Later That Night
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At around 11:15 PM all but Feather, Lin, and Pippa were gathered around the kitchen island playing games and eating desserts. "What did you just say?" Claudia cackled, holding the phone in Lizzie's face to film a video of her reaction to the card played. It was clear Lizzie had more than enough cards in her hand and wasn't happy about it.

"I said, you're a bitch and I'm gonna fight you if you put down one more damn draw four!" She replied with a smile on her face even though she was over UNO. Claudia saved the video to her phone and chuckled. Nova shoved a spoon full of creme brûlée into her mouth and smacked down a draw two which started a train of them going around the circle til it got back toEnzo.

"Damn," he gasped, hoping that the one he had would outlast the chain reaction. He started to pluck until he realized how many he was going to have to pick. "What a damn minute. How the fuck am I supposed to pick up 18 cards? We don't even have that many in the damn pile!" He complained gaining more laughs from the group. Mason sat his cards face down and grabbed the discard and pick up pile, leaving the top card and shuffling the rest.

"You're welcome," he smirked. The kids watched in horror and entertainment as he counted every card he plucked.

"That's fucked up," Allie comment. She slipped her cards in her cardigan pocket and ran to the fridge while they waited. Noah watched carefully, taking a tiny peak at his fiancé in the process. She turned back to see him staring, making her giggle. "Baby, my eyes are here," she joked. Noah tried to pull his smile back but couldn't. He held his hand out and let her fall into his arms. Allie pecked his lips a few times then came back to her bar stool.

"Get a room!" Claudia fake gagged, egging on the rest of the Miranda-Soo clan to join her in boos and taunts.

"Don't be jealous cause I'm getting some and y'all aren't," she smirked. Lizzie shook her head with a smirk on her face.

"Who's not getting some? My man's right there, baby," she chuckled, pointing to Mason who simply shrugged. "She's talking to y'all," she teased. Lesley looked to Nova whom had continued to stay quiet and giggle to herself.

"You better not be getting some. That's all I know," Lesley playfully warned. Nova held her hands up in defense.

"I think I'm the only one not getting some. Never have and probably never will," she replied. Claudia nudged her cousins shoulder with a wink.

"Your time's coming. How is Monte anyway?" She smirked, unintentionally pausing the game. Everyone's eyes went to Nova who was blushing harder than a marathon runner in 104 degree heat.

"Who's Monte? Are you sleeping with them?" Lesley asked, worried about how little her daughter told her. Nova bit her lip with a small shrug.

"Monte is my girlfriend. We met at school," she shared. Enzo turned to his niece with a smirk.

"And this Monte chick, she nice to you?" Enzo asked, putting on a macho man facade as if he could do anything if Monte wasn't. Nova nodded. 

"Yes, she's nice to me. No, we aren't sleeping together. Guys, it's only been a few months. Who knows, we may not even make it past finals," she nonchalantly claimed. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed," she dismissed, dropping her cards on the counter and leaving the kitchen.

"Nova! Come on! I was just about to get to Annemarie and her two in one!" Claudia called, jogging after her cousin. All eyes went to Annemarie who was hiding her face behind her cards. She peered out to catch daggers from everyone but Allie and Noah.

"In my defense, I was drunk. And if my vagina didn't hurt this morning, I probably wouldn't have known," she confessed only to make matters worst. Mouths dropped as the fun of the night started to dwindle.

"That's rape—,"

"Woah, woah! We do not have to start throwing around the R word here. I was going to have sex last night anyways. I'm pretty sure I said yes before anything happened, so let's not start making accusations. It wasn't like that," she defused, before running off to beat her sister.

"And mom thinks this is any better?" Enzo griped. Lesley shrugged.

"Honestly, no one has run away or been locked up yet, so I think we are doing pretty good," Allie tried. She could see her siblings weren't going for that a gracefully bowed out with Noah not to far behind. Lizzie chuckled to herself as she collected all of the cards.

"What's so funny?" Mason asked, sliding the box to her and picking up dishes.

"Nothing, nothings. It's just, Allie's right. I mean at their age, Mase we were sexually active and about to runaway. Lesley, you were a mother. Enzo, you just got out of jail for drugs and fighting. The kids are doing a lot, but they are doing better than us," she said. "Except for Annie, someone should really talk to her about that," she tossed out there. The social worker in her didn't like that story very much.

"That's true, I mean at 14, I was two knuckles deep in Danielle. Then juvie so..." he trailed off. Lizzie nodded dramatically and pulled her feet up in the chair.

"Exactly, my point. The kids are in a great time of exploration and just need our guidance. And Pippa and Lin don't need our judgment they are doing the best than can considering, " she proposed. Enzo dropped his head for second then picked it up.

"Damn, I'm glad my kid is seven," he cheered. He got to skip the baby part and still had time before the teenage years.

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The next day while everyone was doing their own things, Enzo and Feather made their way into town. The two walked past a beautiful boutique where a colorful dress immediately caught Feather's eye. "Oh! Daddy look! I want this dress! Can I try it on, please?" She begged. Enzo obliged and slipped into the store behind her.

At the counter a lovely middle aged woman waved to Feather and smiled at Enzo. "Welcome to Paulina's. I'm Belen if you need anything," she greeted. The two waved back with warm smiles. Feather immediately sprinted to the dress when a younger girl closer to Enzo's age came from behind it holding a white sun dress. The two bumped one another accidentally, causing them to stumble back a bit.

"Oh, I'm sorry, let me get out of your way," the nice girl apologized to the small child. Feather shrugged her off with a smile.

"It's okay. I like that dress. It's pretty?" She complimented the girl pushed her wavy hair behind her ear allowing Enzo a good look at her face. She had a strong jawline and beautiful tan skin. Hispanic for sure. She was short, but he wasn't overly tall so it compliment him. Before long he found himself staring. "I'm Feather. This my daddy, Enzo. What's your name?" The girl couldn't help, but chuckle at how cute and forward Feather was.

"I'm Katherine, but you can call me Kate," she smiled, holding her hand out for Enzo to shake. As soon as their hands touched, Feather's eyes lit up. She had a new mission on her hands. Operation Kenzo was officially born.

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At the house, Phillipa slid off the couch in her husband's office and pulled her underwear on. "God, I miss spontaneous sex. I love when we have the house to ourselves," she gleefully exclaimed. Lin nodded in the middle of sliding his button up back on.

"Will we ever have an empty house?" He chuckled. Pippa shrugged. It seemed like everytime they were close to it, something happened.

"We were four away. And now, everyone is back. How did we end up with a house of fourteen?" She asked. Lin shrugged. "Okay, in all fairness, two are moving out after the wedding, whenever that is, and Noah doesn't technically live with us," she justified. Lin nodded his head and tossed her her dress.

"Yeah, because eleven is so much better," he joked. There was no point in either of their lives that they thought they would have eight kids and three almost four grandchildren. Or seven and five depending on who was asked. "This is partially our fault," Lin sighed. Pippa rose an eyebrow.

"Elaborate."

"Well, had we not lived in a seven bedroom house, we could get rid of them," Lin continued. Pippa couldn't help but chuckle.

"You're right. But, we bought that house with the intent to grow our family. And grow it did. But to down size at this point will just have some of our kids sleeping in the living room and others in a hotel... on our dime. So, I'd rather just pay our mortgage and have my living room free. But, this begs the question, who is going where?" Pippa paused.

"How about we move Feather and Nova into the nursery, so Allie can have this baby with her. And Lesley can have her baby with her. The twins will keep their room. Enzo will keep his and once Mason and Lizzie leave the basement, we can move Lesley and the baby down to the basement and give Nova Lesley's room," Lin suggested. "Allie will move out eventually with Noah once the baby is bigger and he's graduated. So the. Nova can then move to her room and we can move one of the twins to the empty room. Then everyone is happy. I was going to say Enzo and Feather move to the basement, but Lesley may be in our house longer that Enzo," he decided. Pippa was fine with everything she'd heard.

"I think that sounds good," Pippa agreed. Lin cheered for himself. He was never the house planning type, so for him to get it fairly right on the first try was huge. "Okay, give me kisses, I'm gonna go check the dinner reservation for tonight," she said before pecking his lips a few times then scurrying off.

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Lizzie sat in front of her computer, reading through a few emails from some wedding vendors, when Mason came in holding a folder. "Hey, babe can you talk to me for a second?" He asked. Lizzie shrugged, then slid her computer to the bottom of the bed.

"The carpenters mailed these over and want our opinion first the living room flooring," he contextualized. Lizzie looked over the vinyl options, biting her lips as she ran her hands across the three planks.

"Hmm, I think I like the light ones. It should contrast nicely with our furniture," she said. Mason nodded. He knew the vision of the house that they wanted to create and could understand her decision. They were moving a few communities over from Pippa and Lin's. It was going to be a smaller three bedroom home that had the basement as a game and movie room. They wanted their family to come over and be cozy, but also wanted a space that they could keep up with. Since it would be just them, and their eventual dog, having a three bedroom home gave room for an office and guest bedroom. And because they would soon own the home, having the ability to customize it had them excited.

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A few doors down, Lesley stood in her bathroom coating her body in sunscreen before hitting the pool. She wanted to lay out for a while before dinner, when her phone rang. "Hey," Lesley smiled, seeing her best friend coming into an apartment that was unfamiliar to her.

"Hey, Ley! I just got back from a workshop. Sorry I could answer you earlier! How was your day?" Verdana asked, stripping from her jacket and setting the phone up on the counter to start her dinner.

"It was okay. Pretty slow, honestly. I'm about to get in the pool though," she replied. "How was your workshop? Did you teach your combo from last night?" Lesley asked remembering watching Vedrana practice for a while before game night with her family.

"Yeah! It was so good! All of those dancer were spectacular," she beamed. Lesley watched Vedrana glow talking about her day. She loved that about Vedrana. She could always see the positive in situations and often kept her on a good track. "Oh, when you get back after your doctors appointment, did you want to spend the weekend together here in the city? I planned this nice evening for us," she asked. There was always a tension between the two. They had spent most of Nova's life as friends, but in recent years they started to cross the line into lovers, but that was scary now that Lesley was trying to be responsible. Lesley could use that weekend to see where, if any, they were going.

"Yeah, I'm down. I'll come down Friday night after Nova gets home since she'll be back in school. And we'll have to be back Sunday Afternoon so she can get ready for Monday," Lesley tested. Vedrana's smile got wider hearing that Nova would tag along.

"That schedule works for me. I'm clearing my Saturday schedule. I just have to teach on Friday and Sunday night," she agreed. Lesley had no plans to bring Nova. She just wanted to see what Vedrana would say. The two steadied into a new topic. A topic that didn't deal with drugs, the club, or anything from their old life. It was almost refreshing that they could enjoy talking without it being about that. It gave Lesley hope for a future.

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Dinner was quickly approaching as everyone got dressed in their business casual attire. Pippa smoothed out her slacks and oversized sweater, then flipped her slicked back ponytail over her shoulder. Good enough. She thought before heading down the hall towards her twins room.

Knock. Knock.

"Come in," Claudia yelled, over the R&B song playing. The music was turned down as Pippa entered and shut the door behind herself. "Annie," Pippa sighed, taking a seat on the corresponding twins bed. "You know we gotta talk, right?" She asked. Claudia looked through the mirror to see her mom serious and paused her playlist.

"I think I'm gonna go borrow Nova's lipgloss," she excused, disconnecting from the speaker and running off. Annemarie finished her brows then set the pencil down.

"Who told you?" She grumbled, leaning her elbow on the vanity and turning sideways in her chair to face her mom. Pippa leaned back in her hands, giving herself room to breathe with the baby in her diaphragm. She may have only been 13 weeks, but she seemed to be growing faster with each pregnancy.

"It doesn't matter. You should have told me." Annemarie rolled her eyes with a shrug.

"It's no big deal. It happens sometimes. Next time I won't be as drunk," she shirked, sure that that was the solution to her problem. Phillipa stared at her daughter in immense confusion.

"Annie have I taught you nothing? You don't get to plan out your next rape. It doesn't matter how drunk or sober, how clothed or not, how young or old you are. There is nothing that you did wrong to justify being taken advantage of. Especially, when you were not in the correct mind space to consent to anything," Pippa explained. The fourteen year old shrugged, doing her best not to look at her mom. She couldn't face the shame she felt to have let it happen, let alone twice in the same night.

"It's fine, mommy," she dismissed. " I blacked out and don't even have a memory of it. And I'm not hurting anymore, so there is nothing to worry about—,"

"That's not the point, Annemarie! You were raped and you're acting like it's just another conquest in your book." Phillipa stressed.

"I don't know what I did or didn't say! Mommy, I could've said yes and never said no! I don't know. I don't know who I went off with and no one remember seeing me, so I can't say for sure what happened! I just want to let it go. Allie got me a Plan-B on the way home, so I won't mess up your streak or whatever. It's fine," Annemarie fought. She knew that there was nothing to pursue so she didn't want to talk about it. At least when she woke up she couldn't face pretend that she had a wild night and fill in her memory that way, in stead of the nightmare she kept having about being dragged off and no one hearing her scream. "Look, I know how personal this subject is for you and Allie and Lesley, but I— I can't remember, so I'm choosing to forget. Like I said, it happens sometimes, okay?" She shrugged, turning back to the mirror to finish getting ready. Pippa ran her hands along her stomach, as if protecting the life inside of her.

"It's just personal to us. It's personal to this entire family. Enzo lived feeling helpless because he couldn't save his sister. So much so that the anger drove him to juvie. Papi was depressed for a long time after he found out about what happened to me and Allie. He cried in his car for months, so that your girls wouldn't see how broken he was. Mason's father got a shallow grave on the south side of the Bronx because of what he did to Ana. If one of us suffers, everyone does. Just like when they pulled through for you after your attempt is the same way they feel heartbroken for you now. Sure, it just happens. But we don't have to treat it like that. Something bad happened to you and you are allowed to feel it," Pippa expressed. She hadn't realized that she was holding her daughters hands until she felt her pull away. Annemarie slipped on toy he bed next to Pippa and ripped her head into her shoulder.

"It's so scary to wake up and not know why you're in pain or what happened to you. But I figured if I said I didn't know what happened or with who no one would believe. That they'd think I was just embarrassed," she cried. Pippa stroked her child's hair, pecking the top gently as Annemarie shook with sobs.

"We believe you, baby. We might not be able to get you justice, but we believe you."

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To My Bomb.Com Friends and Supporters,
Annie told the truth?? How do we feel about Annie? I like the nickname but idk lmk. I will something spark between Vedrana and Lesley??? LESBIAN LOVERS??? And KATE??? Operation KENZO??? Feather has her work cut out for her!!! Okay okay bye!!
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