PREVIOUSLY, IN THE SEEN NOT HEARD SERIES:

"Nicole, will you marry me?"

Two Weeks Later...

As Idina Jennings sat in the car, headed out to Philly, her bags sit in the trunk, the brunette girl saw Eric Matthews driving, every once in a while looking over to her mother, Nicole Jennings and smiling, secretly holding her hand at every red light. Idina looked to Nicole's beautiful ring on her finger and grinned. Farkle Minkus sat next to the brunette in the back seat, he took her hand and rubbed it gently.

"So how is Lucas with Maya?" Farkle questioned her.

"Well," Idina replied, turning forward and tilting her head as she thought in depth about the situation going on in another car nearby, "Knowing Maya she tried for about five and a half seconds before going all Hop-a-long, Moral Compass, Bucky McBoing Boing crazy," she wore a straight face as she predicted, before the two burst into laughter, as if it was their own little inside joke.

Farkle jumped slightly in his seat, tapping his foot nervously from excitement. He didn't normally get to take trips with his friends, mostly only his parents to exotic places. It was his mother's birthday that weekend, in fact, and his father had already planned a trip for the three Minkus's to Greece. The genius boy was heartbroken that all his friends were going to Philly, and he was going to be stuck in some foreign country when he'd rather be just a few hours away from his home with the people he cared about the most. So, he had begged and begged and begged until his parent's had finally agreed to let him go with his friend's for the weekend. However, they had said that a trusted adult needed to watch him. For this, Farkle turned to his girlfriend's mother, and Nicole was more than happy to take on the task.

Even though the weekend was about Nicole and Eric, she wanted to see Idina happy, she wanted her daughter to feel as little nervousness as she possibly could.

Idina wasn't good with meeting most new people, she often would freeze up. But, this time, was different, she was meeting her future family, that was a lot to handle for the young future high schooler. The glasses wearing girl washed in relief that her friends would be there with her if anything went haywire.

Maya and Lucas were in another car not too far behind. They rode with Shawn and Katy. The two geniuses could only predict what mischief the sassy blonde and kind tan boy could have been getting into.

Most of the Matthews' clan was already in Philly, their native hometown. Idina was good friends with their son, Josh. He was already at their final destination, helping set up.

Idina's phone binged, she looked down to her purple cased device, having received a text from Riley. The brunette girl had just arrived, they'd left a couple hours earlier than the others, since her parents were in charge of the event for the weekend.

A celebration was in order indeed, two new people would soon be joining the Matthews family. Eric couldn't have been happier about that. That weekend was when everything would come together, and everyone would come together, the results were unknown of how this mixture would set.

That's all that was on Idina's mind as they pulled up to the white and brick house. It was a quaint place at first glance, looked lovely for raising three sons and a daughter, it had housed all the memories of the Matthews family. Eric hadn't been back for a few months, he hadn't seen his parents in some time. He knew that within moments, they'd fall in love with Idina and Nicole like he had, well not exactly the way he had. The way he felt was different, different than what most people could feel. But, he knew they'd love the two in a similar way. That was all anyone could hope for, all anyone did. He knew they'd love his fiance and his future daughter. He loved them, and that meant his family would too.

The car veered to a stop, running over a few pebbles as it finally halted. Eric got out of the car first after he pulled the keys out of the designated keyhole, working his way around the front of the car to the opposing side to open the door for Nicole.

Idina got out, going to the trunk and double clicking the lock to open the compartment, receiving a small hiss from the car. Farkle followed from the other side moments later, helping her lift out the bags as Eric and Nicole quietly talked for a few minutes.

Nicole looked to the big house, her reddish-brown locks floating down her back, she looked to Eric, "You'll be fine," he insisted, "I know they'll love you and Idina."

"Well if they're even a fraction like you, then I know we'll love them too," Nicole smiled back at him.

Farkle and Idina went around the back with the bags, the youngest resident of the house, Josh, waited for them. He grinned.

"Fardina has arrived!" he taunted the two playfully. Idina rolled her eyes.

"Nice to see you too Josh," she said. Normally his shenanigans would have made her reply with a thoughtful comeback, but her mind had already been lost in wandering to other places.

Josh sighed and grabbed some of the bags from the two younger teens, "They'll like you," he nodded, turning around and kicking the door open with his foot, before going in. Farkle looked to Idina, giving her an encouraging smile and nod of agreement with the college boy, before tugging the bags in after him.

"Of course, they will," Idina muttered under her breath. Partially in an attempt to convince others, partially in an attempt to convince herself. She adjusted the strap of one of the bags across her shoulder and neck, before hoisting the others she carried and walking into the house.

She looked around to find she'd landed in the kitchen of the suburban house. She turned around, attempting to find where Josh and Farkle had somehow magically dissolved from thin air too. She heard footsteps and turned once more to find the two boys she was scouting out descending the staircase, bags free. Josh clicked his tongue and gestured up the stairs.

"Second door to the right is yours. Maya and Riley are gonna be in there too. We're a little overpacked this weekend," Josh chuckled, before slapping Farkle's back, "Robot here and the tall one are staying in my room."

Idina nodded, "Have fun with those two," she spoke before the boys parted and she quickly climbed the stairs. She passed the first door, which was open ajar, before going to the second one which was mostly closed, the handle was unlatched from the lock. She opened it with a light nudge from her side. She set the bags down with a slightly bigger breath than most.

Idina looked around the room, it was a light faded shade of pink with pearl tones. She saw a bunk bed set and a sleeping bag set up on the floor. The sleeping bag had a purple cat on it, causing the glasses wearing girl to laugh. Riley ran to the doorpost, out of breath. Idina turned around to the other brunette.

Riley panted, "Auggie," she tried to explain, pausing as she gripped her sides, "Chasing... me," she finally got out, before the young brother screamed before tackling his sister, causing the two to tumble into the girl's bedroom.

"Hello Idina," Auggie said, looking up to the brunette who still stood.

"Salutations Augustus," Idina nodded. Riley pushed the seven years younger boy off her, before standing and fixing her crumpled clothing. She grinned her famous goofy grin.

"Can you tell which one's mine?" Riley ventured a guess, looking at her sleeping bag.

Idina rolled her eyes playfully, "I thought it was safe to assume," she replied, noting she knew the purple cat loving girl was to sleep for the weekend in the purple cat sleeping bag. Idina finished putting the last of her bags on the bottom bunk, leaving the top bunk for the spunky blonde who was due to arrive at any moment. Idina had never been very fond of top bunks, always having an irrational terror that she'd somehow topple out of it in the middle of the night.

"Of course, it was!" Riley shouted, before jumping into a bean bag chair and laughing.

"Your family never ceases to amuse me, Riles," Idina said, sitting down slowly on the bottom of the two bunks.

"Our family soon," Riley pointed out. Idina 's pupils barely widened.

"Yeah," Idina nodded, "Can't wait," she gritted her teeth.

"Well, I, for one am extremely excited."

"When are you not excited about anything?" this caused the spunky brunette to think for a minute before shrugging, it was true, most things excited her, even the simple act of finding a dandelion could widen Riley's smile by a hundred feet. A question burned within the Matthews' kin, she knew Idina, she knew sometimes her excitement could be a facade.

"You nervous?" Riley asked her. Idina adjusted her glasses.

"It's just a lot to handle, you know? A new family, this place, the only Matthews' I know out here is Josh." Riley frowned, before hoisting herself up from the beanbag and walking the short distance to the bunk bed and sitting down next to the curly haired girl.

"Hey, you know at least one other Matthews. Me! And I got your back. You know my mom and dad and Auggie. You'll be fine I promise," Riley nodded encouragingly, before breaking into a grin, "Plus... soon you'll be Cousin Pookie!" she shouted with glee.

Idina pursed her lips into a small smile, "Yeah, Cousin Pumpkin," she replied. There was a light knock at the door, and the two future cousins turned to see an older man with gray tips standing in the doorway.

"Everyone getting settled in here?" the aged man asked.

"Of course Grandpa!" Riley spoke with joy; she glanced between Idina and the man, before mentally face palming, "Grandpa this is Idina... she's Nicole's daughter," the brunette turned to the other brunette, "Idina, this is my Grandpa Alan." Idina looked at the man, his stance was kind and welcoming, a demeanor of pure happiness having seen his children grow up, and now seeing their children, and having one of them standing before him.

"Nice to meet you, Sir," Idina spoke with a polite tone, she was always one to stay on her tip toes when making a first impression around adults. Alan chuckled and shook his head.

"Please call me Al, or Alan, or even Grandpa if ya want," Alan replied in a hoarse voice, he was older indeed, he looked the girl up and down for a moment before his smile returned once more, "Eric's told me a lot about you... and your mother." of course the grandfather knew of his son's engagement.

"Of course," Idina nodded, how could he not know seeing as it was his own son, and this open man before her was her future family, "Thank you, Mr. Alan, this is a lovely home you have."

"Thank you, such a kind lassie you are, Idina," Alan replied, before moving his hands together, "Well now I must go check on the hooligans, heard another one just showed up," he said, glancing at the nerdy girl once more, "Nice to meet you again, Idina," before walking off to the boy's room, who he expected were up to no good.

Riley tilted her head, "Wait... but if Lucas already arrived and he was with Maya... then where's Maya?" the two brunettes' ears shot up hearing two sharp cries of war.

"Charge!" a young-sounding voice demanded. The two girls didn't move for a moment as if waiting for something to happen. Within the blink of an eye, two figures ran in, screaming.

"ARGH!" the two unknowns entered the room, one tackling Idina while the other tackled Riley. Both the girls landed backward with a loud humph. They groaned, before looking to see the two people who'd jumped on them were Auggie and Maya.

"Peaches!" Riley and Idina giggled. Maya had landed on Riley, and Auggie had jumped onto Idina. The nerdy brunette sat up slowly, wrapping her arms around the seven-year-old.

"Nice tackle, Squirt," Idina said, ruffling up Auggie's curly chestnut hair. He grinned before standing.

"Thanks, Maya," he directed to the blonde, before glancing between Riley and Idina, "Point: Auggie," he pointed to himself, Idina clapped to make him feel good about his 'accomplishment', before the young boy bowed, "I'll be here all weekend," he grinned devilishly, before walking out of the room. The three girls who were the residents of the room for a weekend all looked at each other for a moment, before laughing.

"I swear that kid's gonna be a professional tackler when he grows up," Idina noted.

As everyone had settled in the sky darkened and the time to eat approached, Riley was taking a nap, as was Auggie, it was quite adorable, as the little brother had crawled into the sleeping bag with his older sister. Farkle had already started on his summer homework assignments, Maya sat close by, and may or may not have been trying to copy off the genius boy.

Idina had decided to take a walk, needing to clear her head and get some air from all the... Matthews of it all. It was somewhat overwhelming to the girl who could barely handle normal human interactions with her own friends. And not only that but these were the Matthews, the idealist of families. They were all so close and connected, the glasses wearing brunette had never had much of that, from her mom always working to having practically avoided her father.

Josh had seen Idina slip out the back door as he'd stood, leaning against the staircase railing pretending to actually be listening and intrigued by the conversation the adults were having. He pursed his lips before excusing himself and walking out, several strides behind her.

The brunette walked, putting on foot in front of the other, connecting the heel and tip to each other as she did. She let her fingertips unlatch from within her closed palm as she let the wind weave through them.

Josh slowly caught up with her, she was going at a relaxed pace. He nudged her lightly, causing the glasses klutz to almost fall over. She blew a wave out of her face and sighed relieved it was just him, though she hadn't necessarily been assuming it was a bad person as the Philadelphia suburb seemed like a safe place.

"You scared the nuts outta me," Idina said, catching her breath.

Josh arched his brow, "Nuts?" he questioned, though the response he received, a telling look from the girl made him drop the subject, as the two continued to walk, "So are you liking it down here?" he asked, glancing up at the fading sun and squinting a bit.

Idina nodded, letting her shoulders fall up and down one time as she did, "Yeah, of course, I mean who wouldn't like it out here?" she retorted, as she glanced at the rising moon, "Bet you can see a thousand stars at night hm?"

"Maybe not a thousand, sure a lot, though," he replied, glancing forward and seeing them coming upon a cul de sac and knowing they'd be headed back soon. He looked back at the girl walking next to him. He smirked and turned his back to the road in front of him, walking backward. Idina chuckled lightly with amusement.

"Rebel much?" she said sarcastically. He shrugged.

"Eh gotta do what I gotta do right?" he reasoned, in a horrible attempt at a Russian accent, he shoved a hand into his jean pocket, "That your only thought about this place?" he pressed on, knowing there was more than the glasses wearing girl would share.

Idina paused her strides, glancing at him for a moment. She gulped, before continuing to walk, still a slow pace. "It's just all...."

"Overwhelming?" Idina sighed as she glanced forward at the path, turning in a circular motion from the dead end as the two charted a course for the Matthews' house.

"New. And a bit scary.... Oh god sounds like high school."

Josh chuckled before lightly patting Idina's shoulder, "Trust me, my family is a lot easier than high school." He said as he turned back around, making sure he didn't run into any walls as he walked back toward the house and through the front door.

Idina stood for a moment before taking a deep breath, "They're just people," she reminded herself, before walking in for supper.

As the teen strolled through the living room and to the dining room she smiled. The older Matthews had gotten Josh to help set up a longer table, seeing as their normal-sized one hadn't been able to accommodate everyone. Alan and Amy sat next to each other as Josh slid into the seat at the head of the table, next to his mother. Across from them Eric and Nicole were seated and seemed to be having a light conversation from what Idina could see in their facial expressions.

As everyone sat down Idina found herself between two of her favorite people; her future cousin and the boy who had her heart.

Idina smiled at both of them, before she glanced around the table, her eyes flickered to every person there as she thought momentarily of how each impacted her life, or would do so in the future. She knew that she'd be nowhere without some of those seated near her.

Without much thought, Idina cleared her throat and clasped her hands together in front of her, "Would it be okay if I said something?" She spoke aloud, over everyone's conversations. The talk halted as everyone looked to the teen.

"Go right ahead, Idina." Cory said, looking at his student as proudness bubbled within him. He knew that he had seen growth in his student from when she first came into his class, she would have never spoken up or even have raised her hand, and, look where she was now.

The girl smiled at her teacher, "Thank you, Mr. Matthews," she spoke in a gentle tone. She looked around the table, taking in everyone's faces and the details of it all. "This is a big world, not a lot of people have time to sit down and really be around one another, really look at each other. I find this opportunity we have, to not only come together but blend as one, that's one of the greatest masterpieces in the world," She said, "So, with that, I'd like to make a toast," she held her water in her hand as her thumb ran over the rim of the glass, "To family and friends becoming one."

Josh grinned as he nodded, "Family and friends," he said. Everyone said it at their own pace in their own time, clinking their glasses, even Auggie made a little noise as his touched with his mother's. Everyone went back to eating, talking, laughing, and loving it all.

"You know, it is a pretty big world out there." Riley said in a hushed tone as she peeked over her shoulder to look at the friend seated next to her.

Idina paused for a moment, before she nodded, "It really is."

Riley pursed her lips, "It's our's?"

Idina nodded as she wore a small smile on her lips, "It's our's."

The smiley girl wore a smile again as she took her friend's hand. As she did Idina's eyes flickered to their rings, she couldn't help but wear a smile as well as she knew this was one of the strongest relationships she would have that would last forever.

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DEAREST OF DEAR READERS,

So I know, I know, I fell off the face of the Earth. I died on y'all, and I'm sorry about that, honestly, it took me so long to write this because I kept having to come back to it because a lot of things have happened in my life since summer. I appreciate y'all have been so understanding and patient and I really hope I didn't let you down with this chapter. Updates will be scattered and a bit random due to my schedule but I really appreciate you loyal readers sticking with this book. You all truly amaze me and make my day, so drop me a like, comment, or send me a PM. I hope you all enjoyed the official first chapter of this long-awaited book!

Also to make up for taking a million years to update I'll be doing a Q/A as the next chapter to answer questions y'all may have so leave your question in the comments and I'll try to answer to the best of my abilities (without spoiling any future events of course)! But don't worry new chapters are in the works... whenever I get free time to write... which is rarely nowadays but I'm working on attempting to find some time to dedicate to this book I love so much. 😆

Love, Gilliana Hope 😘

PS: Sorry I kept y'all waiting with a cliffhanger in the last book. I felt so bad about that but hey at least you're reading this one and now you know what happened.

STAY BEAUTIFUL YOU PEOPLES

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