Chapter Twenty Three

Adrianna’s POV

            “Okay, while we’re all eating, mommy and I want to talk to you three about last night. Anya, we know that you didn’t think that talking about b***s is a bad thing and it isn’t so much naughty as it is inappropriate. When you all are older you can talk about them, but you’re too young to be talking about them now.”

            Mackenzie and I were both up late talking about what we were going to say today and how we were going to handle Anya’s recent behavior.

            “So, there’s no consequences this time for it, but let’s not talk about them all the time.”

            “Sorry, mama.”

            “It’s alright, bug. But we have a question for all three of you and be honest, tell us the truth. None of you will be in trouble.” The three of them look at Kenz and I, waiting for the question. “Have Tía Lilly and Becca said other things like that?”

            While we want to think that this was just one slip up, we also want to be sure that it doesn’t happen again.

            “I didn’t hear nothing.”

            “Me neither.”

            “Okay, we just want to be sure.”

            The group of us are relatively quiet, the kids randomly talking here or there about something that goes through their heads. When everyone is done and the table is cleaned up we take Anya into the office with us to talk to her while Conner and Anya are playing in the playroom.

            “Anya, you remember how last night you hurt me by hitting?” Kenz asks the little blonde who looks even smaller sitting between us on the leather couch. Her little legs barely reaching past the seat of the sofa.

            “Yes. I’m really sorry, mommy.”

            “And I accepted your apology and we’re going to talk about why it happened, but first you need to know that you’re being punished for hitting. So, today there’s no movie after dance class.” Anya pouts, but doesn’t fight the decision. “But mama and I were wondering if you’re sad about something.”

            “Huh?”

            “Well, sometimes when we get sad or upset about something then we take it out on other people by yelling at them or hurting them. So, mama and I were wondering if something was bothering you. We want you to be a happy bug not a grumpy bug.”

            “I guess I’m kind of sad.”

            “Why?”

            “So because I always get in trouble and you don’t love me as much as Autumn and Conner.”

            This definitely takes Mackenzie and I by surprise and it’s clear by the look on Kenzie’s face when she hears this. A look, I’m sure, is mirrored on my own.

            “We love you just as much as your brother and sister, Anya. Even when you’re naughty and you only get in trouble when you’re naughty.”

            “No. I don’t.”

            “Alright, when did you get in trouble for being good?”

            “Two yesterdays ago before when we were making the fort, Conner knockded it over, but I got in trouble for it. Mommy made me fix it so because she said I broke it, but I didn’t! And when I told Conner to fix it, he cried to mommy and said I pushed him, but I dudn’t!”

            “I’m sorry.” Mackenzie frowns. “That’s my fault. And we’ll talk to Conner about that.”

            “And then I didn’t eat lunch and you..” She points towards me with as menacing of a glare a three year old can muster up. “made me sleep in the boring room and get sick!”

            “We didn’t make you sick though, baby. Your body just did that on its own. Mommy and I can’t control that.”

            “What?” Anya looks a mixture of relieved and confused over the new information.

            “Yea, you and Autumn and Conner have just never really gotten sick before, because you take vitamins and eat good food to keep you healthy.”

            “Oh, I’m sorry for being naughty. I just thoughted you dudn’t love me anymore.”

            “We do and always will love you, baby bug, but now that we’ve talked you’re going to have a better attitude?”

            “I’m going to try really hard, mama! Promise!” She nods her head very fast as if to prove her sincerity, her pigtails bouncing all over the place.

            “Okay, hugs and kisses and you can go play before dance class.” She gives us both a hug and kiss and leaves the room, running out with a big smile. “She thought we didn’t love her, Ade.”

            “I-I know.” I exhale and lean back into the couch. “What should we do, Kenz?”

            She shrugs before leaning into me, the two of us laying back across the couch. “How are we supposed to show her we love her just as much as the other two without the other two then thinking that we love her more?”

            “I think it’ll be better now that both of us are home for a while. You don’t start working until next month and I only have a couple shoots before the press tour in January. Maybe we can do some special dates with just one kid at a time. I think they’d like that. It’ll help Anya, Conner will love it because his sisters aren’t around to take the spotlight, and Autumn won’t have the twins to compete with.”

            “That’s an awesome idea. We’re going to do them together, right? Or, like, one of us at a time?”

            “No, we should do them together.” I tighten my grip around her waist. “I want to make sure that we’re consistent with them. Right? We both agreed on that, so of course I would want to go with you.”

            “Alright. Speaking of consistency, Nick called this morning while you were in the shower. Sorry I didn’t mention it earlier, I just forgot.”

            “That’s fine, babe. What did he want?”

            “He wants to take Autumn to some event with him Friday night.” I roll my eyes, because this is typical Nick. It’s probably a family function and all his family wants to see Autumn.

            “Is what’s-her-face gonna be going too?”

            “Her name is Lauren and you know that.” Kenz playfully slaps my arm. “And I’m sure she will be since they’re dating, but he didn’t say anything about her. Just told me to tell you and for you to call him back later.”

            “He wasn’t rude to you was he?”

            “No, Ade.” She exhales. “He wasn’t. He’s a good guy and you know it; he’s just not ready to be a father.”

            “Which is why I don’t understand why he even pushes it! Just so his family approves of him and his ‘future law partners’ see him as a family man.” My anger rises and Mackenzie starts running her fingers up and down my arm. I let my attention focus on her movements for a couple minutes, calming down before speaking again. “Seriously, Kenz, why? He takes her out of a few of hours every couple weeks. It’s not fair to her. She doesn’t even call him ‘daddy.’”

            “She doesn’t?”

            “No, Nick told me last time he had her that she said she didn’t need a daddy. That she had two mommies and that’s okay. She asked him if he could be her uncle instead.” I laugh, but I can feel Mackenzie tense in my arms.

            “Was he mad?”

            “No. He understands and agreed to her suggestion.” At my words, she relaxes again. “I guess,” Exhaling into the quiet room, “until Autumn starts saying she doesn’t want to see him then there’s no reason for him not to see her. It just sucks, because it’s inconsistent for her.”

            “I know, baby, but like you said, she doesn’t complain about going over there, he’s not abusive, and she does have fun, so we’ll keep an eye on things and go from there.” Mackenzie turns her head and kisses me three times on the lips before getting up.

            “No!” I whine. “Come back and cuddle with me.” I attempt to pout, but it just isn’t as effective as hers and she laughs.

            “We have three children who have to be dressed and at dance class in less than an hour. C’mon.” She walks back over to me and holds her hands out, pulling me up when I take them. “Let’s go wrangle the little monsters up!”

AGMJAGMJAGMJ

            “Okay, babies, be good for Tía Lilly and Becca.” I’m trying to get Mackenzie out the door, but she’s having a difficult time letting go. “And you two,” She points to the two teenagers and puts a look on her face that, I assume, she thinks is intimidating… it’s not. “No more corrupting our babies! If I hear one more thing about you two doing… stuff, then no more babysitting!”

            I roll my eyes and shake my head behind her, indicating to the girls that they’re fine. We talked to them earlier when they got here and they were very apologetic, albeit embarrassed. Unfortunately for me, my shake did not go unnoticed by the blonde in front of me.

            “Adrianna, I’m serious!”

            “Of course you are, babe. Now, can we go? We’re going to be late for our reservations.”

            “O-okay. Bye, babies. Mommies love you!”

Liliana’s POV

            “Tía Lilly, tan we watch a movie, por favor?” Conner and Anya definitely inherited their mother’s pout which is difficult for anyone to deny, but I have to stick with their schedule.

            “Not right now, C. Dinner’s going to be in a little bit and then it’s bath time.”

            “Okay.” He sadly replies and walks towards the playroom without another word. His other half, however, remains at my feet. When I look down, she’s giving me what I can only imagine is supposed to be a scowl. While Anya has Adrianna’s personality, she got Mackenzie’s looks and it’s impossible for the three Jacksons not to be anything but adorable.

            “You and Becca gotted me in trouble!”

            “I know, princesa.” I tell her, picking her up and bringing her to the couch. Becca comes and sits next to us and I place Anya on my lap to talk to her. “We’re really sorry about you getting into trouble, but you were eavesdropping and that’s not nice to us. We thought we were alone by ourselves.”

            “Mama said that no one’s ever ‘lone in our house so because Autumn, me, and Conner are here. She said that her and mommy are never ‘lone.”

            “She’s right, but your mommies love you three very, very much. Pero, mommies need alone time sometimes, which is why Becca and I are staying with you and your brother tonight.”

            “Wait!” Worry flashes across the little girl’s eyes. “Autumn’s not gon’be home? Autumn always comes home before bedtime.”

            Hearing the alarm in his sister’s voice, Conner comes running into the living room.

            “What’s wrong?” He jumps up onto the couch next to Anya and I. “What’s wrong, Anya?” He rubs her back with his little hand and it melts my heart. He’s so protective of all his girls.

            “Autumn’s not gon’be home for bedtime!”

            Sensing a meltdown coming on, I quickly intervene. “We’re not sure, bug, it depends on how she does with her daddy.”

            “She’s not with her daddy.” Conner shakes his head and scrunches up his face adorably.

            “Yes. You’ve met Nick. You two know this.”

            “No, Nick isn’t Autumn’s daddy. We don’t have daddies, only mommies.” Conner starts, before Anya continues.

            “Nick is Autumn’s uncle. Like Uncle Mychal!” It always throws me when Conner and Anya tag team a conversation, but I guess it’s a twin thing.

            “Is that what Autumn and your mommies said?” The both nod their heads in response. “Okay then, I guess Nick is her uncle. Autumn might stay with him and Lauren tonight, but it depends on how she is at the party.”

            “No fair! We dudn’t get a party!”

            “Yea!” The both pout and I can hear Becca trying to stifle her laughter next to me. I turn to her and raise my eyebrow in question, to which she only shrugs her shoulder, telling me she doesn’t mind.

            “You two want a party?” I question, but already know the answer.

            “Yea!”

            Three hours later, I’m thinking this ‘party’ wasn’t such a good idea. After pizza, ice cream, candy, and a spontaneous pillow fight that I’m still not sure who started, the twins are running around the house an hour after their bed time. Literally running. And neither has even taken a bath yet.

            “C! Princesa! Stop running, one of you is going to get hurt!” Becca is trying to clean up the mess in the kitchen that was made when Conner decided he wanted a popsicle, but then got distracted and said popsicle melted all over the table and floor.

            “Come and catch us!” As the two kids run into the playroom, my phone starts to ring in the living room, so I have to abandon the chase and figure out who it was.

            Grrreat! My sister..

            “H-Hey, Ade, what’s up?” I try and even my breathing, so she might not notice.

            “Why are you breathing all fun-.. Liliana Marie Guerrilla, are you having sex in my house?” She practically screams through the phone.

            “No! No! I swear on my life. Becca’s in the kitchen cleaning up.” She gives a short response before whispering something to, I assume, Mackenzie.

            “I was just calling, because Autumn wants to come home. She’s never stayed the night with Nick and started crying a while ago, so he’s going to drive her back. Don’t worry about her bath, we’ll give her one tomorrow when we get home, just have her go to bed when she gets home. It’s way past her bedtime.”

            “Alright.”

            “Did the twins give you a hard time going to sleep?” Oh s**t. I can lie and say ‘no’ or I can tell the truth.

            A lie it is.

            “No, not at a-.”

            “CHARGE!” The twins come running out of the playroom with their play swords and throw themselves over the back of the couch. “Pow! Pow!” They yell as they continuously hit me with the foam weapons. “Ha! Ha! We got you, Tía Lilly!” Anya yells.

            “Lilly, I thought we told you that the kids’ bedtime is eight o’clock. It’s even written on their schedule. Why are they still awake?”

            “I-I just thought that they could stay up an extra hour to play.” It comes out more like a question than a statement and I know my sister hears it, but I continue before she can say anything. “We’ll get them in bed right now though. Promise.”

            Hearing this, the twins run back into the playroom. Of course, don’t make my job any easier. I don’t know how my sister deals with three of them all. the. time.

            “Lilly, are you sure that you and Becca are going to be okay for the night? Kenz and I can come home.”

            “No! We’ll be fine. It’s just our first time dealing with bedtime and we couldn’t resist their little faces when they asked to stay up later. We’ll get them down though. Enjoy your night. You and Mackenzie deserve it.”

            “Okay. Thank you. If you need anything though, please call one of us. Nick should be there within the next ten minutes or so.”

            “Okay, no problem. Te amo, Ade.”

            “Buenos noches.”

            “Okay, sobrinos, time for a bath!” I call out, but no one answers. It obviously gets Becca’s attention too, because she comes out of the kitchen looking very suspicious. “Conner? Anya?”

            The two of us walk into the playroom, but don’t hear anything. We repeat the calls in their room and the bathroom and still nothing. Finally, we go into Autumn’s room and call for them.

            “Where are you guys?” Small laugher comes from the closet. When we open the door, we see a nightmare. Anya is wearing at least seven different pieces of her sister’s clothing while Conner has a bunch of her beloved hair accessories in a mangled mess on the floor. “No! No! No! Guys, Autumn’s going to be so upset! What were you two thinking?”

            “I just wanted to be like Autumn.” Anya frowns, her little eyes showing tired pouches underneath them. “She’s pretty and fun.”

            “It’s bath time. Right now. Your mama just called and she’s not very happy with me that you two are still awake, so let’s go. To the bathroom you two. Ahora!” I point towards the bedroom, indicating that they need to get out of the closet.

            I’m half way through the twins’ bath when Autumn gets dropped off. I meet her and Nick at the door and the little girl runs past me without even a ‘hello.’

            “She’s, uh, been asking about the twins and her moms for the last couple hours. She was pretty upset for a while, but once I told her she was coming home, she stopped crying.”

            “Okay, thanks Nick.”

            “No problem. Tell her I said bye, would you? And that I love her.”

            “I will.” The man looks upset, but understanding of the situation. “Have a good night.”

AGMJAGMJAGMJ

Mackenzie’s POV

            “Of course you are, babe. Now, can we go? We’re going to be late for our reservations.”

            “O-okay. Bye, babies. Mommies love you!” Adrianna guides me out the door to the car which was already parked in the driveway. “Ade, your sister’s never watched them overnight before. I’m nervous.” I admit to her while getting into the car.

            “Kenzie, everything will be fine. It’s only the twins and Lil’s got Becca with her. Your mom and dad and sister and Heather are all right down the road and I’m sure the rest of my siblings and Mychal and Lea will be here in a heartbeat if they needed to be. They have all the support they’ll need.”

            “But what if they get sick again? Or what if they touch a balloon? Or what i-.”

            Adrianna cuts me off with a kiss and my mind momentarily goes blank. All I can think about are her lips and the warmth of her fingers that are gently rubbing my jaw. I try and deepen our kiss, but she pulls away.

            “We don’t need to play the ‘what if’ game. We don’t have balloons in the house, or anything latex, that the twins would be able to touch. No one is going to get sick. I promise you, babe. Now, can I take my beautiful girlfriend on a real date?”

            I smile at her words, blushing slightly, and nod my head. We haven’t been on a date in so long, because we just haven’t had the time. Alright, Mackenzie, time to put your worries aside and enjoy yourself and your girlfriend.

            “So, where are you taking me on this date?”

            “Nope.” She winks at me while starting the car. She takes my left hand in her right as soon as she starts driving. “I’m not telling. Everything is going to be a surprise, but hopefully you enjoy everything and will be pleased all night.” She laughs.

            “You think you can just wine and dine me and I’ll sleep with you tonight?”

            “That’s the plan, sweet cheeks!” She raises her eyebrows a couple times and I roll my eyes, but I can’t help the smile that comes across my face. I can’t believe this is the girl that I’m in love with.

            “Ade, this is our restaurant.” I can’t help, but get sentimental seeing the Italian restaurant that we used to have so many dates at after the twins were born. Anthony became a really good friend of ours, but unfortunately moved away for college. We’re planning on going to his graduation in the spring though.

            “We haven’t been here for a while, so I figured I’d pull some strings with Paolo and Teresa and get us in tonight. We have a semi-secluded area. I didn’t want to pull the ‘we’re celebrities’ card and, like, buy the place out for the night, but I wanted to be able to talk to you in peace too. Is that okay?” Breaking my gaze at the restaurant, I see a nervous look on Ade’s face.

            “Of course! That’s fine, baby. Thank you.”

            Adrianna quickly gets out of the car and is opening my door before I even grab my purse.

            “M’lady.” She holds her hand out to help me down out of the Jeep and closes the door before pushing me up against it. Ade’s not one for PDA, especially in such a public place, but I accept the kiss with no complaints. Who would really complain about that anyway?

            “I love you.” She whispers into my lips as I release my hold from the back of her neck.

            “I love you, too.”

            “C’mon. Let’s go eat.” She takes my hand and we walk in. Anthony’s mother leading us to our table. We exchange pleasantries and show her some new pictures of the kids. We haven’t brought them in for about a year and it reminds me that we should bring them back on another day.

            We’re looking through the menus when our waiter comes up.

            “Some things never change.” I instantly recognize the voice and jump up out of the chair, throwing my arms around the man.

            “Anthony! What are you doing here?” I sit back down while Adrianna hugs him and he pulls up a chair to sit and talk briefly.

            “Well, this is my family’s restaurant. Some of us twenty-somethings have to work for you big shots to earn a living.” He winks at me before continuing. “No, I’m just working for the summer. I go back to finish my last year in a couple weeks. I was on break when I saw you two practically dry humping each other on the side of your car.”

            We all laugh, but Adrianna comes to our defense. “One, Mackenzie’s hot as hell, not just tonight, but always. You’re just jealous. Two, we’re on a child-free date for the first time in months. Three, you’re just jealous.” She states it as if it’s the obvious truth and Anthony just rolls his eyes.

            “Actually, I have my own hot arm candy. Have for just over a year.”

            “What? And you didn’t tell us?”

            “I told Ade.” I stare shocked at my girlfriend.

            “When?”

            “Oh s**t.” She closes her eyes and pulls her lower lip into her teeth. It’s the right side, so I know she’s nervous. I know all her tells. “Like, April-ish.”

            “April?” I didn’t mean for it to come out so loud, but Anthony just laughs. “Ade, it’s August! And you, mister, why didn’t you tell me yourself?”

            “I ran into Ade while she was filming. We talked for a couple hours. I figured she would tell you.” He just shrugs his shoulders and moves on with the conversation. “Anyway, her name is Melanie and, I don’t know, I’ve never had a connection like this with anyone. She even came home with me for the summer. My parents love her. She’s working in a different section right now.”

            “We have to meet her. You’re practically cracked in half you’re smiling so big.” Ade teases and a blush comes over his face.

            “No, really. That’s okay. She doesn’t know I know you guys and I don’t want to be that guy that name drops. She’s totally not into that.”

            “You’re not name dropping. We want to meet her before we leave tonight. Just tell her you have some friends that want to say hi.” He seems to take in our words, silently staring back and forth between the two of us.

            “Alright! Alright! If it’ll make you two get off my balls, I’ll do it.”

            “Gross.” Ade’s face scrunches up. “The only balls of yours I want are meatballs.”

            When Anthony brings our food out, he informs us that he’ll bring his new girlfriend over to meet us when we’re done. This way we can have some privacy.

            “Are you excited to be starting the show again?” Adrianna asks between bites.

            “Yea, I am. It’s fun working with Dianna again. I feel like we never really see anyone outside our family anymore. Maybe we can have a barbeque or something for all our friends soon.”

            “That would be cool! I agree. We’ve been very busy lately. Are you worried about Autumn starting school?”

            “A little. I think with dance classes it’s eased the transition for me, but it’s hard knowing that there’s always the potential of bullies or something. For the most part, I’m excited for her. Kindergarten is a big deal. What about you?”

            “I’m having the same thoughts. I’m excited for her to learn and meet new friends, but I think I’m more nervous about the teacher than the other students.”

            “Why?”

            “I don’t want her to get special treatment just because she’s our kid. We want as normal of a life for them as we can allow.” I nod my head in agreement and allow her to continue. “It’s LA though, right? So how normal can it really be.”

            “I understand what you mean though, Ade. We’ll get to meet the teacher before school starts though, so we’ll get a feel for the classroom and how things will be run.”

            “Anya’s bummed that she can’t go to school with her big sister.”

            “How do you know?”

            “I overheard them the other day in the playroom. They were playing school and Anya said, ‘I’m small. Maybe I can just fit in your backpack on the first day.’” We both laugh at the statement. Anya would totally try and do something like that too.

            “Awe. She loves her big sister. Always trying to do whatever Autumn does. When should we do our Mommies and Me dates with the kids?”

            “Next week?” I nod in agreement. “Autumn starts school that next Monday, so we can at least get one date in each before that happens.”

            Our conversation dies down after that and we finish our meals in relative silence. Sneaking glances at each other periodically. I just cannot get over how much love I have for this woman. Still, after seven years of knowing her, I still find her just as beautiful and amazing as she was when we first met.

            “Do you want more?” Ade’s question brings me out of my thoughts and I shake my head.

            “Oh no, I’m totally full, babe. Than-.”

            “Not food, Kenz.” She giggles and, god, is her giggle so sexy. A giggle! Who is even capable of making a giggle sexy. Adrianna. That’s who. “Kids.”

            “What about the kids?” I ask, not knowing where I missed the turn in the conversation.

            “No, baby, do you… want more kids?” She looks at me with an unreadable expression, a tell that she does when she doesn’t want to give away her true emotions. She rarely does this, but this conversation took a very serious turn, so I could understand why she’s hiding.

            “Oh, I mean, I’ve definitely thought about it. I miss my little babies. Their smell. Their little clothes and diapers. All their firsts.” Her smile starts to grow. “It would be fun seeing how the kids would react too. However, that’s what makes me second guess the idea of more kids.”

            “What? The kids?”

            “Yea.” I nod and fall silent, trying to put my thoughts into words. “The kids are so close. They all grew up together. I worry that if we had another baby that they would feel left out because they don’t have a buddy or that the kids will think that we’re giving the baby more attention and they’ve been replaced.”

            “That’s true. I have thought the exact things. I guess I was just wondering where your thoughts are on the matter.”

            “I guess it’s a good thing we can’t just randomly get pregnant, huh? We have some time to figure things out.”

            We both fall into another silence, but I can feel her foot traveling further up my leg. Her previous game of footsies obviously taking a detour. When she gets to my inner thigh, I push her foot back down and lock eyes with her across the table.

            She leans over the table towards me. “I cannot wait to get you out of that dress. To touch you and feel you. Just thinking about it makes me wanna take you right now.” She whispers into my ear, but I can still hear the guttural tone in her voice and an instant pull finds its way in my stomach. We need to go.

            “Hoooly hell. O-Okay.” I feel my cheeks flush as Ade pulls away, her skin tone neutral and a smirk across her face. I down the rest of my wine in one swallow and look around for Anthony. I just want to get to leave now. Would it be rude to reschedule the girlfriend meet-and-greet?

            “Why? Are you getting hot?” She whispers again, I guess my thoughts weren’t in my head after all.

            She starts cleaning up her area, but I can’t look away from her lips. Her tongue running across them. God, that tongue. I instinctively cross my ankles and squeeze my thighs. Damn her! She’s doing this on purpose! Tease.

            “Mackenzie, a Jackson always follows through with what they say they’re doing.”

            “F**k being a Jackson. I just want you.”

            “Well, you’re going to have to calm yourself down, because we can’t bail on meeting Melanie and we still have one more place I wanted to take you before we head in for the night.”

            “Okay, well, let me just go freshen up in the bathroom before we meet her.”

            When I get back, Anthony’s parents are at the table talking with Ade.

            “Paolo!” I greet the older gentleman. Anthony’s parents came here straight from Italy and they still have their whole family back in their home country. He has a thick, heavy accent, but is always a pleasure to talk to.

            “Ciao, bella! Come va?” He kisses both my cheeks as I return the greeting before sitting next to Adrianna.

            “Io sto molto bene, e tu?”

            His laugh is hearty and Teresa smiles with a little clap of her hands. “I am well! See, Adrianna, why don’t you learn the Italian like your girlfriend here, eh?”

            “Sorry, Paolo, but we can’t all be as awesome as Kenzie. Now, let’s cut to the chase. What do we need to know about this girl?” Ade smirks and nods her head towards Anthony’s girlfriend who is serving another table across the restaurant.

            “Your fidanzata always has a way with words, eh?” The man questions me with a sparkle in his eyes.

            “She’s always swept me off my feet with them.” I smile and receive a peck on the cheek and Adrianna slipping her hand into mine.

            “You two remind me of Paolo and I when we were younger.”

            “When did you two meet?”

            “We were twelve, but I made him wait to kiss me until we were sixteen. He gave me my first kiss on my sixteenth birthday and we’ve been together ever since. Anime gemelle.”

            “Soul mates.” It surprises me when Adrianna responds, but I can’t help the smile that comes over my face looking into her eyes.

            “I knew you knew something!”

            “I admit to knowing that, Paolo. Nothing else.” She throws him a wink. “So, about this new girlfriend.”

            “Eh.” Adrianna squeezes my hand and I know she notices their demeanors change.

            “It’s just puppy love. Nothing serious.” Teresa tries to put a smile on her face, but it doesn’t quite have its normal effects.

            “Anthony seemed so enthused with her though. What’s wrong?”

            The parents don’t say anything, just silently share a sad look.

            “Qual è il problema?”

            “Well, she’s very conceited, first. She doesn’t always take Anthony’s wishes and opinions to heart. We understand that the world is different than when we were younger, but he practically worships her and it’s like she doesn’t care.”

            “Yea, not to mention she’s a total gold digger.”

            “Hold up! You’re telling me she’s taking Anthony’s money?” Teresa sadly nods her head, unable to make eye contact anymore and Paolo just looks downright angry.

            “Not just his! Il nostro! Ours too. Anthony was short on money last month and she couldn’t pay her rent without his help, but he came to us saying he needed money for school. Il figlio! My own son. Took our money and gave it to her after we gave her a job her so she could provide for herself.”

            “Maybe we can talk to him?” I offer.

            “Be our guest, because he doesn’t listen to us.”

            As if on cue, Anthony walks over with Melanie who doesn’t even acknowledge anyone at the table due to her phone glued in front of her face. When I feel Adrianna tense next to me, I rub my thumb across her hand in attempt to calm her down.

            “Ciao, Melanie.” Teresa smiles politely at the couple.

            “Hey, Mrs. D.” The brunette answers without even looking away from her phone.

            “Excuse me,” Adrianna speaks up from behind me. I turn my head to see her anger and place our joined hands on her leg to ensure she doesn’t jump up. “When talking to someone, it’s polite to put your phone down or, better yet, away and make eye contact with the person.”

            Melanie rolls her eyes before pocketing her phone. Her eyes widen when she sees us at the table; a huge smile spreading across her features.

            “Oh my go-!”

            “No.” Adrianna cuts her off before she can continue. “You need to apologize to your boyfriend’s parents, and your employers, for being so rude in your greeting.”

            The other woman raising her eyebrows in challenge to what was just said, but when Adrianna raises her own, Melanie lifts her hands in surrender.

            “I’m sorry for being rude. Hello, Mr. and Mrs. De Luca.”

            “Eh.” Paolo stands from the table, his wife copying his actions. “You two bring those babies in soon, will you?”

            “We will, Paolo, it was wonderful seeing you two again.”

            “Bene. Buona notte, ladies.”

            The four of us wait until the older couple is out of earshot when Anthony speaks again.

            “Okay, so that didn’t go how I wanted, but Melanie these are my friends Adri-.”

            “I know who they are!” She cuts him off and at this point, I’m even ready to strangle her for her blatant disrespect to our friend and his family. The brunette sits down across from us, completely leaving Anthony standing next to the table until he finally sits next to her. “You’re Adrianna and Mackenzie, only, like, America’s sapphic sweethearts!”

            “Oh dear lord.” I hear Ade whisper under her breath.

            “Hello, Melanie. It’s nice to meet you.” I shake hands with her, but my girlfriend makes no move to make pleasantries. “So, are you going to school with Anthony?”

            “Yea. We met last year when I transferred. So, are you two, like, on a date?”

            “Yes, but Anthony is our friend and he was excited about you, so we wanted to meet you.”

            “Why didn’t you tell me you knew them?” Melanie sneers and smacks Anthony on the arm and Adrianna stands up quickly.

            “Oh no. No me gusta! I don’t care if we were the queens of England, you have no right to be mad or lay a hand on your boyfriend. It’s his choice to tell you about and let you meet his friends. We’re his friends which means we are not your friends. You have to earn that right and quite frankly you’re doing a s****y job of it.” She keeps her voice low as to not draw any more attention to the table.

            “Now, Anthony obviously adores you, but you are not reciprocating in the relationship. When you date someone, it’s not just them that need to love you. It’s their family and friends that you need to earn their love, trust, and respect, because without them you will have problems in the relationship. So, I am sorry that we are meeting under these circumstances, but Mackenzie and I are going to go. I came out to take my beautiful girlfriend on an awesome date and I don’t want you ruining it.”

            She offers me her hand to stand up which I take, because this conversation is going horribly and if we don’t leave then someone is going to cause a scene. We say our apologies to Anthony and I promise to call him tomorrow to talk.

            I wait until we’re in the car before I start to talk to her. “Ade, is everything okay?”

            “It’s fine, Kenz.” She doesn’t make eye contact though and she moves to start the car. I quickly grab the keys before she can. “Is there a reason you aren’t letting me start the car?” She looks into my eyes and I see the pure anger behind them, but I know it’s not directed at me. It’s because of what just happened.

            “Why are you so upset?”

            “That girl is a b***h, Kenz, you saw it yourself!”

            “But why is it affecting you so much? Baby, you gotta calm down.” I run my hand up and down her arm while she is quickly thinking. I wish I could hold her, but the car doesn’t exactly give us a lot of room. “You ready to talk?”

            “She just made me so mad. Anthony is our friend and I never want to see any of our friends treated like that, but what if…” She takes a deep breath. “What if our kids were treated that way? What if people talked to them and treated them that way, because of who they are or who we are. What if they’re bullied?”

            “Well, I think we’ve raised the kids to know that bullying is not acceptable. They know that it is not okay to treat others that way and if someone treats them badly then they need to tell one of us. As for school, Autumn and, unless we move, the twins too will all be going to the same schools that we went to.

            Obviously times are a little different, but there were kids of people in the industry when we were in school. Hell, Naya, Mychal, and I and a handful of other kids were in the industry once we were older. Sure there was a little bit of backlash, but nothing we couldn’t handle. The kids will be fine, babe. If anything happens, we’ll find a way to fix it or we’ll figure something else out.”

            I can see she’s trying to let the words sink in, so I let her have a couple moments to process. When she nods her head, I lean in for a kiss, but before I can take it any further than a peck, she gently pushes me back into my seat.

            “Please don’t pout!” She panics with her eyes closed and I can’t help but laugh at her antics. “I promise we’ll have all the time for that tonight, but there’s still another thing I want to do before we head in for the night.”

            “Okay, where are we going?”

            “Nope! It’s another surprise.”

            I turn and pout out the window for the car ride to wherever we were off to next, but after Ade starts the car, I wasn’t going to deny her when she grabbed my left hand and pulled it into her lap.

            “What are we doing here?” I ask as we get out of the car at a park. There’s only one other car in the parking lot; I guess since this park is kind of in the middle of nowhere. “Is that Naya’s car?”

            “Ugh! She was supposed to be gone before we got here. Oh well, she was set up, obviously I can’t trust her to help me on missions anymore.” I laugh as I take my girlfriend’s hand and place a quick kiss to her cheek.

            She leads me up the hill, but we both falter for a second when we hear familiar sounds. It takes Ade a whole two seconds to compose herself before pulling me up the hill. “Really?” She practically shouts when she sees the couple laying on the blanket. I just laugh, because the amount of times people have walked in on Ade and I in much less clothing, is way worse.

            “Oh. Um. H-Hey guys.” Naya stumbles over her words, much in a way that Ade has in the past. I guess we all have our moments of embarrassment, I think I’m just over mine. I love my girlfriend, sorry if I can’t always keep it together.

            “You were supposed to set up and leave, not dry hump each other all over my girlfriend’s surprise picnic!”

            “Sorry!”

            “I’m not.” Heather and I laugh at the other blonde’s words. “Noah is with Mama Rivera for the night.”

            “Yay! Double date!”

            “No!” Both Ade and Naya yell.

            “Please, baby?” I turn and pout to Ade, pulling her hand closer towards me which in turn leans her down just a bit so I can rest my chin on her shoulder. “We were just talking about how we haven’t been able to hang out with our friends lately.”

            “Babe, everyone but Nay and Heather! We see these two, like, every day.”

            “Heather and I haven’t seen each other all week.” I kiss the spot on her neck just under her ear and I feel her shudder. I know I’ve got this. It’s just ice cream. It’s not like I’m inviting them back to the condo with us.

            “Ugh! Fine. Fine, but we have an hour. Then we’re going to the condo.”

            “Yay!” I clap and run over to sit by Heather, giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek once I’m seated.

            “The bromance. We always lose to the bromance.” Naya tells Ade as she sits down next to me, completing the little circle around the picnic basket. “So, you guys are staying at the condo tonight?”

            “Yea, we couldn’t ship our kids off like you two did.” Ade smirks, but she knows it’s far from the truth.

            “Remember when you guys bought it and everyone thought you broke up? Oh my gosh. Funniest stuff ever!”

            “Okay, but you two didn’t help!” Heather defends. “Nay, you and Ade would totally play dumb in interviews for months and people thought the worst.”

            The two brunettes laugh hysterically while Heather and I share an eye roll. They’re incorrigible sometimes.

            Just over an hour later, Ade and I walk into the condo. I slip out of my heels and get into the bed when Ade’s phone rings. Ugh, can we just have one night?

            “Hello, Nick.” I can’t hear the other side of the conversation, but from the look on Ade’s face, it’s not good. “Alright, well, the twins are already asleep, so are you okay dropping her off at the house?” Another pause. “Okay, I’ll let my sister know. Thank you.”

            “What’s wrong?”

            “Autumn’s crying and wants to go home. I guess she broke down about thirty minutes ago and no one can get her to stop. I’m going to call my sister and let her know.”

            “Okay.” She sits down on the end of the bed with the phone to her ear and I kneel behind her. I gently take out her hair clip and run my fingers through her long locks, slowly massaging her scalp with my nails. I feel her head lean into my fingers as she answers the phone.

            “Why are you breathing all fun-.. Liliana Marie Guerrilla, are you having sex in my house?” She practically screams through the phone.

            “They better not be! My babies are in that house!” I tell her, but she turns the phone away from her mouth before assuring me that they aren’t and that Becca’s cleaning the kitchen. Still, I’m suspicious of those two.

            “I was just calling, because Autumn wants to come home. She’s never stayed the night with Nick and started crying a while ago, so he’s going to drive her back. Don’t worry about her bath, we’ll give her one tomorrow when we get home, just have her go to bed when she gets home. It’s way past her bedtime.”

            “Did the twins give you a hard time going to sleep?”

            There’s a moment on the other line where I can’t hear anything, but then distinct yelling is heard through the phone. Adrianna rolls her eyes and lets out a long exhale before talking again.

            “Lilly, I thought we told you that the kids’ bedtime is eight o’clock. It’s even written on their schedule. Why are they still awake?”

            I look at my phone and, sure enough, it’s already after nine o’clock. I lay back on the bed, abandoning my girlfriend’s head massage, because if the twins are still up Lilly and Becca are not going to get them to sleep without help.

            “Lilly, are you sure that you and Becca are going to be okay for the night? Kenz and I can come home.”

            Yup, there it is. The call for help. I lean up on my elbows and wait for my girlfriend to end the call.

            “Okay. Thank you. If you need anything though, please call one of us. Nick should be there within the next ten minutes or so… Buenos noches.”

            I let out a defeated exhale while falling back onto the bed. Within a couple minutes, Adrianna is lying next to me. I roll into her side and she wraps her arms around me.

            “She says everything is fine, but it sounds like we’ll probably have a mess to clean up in the morning.”

            I hum a response, but start kissing her tanned neck. Finally, we’re finally alone. I feel her arms run up and down my back before she pulls me to lay on top of her and connects our lips. She quickly enters my mouth, not that I would ever deny her, and in this moment is perfection. Tonight is for us to connect as girlfriends and lovers. It’s just us. Right where we belong.

Author's Note

Honestly, I'm in such a slump with this story and I haven't been able to write in it for about two years, but it's a goal of mine to finish, because it's the first thing I've ever written. Any constructive reviews could help or anything that would be cool to write about in future chapters. Thanks!