AN: Fair warning, because I know how emotional you guys get--probably one chapter after this one, okay?

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And suddenly everyone was talking at once, even Finn, Brina, and Lottie, who were crying, along with Clio and Joyce. Archie was still holding a bloodied Willow back by her elbows, while Ira and Zeke had Francie by the arms and waist, trying to keep her from attacking Willow again.

Pete finally had enough. "Silencio!" he roared, throwing his arms out. This immediately silenced all of the Santangelo children and Zeke, who had so rarely heard Pete raise his voice that they were shocked into a noiselessness rare in their boisterous household. The others, too, stopped speaking and stared at the master of the house, wondering what else was coming their way.

"We take an extra five minutes to take the dog for a walk and return home to this? A brawl between one of our daughters and a guest in our home? Blood everywhere? Our babies crying? Che cosa stanno facendo qui? What are you doing here?" They had gone to a neighborhood pizzeria that knew Della well and welcomed her to their heated outdoor area. Della, the dog in question, was watching the drama in the living room with avid canine curiosity.

Before anyone else could say anything, Francie stepped into the fray, after first pulling herself out of Ira and Archie's grip. "I didn't hear what she said first, but when I walked in, that girl there was in the middle of calling Lottie the N-word, and telling her why she didn't even want to touch her," she spat.

Francie did indeed look like she'd been in a brawl, which she actually had. She had blood smeared across her cheek, and spatters of blood across her hoodie, which ironically said, "Treat People With Kindness" in the colors of the rainbow.

"I'm guessing that's what happened at the ice rink," she continued. "That bitch probably didn't want to have her hands on Lottie and just let go of her when she thought no one was looking so she'd crash into the fence."

And everyone could tell from the look on Willow's face that this was the truth.

Daisy stepped forward, still in her coat and hat. "Get out of my house," she said grimly.

Willow rose uncertainly and took a couple of steps toward Clio and Francie's bedroom. "My things--" she began.

"NOW."

And suddenly Della pulled her leash out of Pete's hand and had taken an aggressive stance midway between Willow and Joyce, who was still seated on the loveseat. An ominous growl rumbled out of her deep chest. She looked back and forth between the young woman in the red dress and the redhead in the green dress, assuring that neither one did anything untoward.

The humans in the room looked at each other in astonishment. It was almost understandable how she would know to guard Willow, given her tone and exchange with Francie and Daisy, but how had she known about Joyce?

Joyce rose without a word and followed Willow as she edged carefully around the huge dog and made her way toward the elevator which served as the Santangelos' front door. Della followed a few steps behind the pair, stalking them, placing her feet carefully, a barely audible snarl emanating at a constant level from her throat.

Both girls quickly grabbed their coats and entered the elevator, letting it close behind them without making a sound.

The atmosphere in the room relaxed palpably when they were gone, and Daisy went straight to Francie to see if she was hurt.

"Mom, I'm fine, she didn't land any punches or anything," Francie assured her mother.

Archie scooted closer to Clio and took her in his arms, patting her hair.

"I'm so sorry, Archie, I'm so so sorry," she kept saying.

"Shh, shh, you did nothing wrong, truly, you've nothing to apologize for," he comforted.

Clio's phone dinged with an incoming text. She looked at it and gave a tired smile. "The car's here," she said to the room at large.

"I'll go down and tell them the plans have changed," Ira said, rising.

"No, you know what? We should take the car and go out and have a drink or something," Zeke said, rising as well. "We certainly can't go to the benefit, but we're all dressed up and everything, seems a shame to waste the tuxes and the car, don't you think?" He looked around the room. "I think the Santangelos and Archie could use a little privacy right now, so what do you say? Let's go paint the town or whatever, okay?"

Clio gave him a look of gratitude as Ira nodded his agreement.

The two boys said their goodbyes and left, and Pete and Daisy got their brood changed into their pajamas as Clio and Archie changed out of their evening wear back into their regular clothes. And when they were all gathered once more in the living room, tears dried at last, Lottie finally felt comfortable enough, seated between her parents, to ask the question that had been on her mind for the last half hour.

"You guys? What's a n_____?" She looked back and forth from her mother to her father. It was a word she'd never heard before in her thirteen years of life outside of songs. She'd certainly never heard herself referred to by that term.

Archie and Clio, who were sitting arm in arm on the love seat, swallowed and bit their lips together. They had an unspoken agreement that their discussion could wait until later, when they were alone. The Santangelos needed to talk first, and Clio was a Santangelo and needed to participate. And no way was Archie going to leave her alone, not when he'd just gotten her back, so to speak.

"Is that what Francie meant when she said 'the N-word?'" Lottie went on.

Francie looked like she was going to combust, she was so angry. The little ones merely looked curious.

"Well, I'm glad you've never heard that word before in reference to yourself," Daisy began. "It's considered to be not a nice word, maybe considered to be one of the worst words in the English language at the moment. It's a way of referring to people whose skin has dark pigment."

"Like mine? Or Auntie Ellen and Maya's?" Lottie asked. "I thought it was another word for rappers, you know?"

"Well, piccola, in general, words that refer to the color of people's skin or hair or whatever aren't good, you know?" Pete said, kissing the top of his daughter's head. "We should try to notice how people are on the inside, and not just what they look like on the outside. I mean, of course we can't help but notice these things, and I love how all of you look, and I think you're all beautiful, you know this, but you understand me, right?"

Brina ran her finger down her sister's arm. She liked the color of Lottie's skin, but it had never occurred to her that it could be considered a bad thing, a thing to make fun of her for.

"Sometimes Lottie and I talk about what it would be like to look like each other. You know, like what if she had red hair and freckles, like me, and what if I had dark skin and hair like hers? Is that bad?" Sabrina asked uncertainly. "Does that make us racist? Because sometimes I don't like my freckles, and I wish my skin were like hers, and Lottie says sometimes she doesn't like her hair, and wishes it were red, like mine. We didn't know it was bad to think that, though, we really didn't." Now she sounded scared.

"No, love, that's not what your father means at all," Daisy interjected. "It's perfectly normal to feel those things." She smiled at her redheaded daughter, who gave her back the scrunchy faced smile her mother loved. "When I was little, I hated my curly orange hair, and I used to wish every night before I went to sleep for brown, wavy hair like your sister Clio has. And every morning I'd wake up to the same old crazy curly orange hair. I even cried a couple of times about it, until my granny told me that when I grew up my hair would probably relax a little and get darker. Which it did."

"Charlotte, I'm so sorry I brought that evil person into your life." Archie spoke up. "I had no idea she was so vile, and held so much hatred inside her. If I'd known, I never would've called her friend, and I never would've brought her into your home."

"That's okay," Lottie answered from the safety of her parents' arms. "I know you didn't know she was such a mean person."

Finn, who hadn't said anything up to this point, climbed onto Francie's lap. "I never liked her," he remarked, pulling his sister's arms around his tummy. "She smiled mean."

"And what exactly happened before we got here?" Francie asked. She gestured toward Clio and Archie. "You two have obviously made up?"

Clio sighed.  "It turned out that Willow had drugged Archie, and she'd--she'd assaulted him at the party. She'd gotten Joyce to record it, if you can believe it, and Joyce sent me the recording tonight."

Clio turned to Archie. "I'm so sorry," she said again. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you--"

"Shh," Archie shushed her. "I just wish you'd answered one of my texts. I wanted to talk to you. I don't know if I would've told you, but I did want to talk to you, you know?"

"You never sent me any texts," Clio protested. "I never got any--"

"Oh shit," Francie murmured. "That's my fault, you guys."

Everyone in the room looked at her.

"I blocked Archie's number in your phone when you were asleep," Francie explained. "It was when you were so hurt and upset, and I didn't want to give him any more chances to hurt you, you know?"

"Oh Francie, I wish you'd told me," Clio said in exasperation.

"Please forgive me?" Francie asked. "I feel so bad about it now." She kissed the top of Finn's head.

"For what it's worth, I forgive you, Francesca," Archie spoke up, kissing Clio's hand. "Please, Clio, forgive your sister, she meant well, you know that."

"Of course I forgive her," Clio said, shaking her head.

"On that note, I believe it's time for all little Santangelos to go to bed," Pete said firmly, rising from his place on the sofa and picking Lottie up as he did so.

"Dad, I'm too big for you to pick up!" she protested with a laugh. "I'm thirteen years old!"

"But you're still my piccola," Pete said as he blew a raspberry on her tummy. "And you always will be."

Daisy let Sabrina up on her back, and Francie picked up Finn, and they carried the three young ones off to bed.

"Mom? Dad? I think I'm going to spend the night at Archie's tonight, okay?" Clio called after her parents as they went down the hallway carrying her sisters.

"We assumed you would, see you tomorrow," came the response from her mother.

"They assumed I would," Clio repeated to Archie with a grin.

"So I heard," he responded, kissing her temple.

"Let me grab some pajamas."

"You can sleep in one of my shirts."

"Okay."

And they headed down the elevator, arm in arm.