you want us to be together now?"

"This isn't all of a sudden. You're fully aware of that. I told you when my marriage ended that I still loved you."

"You told me that when I was with another guy! What was I supposed to do, break up with him and be with you when you clearly weren't thinking properly after you finalized the papers?"

"You broke up with him anyway."

"That had nothing to do with you."

"And then fucked me afterward."

"That was Jose Cuervo's fault."

"Was it also Jose Cuervo's fault when I broke up with Samara, or when you kicked out Ivan?"

"I don't know what I was thinking with Ivan."

"How about the fuck we had after things ended between you and Gabe, or the pregnancy test you took afterward?"

"Don't bring up the pregnancy test."

"We were this close to being a family, Val."

"For that to happen, I would've had to be pregnant, and we both know those results were glaringly negative, David."

"You wanted my baby. You told me so."

"I was caught up in the moment," said Val. "This isn't about our past. Trying to get in a relationship with me when you're in a relationship with Gina is a player move, David. I didn't take you for a player."

"You're scared," said David. "You're scared that if you let me get too close, you're going to end up the one who's hurt, just like you were then."

"Clearly you've forgotten how fast I moved on with that photographer."

"Clearly you've forgotten how broken up you were when you told me about that photographer."

"Clearly you're misremembering how relieved you were to dump me after the thing with Ginger."

"That is a straight-up rewrite of history."

"They kept fighting about it," said Naomi at the conclusion of her story. "Uncle David told Aunt Val she's missing out on something that could be, according to him, amazing; something he told her had been amazing before. Aunt Val reiterated he's with Ms. Kincaid, though they both seemed to indicate that dating her meant nothing to Uncle David. Then Aunt Val walked back in, pretended she hadn't been crying, and let me resume the interview. So, to sum it up, our uncle wants our aunt and she's making every excuse she can to keep from admitting that she wants him, too. Oh and we probably shouldn't know any of this stuff, so keep it all between us, got it?"

The group swore they would.

"And on top of that," said Adrianna, "my parents are no longer on speaking terms with my grandparents."

They had sat her and Callie down to explain that an explosive argument had broken out between the two couples.

"We've decided we won't be letting the twins around them," Brenda had said. "We will also not be permitting them to be part of this pregnancy in any way."

"But we want you to know that if you want to continue visiting with Grandpa, that's okay," said Dylan. "You don't have to feel guilty about it."

"We don't want you going behind our backs to do it," said Brenda. "We will continue taking you to Grandma's and Grandpa's, if you want."

"I'll continue taking you," said Dylan. "Brenda is not coming along. We know you love your grandpa, and we know he loves you both but he and Mum, they need some distance. A lot of distance."

"If Grandpa hurt Mum in any way, I don't want to see him," said Adrianna. "But I would like to continue seeing Grandma."

Callie had been torn on whether to see one or both of her grandparents.

Brenda and Dylan had told Callie she could take her time deciding.

"What is happening to our family?" asked Naomi. "What did Grandpa do for Auntie Bren to kick him out of her life? When did my parents become the longest-lasting relationship out of the OG gang?"

"Don't rule my parents out just yet," said Adrianna. "They're still the longest-lasting relationship out of the OG gang."

"Hey, what about that place where they had their spring dance?" asked Kai. "The adults are always alluding to something really special happening to your parents that night."

"The Bel Age?" asked Adrianna. "That could work. I'd need a reason for Mum to come there."

"I'll work on that reason," said Naomi. "You work on getting your dad to tell you everything we can use from your parents' past, or maybe he snuck that stuff into his writing. Check that. Kai, you get your dad to tell everything he knows about Uncle David's and Aunt Val's past. And Shirazi –"

"I'll work on securing the food," said Navid. "Sounds like we have a plan."

"Now let's put it in motion and get my parents sharing a bed again," said Adrianna. "That's a sentence I never thought I would say. Not entirely sure I would like to repeat it."

She and Naomi traipsed towards Ty Collins' room.

"Any change?" asked Naomi as Adrianna looked over the employee's shoulder in the direction of Ty.

No change, they were told.

"Friends of his?" they were asked.

"Not exactly," said Naomi. "More like a long-time neighbor wishing to check on his mental state."

That was a bit of a stretch.

The Walshes lived blocks away from the Collinses.

"You lied to that employee," said Adrianna.

"I didn't lie," said Naomi.

"You said you were neighbors."

"We both live in the area of Beverly Hills that attends West Bev, don't we? That makes us neighbors."

Perhaps that was the Beverly Hills definition for neighbor. It was not the one Adrianna had grown up using.

In Ty's messed-up condition, Adrianna found difficulty holding onto her hatred for him.

Pity outweighed hatred, or perhaps all of Adrianna's hatred focused on one person so that it was difficult to distribute it amongst others.

What she wanted to know more than anything was why.

Why had Ty slipped her the LSD?

Why had she struggled with a craving for it ever since?

Why had she been inundated with nightmares, to the point that she fell asleep in study hall after a sleepless night?

"Yo, London girl! Wakey wakey!"

Adrianna brought her head up, glaring at the intruder into her dreams.

"You having trouble sleeping, London girl?" asked the boy. "Because I know something that would give you the best damn sleep of your life. If you're interested."

"How much will it cost me?" asked Adrianna.

"For you, London girl, I'll forego the price."

"My name is Adrianna. Not London girl."

"I'm Jeffie. Me and your cousins go way, way back."

"I don't remember seeing you around."

"I'm more of a loner type. Like to stick to myself; surrounded by snow, if you know what I mean."

"I love snow."

"Then you're going to especially love my snow. They say I've got the best snow around."

"Can you make snow angels with it?" asked Adrianna.

"You can definitely fly with it," said Jeffie.

"I didn't know you could have snow in LA."

"You can have snow anywhere, if you know where to get it."

Perhaps Jeffie had brought the snow down from the mountains.

Adrianna got through the rest of her classes, focused less on the instruction and more on her curiosity of where Jeffie had kept his snow.

She wondered if there was enough snow to create a dazzling winter wonderland.

If there was, she could purchase all of the snow from him, to use for her parents' evening.

He met her after school, in the back of the empty baseball field.

"Snow," he told her, producing a plastic bag filled with a white, powdery substance that almost appeared to be sugar.

"It looks like sugar," said Adrianna.

"Snow. Sugar. White Rock. Pearl. Whichever name you like."

"I thought you meant," Adrianna cut herself off. "Never mind what I thought you meant. I can't accept this."

"You got any problems; this stuff will clear them up right away."

Her parents would murder her in her sleep if she took that bag.

"Does it – does it keep away nightmares?" she asked, biting the corner of her lip.

"Best way to keep away nightmares," said Jeffie. "Like I said, first one's free, so you know, tuck it away somewhere, think about it, and if you decide you want a sniff, you'll have it on hand."

"I shouldn't," said Adrianna. "Addiction runs in my family and…and I'd get in so much trouble if Mum and Dad found the bag whether I used it or not…"

"Stash it somewhere they won't find it."

Jeffie had said the snow would keep away the nightmares.

Adrianna would be able to get a full night's sleep again, without waking at odd hours.

She wouldn't have to tell her parents about her nightmares, who had enough to deal with.

"I'll accept it," she said, "but I don't believe I'll use it."

"Pleasure doing business with you, London girl. Next one's gonna cost ya."

Adrianna tucked away the bag into her bookbag, grateful she didn't have rehearsal so that she could conceal the bag faster.

The problem was, where could she hide a bag that could get her in heaps of trouble if found?

She zipped it into the lining of her light weather jacket, until she could find another place for it.

"Adrianna! Aren't you a sight for an old man's sore eyes!"

"Hi, Granddad," Adrianna smiled, allowing her honorary grandfather to scoop her into one of his Walsh-special bear hugs. "What are you doing here? I thought you retired."

"Wishful thinking probably brought on by your parents. Who's going to check to make sure everything runs smoothly if I'm not here?" said Nat Bussichio.

His dark hair had turned silver, though he had retained far more of that hair than Adrianna's Grandpa Jim had.

Adrianna hadn't been in the diner since before its renovation.

She thought the new look was brilliant, just as Naomi had said it was.

"Vintage is in," Brenda had told Nat when he had questioned if he should modernize the diner.

"I'm with Bren," Dylan had said, just before offering to pay for the entire renovation and then forcing Nat to accept the money when he had attempted to turn it down.

"Business is booming," Nat told Adrianna, "thanks to your parents. Your mom has an eye for these things. Vintage is in."

"Okay, but you are supposed to be at home," said Adrianna. "Resting. Dad said you hurt your back again."

"Kid, I've been hurting my back on and off decades years now," said Nat. "If you're looking for your cousins, they're over there. Platter of megaburgers and milkshakes, I assume?"

"Peach Pit specialty," said Adrianna.

"I'll send some home for your folks, too," said Nat. "Anything improved on that front?"

"Not yet," said Adrianna, "but Dad's trying, and so am I."

"Let me know if there's any way I can help. No one wants to see how Dylan McKay gets without his Brenda, trust me. Been there, done that, not looking forward to seeing it again."

"Do you think my parents would get divorced, Nat?"

"I think there's a greater chance of seeing a shark do the hula than there is your father agreeing to let go of your mother, again. Speaking of your mother, tell her she needs to drop by more often."

"I'll tell her; she's just been so busy…"

"Life of a star, I know, I know."

Adrianna joined her cousins, taking in the wall of memories by the jukebox.

Her uncle Brandon's old uniform. A photo of her parents as teenagers, autographed by the both of them with personalized messages for Nat. A graduation photo of her parents' gang, sans her father.

There were other memories, too; memories of old Hollywood, of the stars Nat had said he had met but no one had believed him until he had produced the photographic proof.

Nat's autographed photo of himself with Marlon Brando had shocked Brandon, but it was his photo with James Dean that had bowled over Dylan.

Adrianna liked the photo with Brigitte Bardot the best, perhaps because Brigitte, along with Dorothy Dandridge and Grace Kelly, had been three of the actresses Adrianna had grown up watching in her parents' set of old films.

They both loved old films.

"We need an old film," she told her gang. "We can play it during dinner."

"Dinner and a show," said Naomi. "I like it. I think you're the only one who knows enough old films to pick out one they'd like, Ade."

Adrianna felt like a criminal, holding onto a bag of drugs in her grandfather's diner.

Could Naomi tell what Adrianna hid?

"It should be something about Mexico," said Adrianna, "to go along with dinner. Something good about Mexico, though; nothing that makes Mexicans look bad or anything. Did they make movies like that back then?"

"Maybe in Mexico," said Kai.

"I had an idea," said Ruby. "So I went to Dixon and asked if he could help, since his father knows people."

"Your parents will be getting invitations to two different events," said Dixon, "both real events, just in a slightly different hotel than they'll be told."

"I love all of you guys for helping me," said Adrianna.

"Now that we've figured out Auntie Bren's and Uncle Dylan's dinner," said Ruby, "let's figure out what we're doing for my dad's and Val's, because Dad's starting to bug me with how much he keeps asking me to hang out and a girlfriend will keep him busy. Plus, if they wind up married, I already like Val so it would be a bonus."

Plans finalized for both couples, Adrianna was able to properly stash her bag.

"Ade?"

That was a close one. Dylan had almost caught her.

"Yes?" asked Adrianna.

"I've been talking to your mum," said Dylan, "and she says she's been invited to speak on a panel during a fan convention at the Bel Age Saturday evening."

"That's brill," said Adrianna. "She'll enjoy that."

"Except," said Dylan, "I also got an invitation, to speak at a writer's conference, at the Bel Age Saturday evening."

"What a coincidence," said Adrianna.

"Even more of a coincidence is the name of the company putting both of these events on," said Dylan. "Keating Industries. Ever heard of them?"

"Can't say I have."

"So the Keatings being related to the Wilson family, that's just pure coincidence?" asked Dylan. "My daughter, friend to the Wilsons, isn't up to something?"

"Complete coincidence," said Adrianna.

"If it isn't coincidence," said Dylan, "and you've somehow gotten your mum to join me at the Bel Age for dinner, then I do owe you some massive gratitude. Because we've both accepted and will both be at the Bel Age on Saturday."

"You might want to dress up. I hear these writer's conferences can be quite formal."

At the familiar song playing on the television, Dylan and Adrianna both strolled into the living room.

"Callie wanted to watch," said Brenda.

"Mum wanted to watch," said Callie.

"Your legs aren't looking too comfortable there, Bren."

"They're reclining, Dylan. They're fine."

"Don't mind if Ade and I join you in watching this, do you? It is kind of one of our favorite movies."

"I'm well aware," said Brenda.

If Dylan wanted to watch, said Brenda, she wouldn't stop him.

"Sleeping Beauty's conked out," said Dylan, just as a Sicilian keeled over in the movie.

Adrianna examined her mother.

"I'm not sure I want to be pregnant," said Adrianna. "It looks knackering."

"You have plenty of time to think about that," said Dylan. "No teen pregnancies, alright? No scares, either."

"As if," said Adrianna, a phrase she had picked up from her cousin Maddie.

Turning in her sleep, Brenda stretched out her legs until they met Dylan's lap.

Dylan took the opportunity to massage her feet.

"Bren," he said.

"Mm," she said.

"C'mon, I'll tuck you in bed."

"I'm not sleepy."

"If you're not sleepy, then why are you sleeping?" Dylan let go of Brenda's feet.

Brenda opened her eyes.

"Was I sleeping?" she asked.

"Through most of the movie," said Dylan. "You missed your favorite part."

"I have to get the girls to bed," said Brenda as she started to rise.

"We can put ourselves to bed, Mum," said Adrianna. "Can't we, Callie?"

"Mummy," said Callie, "I think you should let Daddy tuck you in bed. He tucks really well."

"I do tuck really well," said Dylan.

"I do have an early calltime tomorrow," said Brenda. "I suppose maybe…"

She started to stand.

Dylan deftly swept her into his arms, the way Adrianna assumed he had when Brenda was his new bride.

"Don't trust your legs right now to get you there," he said.

"Dylan, put me down," said Brenda.

"Nope," said Dylan. "Your legs will be all jiggly, you'll fall, and then we'll end up in the ER for the rest of the night while I keep reassuring you that the twins are okay. No thanks."

"You'd catch me."

"I might not move fast enough to catch you."

"I can walk," said Brenda. "Honest."

"Bren, you can barely keep awake," said Dylan.

"I just had a super busy day, that's all."

"And you're going to have a super nice lift to your bed. So quit yapping, unless that yapping says 'thank you, wonderful husband, for carrying me to my bed.'"

"Thank you, incredibly egotistical father of my children, for carrying me to my bed," said Brenda.

"We'll work on it," said Dylan.

Adrianna tiptoed behind them.

She peeked in on her father helping her still protesting mother prepare for bed.

"Arms up," said Dylan.

"I can put on my own damn T-shirt," said Brenda.

"You struggled with taking off your blouse."

"I don't remember it having that many buttons."

"Translation: you're half-asleep and I'm not, so my fingers will be able to handle things better than yours. Arms up."

"Is that an innuendo?"

"Only if you want it to be."

Brenda put her arms up.

Adrianna went to her room.

She didn't need the snow. She didn't.

Jeffie had said it would take away the nightmares, but how did Adrianna know that it wouldn't make them worse?

Though she didn't know how anything could make them worse than they already were.

"Last night was a one-off thing," said Brenda as Adrianna helped her to put their groceries into the cart. "I was just tired from work and struggled a bit with movement. I don't want you to assume from that that your dad and I are getting back together, because we aren't."

"Where is Dad today?" asked Adrianna.

"He said he had a meeting. I didn't ask for details."

Leaning over the grocery cart, Brenda cupped her stomach.

"Mum?" asked Adrianna.

"It's just the twins," said Brenda. "They're quite active today."

"Can I feel?" asked Adrianna.

"You can try, but I'm not sure you'll be able to yet."

Disappointed that she still couldn't feel her siblings' movement, the hairs on Adrianna's arms stood upright.

The two couldn't have anything to do with each other, Adrianna told herself.

"Brenda."

Brenda also stood upright.

"Brenda, I'm talking to you! I saw your little interview. I know what you're doing to Dylan."

"What should I do, Mum?" asked Adrianna.

"Pretend we didn't hear her," said Brenda in a low tone. "Let's finish up the shopping. There's enough people here that we can lose her, easily."

They successfully lost Gina and were able to go the rest of the week without a similar encounter.

Midway through the week, Adrianna was startled to receive a call from her mother during the day.

"Adrianna," said Brenda, "are you at school?"

Adrianna said she was.

"And Callie; she – she's at school, too?" asked Brenda.

Adrianna said as far as she knew.

"Just checking," said Brenda.

Adrianna chalked up the strange call to a nightmare Brenda may have had.

On Saturday afternoon, after her father had left for the Bel Age dressed as she had suggested he dress in the most formal wear he owned, Adrianna went with her mother to pick up the pizzas Brenda had ordered for the girls to eat during Adrianna's night of baby-sitting.

"Your dad and I shouldn't be too late," said Brenda.

"Mum, the last time you went to a con, you stayed until everybody had met you who wanted to, long after the con was supposed to end."

"I was a lot less prone to exhaustion then," said Brenda. "And I'm not used to a con being in the evening, but I've been told Keating Industries prefers to do it that way for the people who work during a Saturday to have a chance at meeting their favorite stars."

They picked up the pizzas and began heading back to the car.

"Well, if it isn't Brenda McKay, again."

"Put the pizzas in the car," Brenda told Adrianna. She handed Adrianna the pizza boxes, along with Brenda's keys.

"Mum, I shouldn't leave you alone with her," said Adrianna. "Dad wouldn't like it."

"Just put the pizzas in the car."

Adrianna rarely disobeyed her mother, but she certainly did outside of that pizza place.

She purposely lagged, to hear their conversation.

"So," said Gina, "you went and convinced the whole world and Dylan that you're pregnant again, did you? Couldn't stand to see Dylan's joy about our baby boy and had to get some of that for yourself? You probably told him you were giving him a son, too. Couldn't let me be the one to give him his son; oh no, you had to control him with one."

"What joy?" asked Brenda. "Dylan hates you. He refuses to acknowledge his responsibilities to your child. He insists the results of the paternity test are wrong. He certainly doesn't have any joy about it."

"He's just overwhelmed," said Gina. "He has to act like he doesn't love this baby. He has to act like he loves you, because he knows you'll use your children against him if he doesn't. You'll do anything to keep Dylan and I apart."

"Oh Gina," said Brenda, "have you been reading a bit too much of the tabloids? The same ones you tipped off about my alleged cheating scandal?"

"I didn't tip off any tabloids," said Gina. "I can't help it if people want to think you and I are in love, when we know the opposite to be true. But I can stop them. If you let Dylan and I be happy together, I can stop the rumors. I can tell the Internet that the tabloids have lied."

"I'd be glad to let you and Dylan be happy together," said Brenda. "Except you're forgetting one teensy problem, Gina: he doesn't want to be with you. I've given him every opportunity to be with you or with any other woman. He's taken none of them."

"And you think he wants to be with you?"

"I think that my husband has repeatedly denied having any kind of sexual intercourse with you and a man who denies having sex with a woman this much is not a man who wants to leave his wife for her. Particularly a man who has repeatedly balked at the idea of divorcing me and is fighting against it. A man who is living in my house, with no intention of leaving despite having a lovely one of his own. Now, if you'll excuse me, myself and the children Dylan very much wanted, the children he has never denied as his, will be going home."

"Dylan does want this baby," said Gina. "He does love me. He can't remember it right now, but he will. I just have to get rid of you, first, and then the enchantment you've put on Dylan will be lifted. He'll love me. He'll love our baby."

"Enchantment?" asked Brenda. "What am I now, a witch? Gina, honey, let me take you to hospital. We'll get you checked out. You have clearly lost your mind, and that can't be good for the baby."

"You know what isn't good for my baby?" asked Gina. "You, and the pull you have on his father. His father would be coming to all of my appointments, if it weren't for you. What I'm about to do, I do it for my son. I'll rid him of his wicked stepmother, of the Devil's spawn growing within her. Say goodnight, Brenda."

"Mum!" Adrianna shouted.

She dropped the boxes.

Pizza contents spattered everywhere.

Her world became a blur of slow motion as she sped into a bolt.

Gina had her hands poised to push Brenda down the sloped hill.

"Mum!" Adrianna yelled again.

Her hands flew out on their own accord.

Gina rolled down the hill, landing at the bottom.

Brenda's back hit the railing.

"Ow," she said.

"Mummy," said Adrianna, "I – I –"

"Help!" yelled a woman knelt over Gina. "Help! My friend's been injured!"

"I know that voice," said Brenda. She winced. "Why do I know that voice?"

A group of people had gathered around Gina's sprawled figure.

"What happened?" asked a police officer.

"I saw the whole thing," said the woman. "Brenda McKay pushed my friend down a hill! My pregnant friend! Brenda McKay assaulted a pregnant woman!"

"What?" asked Adrianna. "No, she didn't! I –"

"Adrianna," said Brenda. She unsteadily got to her feet, holding onto the railing behind her to do so. "Let me handle this."

"Mum."

"You are sixteen years old, with your entire future ahead of you, one that will not include juvie," said Brenda. "I will handle this."

"Brenda McKay?" came the murmur of the crowd. "Brenda McKay pushed this pregnant lady down the hill?"

"Maybe they're filming," said a hopeful individual.

"This is the woman Brenda had that lover's spat with, isn't it?" asked another. "Maybe they got in a quarrel and Brenda lost her temper."

"Brenda McKay does not lose her temper this way," said a third.

"Maybe Brenda is mad Dylan doesn't want custody of the kids and is taking it out on her lover," said a fourth. "Chances are he'd be more interested in custody if he didn't hate Brenda's guts for cheating on him."

"He does not hate Brenda's guts," said a fifth. "They're madly in love and she didn't cheat on him. Didn't you watch the interview?"

"I read it."

"Where? In the tabloids? Because it was clear as day how in love they are, if you watched it for yourself."

"Ma'am," the police officer approached Brenda, "is this true? Did you assault this woman?"

Brenda's eyes darted about, which Adrianna recognized as a check for any cameras that could tell the officer the truth of the assault.

"I did what I had to do to protect my family," said Brenda.

"Mum!" said Adrianna. "She – she's lying," Adrianna told the officer. "I – it was –"

"Gina has been after my family for months," said Brenda. "She and her partner have been stalking me, my husband, and my children. I did what I had to do to protect my family," she repeated.

"Then I'm afraid you'll have to come with me, ma'am," said the officer. "But first," he produced a pen, "can I get an autograph for the wife? She's a huge fan. So am I; used to be, anyway. Don't know if you can still be a fan of someone after this."

Brenda gave the officer his requested autograph, just before she was cuffed by the same officer and read her rites as an arrested citizen of the United States.

"Mummy!" Adrianna called out. Thick, salty tears rained in rivulets down her face. "Mummy, what can I do?"

"Call the convention," said Brenda. "Tell them I have had a last-minute cancellation. And then – then call –"

Her words were muffled behind the closed door of a police car.

Adrianna ran alongside the car until her legs gave out.

"Ade, I'm here at the Bel Age and there is no damn writer's conference. There is, however, an entire Mexican spread that smells damn good and a Spanish film playing on a big screen. Care to explain that?"

"Daddy," Adrianna sobbed. "Daddy, Mummy's been arrested."

She thought the call had dropped.

"What the hell did you just say?" asked Dylan.

"Mummy's been arrested," said Adrianna.

"No," said Dylan. "No, Bren hasn't been arrested since university and those charges were practically bogus. I'm the one who gets arrested on legit charges. Val gets arrested on legit charges."

"She has been arrested," said Adrianna, "and it's all my fault. We – we went to get pizzas for Callie and I to eat tonight and I – I got Mummy arrested."

"Where are you?" asked Dylan, his voice somehow listless and volatile all at once.

Adrianna answered his question.

"Val's coming to get you," he said. "Stay put."

Adrianna followed her father's command.

She picked up a piece of paper that had floated out of Brenda's purse.

Do you know where your children are? read the note. All kitties separate from their mother, eventually. Yours might need a little nudge along to know that they can, too.

Adrianna tossed the note into the rubbish bin.

She didn't do this. She didn't assault people. She didn't get her mother arrested because she had assaulted people. She was a good girl.

She used to be a good girl.

She wasn't a good girl.

She couldn't be a good girl, not ever again.

Not if she had killed someone, or two someones.

Not if she had killed her own sibling.

Snow suddenly sounded a lot more inviting than it had before Adrianna had fucked up her family's future and her mother's reputation.

Had she cost Brenda her entire career?

Maybe Jeffie had been on to something.

Adrianna still had a bit of snow left in the lining of her jacket.

She pinched it out and ran her finger down the powder.

She sniffed.

It blew up her nose, stung a bit, and then, her tears stopped.

Bliss took over.

Pure bliss.

Jeffie had been right again.

Adrianna was flying.

Flying back to London, to a time her family had been intact and her mum hadn't been charged with Adrianna's crime.

If Adrianna's nightmares had been bad before, they were going to get a whole lot worse.

She took another hit, hoping that by doing so, she would ward off any nightmares that attempted to come her way.

Except, her nightmares had danced out of her sleep.

She had danced straight into living one.

-x

Sources: Google and American Addiction Centers.

Thanks a million!