Scorpia takes Pia's hand in hers and spreads Pia's little fingers, tapping her chin twice with her thumb while saying the word mommy. Pia studies Scorpia's face and she repeats the sign herself. She taps her chin and says: "Mommy." Pia copies the movements and turns her head to Lexy.

Lexy stares at her daughter and asks: "Did she just say mommy?"

Scorpia laughs and says: "Yes. She knows exactly who her mommy is. But if she can't hear us say it, it's very hard to say it herself. I'll try some more. Do you have a picture of Bruno for me?"

Lexy hands Leo to Logan and gets up to grab a picture frame with a picture of her and Bruno in it. She hands the picture to Scorpia, who takes Pia's hand in hers again. Scorpia opens Pia's little fingers and taps her little thumb against her forehead twice, saying daddy.

Pia looks at her again and repeats the gesture herself, trying to form the word daddy with her lips.

Scorpia turns the picture to Pia and points at Bruno. Pia thinks for a second and then shows her the sign for daddy.

Scorpia smiles at the little girl and says: "You are so smart! And if I point at the lady in the picture?"

Pia makes the sign for mommy and mouths the word mommy. Lexy starts to cry and sits down next to Scorpia.

Scopria hands Pia to Lexy and the little girl nuzzles Lexy's neck Lexy hugs her and says: "All those times I said something to her without her being able to see me... She just didn't hear me and I thought she was being a brat... Scorpia, thank you."

Scorpia says: "You're welcome. I will teach you one more important sign."

Lexy watches Scorpia closely as she signs the word and asks: "What does that mean?"

Scorpia looks at Logan and says: "Brother."

Lexy says: "Wait, I'll turn her around. Can you teach her?"

"Of course. Lucas? Could you come here for a minute?"

Lucas comes running and shoots Scorpia a questioning look.

Scorpia sits down on the coffee table and invites Lucas to sit down next to her. Pia looks at Scorpia and Scorpia points at Lucas. Pia glances at Lucas for a second before looking at Scorpia again. Scorpia takes her hand and makes the sign for brother as she mouths the word.

Pia looks at Scorpia and makes the sign herself as well and forms the word brother with her lips. She smiles at Lucas and mouths the word again.

Lucas asks: "Scorpia? Can't Pia talk?"

Scorpia smiles and says: "You're way too smart Lucas. I think Pia has trouble talking because she can't hear us. Or at least not well. I'm not a doctor of course."

Lucas asks: "How do you say sister with your hands?" Scorpia turns to him and shows him the sign. Lucas tries it too and smiles. He waits for Pia to look at him and he points at her before making the sign for sister. Pia claps her hands and smiles in return.

Lexy asks: "How do you know all of this Scorpia?"

"I learned the basics at school. And I think..." She gets up and walks over to the book case at the other end of the room. She skims over the books and pulls one out.

Enzo gets up and asks: "Soppia story?"

Scorpia messes up his hair and says: "I'm not reading a story mister. This book is for mommy." She walks over to Lexy and hands her the book.

Lexy reads the title and her jaw drops. "This book has been here all this time?"

Scorpia laughs and says: "Most of the books in that book case are mine. You didn't think Bruno was a reader, did you?"

Enzo followed Scorpia and whines a little. "Soppia? Kisses?"

Scorpia picks him and says: "Yes! A ton of them because it's been too long." She showers his little face in kisses and sits down on the couch with Enzo on her lap. Enzo giggles and cups her face with his little hands and starts kissing her.

Logan looks at them as he chuckles and whispers to Leo: "Daddy can't wait till you start kissing too."

Lucas asks: "Mommy, are we eating fries tonight?"

Lexy looks at him and says: "I might have heard that you already ate pizza today. But maybe I should discuss things with uncle Logan first." Logan looks at Lexy and she asks: "Uncle Logan? How sweet were these kids today?"

Logan laughs and says: "Unbelievably sweet. I'm still a bit shocked at how well things went today. Traveling with all of them was a bit of a struggle. But they behaved like perfect kids."

Scorpia adds: "Yes, they were an example to the kids in the children's home."

Scorpia's phone rings and she pulls it from her pocket. She lifts Enzo from her lap and walks over to the kitchen. She answers it, pretending she doesn't know it's Violetta.

"Scorpia."

"Um, hi it's Violetta."

"Who?" She tries not to laugh but a chuckle escapes her anyway.

Violetta chuckles too and says: "Sorry, I behaved so badly."

"What! What did you do with Dino exactly?"

Violetta panics and says: "N-no, I-I didn't mean it like that. I meant that I didn't say goodbye to you and didn't thank you. And I didn't even hold Leo and... Sorry Scorpia."

Scorpia sighs and says: "That's not what I want to hear. Try that again."

Violetta laughs and says a bit shy: "Dino is a very good kisser."

Scorpia bites her lip, preventing herself from blurting out that she knows. "Oh really? And?"

"And I really like him."

Scorpia grins and says: "Nice. When are you seeing him again?"

Violetta sighs and says: "With my work at the children's home it's going to be difficult. But he's coming over for dinner with the kids tomorrow."

Scopria says: "If we make coming to play on Wednesday afternoon a regular thing, you'll be able to spend some time with him then. And I'm sure we can come up with something when you want to go out to dinner some time."

"What if he doesn't like me in return?"

Scorpia bursts out in laughter. "Sorry about that, but you don't have to doubt that for a second. He wouldn't kiss you with his family around the corner if it was just for fun." Violetta stays quiet and Scorpia says: "I don't mind asking him how he feels about you, but I really don't think that's necessary."

Violetta says: "Hmm, maybe you're right. I wanted to apologize though."

"No need Violetta. I'll see you soon. Bye!"

She walks back into the living room and finds Logan and Lucas setting the table. Scorpia looks at them and asks: "Are we eating fries?"

Enzo jumps up and yells happily: "Yessssss! Friesssss!"

Scorpia does a dance with him and Lexy dances up to them with Pia on her arm. The little girl is beaming and Scorpia searches for Leo with her eyes.

Logan dances towards her and says: "He's sleeping in Pia's bed. He fell asleep and I figured he could use a nap." Scorpia wraps her arms around his neck and slow dances with him. He lifts her up and spins around. Scorpia laughs and holds onto his shoulders.

Logan puts her down gently and whispers in her ear. "I think we should go and pick up the food. It gives us some alone time. Because I felt a bit jealous of Dino earlier."

Scorpia looks shocked and asks: "You wanted to kiss Violetta too?"

Logan shoots her an angry look and starts to tickle her. "No, Bonnie! You of course!" Logan looks at Lexy and says: "I'll go get the food with Scorpia."

He winks at Lexy and she nods at him. "I'll make a list for you two. Because they all want something else in this family." Enzo asks if he can come too and Lexy says: "No, you can't Enzo. I need both of my boys here to help me with Pia and Leo. Lucas has to stay too. We need to get high chairs ready, pour drinks and get napkins ready."

Enzo looks serious as he says: "Enzo babysit Pia."

Lexy brushes her fingers through his hair and lifts Pia into the high chair. "That's great Enzo. You look after Pia. Make sure she can see you." Lexy compiles the list quickly and says: "I assume you know where the fast food place is Scorpia."

Logan says: "Maybe we go to one a little further away." Scorpia laughs and winks at Lexy. They grab the list and walk out of the front door.

Logan pushes her against the wall as soon as they are outside. He kisses her slow and deep. Scorpia moans softly and wraps her arms around him. Logan looks into her eyes and watches the golden specs appear already. "Mmm Bonnie. I already feel a lot better."

He takes her hand in his as they make their way over to the snack bar. They pace their order and sit down at a table. Scorpia crawls on Logan's lap and kisses him teasingly. Logan pulls her close and sucks on her bottom lip. Scorpia looks at him with a shimmer in her eyes and plays with his hair.

They get lost in each other, until the lady behind the counter clears her throat. Scorpia gets up and walks over to her to take the food from her.

She pays for the food and the lady says: "I've never seen you this way Scorpia. You've got yourself a fine looking man."

Scorpia chuckles and says: "Oh I know. This is the happiest I've ever been. Thanks for the food. I'll go feed the hungry mouths."

Logan gets up when she walks back to him and takes her hand in his.

They step outside and Logan asks: "Did she say I looked good?"

Scorpia laughs and says: "Yep. Nothing wrong with her vision."

"It looked like you knew each other well."

"That is kinda true. I used to come here when I didn't want Bruno to see I was frustrated or sad. So she has seen me at my worst quite often."

Logan squeezes her hand and says: "I'm glad she saw you happy then."

"Me too."

They walk towards the front door of the apartment and Logan says: "One more Bonnie." He bends down and kisses her slow. "Mmm yes. That should tie me over."

Scorpia laughs and walks in, two wild kids running towards her.

Lexy shakes her head and says: "You'd think I never feed them. They're animals!"

Logan laughs and yells: "Petting zoo!"

They all sit down and Scorpia and Lexy give everyone their food. Lucas helps Enzo and Lexy helps Pia. Logan and Scorpia are next to each other and he rubs her upper leg regularly.

Scorpia hears a little man yell mommy and gets up to get Leo from Pia's bed. She walks into the living room with Leo on her arm and sits down next to Logan again. She kisses Leo on his forehead and she notices him looking for something as she raises her head. She sits up and Logan bends down to Leo. Leo beams as soon as he sees Logan.

"Hello my little lion cub. Did you sleep well?"

Leo makes a happy sound and Logan grabs a fry from his plate. Leo stares at it and Logan moves the fry towards Leo's mouth. Scorpia chuckles softly when she sees Leo's mouth open up.

Logan looks at her and she says: "You can give him a small piece." Logan breaks a small piece off and feeds it to Leo.

Leo's eye widens as he happily sucks on the piece of fry. He waves his hands around enthusiastically and stares at Logan. Logan gets some ragout from Scorpia's croquette and feeds it to Leo. Leo frowns and pushes it out with his tongue. Logan grabs a napkin and manages to catch it.

"Okay, croquette is not yummy."

"Good, mommy doesn't want to share it anyway." Logan laughs and feeds Scorpia a bite of her croquette. "Mmmm, yummy daddy."

Logan dips a piece of fry in mayonnaise and feeds it to Leo. Leo makes a happy sounds and sucks on the piece of fry. Logan laughs and says: "Oh, it's even yummier with mayo."

Lexy looks at the couple that seems to have forgotten that they are not alone. They look beautiful together, like they have been parents for years.

Lucas taps Lexy's shoulder and says: "Mommy, Pia wants to say something." Lexy looks at Pia and watches her make the sign for mom, followed by pouting her lips.

"Do you want a kiss Pia? Mommy needs to clean you up first. Because you like fries with mayo too."

Lucas asks: "Mommy, how do you say kiss with your hands?"

"I don't know yet Lucas. Let's look in auntie Scorpia's book." They find the sign for kiss and practice it.

Lexy cleans Pia's face and shows her the sign for kiss. She makes the gesture with Pia's little hands and Pia thinks about it for a bit. Lucas makes the sign too and she smiles. She looks at Lexy and makes the gesture for mom and the one for kiss right after it. Lexy tears up and covers Pia's face in kisses. The girl giggles softly and everyone at the table looks at the little girl.

Logan gets up to make a bottle for Leo and walks into the kitchen. Lucas follows him and asks if he can help. Logan explains it all to him and Lucas nods with a serious expression on his face. Logan checks the temperature on his wrist as soon as the bottle is done. Lucas wants to know why and Logan explains that he has to check if the milk is not too hot for Leo to make sure he doesn't burn his mouth.

"Uncle Logan? Can I give Leo his bottle?"

"Yes you may. Go and sit on the couch."

Lucas runs over to the couch and sits down.

Logan walks over to Scorpia and says: "Lucas wants to give Leo his bottle."

Scorpia hands Leo to Logan and says: "Oh that's wonderful. I think we found another babysitter."

Lucas shoots Logan a nervous look and Logan says: "Don't worry Lucas, I will help you." He puts a pillow on Lucas' lap and lays Leo down on it. He wraps Lucas' arm around Leo and hands him the bottle. Lucas looks at Logan for help and Logan says: "Just move the bottle closer to his mouth and he will open it. He will start drinking. I'll help you when you're not doing it right. Just try."

Lucas moves the bottle to Leo's mouth, who opens it wide. Lucas looks at Leo in love and pushes the bottle into Leo's mouth. Leo starts drinking and Lucas watches it in fascination.

Logan looks at both of the boys with pride and softly says: "You're a natural Lucas. You can babysit Leo just fine."

Lucas smiles proudly and softly asks Leo if it's yummy. Logan pets Leo's hair and gets up to take a picture. Scorpia suddenly remembers the pictures she took today. She shares them with everyone in in the family chat group and Logan adds the one he just took.

Bruno is the first to reply.

What the?
You're not eating fries with my family are you?
I already miss them way too much.

Scorpia takes a picture of Enzo with his face full of mayo and sends it to Bruno. Her phone rings and it's Bruno of course.

"Hey big brother. Are you have fun without your family?" She winks at Lexy as she hears him grumble at the other end.

She sends him a video call request and makes her way over to Lucas and Leo as soon as Bruno accepts. Lucas looks up into the camera all proud for a second, quickly looking at Leo again. Scorpia aims the camera at the beaming, mayo covered face of Enzo.

"Wave at pappa, Enzo."

Enzo looks up and sees Bruno on the screen. "Pappa! Kisses!"

Bruno laughs and says: "You need to wash your face first monster!"

Scorpia walks over to Lexy and Pia and the little girl sees Bruno on the screen. She makes the sign for dad and kiss and Lexy explains to Bruno what she just said.

She softly says: "Scorpia thinks Pia's hearing is not that good."

Bruno stays silent for a while and then says: "That would explain a lot. And by the looks of it she picked those signs up quickly, so she's far from dumb. I'll be home tomorrow afternoon sweethearts. I can't wait. It's no fun without you."

Lexy and Pia blow kisses at him and Bruno laughs.

He says: "Scorpia? The key to the gym hangs on the key rack in the hallway. In case you want to spar with Logan tonight. I think you might be able to find someone willing to look after Leo in my house."

Scorpia smiles and says: "Hmmm, that's an interesting offer brother. Maybe we should. Good luck out there! Ti amo!"

She breaks the connection and gets a wipe to clean Enzo's face. Enzo giggles and Scorpia pinches his nose gently. "Cutie!"

"Soppia! Kisses!"

Scorpia kisses him and messes up his hair. She lifts him from the high chair and starts to collect dirty dishes. She carries them to the kitchen and rinses the plates and utensils. Lexy lifts Pia from her highchair too and puts her down on the floor. Enzo sits down next to her and hands her a toy car.

Scorpia fills the dishwasher with the dirty dishes and watches Enzo play with his sister. Her eyes move over to Lucas just in time to watch him kiss Leo's cheek. Logan picks Leo up and holds him against his shoulder, softly patting his back. Lucas looks shocked when Leo burps loudly and Logan chuckles.

Logan searches for Scorpia with his eyes and finds her in the kitchen. "Yes my little lion cub, I've found mommy. I'm walking over to her right now." He makes his way over to Scorpia and turns his back to her, to help Leo see her over his shoulder.

Scorpia smiles at him and asks: "Were you missing me Leo?"

Leo grins and yells: "Mommy!" He stretches his arms out towards her and Logan turns around to hand Leo to Scorpia. Scorpia hugs and kisses Leo and he giggles, while Logan wraps his arms around them both.

"I love you both. So much." He kisses Scorpia and presses a kiss on Leo's cheek.

Scorpia looks at Logan and asks: "Feel like sparring tonight?" Logan's eyes sparkle and he nods. Scorpia smiles and purposely raises her voice as she asks: "That is if we can find a babysitter. It's always difficult to find one." 

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I know it took me a while to publish this one.
In all honesty my own perfectionism gave me writer's block.
The second I let myself of the hook, it all came together.

I found out through research that the different sign languages are very far apart.
And that some of the signs are impossible to describe with words.
If you have any useful sign language tips or links, leave them here.

Have an amazing weekend!
And know you're loved!
XO Hankie ♥