Waking up with Faith next to me again might just be the best feeling ever. Having almost lost her, I swear never to take her for granted again.

"Morning, sweetie." I give her a kiss on the nose and she smiles up at me. Even in pain she still manages to exude so much joy, it's amazing. I gently pick her up and head upstairs.

"I made breakfast!" Miriam chirps when she sees me walk into the kitchen.

"You can cook?" I asked out loud.

She rolls her eyes. "I'll have you know, I'm a master chef."

Dustin saunters into the living room, pouring himself a glass of milk which Miriam always gives him a hard time about. "Eggs and toast hardly counts as cooking, Mir."

"First of all you burn ramen. Don't even start with me."

I laugh. "You burned ramen?"

He groans. "It was one time! I was super tired and I forgot about it."

"By tired he means drunk."

"And that hangover made sure it would be the last time he drank again." Arnold cuts in, taking Faith from me and giving her a kiss. "You ready for brekky baby?" He coos in a baby voice to Faith who giggles.

"Dad!" Miriam groans. "You're so embarrassing."

"Be nice to me. I'm letting you rent a limo for prom."

"That I have to share with my brother." She whines.

"I know." Arnold grins. "I'm a genius!"

Miriam mumbles a string of words which Arnold ignores. "Plate me up would you? Your mom should be down in a few."

On queue, Alina steps into the kitchen. "Good morning." She plants a kiss on Dustin's head and squeezes my shoulder. "How are you?"

"Dad is being annoying." Miriam grumbles, sliding a plate of food to her mom.

"Is he now?" She gives Arnold a peck on the lips which makes Dustin fake gag. "Hi, Faith." She picks up Faith who wastes no time in trying to grab her hair. "Imara, can you help me feed her?"

I nod, getting together the stuff for Faith.

"Mom, can you do my hair for prom tonight?" Miriam asks her mom who smiles.

"Of course!"

"Me too, mom?" Alina gives Dustin an unimpressed look.

"You need to cut that hair."

Dustin gasps theatrically. "Mother. That's such a preposterous suggestion."

Alina rolls her eyes. "Fine. I'll braid it for you."

Dustin grins, dropping his plate into the sink before going upstairs.

"I'm not doing your dishes, dipshit!"

"Miriam!" Alina gasps. "Language!"

I try to stifle my laugh which fails and I make an unattractive snort which causes Miriam to burst into laughter, and soon Alina joins us.

"Mom," Miriam says when she sobers up. "Since when did you care about us cursing?"

Alina shrugs. "Good question."

After breakfast, I clean up and do the dishes while Alina changes Faith. When Alina leaves for work, I watch Faith and play with her a bit.

"Off to mani-pedis!" Miriam announces, bursting into the living room. I try to protest, but as always, there's no arguing with Miriam. Twenty minutes later, we're getting our nails done, and Dustin is sitting in the chair next to me getting his hands prepped and feet scrubbed.

Miriam insists on paying for my nail session, and I know there's no saying no. I opt for simple white nails while Miriam is getting long gold ombre nails.

"Oo! Let me see!" Miriam says excitedly when we're done. Hers are the most fancy out of the three of us. "Short, cute and simple. I like it."

Dustin has a smiley face and flames on his fingers. The style matches his many gold rings and bracelets that adorn his hands.

"Edgy as always, bro." Miriam teases.

He rolls his eyes. "Hardly."

When we get home, I put Faith down for a nap. She was really good the whole time, but she was a bit moody towards the end. After Faith is down for a nap, I spend some time on homework since I still have several assignments I need to turn in.

"Imara!" Miriam squeals, jumping on my bed. Dorito comes in behind her and Faith grins when she sees him. "Oh, Dorito. Always the star of the show." Miriam takes Faith and rocks her gently. "You have injuries little one, so no Dorito until you're all healed up."

I don't want Dorito on my bed but apparently he didn't get the memo and jumps on my bed anyway, nudging Faith with his nose.

"Off my bed, Dorito!" I give him a shove, but he dead weights himself making it hard to move him.

Miriam laughs. "This is Dorito's bed now."

Faith reaches her arm out and touches Dorito's nose and makes a delighted sound when he licks her.

"Mom is back. She's doing our hair. We get first dibs over Dustin." Miriam tells me, getting up with Faith.

"Why would I need to do my hair?"

"Prom pics?"

"I'm not going."

"So?"

Miriam doesn't let me say anything else before she's already halfway up the stairs, so I follow her up.

Alina and Dustin are sitting in the living room– Dustin on the floor and Alina on the couch. An array of hair products are around them as Alina braids Dustin hair.

"Mom!" Miriam drags out the word. "You said I was first."

She shrugs. "First come, first serve."

Miriam sighs, sitting on the other sofa.

It takes about an hour and a half to do Miriam and Dustin's hair. I insist mine doesn't need to be done, but Miriam doesn't want to hear it. While Alina does my hair, Dustin and Miriam get ready since they'll be leaving in the next two hours.

"Do you want me to braid your hair our pin it up?"

I shrug. "Whatever is easiest."

She chuckles. "Okay. I think an updo will look really nice on you." She starts doing my hair while I try to keep Faith from putting everything in her mouth. About twenty minutes later, my hair is done.

"Go look in the mirror! Give me Faith." I obey, walking into the bathroom, gasping when I see what she's done. My usually unruly curly hair is styled in a loose updo, several curls falling around my face to frame it. She added some pretty clips and gold accessories. I don't think I've ever looked this pretty.

"I love it!" I tell her when I come out of the bathroom, stopping when she turns to me with Faith in her arms. I laugh when I see the little pink bows on Faith's head. Faith barely has any hair, but somehow Alina managed to clip two pieces of her wispy brown strands

"Good. Now everyone is picture ready for prom, right?" She lifts Faith into the air which makes her squeal. "Go get ready!" She urges me. "I'll take care of Faith."

I nod, going downstairs to change into my dress. I'm barely into my clothes when Miriam barges in.

"You look gorge! I'm doing your makeup. Sit." I oblige, sitting on my bed. When she's finished, she smacks her lips and smiles. "Stunning. See." She hands me a small mirror and I smile when I see myself. She kept the makeup minimal, adding only some sparkly eyeshadow and mascara as well as a bit of color to my cheeks and lips.

"You like it?" I nod.

"Great! Everyone will be here soon." She rushed back upstairs with her stuff, telling me to come up in ten minutes.

I stare at myself in the mirror some more, amazed by how pretty I look. Even with my scars on full display and the one on my chest peeking out, I still feel pretty. I'm probably only thinking that because there's no one around.

"Imara!" I hear Miriam call from upstairs. I chuckle, grabbing my phone before heading upstairs. When Miriam said everyone will be here soon, I thought she meant only her and Dustin's date. Instead, there's about five other people. I give them a shy wave.

Miriam pulls me towards an incredibly tall guy with gelled back hair and glasses. "This is Tommy. My date."

"Nice to meet you." We shake hands, and it feels incredibly formal.

Aline comes in, clapping her hands. "Okay! Time for pictures."

Alina snaps photos of the couples first and I grow increasingly more annoyed when I see Dustin and Brina all cute and cozy with each other. They look great together. Dustin is in a black turtleneck and black blazer accessorized with gold jewelry that goes great with his corn rowed hair. Brina has her hair styled in an elegant updo and she's wearing a pretty royal blue gown.

I suddenly don't feel so pretty anymore, and try hiding my scarred wrists from everyone.

"Imara! Come on!" Miriam calls out and I plaster a fake smile on my face before posing with everyone.

Alina snaps a bunch of pictures with Faith and I. She looks adorable in her pink frilly dress that matches her pink bows. After we take a bunch more pictures, everyone bids us goodbye and leaves for the night.

I try to snap out of my sulking mood after everyone leaves. I never cared about going to prom, but now I wish I could go. Even if I have to watch Brina and Dustin be lovebirds all night, I would still have fun just being around my friends.

I'm not going though and I just have to get over it. Alina and Arnold are watching a movie together on the couch, and I politely decline when they offer for me to join. Instead, I tell them I'll watch Faith and retreat to the basement where I change out of my dress and into something more cozy, no longer feeling pretty or in the mood to be all dolled up.

My sulking mood doesn't last long when I start playing with Faith. It's hard to be moody around her when she's so cute.

Despite only being home for about two days, she looks so much better. I think just being surrounded by so many people who love her helps tremendously with her healing.

As always, she's more than delighted to play with her favorite moose, but looks a bit frustrated since she can't move around because of her arm. Still though, she smiles happily as she sits on the floor that I've made into a make-shift play space for her.

We play for a while and when she starts yawning, I grab her stuff before picking her up and pressing kisses to her Faith.

"Bath time!" I grin, going upstairs. As always, she squeals delightfully when she feels the warm water on her skin. After she's all bathed, I put her to sleep in her crib in Alina and Arnold's room before heading back to my room.

It's only eight, and I'm not very tired, so I flip through the photobook on my bed, smiling at the memories captured.

I'm surprised to hear a soft knock on my door. I grab my phone to check the time, and see it's a little past eleven.

"Hey," Dustin says when I open the door. He's just in his turtleneck now.

"Hey," I say breathlessly.

"Put your dress on. I'm taking you out."

****