That night, Reyna curled up in Cody's bed by herself, dressed in one of his t-shirts and a pair of her compression shorts, her laptop on top of the blankets on her lap. Both cats had made themselves at home, curled up on her shins behind the laptop she wss using to sign into Skype. Once she was on, she shot a text to Caroline that she was logged on and ready. Within seconds, Caroline's contact info popped up, so Reyna hit collect and brushed some of her hair away from her face. It took a second to load, but she was soon looking at her large Australian family gathered together on her computer screen: Dad, Caroline, a nine year old boy, and three blonde toddlers.

"Na-na!" one of the little blonde girls cried out, identifying herself as Averi.

"Aves!" she said back, an easy smile covering her face as she answered her little sister.

"Rey!" another one said. "What you doin'?"

"Hi, Abi," she answered, somewhat amused by her sister's words. "I called to wish your momma a happy birthday!"

"That's right, today momma birfday," the third blonde toddler said, rounding out the triplet trio. "But hi, Leyna."

When the triplets had begun talking, none of them could pronounce Reyna, so each of them had came up with their own name for her. It wasn't on purpose that they did, they all just called her something different and it did help in telling the identical triplets apart, among a few other things, like the freckles scattered across Abi's cheeks and the mole on Averi's eyebrow and the little pink birthmark on Ameri's shoulder. Even Keegan had had difficulties when he first met her, as he was two when he and his mother had come into her life, and she had been fourteen.

"Hi, Princess," Reyna replied. "Hey, Keegs. Did you guys do anything special for her for her birthday?"

Her step-brother nodded, "Hey, Na. Yeah, we made her breakfast in bed and sang happy birthday to her. Then we're going to the beach in a little bit and then doing presents for her later."

"Aww! I wish I could be there," she said, honestly feeling that tug in her heart that was trying to direct her to that side of her family.

"But you ditched us for a boy," Caroline teased, a content smile on her face. "It'd be okay if he was there with you to Skype us."

"What boy?" Abi asked, her eyes wide. "You have boyfriend?"

Reyna laughed a little, smiling as she said, "No, no boyfriend."

"Where is Cody?" her dad asked, quirking an eyebrow at his eldest daughter.

Just Cody's name caused her siblings to all fly into excitement, making her laugh as she listened to them.

"CODY!" Averi squealed, clapping her hands together.

"Where he?" Ameri asked, her eyes searching the room around Reyna.

"Love Cody," Abi said with a wide grin.

Reyna wiggled her legs, causing the cats to vacate her lap, both sending her looks as they curled up on the bed. After picking up the laptop, she rolled over onto her stomach and let the computer come to a rest on top of pillows.

Keegan raised an eyebrow at her, "Is that Athena I see?"

She grinned, glancing back at the calico cat, "Yes. And yes, I'm with Cody."

"But where he at?" Abi asked, bouncing up and down on her mom's lap.

"He was going to join the video chat, but he and O'Brien had plans, then he wanted to take a shower. So I took a quick one and called you before he got back."

"We miss Cody," Ameri sighed, pouting. "We want him!"

"Calm down, girls," Dad told them with a laugh, patting their heads. Averi yawned as he did, rubbing at her eyes. He then turned back to look at me. "What plans do you guys have?"

"I'm just gonna spend time with the cast and watch them film. Cora isn't coming back for the final season, so I have no ties to set. I might sightsee a bit or visit family for a couple days."

"Fun," Caroline said with a smile.

Conversation flowed between the seven of them for about twenty minutes, the girls excitedly telling their big sister all about their friends and the dog and their pre-school classes. Keegan told her all about the bugs he had discovered around their yard, about adventures with his best friend, and about new TV show they had started as a family.

Once Keegan had finished talking, Averi grabbed the laptop and taken it over so that she could see Booger, who had brightened up when he saw the eldest Mason child. She grinned as his tail wagged.

"Who's a good boy?" she cooed, grinning at the dog.

Averi's face popped back into the screen and a smile covered her face as she focused on something behind Reyna, "Cody!"

The sounds of the other two little girls squealing could be heard as she glanced over her shoulder, spotting Cody standing in the doorway. He had an amused look on his face and a towel in his hand, dressed in just a pair of his sweatpants. When she looked back to the computer screen, all of her family was looking on bemusedly. She grinned at them as she picked the laptop up, twisting back around to rest it on her lap so that Cody could join her comfortably, which he did: he sat down on the bed next to her, gently kicking her before she pressed their sides together and threw her legs up over his.

"Hey, Mason fam!" he said with a grin, wrapping an arm around Reyna's shoulders.

"You seriously don't grasp the concept of knocking, do you?" her dad laughed, looking at Cody pointedly.

Cody laughed, "It's my room, didn't think I had to knock."

"Oooh," Keegan said, wiggling his eyebrows. "Cody and Reyna are sharing a bed?"

"Keegan Oliver!" Reyna exclaimed, laughing a little. "Don't be annoying."

"I think he's secretly Reese," Cody whispered to her, which made her throw her head back and laugh.

"That's not how you get a boyfriend," her brother claimed, smirking. "No one is gonna love you if you laugh like that."

"Wrong," Cody said with a smile. "I love her, despite her weird laugh."

"Cody, pay attention me!" Ameri cried, waving her hands.

"Well hello, my little princesses," he said with a smile, looking at the three little blondes.

Their cheeks flushed and as he conversed with her family, she thought back to the reference her dad had made to another time where Cody hadn't knocked on the door. It wasn't the first time that he and Caroline had met her best friend, but it had been one of the more memorable times because it had been the first time the girls had been old enough to remember meeting him and it had been an awkward situation.

Her dad, Caroline, Keegan, and the triplets had been visiting New York City for a small vacation. All of them were gathered in her living room, eating ice cream and laughing, when the front door had swung open and Cody had walked in. They were surprised to see him so casually enter her apartment and he was surprised to find a while gathering of Australians in her apartment. All the awkwardness soon disappeared, him soon being covered in blonde 2 year olds and her parents no longer believing she had given a key to her apartment to a random and secret boyfriend. They had known Cody for years and talked to him via phone calls a few times, but that had been the foundation for all of their adoration of her actor best friend.

She was jolted back to attention when he pinched her arm, which made her wince before sending him a harsh look.

"What do you want?"

He chuckled, "Aves is tired, so they're all saying goodbye so she can take a nap before they go to the beach."

"Oh," she muttered, looking a little ashamed as she looked back to the screen. "Have a nice nap, Aves. We love you."

"Love you too, Na-Na," she said gently, smiling at her sister. "Love you, Cody."

"Love you, too, Princess," he said, making Reyna smile and rest her head on his shoulder.

Everyone else said their goodbyes and goodnights [since Reyna and Cody would be falling asleep after the call ended]. Once all the kids had taken off and her dad had gone to tuck Averi into bed for her nap, Caroline smirked at the two best friend's.

"So you'll be sleeping head to feet, right?" she teased.

"You're so rude," Reyna laughed. "Happy birthday, Care. I love you. I'll come visit after Teen Wolf is wrapped, okay?"

"And I might tag along," Cody said, smiling at her. "Happy birthday, love you."

"Love you too, guys. Have a good sleep."

Once the call ended, Reyna shut the laptop and set it on the bedside table. Without speaking, the two friends adjusted themselves under the covers, her head on his chest and one of his arms wrapped around her. They had slept like this and up until they were eighteen, he always had an excuse to negate the rule of them sleeping head to feet. But now, it's a given that they'd be cuddling, and neither tried to deny it for aloud as they fell asleep together for the first time in months, both completely at peace.

•••

why do i love them so much? why do i wish i was at home in bed? how many times will i cry in the bathroom today? no one knows the answer.

[ 8.7.17 ]