It felt like it took an obscene amount of time for me to properly recover after the parole hearing. Winter turned to spring and spring turned to summer before I finally felt like I could breathe again. The girls were out of school, with Annie getting ready to go into her senior year and Marisa preparing to start high school. We were busy. Brittany took two weeks off at the start, and as we'd promised years earlier, we took the girls to Mexico. Unlike the last time, we'd visited with my mom's cousins, surprised by how well both we and the girls got along with their children and grandchildren. It was good for both Annie and Marisa to immerse themselves in their Spanish, it was good for Brittany and I to have time together to reconnect.

Holly was entirely running the center at night and I stepped back into the role I was more comfortable in, working with kids who weren't sure exactly what they needed. With the girls being so much older, they didn't need my constant supervision during the day, and though it was hard at first, we started letting them stay home while both Brittany and I were at work.

After a long day, I walked in the door ready to sit out on the back patio with an iced tea and my daughters while we waited for Brittany to get home. Marisa was fast asleep on the couch—despite my warnings that she shouldn't stay up all night—so I went upstairs to find Annie. Brice had come over to hang out with her for the day, something Rachel was very glad they were doing at least once a week for the summer. She was still having some major issues with him, but she felt like he calmed down whenever he had spent the day with my oldest. I wasn't sure if he'd left yet, but when I got to the door of Annie's room, I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Annalise Samantha Lopez-Pierce! Brice Christopher Hudson." I helped, unsure if I'd ever taken that tone with my own kids. "What are you doing?"

Annie immediately pushed Brice away from her, causing him to stumble. He caught himself and grabbed his bag, running out the door before I could even get another word out. My daughter, my Annie, had been kissing Brice, and my stomach knotted. It wasn't about the kiss, not really, but it was about the fact that we'd always trusted them to be alone together, never worried that there would ever be something going on between them. And truth be told, there was some hurt too, a sense that I'd done something wrong to prevent my daughter from telling me that she'd developed feelings for him, feelings enough to share her first kiss.

"Mami—"

"I need a minute." I stopped her. "Just give me a minute."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

I stepped into my bedroom and shut the door, leaning my back against it. I knew Brittany would be home soon, and I was torn between waiting for her to talk to Annie with me and dealing with it myself. I'd never shut my daughters out before and a sense of guilt set in. I hadn't given Annie a change to say more than six words and I could hear her pacing the hallway outside of my door.

I opened the door to Annie standing right outside and I pulled her in for the tightest hug imaginable. I'd overreacted, I knew that I had overreacted and tears sprung to my eyes as I squeezed my daughter to me.

"I'm sorry, Mami." I felt her tears on my bare shoulder. "I know you trust us to be alone while you're at work and—"

"It's okay. It's okay. I'm sorry that I overreacted. You're seventeen. I just never realized that you and Brice had feelings for each other."

"We don't." She pulled a face, reminding me of her when she was in kindergarten. "It's just…complicated."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." She shook her head, then took a breath. "Maybe. I don't know, it's not really my thing to talk about."

"Does this have to do with Brice being so angry all the time? Is he having trouble at school because he doesn't have a girlfriend and he knows all of the gay people in the world?"

"I think I need to sit down."

I stepped into my bedroom and she followed me, sitting cross legged on my bed against the headboard. I climbed up beside her and leaned my head back. She was quiet for a long time before she turned her head toward me and I gave her a soft smile.

"Brice doesn't have a girlfriend because he doesn't want a girlfriend."

"Okay. I mean, he's still young, you both are. Just because other people are dating at school doesn't mean you have to."

"Mami, I know that." Annie laughed a little. "I don't care about having a boyfriend, but Brice cares about what people think, so I told him it would be fine to kiss me and then he could tell people at school and they'd shut up."

"Annie, my Annie. I'm not going to lie and tell you I love that idea. I spent a lot of time kissing people because I needed to conceal a lie. And your body isn't for anyone else to use so they can feel better."

"I know, I really do. But everyone is always calling him gay and he just…he doesn't want them to."

"I told Mama this awhile back, I can't imagine how hard it is for him to be a football player and have his mom be a gay icon and his dad be…a really, really good human who cares about that kind of stuff."

"He's just tired of fighting and tired of Aunt Rachel being mad at him all the time. I told him I'd go to his homecoming with him, even though I hate dances, then he could have a break from it."

"You're a good friend, Annalise." I squeezed her hand. "But from my experience, I'm not sure that'll actually stop it. They called Uncle Finn gay in high school for years, just because he was in the Glee Club."

"I just want to help him."

"I know you do. But just be there for him. Let him have someone to talk to."

"Okay." She sighed.

"And Annie? No more kissing each other. If there's someone you have feelings for, we're not going to stop you and we'll help you be safe with whatever you choose to do, but not just to help someone feel better."

"We won't. I promise."

Annie went downstairs to help me cook dinner and Marisa, finally up from her nap, came in to join us. I stood back and watched my two teenage daughters toss flour at each other as the mixer kneaded the dough for pizza. In just a year, Annie would be going to college. She was set on NYU and I knew that my parents had been saving money since both of our girls were born to set them up in apartments if they wanted to move out. I didn't know if she'd choose that for her first year, but I knew that my time with both of my babies in the house wouldn't last forever.

"Mami, you've got your deep in thought face on." Marisa told me after setting the dough to proof.

"I was just thinking of how big you and Annie are getting and how she'll be in college in a year and you're starting high school in a few weeks. It feels like just yesterday that you were screaming at me to eat."

"I bet you're glad I don't do that anymore."

"It was special." I shrugged. "I never really thought about wanting to have kids when I was young, but after I found out about Annie, I knew it was what I was supposed to be doing. And then giving birth to you and nursing you was really, really cool."

"I don't think I want kids. I'd rather just be a zoologist and have like twenty animals at my house."

"You'll be good at it. You're the only person I've ever met who likes to cuddle with snakes."

Brittany came in just as the girls were putting the pizza in the oven. I stood at the counter making a salad and she wrapped her arms around my waist. Her skin was warm from the sun on her walk home and I breathed her in. When I felt like I'd had a major parenting fail, it always felt so good to feel my wife's arms around me. Once I'd poured the dressing over the salad, I turned around and kissed her lips. Still, after all these years, I thought she was the sexiest human being alive. She was in a bright sundress from a meeting she'd had with a vendor earlier in the day and I just couldn't help but smile.

"What?"

"Nothing." I shrugged. "I just love you."

"I love you too, baby."

After dinner, Annie told Brittany what had happened while Marisa and I took a walk around the block. I was glad Annie had told her herself, and that we could talk about it later. Once Brittany and I were ready to go upstairs to bed, I warned Marisa, as usual, not to be up all night. Annie was already in her room, so we stopped in on the way, kissing her good night and then going to take a bath together.

"Are you okay?" Brittany asked, once I was settled in her arms in the tub.

"Yes and no. I feel so awful that I snapped at Annie and Brice and that he took off and I couldn't even talk to her until I calmed down."

"I mean, that was a lot to walk in to. I'm not sure how I would have reacted either."

"I was never one of those good girls that the teacher sat next to the rowdy boy to calm down. But I feel like that's what Annie feels like she has to be to Brice sometimes. I don't love that."

"I don't either." She shook her head. "But if she does it, I want to make sure it's a choice she's making, not something she thinks she has to do. I told her that when I talked to her."

"That's pretty much what I told her too. Especially with the kissing thing…I don't know, that was kind of triggering for me."

"Because of high school?"

"Yeah." I sighed. "Obviously I felt like I had to do things with boys for very different reasons, but I want everything to be special for our girls. That doesn't feel like a special first kiss."

"Remember cheerleading camp? That first time we were together?"

"When I was a raging bitch to you?"

"You weren't, not during. I don't know, maybe it's something I always just believed in my head, but that felt like that was your real first time, even though it wasn't."

"It always has for me too. The Puck thing never really mattered."

"I guess that's kind of my point. She kissed Brice, but it didn't actually matter. When she has feelings for someone, that's when it'll matter. Besides, we both know that all of this is just a dumb construct."

"You're right. I know you're right. Maybe I'm just starting to feel it that she's going to be a senior in high school. Our first baby is almost an adult."

"Yeah…it's kind of a lot, isn't it?"

"It's weird, you know? We never lived together without kids, I mean, even in the very beginning, you were pregnant."

"Does that make you nervous?" She tucked a wet strand of hair behind my ear.

"No, of course not. I mean, it'll just be weird. Four more years and they're both done with high school."

"What do you want to do when they are?"

"I don't know." I pursed my lips. "We can travel, we can have crazy old lady sex all over the house."

"I resent you calling me old." Brittany laughed. "We're only in our 40s."

"The benefit of having kids really young."

"We did a really good job with them, Santana. We've raised two good, kind, strong girls."

"We did. I'm so crazy proud of them. And of us."

"Yeah, we're all pretty awesome."

Brittany and I ended up staying up much later than we normally would. After we got out of the tub and made out for awhile, we put on 50 First Dates and for the first time in a long time, I didn't fall asleep in the middle of a movie. It was a Friday night, so I knew there was no run to work and we could actually sleep in and relax. It was close to midnight by the time I curled into Brittany's arms and fell asleep and I felt like I'd been asleep for five minutes when my phone started blaring from the bedside table.

"Is it work?" Brittany mumbled, half asleep, as I searched for my glasses to check my phone.

"It's Brice." Alarm bells went off in my head as I tried to answer the call before it went to voicemail.

"Aunt Santana." He sniffled. "I know you're mad at me, but can you come get me?"

"Brice, I'm not—where are you?"

"I'm on Bleecker Street, by stupid Magnolia."

"On Bleecker Street. Why are you—I'll be right there."

"What going on?" Brittany pushed herself into a sitting position as I scrambled out of bed.

"I honestly have absolutely no idea. Brice asked me to come get him and he was crying."

"He's in Manhattan though. Why the hell is he—do you want me to come with you?"

"I think you should stay here with the girls." I pulled my bra and a hoodie on before throwing my hair up in a messy bun. "But I'll call you if I need you."

Brittany didn't have to say it, she knew the fear that hit me hard in the chest about someone I love needing my help in the middle of the night. I'd been there, but I couldn't call for help. Brice's father had…I couldn't even think about it. I slid my feet into my shoes, grabbed my keys and made my way down to Bleecker as fast as humanely possible.

When I got there, Brice was sitting on a bench. People were slowly starting to mosey out of the bars and when I took one look at his face, I knew he'd been drinking. Guilt seized me. The last I'd seen my sixteen year old nephew, he'd been slinking out of my house. Now, he was on a bench at two o'clock in the morning totally and completely drunk.

"Brice." I said softly and sat down beside him. "Are you okay?"

"No." He buried his face in his hands. "No, I'm not okay."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Why? So you can sing some song about rainbows and act like it's all fine?"

"Bud." The realization hit me hard and fast, hearing Annie's words from earlier in my head, Brice doesn't have a girlfriend because he doesn't want a girlfriend. "How long have you known?"

"What does it matter? It's not like it can ever be a thing." He snapped.

"Brice, it's not going to change anything."

"Don't you understand, Aunt Santana?" He pushed himself to his feet and stumbled a little. "It's going to change everything."

"Your parents—"

"What, my stupid mom who was probably praying for a gay son before I was born? My dad with his big dumb grin? They just make everything worse!"

"I've felt like that too. About your parents and my own."

"My mom will probably have some kind of stupid ass coming out party or parade when she finds out. And Uncle Kurt…fuck, do you even know how much they're still making fun of him at my school from that one time he had to take me to the dentist? I'm just glad you haven't shown up to sing the fucking Muppets or whatever."

"The Muppets?" I had to laugh just a little, though my heart was breaking for my sweet nephew. "Brice—"

"It's so dumb and I shouldn't have called you. But I figured Annie already told you so I wouldn't have to call my mom and tell her that I snuck out and my wallet got stolen and I couldn't get home."

"Annie didn't tell me anything. Just that you were sick of how the people at school acted. And your wallet was stolen? Where were you?"

"Stupid bar."

"Brice, I'm not going to lecture you about sneaking into a bar at sixteen. But I am going to tell you that what you're doing doesn't help. It doesn't make it go away."

"Why, just because it didn't work for you?" He snapped.

"No, because alcohol doesn't cure being gay."

"I hate my school!" He shouted. "Half the guys on the football team call me a fag and then when I put my hands on them, I get suspended."

"I know how messed up it is…" I took a breath, thinking of his own father and how I'd almost been suspended for my reaction. "And honestly, I think your school sucks too."

"Try telling that to my mother. She doesn't care."

"She loves you, Brice." I sighed. "She loves you more than anything in the world."

"Whatever."

"Look, it's 2:00 in the morning. I'm going to take you back to my house, I'm going to text your parents and tell them I have you so they don't wake up and freak out that you're gone. You're not alone, Bud. I'm here with you, we'll figure it out together."

At that, he wrapped his arms so tightly around me and broke down into agonizing sobs. I couldn't help but picture the nights he'd stay with us when he was a toddler and cry his eyes out for Rachel. I wasn't sure if it would help or hurt, but I hummed "Memories" against his ear. His wallet was stolen in a bar. He could have been hurt, he could have been…worse, and he was still just a little boy.

When he stopped crying, I managed to find us a cab. I texted Brittany and asked her to get the guest room ready, then sent a group text to Rachel and Finn, telling them that Brice was at our house. I hated not being able to tell my closest friends what was going on with their son, but in the morning, when he was sober, I'd help him sort through it. I'd help him tell them. I'd help him change schools if that's what he wanted.

It was after three by the time we got back to the house. Brittany had a cup of hot chocolate for Brice and I put a trash can beside the bed in the guest room. I was tired to the bone when I closed his door and went into our bedroom, and I sat on the bed with my head in my hands, finally letting myself cry.

"Hey." Brittany set her hand between my shoulder blades. "Are you okay?"

"He's gay." I whispered. "My own godson is gay and it took me this long to see it. I could have helped him sooner."

"Honey, you know better than anyone that if he wanted to hide it, he would have done anything for that."

"Annie knew. And I'm so ridiculously proud of her that she didn't tell us. She kept it for him, she's been bending over backwards to help him."

"She's so, so good. She has so much of your heart, Santana. And I'm sure things would have been worse if she hadn't been there."

"The drinking really gets me. He's sixteen. I can still taste the whiskey in the back of my throat from when I was sixteen and that scared. He doesn't want to tell Finn and Rachel."

"I…get that. He's figuring himself out and maybe it feels too shiny happy the way they'll support him."

"I know. I really do. I won't push him, but it feels like he could use some shiny happy right now."

"He reminds me a lot of you lately. When you were his age, you spent half of your time making fun of Kurt because it feels really hard to see someone comfortable in their skin when you aren't."

"I just want him to be okay."

"He will be. You are, right?"

"I am." I nodded, leaning into her. "We should sleep. I fully expect Rachel to be at our door in two hours."

As it turned out, Rachel gave us four. And it wasn't at our door, it was incessant calling of my phone until I finally rolled over and answered. I couldn't be mad that she was calling, if someone texted me that they had one of my girls in the middle of the night, I'd be fit to be tied, but my sleep had been restless and I was exhausted.

"Santana? How did he end up at your house?" Rachel yelped into the phone.

"He had a rough night, and he called me."

"I'm going to kill him. He can't just leave the house in the middle of the night and wander off into the city! He's sixteen. He's my baby."

"I promise you he's okay. He just needed some space. As soon as he gets up, I'll bring him home."

"We're already in the car—Finn, get out from behind the fucking bus!"

"I'll go get him up. I'll see you in…probably 30 seconds."

I hung up with Rachel and rolled out of bed, pulling a bra and a hoodie on before going to the guest room. I knew that Brice would be aching from the amount of alcohol he'd consumed, but he'd have to face the day. Knocking on the door, I heard him grumble from within and I opened it. He was buried under a pile of blankets and I sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Brice. Your parents are in their way over here."

"Ungh, too early."

"I don't think Barbra herself could keep your mother away right now."

"I don't want to deal with her."

"I know." I sighed. "But you have to, sooner or later."

"Can't you just tell her for me?" He pushed himself up to a sitting position and pinching the bridge of his nose to stave off the headache I knew he had. "Put me out of my misery."

"I can't, and you don't even have to do it today, but I can be there when you do."

"I want to talk to Annie."

He got out of bed and went down the hall to Annie's room. I ran my hand through my tangled hair and went back to my own bedroom. Brittany was already in the bathroom washing up, and it seemed like Marisa would be the only one who actually got a decent night of sleep. When Britt was finished, I took my turn and then let her wrap her arms around me. I hoped that after we'd gotten Brice situated, maybe we could take a nap, or even just relax together.

When the doorbell rang, we went downstairs to let the Hudsons in. Rachel truly was fit to be tied and I had to talk her down from going up to drag Brice out of Annie's room. They'd heard the doorbell, they'd be down soon, but I couldn't say I wouldn't have behave exactly the same if I'd been in Rachel's shoes.

"Brice Christopher Hudson!" Rachel shouted when he was at the top of the stairs. "What is the matter with you—"

"Rach—" Finn started, but was immediately cut off.

"Don't 'Rach' me. Your son decided it was okay to sneak out in the middle of the night and—"

"Mom, I'm sorry." Brice said quietly, coming down the stairs with Annie at his side.

"I don't know what to do for you anymore, Brice." Rachel's voice cracked. "All I want is to be able to help you, and I don't know how."

"Mom." He wrapped his arms around her and I stepped back, taking my daughter's hand in my own. "I'm sick of my school, I'm sick of hiding. I want to go somewhere else. I want to be who I really am."

"Then we'll find you a new school. If you want me to be in the public eye less—"

"I don't. I've only hated it so much because everyone keeps calling me gay because of that…and because of you, Dad. But…" He shook his head and took a deep breath. Obviously, whatever Annie had said to him caused a shift. "I am. And it's not because of Barbra Streisand or Dad's GSA."

"Bud." Finn put his hand on his son's shoulder. "I'm proud of you."

"For being gay?"

"For being you."

"Brice." Rachel took his whole face in and tears sprung to her eyes. "This is why you have been so angry?"

"I mean, I didn't slap Dad." He looked over at me wryly and I had to laugh.

"When she did, I had it coming." Finn chuckled. "I guess like the guys at your school."

"I love you, my baby boy." Rachel hugged him tightly. "You don't have to be afraid to tell us things."

"It's not like I was afraid you'd disown me. I just, like, don't want a party or to be on the cover of People Magazine."

"I promise you that won't happen."

The Hudsons took Brice home, with Rachel telling me that she could smell the alcohol on him and she'd handle that when things calmed down later on. It felt like such a transition from the hysterical teenager in the middle of the night, but I was grateful for it. I knew that Rachel had tried to shield Brice from the media since he was little, I'd known she wouldn't call up a magazine, but I was glad he'd heard it from her. It wouldn't be easy for Brice to navigate his new reality, it never was, but it would be easier with the support of his parents.

"Is Brice okay?" Marisa asked me. "Why did he come here in the middle of the night?"

"He's okay, amorcita. He just had a rough night."

"Brice told me I could tell her, Mami." Annie came down the stairs. "He's gay."

"So?" Reese shrugged. "We hardly even know anyone who isn't gay."

"Fair." Brittany laughed. "But sometimes that doesn't make it easier."

"Were Aunt Rachel and Uncle Finn mad or something?"

"They weren't." I shook my head. "Brice was mad at himself and the rest of the world. I was like that for a long time too."

"I know, you told us that. But that was like a billion years ago in dumb Ohio."

"You know people still are mean, Reese." Annie sighed sadly. "Like Vince's parents, or the lady on the subway that said Mami and Mama shouldn't kiss near us. Or…you know."

"Yeah, but it's different."

"Sometimes it's not, love." Brittany squeezed her shoulder. "It's hard when you're aren't who people expect you to be, when it comes to anything, not just being gay."

"I guess this means Brice will probably punch less people."

"That's the hope." I had to laugh at my girl who was just so thirteen. "But it might take some time."

Once we'd finished the conversation, Brittany was insistent that I go upstairs and lay down. I truly hated napping in the middle of the day—though by Marisa's standards, it was really too early for any of us to be up anyway—but the minute my head hit the pillow, I was out cold. I had wanted to send Rachel as list of schools I had contacts at, but it would have to wait until I woke up. There were still a few weeks before the school year started, and as much as she wanted him in a private school, Brice could always just go to Fort Hamilton with Finn.

"Hey, honey?" Brittany stroked my head to wake me later on.

"Mmph?"

"I know you'll regret it tonight if I don't wake you up. It's 10:30."

"You didn't go back to sleep?"

"I fell asleep on the couch for a little while, but I wanted to just let you sleep in here. You had a long night."

"Thank you. I really needed it. What are the girls doing?"

"Annie's painting out back and Reese is back in bed. Typical summer morning."

"I know we talked about going up to Quinn's lake house today, but are you good if we just stay home and go tomorrow?"

"I already called her. She said Edie's in a mood anyway, so tomorrow is better."

"How did we go from a bunch of tiny kids running around to teenagers? It really feels like we blinked and seventeen years went by."

"That's pretty much exactly what happened." She crawled under the covers beside me and pulled me into her arms. "And somehow, you've gotten more gorgeous."

"Babe." I laughed. "You're ridiculous."

"Have you seen you? I love this." She pressed her thumb to one of my smile lines. "And I love you with messy hair and pajamas. It's my absolute favorite thing, just you, naturally, unapologetically."

"I know we're not old by any stretch of the imagination, but I do love growing up with you."

Britt and I went downstairs and the girls slowly trickled into the living room. It had gotten unbearably hot outside so Annie was done painting. Marisa was still in pajamas, yawning with the snake over her shoulders, but she sprawled out on the loveseat across from us. We had nowhere to be, canceling with Quinn truly felt like the best idea, and I figured we could relax together, then maybe walk over to Chinatown for dinner. We hadn't had a nothing day in what felt like forever, so I was ready to soak up every bit of it.

"Nee, are you mad I'm not going to school with you?" Marisa asked suddenly.

"Why would I be mad about that?" Annie shrugged, putting down the drawing pencil that inevitably ended up in her hand the moment she sat down.

"I don't know, I mean, you took me on the tour and everything, and you love your school."

"Yeah, but I love art and you love science. It would be weird if we picked the same high school. Besides, I'm just glad you're going to Stuyvesant instead of Bronx Science. You'll still be close even if I get into NYU next year."

"I probably won't pick NYU either." Marisa laughed a little.

"Because you've had a Cornell pennant on your wall since you were eight and Uncle Finn told you they had the best vet school for big animals."

"Well duh, but still. I'm really sad you're going to be a senior now. We might never live in the same house again."

"You're still my best friend, Reese. And NYU is like…3 minutes from here. I'll be close by at least until you graduate, and I don't want to be far away anyway."

"I might. Like if they want me to work at the San Diego Zoo…or in China or something."

"We've got a long time before that happens, love." Brittany smiled softly while I bit back tears, realizing it was closer than I'd ever imagined. "And luckily, we can always get on a plane."

"Yeah, I guess." She shrugged. "It's just weird that I'm going to be in high school, I guess."

"Tell me about it." I laughed. "Aren't I still twenty-nine?"

"Only if I was still a baby. And besides, then we couldn't have had that big fortieth birthday for you and Uncle Finn."

Marisa got up after awhile to go put the snake back and read in her room, so it was just me, Britt, and Annie left sprawled out in the living room. Annie was clearly deep in thought, and it was one of those moments where I wasn't sure if I should break her from it to ask if she was okay or just leave her be.

"Brice texted me." She finally said. "Uncle Finn and Aunt Rachel were going to take his phone away, but since he called you, they said he did the responsible thing and it didn't make sense for him not to have it if he needed it. But for calling and texting only."

"I think that makes a lot of sense." Brittany nodded. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I kind of feel like I should have told you what was going on. He could have been really badly hurt or killed."

"Did you know he was sneaking out to bars?" I asked carefully.

"No. He probably thought I would have been mad at him. Which I am. He knows what happened to you."

"That was a long time ago, mija, and not a…normal thing to happen. But you're right about the possibility of him being hurt, whether from the drinking or an accident. I think you did the right thing by keeping his confidence about being gay."

"It's a hard thing." Brittany told her. "Especially when you're worried about someone you love."

"When I ended up being outed, Annie, I was still so grateful that I had Mama and Mercedes who had kept my secret. I knew that I could trust them when my whole world felt like it was falling apart."

"I know, and that's why I didn't tell. I just really hate how everything happened. He said Uncle Finn and Aunt Rachel are being really cool about it, and not in an annoying way though, so I guess that's good."

"It's going to take time." Brittany assured her. "And Brice is going to swing to swing through a lot of emotions, but I hope now they finally get him out of that school."

"They're going to go look at Trinity next week, since it's like, one of the only other not-Catholic schools that has a football team. Aunt Rachel already made a call to someone."

"Of course she did." I laughed. "But I like Trinity, so maybe it'll be good for him."

"Yeah, maybe." She shrugged. "I just wish I could help more."

"Being there and listening really is so much more help than you think."

"I feel like growing up is hard." She sighed.

"Oh, sweetheart, it is. But you have so many good things ahead of you. And it gets easier, really." Brittany promised. "Are you having a hard time with senior year starting soon?"

"I don't know. I felt pretty sad talking to Reese. We've always just all lived together and soon I won't."

"Do you know that when you were little, you were so sad once that we didn't live with our parents?" I asked.

"Really?" Annie cracked a small smile.

"Oh yeah, and we told you that we couldn't live with both Buela and Buelo and Grammy and Poppy, but we got to live together and have you. It was hard for me to go to college, I missed a lot of things." I looked over at my wife. "But you're going to be so close. You can always come home for dinner, or to spend the night. And you'll have all the summers and breaks here."

"I know Buela and Buelo said that they wanted to get me an apartment, but is it rude if I tell them I don't want that yet? I think if I get into NYU, I just want to live in the dorms first."

"That sounds more than reasonable."

"We'd prefer it." Brittany took her hand. "But we wanted you to make your choice."

"Okay. Good. I love you guys a lot."

"And we love you too, mija. No matter where you are."