Adopted.

[PunkPrince]

"Help me zip this," Eva said, looking up at the other woman in the bedroom as she struggled to zip up her bag. The zipper always acted up. Kennedy chuckled and strode over to Eva, kneeling down to zip the bag. Kennedy smiled and stood on her toes to kiss Eva on the cheek. "Thank you, doll," Eva said. She turned to look in the mirror. "I'm nervous."


They had gotten a phone call. The adoption agency they had struggled so hard to get through to had a girl for them to take. Eva was supposed to go collect them while Kennedy stayed behind with their children. Eva was excited, but she was hesitant to leave her little rag tag family she had grown to love so much. She looked over at Kennedy. Kennedy was the smaller of them, at five foot two, and she passed as female better. This was something that left five foot eleven Eva jealous quite often. It wasn't like Kennedy could help it. All the men on her mother's side were small. Her brother had been closer to Eva's size. Made it easier for him to pick on her.


"No reason you shouldn't be," Kennedy said. "Everyone's nervous. But there's a reason you're going at not me. You know me. I'm too blunt and not as gentle or patient as you are. They probably need that." She picked up a bag and started down the stairs. Eva followed after her.


"You're gentle," she insisted. "When you need to be. If you were half as mean as you think you are sometimes Hugo would probably be petrified of you. You're sweet, you're just a bit tougher at times. You could go if you wanted, but you know we can't leave the kids totally alone for that long, and Hugo panics every time one of us leaves. That's why you're staying. Not because you're mean or any of that other stupid stuff you say you are."


Kennedy opened her mouth to say something, but before she could get a word out, she heard Hugo and Ronan arguing.


"Give that back!"


"I need it!"


"I need to finish putting the sequins on this–Ow! Damn it, Kasha, you burnt me!"


"It's a hot glue gun, what'd you think was gonna happen, idiot?"


Jupiter appeared at the top of the stairs and quickly sprinted down them, and Eva could see that they were struggling to close a bra through their shirt. She stopped them and clipped it closed. "Better?"


Jupiter nodded, flashing the woman an appreciative smile before adjusting the silicone breast forms that rested in the bra. She knew that Jupiter longed for breasts and feminine curves, and they had talked to a few people about getting Jupiter on a low dose of estrogen, but so far, no luck. Eva and Kennedy did what they could for them. Jupiter pushed back their messy blonde hair and looked up the stairs.


"Fighting over a glue gun," they explained. "Kyra was trying to use it to put sequins on a dress, and I guess..." They shrugged. It wasn't unusual for the children to call each other by their drag names.


"Boys!" Kennedy called. "Come down here! Eva's leaving soon. She wants a hug." She paused. "You can use my glue gun if you need it, Hugo. You know where it is. Or even just the glue if you need it. You have your own glue gun, I don't know why you're arguing."


Hugo appeared at the top of the stairs, and a few seconds later Ronan followed after him. Hugo definitely wasn't psyched about Eva leaving and some total stranger coming into their house. He was slightly worried that Eva might not come back. He shoved the thought from his mind as he gave Eva a hug. "I'm gonna miss you," he said.


"I'm gonna miss you too kid," she said, kissing the top of his head. "Be nice while I'm gone. Don't antagonize your siblings too much. Kennedy won't be able to take it." As Hugo nodded and reluctantly released her, she looked over at Ronan and Jupiter. "Don't I get a hug goodbye?" she asked, pretending to be offended that they hadn't given her one yet.


Half an hour later, Kennedy had dropped Eva at the airport, and she was on a plane to go get the girl and fly back later that day. She tried her best to ignore the "sirs" and "mister's" that she was greeted with throughout the building all on the basis of her legal ID. She couldn't change it where she lived, and it made traveling nerve racking for her. The trip fast fairly quickly, and much to her pleasure, she was mostly left alone aside from the friendly chatter of some flight attendants. She slept for most of the flight. She had been up early that morning, and figured it was best to sleep while she still could.


It had been hard for her and Kennedy to get any adoption agencies to even consider them. Two transgender women who weren't even recognized as being women, or even being married, even though theyd gotten married years ago. Legally, they were gay men. It didn't help their case. Their sons, Hugo and Ronan, had been adopted legally, but they had known Eva and Kennedy for such a long time prior to being taken in that the foster care system had been lenient on them. That time.


The plane landed and Eva eventually found herself walking through the main halls of a group foster home. A woman strutted up to her. "Are you Eric Robins?"


"Eva," Eva corrected. The woman ignored her.


"Wait here. I'll be back with the girl shortly." And then she was gone after casting Eva a disgusted sort of look.


She returned after several minutes, a teenage girl trailing her. "This is Lennox," she said. "I'll be leaving you two to chat and you can get to work on the paperwork I gave you." And just as quickly as she had come, she was gone again. After a few seconds of silence, Eva was the first to speak. "Hello," she greeted gently. "My name is Eva. It's nice to meet you, Lennox. That's a nice name."

 

[FrankieLynn]

Lennox was told, only a few weeks after getting put into another home, that she is getting out. The news should be exciting to a kid who has been in and out of the system since she was eleven years old, especially since she is well past the age of "cute-and-fixable", but it is hard to put on a smile when she had already escaped on her own accord only months beforehand. Despite her young age, Lennox knows she does not need a stranger "taking care" of her, but every reflective surface reminds her of her youthful appearance. It's really not surprising the teenager was caught living on the streets, she only looks around twelve years old, if that.


Knowing whoever is waiting to meet her will soon regret adding teenagers onto his or her acceptance list, the girl does not argue with the group home "mother". That is, until she hears the name come from the woman's lips. Eric. No; Lennox can not go in there with a man. She refuses to. Isn't she allowed to have some type of legal person in there with her? Why wasn't she told the person's gender before this very moment? Did they do any kind of background check on this man, or was she just being thrown out to whatever pervert could pay for her food?


She asks all these questions and more as the woman begins to read off a brief explanation of the adoption process, but the elder chooses to ignore everything spilling from the girl's mouth. There is no way to run at the moment. There is no way for Lennox to talk her way out of the situation. Without an escape plan ready, the teenage is forced into the go-to-teenage-angst-survival-plan: the infamous silent treatment. With a final, dramatic sigh, Lennox gathers her bags and guitar case and follows the rude woman into the Meeting Center. What a load of crap this place is turning out the be; the girl couldn't even be brought to a room with a direct exit to the outside. She is forced further into her doom, and her view is blocked by a smug, out-of-touch woman with heels that seem to crack the tiled floor with each step. Despite her overwhelming anxiety, Lennox finds herself looking back to check if the floor is actually falling in behind them. It remains undamaged, unlike the girl's sanity.


The thirty-second journey from her room feels like an eternity, but, finally, the teenage is left alone with a stranger. The group home "mother" says something, but Lennox is pretty certain it is nothing close to an apology for lying to her face. Eric? Clearly, this is not a man...or at least she is not a man right now. Which the girl assumes is better than meeting someone who is a man one-hundred-percent of the time. As the woman tells the teenager her actual name (Eva), the girl lets out another sigh, but it's more from relief than anger. Despite her final act of pride she had decided on, Lennox lets the woman have a tiny break. She did have to deal with the horrid home "mother", so she needed some type of appreciation for not finding her own escape route away from this place.


"Thank you."


It isn't much, but the girl decides it is all she has to offer at the moment. She is not about to act happy about their current meeting. Once again, her whole life is being changed without much of a choice on her part. At least, she can take a brief vacation away from this place. Lennox has no doubt in her mind that she will be sent to another home before the first social worker check can be made. It's not like she tries to make trouble for the adults who try to care for her, but she does not really make it easy for them, either. The girl once let a woman call her "Linda" for two weeks, and the poor lady didn't even know her real name until she was sending her off to somewhere new.


After the simple greeting, Lennox takes a seat at the rather large table in the center of the room. It made no sense to her as to why the table had so many chairs; it is not like someone will ever come in renting the whole group out for slave work. The girl almost says this aloud, but she decides it may not be funny to the nervous woman before her. Because of this realization that the other female is rather nervous about their situation, too, the girl gives her another gift. Perhaps this one is more of a blessing than the first: the girl gives her the gift of eye contact. Normally, the awkwardness of this whole encounter would have forced Lennox to permanently stare at her lap, but something about the woman makes her feel so guilty for acting in such a way. She looks at the woman's face, scanning her eyes for any clues to what is going to happen in the next few hours. Maybe she will be given ice-cream or, heaven forbid, asked about her past. One can never truly guess an adult's intentions.

 

[PunkPrince]

The girl walked into the room, and Eva saw something in her face almost immediately. Nervousness. The girl was afraid of her. Almost like the way Hugo had been when she and Kennedy had first met him. He had opened up to them by now. He was still painfully shy out of their little group, and his separation anxiety was still an issue, but he had definitely improved from the distrustful child she had met. Perhaps she could get this girl to open up too.


Eva didn't expect the girl to open up to her right away. She knew she had been through a lot. Mother on drugs, abuse rampant. Eva doubted she would trust easily either after that. There is another period of silence following Eva's compliment, and then, finally, the girl speaks. Thank you. She'd spoken. Only two little words, but she'd said something. That was a start, wasn't it? It was something.


"I know you don't trust me," Eva said after a moment. "I wouldn't trust anybody either if I were you. But I'd like you to trust me. I'm not going to hurt you. How could I?" She had never been the type to want to hurt anyone else. She was too gentle. She could never hurt this girl, or anybody else. She wanted people to be comfortable around her, especially this girl. She was going to live with her, for god's sake. Eva wasn't running a house of horrors. Granted, it was no picnic either, no family really was, but it wasn't bad at all.


"Is there anything you want to ask me?" Eva said after a moment. "Or anything you want to say? I mean, you're going to be living with me. I want you to be comfortable. Or as comfortable as you can be. It's not fun for anybody going into a new place they don't know anything a about."

 

[FrankieLynn]

Lennox listens to the woman carefully, subconsciously tilting her heard with curiosity. How was a stranger able to treat her with so much kindness? The girl was expecting Eva to merely introduce herself and then stay quiet the rest of the time. Plus, the words are not just a rambling mess of nerves and baby-talk, like other adults who try to communicate with an abused child. Her words include questions and understanding. The girl suddenly regrets opening her mouth; it seems she was asking for this friendliness, but, truly, she did not expect it at all. She does not like the pressure on her; there was so much attention on her body language and awkward movements.


When Eva mentions that she is not going to hurt the girl, the teenager leans back a little. How could you hurt a small girl? Judging be the woman''s height, Lennox quickly thought of over fifty ways the female could harm her, including things that could be done by moving her arm only a mere five inches closer and things that could be done quickly, behind closed doors. The girl glances at the door, and, although it is open, she knows anyone older than eighteen is out of hearing range. Her brain takes a good thirty seconds to stop thinking of the worse possible outcomes of this meeting and focus back on the woman's words. She takes a deep breath during the silence that follows, thinking over all the things she wanted to say but didn't know how to.


The girl opens her mouth to speak, but she closes it immediately, mentally kicking herself in the rear. She shouldn't be falling into this trap so quickly. She wants to leave, but she doesn't want to get this poor woman's hopes up. It wasn't going to work out between them; the sooner Eva realized this, the better. Lennox glances at her lap, embarrassed that she does want to speak. There is only one question she needs answered. Everything else shouldn't matter; not much surprises the girl anymore.


"Is it just you...Um, I mean, are you, I mean...Do you live by yourself?"


The teenager smiles shyly, trying not to show judgement to the woman, no matter the answer. It's not like she really cares about Eva's love life, but if there is going to be a man around regularly, Lennox wanted to be prepared. Hopefully her bedroom door will have a lock, or she can usually get her guitar case to balance right under the knob... The thought of her guitar reminds her to glance at her belongings, making sure no elves traveled off with them. Sometimes that happened at night, if she wasn't careful, but she always kept up with her guitar; it had survived everything with her, so far.

 

[PunkPrince]

The girl finally spoke again. It seemed she did have something she wanted to know after all. If Eva lived alone. "I don't," Eva said. I have a wife and a couple of kids. They just stayed behind. My wife wanted to come, but one of our sons has really bad anxiety and we didn't think he would handle coming out here very well and he doesn't like to be left without at least one of us." She was used to having to adjust to Hugo's anxiety. He was much better than he had been when they'd first met. He talked to them now. At home with just them he was a sweet, funny boy. N0t as positive as Ronan, but his walls weren't up for them like they'd once been. But she knew it was best not to force him into situations he was unfamiliar with, with or without them. He panicked. He fought to get out of them. It wasn't unusual to see him so petrified of whatever new experience that he wound up making himself physically ill.


"You'll have your own room, and nobody will come in without warning you and unless you say they can. I wouldn't subject you to that, especially not in an unfamiliar space. One of my sons used to be like that. He only wanted his twin in his space. Wouldn't be fair of me to give him that and not you too."


"My wife-her name is Kennedy. I met her around ten years ago at a drag and burlesque show I went to. She was performing there and I'd performed the previous night and come back because I left some of my stuff in the back room. We both still perform at the same bar a couple nights a week and that's where most of our money comes from. She's sweet. A bit firey at times, but she's not mean. I think you'll like her."


"And then there's Jupiter. They're sixteen and the oldest of our kids. They don't really identify as being male or female and usually prefer neutral pronouns. They're a smart kid. They're really friendly but I highly doubt they'll try and push you to talk to them unless you're ready to. They're a drag queen, which is how we met them. Same bar. We met all of our kids in that bar, coincidentally, because they all did drag there. Jupiter lived with their aunt and uncle for most of their life, but after they came out things got bad and they eventually came to live with us."


"Our twin boys are Ronan and Hugo. Hugo is the nervous one I mentioned before. They're fifteen, not that much older than you. Hugo doesn't talk a whole lot and he doesn't do all that well with people he doesn't know. He'll probably want to keep away from you until he gets used to you. We got him and his brother in more of the traditional way, the same way we got you. It was a bit easier since we already knew them."


"Ronan is the more upbeat twin and he's usually really bubbly and wants to talk to everyone. He's a good kid, though. He and Hugo are really close. He loves talking to everybody but he knows to give you your space. He's used to it because of how nervous Hugo is."

 

[FrankieLynn]

Lennox is rather overwhelmed with the explanation the woman provides, and she has to mentally count all the people mentioned, so she does not get confused. She is pretty sure she might have added an extra family member because the whole 'they' instead of 'he' or 'she' part kind of confused her. It does not matter though, because her question was answered without the mention of a grown man in the home, and this relaxes most of the girl's fears.


She instinctively wants to mention her sisters, as though she still lives with them, but she knows better than to do something so inappropriate. She realizes how odd it will be to live around boys, as she has always been put into homes with other girls, but maybe, if they do drag, it will not seem so different. It will also be odd to have so much freedom, if what the woman says truly happens. Privacy is typically hard to come by when your files have the general label of "troubled" and "at risk". Ever since Lennox ran from her foster home, everyone has to be told that she runs away, as if this makes her unlovable, and it kills Lennox a little bit each time someone mentions it.


Truthfully, deep down, Lennox wants to stop moving around. Eva will never be her mother, not emotionally, but maybe the girl can handle her emotions enough that her other children will accept her. Maybe, if she tries hard enough, she can fit in and look past all the confusion she is sure to feel in the new home. All these thoughts don't relax the girl, however; they only make her more nervous. The room was currently stopping anything positive to happen, so Lennox pulls the stack of papers towards them.


"Okay. So, shall we get started, then?"


She smiles again, hoping Eva has not changed her mind, yet.

 

[PunkPrince]

Eva smiled as the girl pulled the pile of papers toward them. It seemed that the girl was going to begin to open up to her after all, if only just a bit. "I suppose we should," she laughed softly, picking up a pen to start signing the papers.


"I feel like I should tell you, my name isn't Eric," she said. "I know they told you it was, but it's not. Not anymore, anyway. I'm a transgender woman. Eric was the name my parents gave me, the one I grew up with. I changed it. But...not legally. It's a long process to change everything and...I just haven't yet. Haven't been able to change my gender marker either. I can't where I live. It's not legal for me to. No matter how many times I correct people, sometimes they just don't listen to me."


She hoped that the girl wouldn't react too poorly to what she had just told them. Her father definitely hadn't taken it well. He had cut her off. And her mother...she was dead before Eva had been able to work up the nerve. She'd pricked herself with a used needle and Eva had been forced to watch her deteriorate. She hadn't even been able to touch her. Her mother wouldn't let her. She'd been afraid to get Eva sick.


"I'd like you to come with me," she said. "And I do want you to be a part of my family. I just want to make sure that doesn't bother you too much. My wife is transgender too." She pulled the papers over to herself as she finished signing the last of them. "And I feel like you should know before you live with us."


"But if you're okay with it," she said. "I can turn in these papers and we can go to the airport."

 

[FrankieLynn]

The girl listens, surprised the woman is sharing so much, once again. She stares at the papers as signatures quickly appear on all the dotted lines, as Eva talks more about her family. Lennox's soon-to-be, new family. The thought of not living in this city troubles the teenager way more than the thought of living with transgender women.


Although having a different gender than one's birth-gender is hard for the girl to wrap her head around, but she understands, for the most part. Or maybe she is just to distracted by the moving idea to question their choices. It was all starting to make more sense to the girl now. This is why she is not just going to be Eva's foster kid; they live out of state. Adoption is the only way she can travel to the woman's home legally. The process of "returning" her to the system will be so much more complex if things don't work out. Just getting to the home is bound to be scary, as Lennox has never stepped foot on an airplane.


The teen nods several times, insisting she accepted their genders, but she almost wants to cause a conflict. After wanting to leave this place for so long, it's surprising to Lennox how bad she suddenly wants to stall for time. Maybe they can miss the flight and be forced to ride a bus instead.


"Airport? Are we just renting a car there?"

 

[PunkPrince]

Eva sighed, slightly relieved once she had seen the girl nod. She was okay with it, or at least she seemed to be. Most of her nervousness toward Eva seemed to have faded away by this point, and Eva gave the girl a smile before standing up to hand the papers to the woman, who had reappeared in the open door. "I just took a cab to get here," Eva said as the woman ushered them from the meeting room. Eva took one of Lennox's bags so the girl wouldn't have to carry as much. "Wouldn't make much sense to rent a car when I'm not even here for the whole day."


"I would have driven, but I doubt you'd want to be stuck in a car with me for so long," she commented as they headed outside together. "I get restless on long drives." On the rare occasion that her family had to take long car trips, Kennedy was normally the one that drove. She liked long drives. She was more calm behind the wheel, while Eva just didn't handle being stuck there for extended amounts of time. She preferred planes for very long distances, and if something was close enough, she would walk. She enjoyed walking places.


Upon arriving at the airport, Eva kept her head down, again trying her hardest to ignore being addressed as male. She ignored the bad feeling in her stomach as a male TSA agent patted her down, a feeling that only worsened when he turned to his partner and said, "This is why I hate my job." She briskly moved through the rest of the airport, no longer the chatty, cheerful person she had been earlier in the day.


She sat down in her seat in the plane, letting loose a deep, exasperated sigh and holding her head in her hands for a moment before turning back to the girl again. Kennedy would have been snapping at people left and right had she been here. Eva rarely had the courage to do such things. She was too quiet, too shy. She wasn't the firecracker that Kennedy was. She couldn't wait to get off this plane and be at home. "Is there anything else you want to know?" she asked. "Before we get home?"

 

[FrankieLynn]

Lennox follows close behind Eva, sending dirty glares to the men that comment negatively, as well as everyone who refers to her as Eric, instead of Eva. Technically, this is her mother now, and she feels the need to at least silently protect her feelings. Even with her biological mother, the girl never blames any of her troubles on her mistakes. People all have different problems and difficulties, and the teenager realized this at a very young age.


As they get on the plane, itself, Lennox glances about, knowing her glaring did not solve anything for the woman, despite her attempts to help. She holds her guitar in her lap, but often a minute or so, a flight attendant takes it from her and places it in a cabinet above their seats. The girl shifts about, anxious for the flight ahead, but she doesn't want to frustrate Eva with her childish worries of the plane crashing, and other such fears. Lennox has never flown before, but she knows people do it enough to keep coming back to the airports without question, so she focuses her attention by looking out the window.


The girl shrugs and then shakes her head 'no', copying the woman's quiet behavior. Maybe planes are supposed to be quiet. If this is the case, only a handful of people are following the rule. Lennox gives her new mother and quick smile, hoping she is not doing anything wrong. She checks her seat belt for the third time and lets out a deep breath, preparing for the journey ahead.

 

[PunkPrince]

Eva smiled at Lennox, a small thank you for the glares she had given to the men who mocked her. She noticed the look on the girl's face, and realizing that she was obviously worried said, "Don't worry. Planes are perfectly safe. I wouldn't bring you onto one if they weren't. We won't be flying for very long, I promise. You'll be back to the ground soon enough."


Eva pulled out her phone and tapped out a text to Kennedy. About to take off. Be back at airport in an hour. See you there. Love you. And then she slipped the phone back into her purse. She looked back at Lennox. She really hoped things went well. Her kids were excited to met Lennox, she knew that, but they knew to give her her space. She was mostly curious to see how the kids would mesh. Jupiter, Hugo, and Ronan were all close, but they all shared common interests and had known one another for a while. She was sure things would be fine. It wasn't like anybody was going to instigate anything or try to upset her.


The flight passed fairly quickly, and neither one of them had much to say. Eva wasn't sure if it was just out of nervousness or simply not being able to find the right words. Maybe both. As the plane touched to the ground, Eva reached into the overhead compartment and handed Lennox her guitar. "Here," she said as she stood up. "Wouldn't want to forget this."


Eva headed off the plane, looking back a few times to make sure that Lennox was still following her. She was grateful not to have to talk with anyone else this time as she walked out into the airport and glanced around in search of her wife. She was about to send a "Where are you?" text, but Kennedy found her before she could pull out the phone.


"Eva!" Kennedy called as she spotted Eva with the girl. She walked up to them. Her thick black curls were pulled back into a ponytail and she had pulled on a black leather jacket before leaving the house. It was a bit chilly out. She leaned up to peck Eva on the cheek before looking toward Lennox. "Hi!" she greeted, smiling at the girl. "I'm Kennedy. Nice to meet you, Lennox. Cool name, by the way." She had picked her name and she still liked Lennox's name better than her own.


She looked back at Eva again, noticing the taller woman's gaze darting around. "Are you okay?" Kennedy asked. "Did the airports give you trouble again?"


Eva shook her head. "They always do. It just makes me anxious. Like they see the ID and scrutinize all the things I don't like about myself and I end up thinking, "Are my shoulders too broad? Are my hips too narrow? Has anyone noticed that my hands are big? And then there's the fact that I'm tall. You're lucky you're tiny." She sighed. "Can we just go home?"


"You look fine," Kennedy said. "You over analyze yourself. There are girls with broad shoulders and girls without hips and girls with bigger hands. And being short isn't all it's cracked up to be. I wish I was taller. If you and I were the same height, who would reach the top shelves of things? We'd have to dig out the ladder every ten minutes."


Eva laughed as Kennedy spoke, and Kennedy looked back at Lennox again. "Eva's told you about our other children, right?" she asked as they started out to the car. Eva opened the back door for Lennox and put her things in the trunk. "I think you'll like them."

 

[FrankieLynn]

Lennox, for the first time ever in front of Eva, lets out a laugh. It's not that she actually found the situation funny, but she cannot help but find everything happening around her to be amusing. Both the woman are so excited and nervous at once, as if the girl is their tiny new born baby that they barely know how to hold properly. She is still shaking a bit from the plane's landing, but, after seeing proof that Kennedy is waiting for them, she allows herself to relax, at least for the final moments before arriving at their home.


"Hi... thank you."


The girl tries hard to be friendly, but doesn't know what else to say to the other woman. She watches the two interact, intrigued by their love for each other. Although Kennedy is merely comforting her wife, Lennox has never seen such natural, true love. They don't even need to touch each other to apreciate each other. The teenager smiles at the shelf discussion, but she stares at the ground, so they won't find her obnoxious.


As the trio reaches their car, Lennox lays her bags in the trunk. After a moment of thought, she reluctantly places her guitar in the back, as well. She nods at Kennedy's question, but she is quick to blush, realizing the woman isn't facing her.


"Er...yes, she did. They sound nice. I'm glad they are close to my age."


She thinks her last sentence sounds dumb, but she wants to try speaking more to the women. They have shown her nothing but kindness, so far. The girl stares out the window, wondering what stores their family visits, which school the children attend, and where the famous burlesque bar was that Eva had mentioned. She assumes she will be visiting it soon, if it is so important to the household. Guessing where and what places are only frustrates Lennox, so she spends the majority of the car ride counting red cars.


She also glances about the car's interior, wondering if the family travels together in here, like large families do in the movies. She only spots one wrapper, so she cannot decide if the kids are neat freaks, or if Kennedy had cleaned the car before letting Lennox see it. The thought of someone cleaning a car for her makes the girl smile, and she stares back out the window.

 

[PunkPrince]

The ride back home was pretty quiet, with a bit of chatter between Eva and Kennedy but not much else. They reached the house and Kennedy went to the back of the car to carry Lennox's things into the house. She set them down inside the doorway and glanced at Lennox. "We can take them upstairs in a bit," she said. She glanced into the living room where the TV was on and playing a repeat of a Criminal Minds episode. Jupiter, probably. They loved Criminal Minds and could probably watch it for hours if you let them.


Eva walked into the living room and saw Jupiter hanging upside down off the L-shaped couch, their legs hanging over the top of the back of it. They were still wearing the high heels they had had on earlier. "Could you sit like a normal person?" Eva teased, shoving their legs off the back of the couch.


"I don't know what you're talking about," Jupiter said with a grin. "I'm perfectly normal and this is just how I sit."


"Where are your brothers?" Eva asked. Jupiter simply pointed upward. Kennedy looked over at Lennox. "I'll be back," she said, heading up the stairs. She would probably have to coax Hugo downstairs. She at least had to find one of them to get them to come down. She found them in their room, Hugo still gluing sequins to things, and Ronan on his bed on his laptop. "Hey," she greeted. "Eva's back with Lennox. Could you come downstairs and say hello?"


Ronan stood up almost immediately. Hugo stood, but hesitated. Ronan slipped past her. Hugo was slower, and she recognized the fear in his face. "You'll be fine," she murmured gently. "She's not going to hurt you. No one is going to hurt you. You don't have to say anything at all if you don't want to. Just smile. That's not too hard, is it?" Hugo nodded and she gave his shoulder a gentle nudge. "Good boy," she said to him as they started down the stairs together.


Jupiter got up and walked over to Lennox, heels clicking on the hardwood floor. "Hi," they greeted, giving the girl a smile. "My name is Jupiter." They glanced at the guitar. "I like your guitar. I wish I could play." They paused. "I tried to learn at one point, but I didn't want to have to cut my nails." They glanced down at their nails for a moment, which were long and well manicured, and painted a light blue color. "But I'd like to hear you play at some point."


Ronan appeared at the top of the stairs and grinned when he saw Lennox. "Hi!" he greeted. "I'm Ronan! It's nice to meet you." He offered a friendly grin to the girl, glancing back behind him when he heard Kennedy and Hugo walking down the stairs. Hugo was trailing her, but he grinned when he saw Eva. "You're back!" he chirped happily, glad to see that she had kept her promise to not completely abandon him.


Kennedy smiled as Hugo spoke, and Eva let out a small laugh. "Of course I am," she said. "You knew I would be." She looked toward Lennox. "Lennox, this is Hugo. Hugo, Lennox." And to her surprise, Hugo actually spoke. "Hi," he greeted, a small bit nervous smile gracing his lips.

 

[FrankieLynn]

The teenager watches the women interact with their children, but she does not travel far from her things. Jupiter was interesting enough alone, without the twins, but she waits for their arrival, anyway. She stares at the oldest, looking so at peace in their home, and she feels like she is intruding on their show, although it looks like it was filmed several years ago. When they walk over and mention her guitar, Lennox smiles, but she is also suddenly aware of the ugliness of her chewed-to-the-nub nails, so she curls them into her palms in loose fists. She tries not to look at their high-heeled shoes, but the girl can't help it. When she talks, she seems to be speaking to their feet.


"I...guess I can play it for you later...if you want."


She doesn't feel the need to introduce herself, as she is pretty certain Jupiter knows her name, but she does smile at them, making eye contact right before another voice comes from the stairs. She barely has time to see the boy before he is standing right in front of her. Ronan, the friendly twin. The girl smiles, perhaps a bit too wide, as he enthusiasm; it makes her almost want to shake the male's hand like adults do.


"Hello, Twin One."


After hearing Hugo speak up about Eva's return she flashes a nervous smile at him, feeling guilty that his parent had to leave the house to get her. She fears the boy might be angry with her, so she does not walk any closer. She simply calls out to him from her fixed position by the door.


"Hello, Twin Two. I'm sorry I made Eva go."


With all the greetings made, Lennox suddenly feels a little lost. She doesn't know what else to do at this point, so she leans her weight from one foot to the other with an awkward, closed-lip smile ironed on to her face. She glances about the new faces, wondering how they feel about her. Perhaps tonight, she will find some polish and paint her nails to fit in more.

 

[PunkPrince]

Jupiter smiled. "I'd like that," they said when Lennox said that she would play for them later. When she apologized to Hugo for making Eva leave, the boy shook his head. "No," he said. "It's okay. I just worry a lot. Not your fault." There was a part of him that knew his fears weren't rational, that knew how low the risk of one of his mother's leaving and not coming back was. But it was still something that haunted him. He was afraid of being shoved back into the foster care system, a hell he had spent so long in. He loved his family the way it was. He couldn't bear to lose any of them.


"I can show you where your room is if you want," Ronan offered, picking up one of Lennox's bags. "Follow me." Kennedy took another of Lennox's bags, and she and Eva followed her. They walked to the unoccupied bedroom at the end of the hall next to Jupiter's room. Ronan was the first one inside and set down the bag he was carrying.


"I'm sorry it's so plain," Eva apologized. "We weren't really sure what you liked so we couldn't do much to the place. We decided to leave it up to you."


"We could go out and get you a few things later if you want," Kennedy offered. "Fill the room up a bit more."


"We could help you unpack if you want," Hugo offered quietly. "Or not. We could leave you be, if you want to be alone." He was back to staring at his shoes as he spoke. "Whichever." He didn't want to bother her, didn't want to make her nervous. He wouldn't have wanted this many people around him when Eva and Kennedy had first adopted him.

 

[FrankieLynn]

Lennox follows Ronan down the hall, and, once they arrive, she sits on the bed, looking at the small crowd gathering around her. She is thankful for their kindness but also afraid of their persistence to please her. Truthfully, the girl just wanted to sleep, but she tries not to seem annoyed as they all seem to have something loving to tell her.


When the mention of the room's design is said, the teenager grins, wanting to make the room her secret sanctuary. Because she has nothing to earn their acceptance but the entire family is still insisting that she is comfortable, Lennox is starting to realize she is going to be here for a while. Even Hugo tries to aid the girl, offering to help her unpack, of all things. The teenager wonders if the shy boy would even be able to organize her clothing from the pile she had shoved into her bags. When you are used to moving around, you become skilled at taking only the important things. The trick is not to look at each thing or take the time to fold any pieces of clothing. Packing her things nicely would be cruel to the girl's mind, tricking it into believing that she is excited to do so.


"I...I don't know what I want, quite this second. Actually, I don't want anything done at this moment, honestly. But..."


The girl turns her gaze towards Kennedy as she continues speaking.


"Why did you pick me? This family already seems so happy and full."


Lennox is not upset or majorly frustrated at all. She just wants to understand why she was given the opportunity to be sitting here, right now.

 

[PunkPrince]

Kennedy looked at Lennox as she asked her question. It wasn't a strange question for her to ask, she supposed not, but for some reason it still struck her as strange. Did she think she wasn't worth being chosen by anybody? Who wouldn't want to take her? She'd been in their home for all of ten minutes and Kennedy already loved her. "Who wouldn't pick you?" Kennedy asked. "I'm surprised you were still there when we found you, honestly."'


Eva laughed softly as her wife spoke. "What she said," Eva said. "And I know you've had a rough life. I think all of us have." She glanced around the room. "And on top of that, foster care sucks. We wanted to help you. You don't deserve any of what you've gone through. Nobody deserves that."


Their whole family had had rough lives. Kennedy being abused by her brother, Jupiter's rejection by their aunt and uncle, all of the abuse Hugo and Ronan had suffered through in foster care. And then there was Eva herself. Her father had rejected her. The two of them had never really been close, but his rejection had still hurt. She still wasn't over the death of her mother, and it had been ten years. Eva still missed her. She knew she always would. She just wished that she had been able to come out before her mother had died. Maybe had a bit of acceptance just for a while before losing her mother forever. She fingered the necklace she was wearing. A small crystal heart that had once been her mother's. Eva had taken it from her jewelry box the day she had died. It was all Eva had left of her.

 

[FrankieLynn]

Lennox nods, though she is not completely convinced that she is worth the trouble. She doesn't want to make the women uncomfortable, so she gives them a rather fake smile to conclude the conversation. The girl, not knowing what else to do, starts to unpack her belonging, starting with her beloved guitar. She lays the case on the floor and then sits down beside it, so the zipper isn't snagged from pulling it from above. The case she has isn't the professional type real artists have, but it gets her instrument from place to place without a huge amount of damage. There are only a few "bruises", and Lennox counts them as natural wear-and-tear. Once the panel of fabric can be flipped away from the guitar, the teenager pulls it out with pride.


"She made it, safely!"


She is so excited to see her friend again, Lennox has to stop herself from hugging it. She flattens a few older stickers down that are trying to run away and strums the strings gently. Everything was perfect. Without a stand to prop it on, the girl glances about, and decides to lay it against the wall by the window. This way, she can see it every time she walks into the room. Having spent so much time checking on her instrument, Lennox turns completely red with embarrassment. She must look like a freak to the other kids watching her. Sure, Jupiter had on high heels and Hugo was volunteering to put her underwear away, but at least they weren't giving pronouns to inanimate objects.


The girl laughs awkwardly at herself, wanting to disappear. Instead of vanishing, though, her body begins to shake. Her laughter suddenly mushes into tears, and soon, the girl is sitting on the bed, crying in front of her new family. So much for fitting in, now. She tries to hide her face with her hair, but ends up looking even more pathetic. Through her sobs, she tries to speak, but her voice is shaky, causing her to sound like a small child. She looks down at her feet, suddenly feeling guilty for wearing her dirty sneakers in the house.


"I'm sorry...I...I don't know why I'm upset...y-you guys didn't do anything wrong, on-honest."

 

[PunkPrince]

Eva watched as the girl began to unpack her guitar. Her face lit up as she realized that it was safe. "Of course she made it," Eva commented happily. "It's a good thing we didn't check it and you put it in the overhead compartment. Might not have made it then." She didn't play an instrument, but she had friends that were musicians, and she had learned a bit about traveling with them from friends. It was nice to see that Lennox had something that made her so happy.


But the happy expression faded from the girl's face just as quickly as it had come and a nervous one replaced it before the child burst into tears. "Don't be upset," Kennedy said gently, sitting down on the bed next to her. "Plenty of people have little things that make them really happy. No need to be embarrassed about that. I don't know why you're crying about it." She smiled at the girl and put a comforting arm around her.


"Eva has a drag sister who plays guitar," Ronan piped up helpfully. "Cherie genders her instruments all the time." He paused. "I think she actually named her first one. She's never played in drag though. She keeps her drag and her band separate, I guess." He shrugged and then laughed. "You can't freak out about that. I dress up in the opposite sex's clothing and mouth the words to other people's songs in bars." He raised an eyebrow and gave her a sort of, "beat that," grin.

 

[FrankieLynn]

Lennox laughs at Ronan's story, trying to imagine him is drag, but the thought is still impossible to vision. The combination of kind words and an arm around her does calm the down quickly, and she smiles at Kennedy, finding the touch both comforting and frightening at once. Her body physically relaxes, and the girl wipes away the last of her tears, feeling silly for overreacting. Sometimes she took everything too serious, while other times, she seemed to have no worries at all.


The teenager tries to think of a story of her being even more abnormal than the boy, but most of her memories are sad or confusing. She decides on telling him a random tale about a little girl in her third grade class whom thought her name was Kleenex. She mentions how the student had made everyone say 'tissue' instead of 'kleenex', so her feelings wouldn't be hurt.


"I never corrected to her, because it was fun having a friend like that. Some people are just meant to be an example to others, I think. Maybe lip syncing music is inspiring somebody not to judge people? Like you're saying it's okay to be named Kleenex."


She shrugs, hoping the words sound as nice as she means for them to. The thought of making other happy reminds Lennox of the woman beside her, and she side-hugs her, surprised she had only met her mere hours before. The family was already way better than any she had been tossed into before.

 

[PunkPrince]

Kennedy returned the girl's smile with a reassuring pat on the shoulder. The girl had just about stopped crying, and Kennedy was happy to see it, giving the older of the twins a grateful grin as he attempted to comfort Lennox. It was always nice to see her children trying to cheer one another up, not that they ever really fought. But they were always there to pick each other up when it was needed, something that Kennedy had never had with her own brother when she was growing up. The concept of siblings being kind to one another had seemed almost alien to her back then. It was comforting to know that her children were not about to suffer a childhood like her own.


Hugo started laughing when Lennox told her story. Eva was actually surprised. His nervousness seemed to have faded somewhat. Normally around new people he would only let out a nervous chuckle, if that. "I'm changing my drag name to Kleenex," he announced. "Kleenex Boxx."


Jupiter snickered and gave their brother a playful swat. "You are the absolute worst. I hate you. I'm gonna come into your room at night and cut up all your wigs." They looked over at Eva and Kennedy. "If Lennox isn't gonna unpack the rest of her stuff right now," they started. "Are we doing anything for dinner? I'm kind of hungry." Eva was quiet for a moment.


"I could make something," she said. "Or we could go out to a restaurant if you want." She looked at Lennox, deciding to allow the girl to choose. "Which would you rather do? Anything in particular you're hungry for?"

 

[FrankieLynn]

Lennox laughs as Hugo makes a joke from her story. When she hears the fake name, she laughs even harder, picturing the male dressed in a large, pastel-colored, cardboard box on his waist and all-white clothing to form the "tissue". She then listens to Jupiter, as they make their suggestion about eating. She was growing quite hungry, herself. Although eating out could get expensive for the large family, the girl does not want to put more work on Eva. The woman had already been through enough toil by getting through the airport security, not only once but twice, and convincing Lennox that everything would work out between them.


"I think I would rather go somewhere; I need to start learning my way around... could we get pizza?"


The girl grins sheepishly, knowing pizza isn't the best source of nutrition. She can't help but crave its sweet flavor, having been without a slice in over two months, now. Plus, the teenager hopes the price isn't too high for the couple to handle. She had learned from television that boys tend to eat a lot. Like a-whole-pizza-for-one-person a lot.

 

[PunkPrince]

Ronan grinned when Lennox suggested pizza. "There's a pizza place down the street from here that does a buffet thing," he suggested. "We could go there."


Eva smiled at the idea. "Sure," she said. "If you want to. It's not far and it's still pretty nice out. We could probably just walk there." Not only did she like the idea, but the buffet would be cheaper than ordering a bunch of pizza for all of them. She never seemed to get enough no matter how much she ordered.


Kennedy stood up from where she was sitting on Lennox's bed. "Fine with me," she said. "At least we won't be messing up the kitchen. Less cleaning for me to do." Jupiter was gone and down the stairs before Kennedy had even finished her sentence. She laughed and followed after them. "Guess that means we should get going," she said. Hugo followed her from the room, leaving only Eva, Ronan and Lennox behind.


Once they had set out down the street toward the restaurant, Jupiter looked over at Lennox. "What kind of stuff do you like?" they asked. "I mean, I know you play guitar, so I know you like music, but I don't know much else about you. None of us do except for Eva. I feel like we should, since you live with us now."

 

[FrankieLynn]

Lennox nods, agreeing with the simplicity of walking to the pizza place, and follows both Eva and Ronan outside. Because she had talked to those two family members the most, she was already trying to learn from their examples. The girl even finds herself attempting to (literally) walk in Ronan's footsteps, hopping into the same concrete sections as he does and appearing very childlike. Although the teenager is independent, she cannot help the natural yearning of a child influencing her to copy those around here. When in Rome; do as the Romans do. When in a new family; do as the other children do.


Although the female is busy jumping about, trying to stay one movement behind the older twin, she could feel the gaze set upon her from Jupiter. Lennox ponders over their question, impressed at the eldest child's ability to make casual conversation. They said words in just the right way to make the girl suprised but comfortable with sharing. She answers them after a bit, having a hard choosing her words.


"It's not just guitar, though. I like other types of art, too, like drawings and painting and writing. I can't sing well, but I still try, at times. I love adding my own touch to things...like leaving my initials or a sparkly sticker behind as decorations."


The girl shrugs, finding her own voice boring. She doesn't know much Jupiter expected her to say.


(Possible errors within; extremely tired))

 

[PunkPrince]

(Don't worry about it!)


Jupiter laughed. "I can't sing either," they said. "But I like art too. I'm not much good at drawing, but I like to think I'm good at makeup."


"She spends half her time smearing it all over her face," Ronan teased. Jupiter simply shrugged. "Pretty much," they laughed. "But, I guess I'm pretty artistic. I can make things out of scotch tape and a sense of hope...and tears, occasionally."


"Half their stuff looks like they spilled something on it," Hugo spoke up. "They didn't spill anything, it's just from them crying because they can't sew."


"It's true, I can't," Jupiter said. They glanced at Eva ant started snickering. "I make her sew things for me because I'm garbage."


"Oh, you don't have to tell us," Ronan said. "We know." Eva gave him a light swat, though Jupiter seemed to find their brother's comment funny.


The group reached the restaurant and after getting a table, Kennedy looked back at the children. "Okay," she said. "Knock yourselves out."


"I'm going to eat myself into a coma," Ronan laughed.


"Okay don't do that," Eva said. "Maybe on the brink of a coma. Or something. Don't overload yourself."