Peace, tranquility, and all that bullshit doesn't last long.

Approximately ten minutes later, I locked myself in the guest bathroom and cried my eyes out.

Then I stole the personal pan bacon pizza, while the cook had her back turned, and left.

Luckily the gate was open when I made my hasty exit, or else I would've driven right through that sucker.

Honestly, I think I had the right to leave. After all, I did spend two hours in that house, talking to my estranged family. I think I earned a break from all of that.

Could I have excused myself gracefully? Probably, but I just needed to get out right then and there.

I eat the hot pizza as I drive, and I try to distract myself with the radio, but my thoughts overpower the music.

I really wish I had someone to talk to about all of this. Right now, my go to friend is Niall, but he's being weird. So now I need a backup friend for my backup friend.

I think about Anna, but I hardly know her enough to load her with my dark topics. I mean, we've only hung out a couple of times in the past month. I haven't even met her husband yet, so telling her about my supposedly deadbeat father, wouldn't be ideal.

Daria is too young, I don't want to bother Josie, Zayn would tell Josie, and Louis.. well, I've never seen him take anything seriously so go figure.

Basically, I'm alone.

The thought makes me feel incredibly sad.

Not only did I lose my soulmate and the father of my children. I lost my absolute best friend. With Harry, I knew I could talk to him about any and everything. Like right now, I'd probably spill everything that happened, and he would listen to every word.

He would let me rant and rave, and then he would comfort me and give me his thoughts. Then he would kiss me and tell me that everything would be okay.

Except, nothing is okay.

I ran out of tears in that guest bathroom, so now all I can do is feel. Feel how I take a step forward in my life, only to be dragged ten steps back. Feel how fucked up my parents are/were and how I'm only getting one side of the story. Reliving the horrible feelings over and over again every time I think of my Harry.

I honestly believe that if I wasn't pregnant, I would've ended this a long time ago. I'm not strong enough to handle any of this, only I force myself to be. No one knows that I cry myself to sleep some nights. Or that I still get the good Harry dreams mixed in with the Harry nightmares. No one knows that I sometimes wonder if I would be happy by now, if I had ended it that day.

I force myself to clear my thoughts. If I spiral into depressing thoughts, it won't be good for anyone. So I just focus on driving and nothing else.

Just focus on driving.

▪︎▪︎▪︎

By the time I get home, the pizza is gone and I feel a little bit better.

Daria's car is in the driveway, and I feel relieved that she got here safely. I know that having her own car is good for her, but I constantly worry about her safety. I mean, she literally just turned sixteen some months ago. I worry, but I trust her. Roxy made sure that she had a good head on her shoulders.

I get out of the car and slowly make my way up the stairs. I take a deep breath, and then I enter my house.

"Daria?" My voice echoes throughout the house.

"In here!"

I quickly lock the door and follow her voice to the kitchen.

Daria stands over the stove, her back to me, and she's stirring something in a big pot. Unfortunately, it doesn't smell too appetizing.

Unwrinkling my nose before she sees, I take a seat at the island. "Whatcha got going on over there?" She stirs whatever substance is in that pot, then turns to me with a big smile with flour on her nose.

"It's a surprise! I know you left me money to order something, but I wanted to cook for you. You cook for me all the time, and I just wanted to return the favor."

My cheeks warm at her words. "That's very sweet D, but you didn't have to go through the trouble." I eye the pot that's bubbling behind her. She really didn't have to go through the trouble, but I don't have the heart to tell her that.

Daria's eyes suddenly widen and before I know it she's standing directly in front of me with her hands on my shoulders.

"Daria? What's wrong?"

She shakes her head. "Did you find out today?"

I slightly tilt my head. "Did I find out.. what?"

She waves her hand in the air in front of my stomach. "You know, the genders! Did you find out their genders today?"

"Um, no?"

D lifts an eyebrow and squints her eyes at me. "Are you asking me?"

I roll my eyes playfully at her seriousness. "No smartass, I didn't find out their genders."

Daria let's go of my shoulders and slumps against the island. "Thank God!"

What in the world is going on? "What? Was I not supposed to find out the genders today?"

"No, no, it's not that. I just forgot to tell you that I'm planning your gender reveal party with Josie. I was doing research on babies and I found that you could find out gender at 18 weeks. So while you were at your appointment, I was in school freaking out. But you didn't find out, so it all worked out! I can't wait to tell Josie!"

Daria happily skips back over to the stove and continues to "cook", completely missing my baffled expression.

Gender reveal party? This is the first time I'm hearing of it, and who knows how long Daria's been planning it, since Josie only found out this morning.

I don't know if I even want a gender reveal party. Those are supposed to have both parents, so that they can have a cute reveal moment or whatever.

For now, I just decide to forget about it until I've really thought about it. Right now, I am too exhausted and emotionally drained to even entertain the idea.

So, I just watch Daria cook and I rest my head on my arms.

I'm just dozing off when D gently shakes my arm. "Food's ready." Yawning, I get up, stretch, and make myself comfortable at the dining table.

Daria sets a plate down in front of me and then gets her own plate and has a seat. I look down at my plate to be pleasantly surprised.

"Today I've prepared roast chicken with mashed potatoes made from scratch and gravy made from scratch, with green beans, and macaroni and cheese."

"Wow, this actually looks very good, Daria."

She watches me with an expectant look on her face, and I realize she's waiting for me to try it.

Saying a silent prayer, I dig in.

A blissful expression crosses my face. "This is delicious!" Daria beams and begins to eat, happy with my praise.

The food is so good, until I get to the mashed potatoes. The potatoes themselves are fine, but the gravy is... let's just say I have to fight the urge to gag.

"Hey Daria?"

"Yeah?"

"What were you cooking in that big pot when I came in?"

"The gravy. If you want extra, you can help yourself."

Oh God. "No! I mean, no I have enough, thanks."

As we go back to eating, I wonder how I'm going to get rid of the mashed potatoes. The gravy has soiled the potatoes as well, and I cannot eat it. I spot a thick dinner napkin at the edge of the table, and I feel relieved.

"Uh, Daria? Could you do me a favor?"

She sets down her fork and gives me her full attention. "Sure."

"Could you go upstairs and get my slippers? These tennis shoes are just so... flat-ish, and my feet are killing me."

Flat-ish? Good job at being weird, Ellie.

Luckily, Daria doesn't question the flatness of my shoes and bounds upstairs.

When she's out of sight, I snatch the napkin and quickly spoon the mashed potatoes and gravy into it. Then I tie it up and throw it in my purse. I just hope that it doesn't open.

Just as I snap my purse shut, Daria comes back and hands me my gray fuzzy slides.

"Thanks Dar."

After that we eat and talk about each other's day. I really want to tell her about my quote unquote family, but I'm still not sure.

I'm still debating about it as we gather up the dishes to wash. As Daria washes and I dry the dishes, I make up my mind to tell her.

"So, D, there's something that I should tell you."

Daria pauses. "Uh oh. Is it bad? Whenever someone says something like that, it's almost always bad."

"Well, it's not bad, it's just surprising and maybe weird." I bite my lip, suddenly nervous to tell her. I don't know how she'll react.

Taking a deep breath, I just keep going. "So, my absentee father popped up in my life recently, and I found out that I have secret half siblings."

Her brown eyes widen. "Woah. Wait, is that where you've been going lately?"

"Um, not really, no. I mean, I've only been to their house twice. Today and a month ago. I found out some things and... I kinda want you to meet them."

Oh shit. What am I saying? I do want Daria to meet my blood "family", but I'm not ignorant to the fact that Ricci is a dangerous man. Oh yeah, and the fact that he's most likely the leader of the Mafia. He didn't tell me in his own words, but everyone running around calling him "Capo" made it pretty obvious. Especially after I used Google translate to see that the word meant boss.

Before Daria can say anything, I need to let her decide for herself. "But you don't have to because, like, he's... a dangerous man and, yeah."

Daria is pretty mature for her age, and I tell her the candid truth whenever I can. But I can't tell her that Ricci is the leader of the Mafia. Not only would she freak out, but I think I'd be breaking omereta or something.

"How dangerous are we talking? Like on a scale from Hannibal Lecter to Plankton." I would laugh, if Daria's expression wasn't so serious.

"Um, I'd say he's John Wick before they killed his dog. Like I said, it's okay if you say no. My siblings are kind of okay (shoutout to Charlie's sociopathic attitude) but my, uh Ricci, can be sort of intense."

Nope, I did not almost call Ricci my Dad. Nope, nope, nope.

Daria goes back to washing the dishes while I dry. I know that she's thinking, and I'm nervous about her answer.

When the last dish is washed and dried, Daria turns to me.

"Sure, I'd like to meet them."

I feel a strange combination of relief and stress as I hear those words. Ignoring the stress, I just hug Daria.

"Thank you."

We talk for about an hour, I tell her about them and as I do, I realize that I've got to get to know them better. Before Daria meets them, I have to know them well enough to be able to trust them to some extent.

Daria goes to do her homework, and I retreat to my room. I dig my phone out of the bottom of my purse to examine the messages that I knew were waiting for me.

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝑭𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚:

𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒐?

𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌?

?

𝑱𝒐𝒋𝒐 (𝑱𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒆):

𝒉𝒆𝒚!!! 𝑰 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒔! 𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒙𝒐𝒙𝒐

248-056-****:

𝒉𝒊𝒚𝒂, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒖𝒄𝒌. 𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌, 𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓. 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 ❤︎

𝑰𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑷𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒊 (𝑵𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍):

𝒔𝒖𝒑 𝑬𝒍. 𝑬𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒚, 𝒔𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆?

𝑺𝒌𝒊𝒑𝑻𝒐𝑴𝒚𝑳𝒐𝒖 (𝑳𝒐𝒖𝒊𝒔):

𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝑬𝒍. 𝑨𝒗𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖! 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝒖𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔. 𝑶𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑.𝒔. 𝑨𝒗𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑾𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑱𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒆, 𝒔𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕! 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒂, 𝒌𝒊𝒅

𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒆𝑹𝑼𝒐𝒌 (𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂):

𝑯𝒆𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒎, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝒘𝒆'𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐? 𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒗𝒊𝒏 (𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂'𝒔 𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅) 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑷𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 😂 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆

𝑬𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔

The end of Louis' text makes me laugh because I'm literally a year older than him, and he's calling me kid. Also the text from Anna surprises me a lot. I never thought I'd meet her husband, let alone this soon. I read through the messages again and respond to Charlie first.

𝑴𝒂𝒎𝒂 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒓 (𝐛𝐫𝐢'𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞: 𝐈 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐜 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 "𝐦𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫". 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨, 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞. 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫):

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆, 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐 𝒂𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒑𝒕𝒍𝒚. 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘... 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒚.

Charlie responds immediately, which surprises me.

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝑭𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚:

𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝑻𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖? 𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒆.

The question catches me off guard. What does he mean?

𝑴𝒂𝒎𝒂 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒓:

𝒏𝒐, 𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆, 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒎𝒆𝒅. 𝑷𝒍𝒖𝒔 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆

During our talk, I told Chuck and Charlie about Daria, and I made it clear that she is my sister too. They know not by blood, and seemed pretty cool with it. Chuck is the one who asked me if they could meet her, but I shot down that idea. Now, I guess I've changed my mind. My phone pings again, silencing my thoughts.

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝑭𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚:

𝑶𝒌𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏. 𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆

My eyes practically bulge out of my head! Please? Please? The prince of darkness and lack of emotion said please? Who is this guy and what has he done with Charlie?

I stare at the text in disbelief for a couple more seconds before replying simply.

𝑴𝒂𝒎𝒂 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒓:

𝑶𝒌𝒂𝒚

Exiting out of that thread, I reply to my other texts.

𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎: 𝑴𝒂𝒎𝒂 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒓

𝑻𝒐: 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐𝒇𝑪𝒉𝒖𝒄𝒌-𝒚 (𝑪𝒉𝒖𝒄𝒌/𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆)

𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒚 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆☻︎

~

𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎: 𝑴𝒂𝒎𝒂 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒓

𝑻𝒐: 𝑱𝒐𝒋𝒐

𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒐 ♡︎

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𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎: 𝑴𝒂𝒎𝒂 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒓

𝑻𝒐: 𝑺𝒌𝒊𝒑𝑻𝒐𝑴𝒚𝑳𝒐𝒖

𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔! 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝑳𝒐𝒖𝒊𝒔! 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅! 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 (☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞

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𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎: 𝑴𝒂𝒎𝒂 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒓

𝑻𝒐: 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒆𝑹𝑼𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒚

𝑶𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅 :) 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌, 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔. 𝑨𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑷𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒉𝒊!

I completely ignore Niall's weird text and turn my phone off. I seriously am starting to worry about Niall and I'm eventually going to have to talk to him. I need to know why he's being weird and kind of invasive.

Like, yeah, it's normal for best friends to be really close, but something about Niall just seems off lately.

Putting my mind to rest on the subject, I just do my nightly routine and get ready for a much deserved night's sleep.

As I put coco butter lotion on my stomach, I start to sing to my twins. I do this every night, it's sort of like my bonding time with them.

I already love them so much, and I can't wait to meet them.

▪︎▪︎▪︎

Over the past week, I have been getting to know my brother and sister. Slowly but surely, Charlie is emerging from his hard demeanor, and is actually being nice.

I haven't seen Ricci since the day we had our talk, and I don't mind. I need space and time from him to sort out my feelings. Eventually, I will seek him out, but I'm not ready yet.

Today is the day that I'm taking Daria to meet Charlie and Chuck. To say that I'm nervous is an understatement. I eat a lot, of course due to the fact that I'm pregnant, but I have been stress eating since I woke up.

I'm so nervous, that the food doesn't even have taste as I devour it. Really, I have no reason to be nervous. I'm sure that they'll all love each other, and everything will be fine.

Right?

Ugh! One of the things I'm really worried about, is that I don't know if Ricci is going to make an appearance or not. He is kind of intense, and if I'm being honest, I don't want him around Daria. I've built some trust with my siblings, but I don't trust Ricci at all.

I've learned some things about my half siblings that we ended up bonding over. It's just a tad bit strange...

Flashback

Settled in Charlie's room with a bunch of snacks and music playing lowly, I study my siblings. There's a few questions that I've been wanting to ask, but I just don't know if I should.

So far I've learned that Chuck's favorite color is all shades of yellow, Charlie's favorite color is black, Chuck hates onions unless they're on pizza, Charlie is allergic to cardamom, and that Charlie hates Ana. That last one was so obvious, I didn't have to ask about it. Ana doesn't really come around when I'm there, but she does sometimes. When she does, Charlie completely ignores her or gives her clipped answers. As for Chuck, I can tell that she loves her mom, but they're not close.

I know all of that, but the questions I want to ask now are more intense. I gather my confidence and just ask.

"So I've been wondering something..."

Chuck looks up from her bag of junior mints. "Ellie, you know you can ask us anything."

I bite my lip and absentmindedly rub my belly for comfort. "It's just that... I don't want to offend either of you with my questions."

Charlie sighs. "It's alright Ellie, just ask us."

"Okay, my first question is, do you guys have any family? Like aunts, uncles, or cousins?"

Chuck scoffs and rolls her eyes. "We don't have grandparents, but I have this annoying ass cousin who is actually coming to visit soon. She's prissy, super skinny and likes to brag about it, and has obviously dyed white blonde hair, though she'll go on and on about how it's her natural color. Recently she really thinks she's better than me because she has a secret boyfriend. Like, what? Having a fresh piece of sausage is nothing to brag about. Her mom, my aunt, is the exact same way. They both irritate me to my core. The only reason they're coming is to see my mom. Which I don't mind, because I could give a fuck about them."

Charlie and I stare at Chuck. Me in shock at the venomous rant, and Charlie in slight concern. Chuck blushes and looks down. "Sorry, that's kind of a touchy subject."

"You don't need to apologize Chuck." Charlie nods in agreement to my words. "Yeah, that little bitch has had it out for you since you were 7 when you punched her in the nose."