A/N: Hey hey! Let me know if you have requests for anything you'd like to see happen. Enjoy!

It was very early Saturday morning. Lin had just finished changing Emilia's diaper and had settled her down in her bassinet. It was about 7:00. He was planning on spending time with Lexi that day. He and Vanessa knew they hadn't been giving her enough attention lately. The whole issue with Emma had taken up a lot of their time, and with Emilia having colic, along with two young boys had kept them incredibly busy. Lexi was the kind of kid who just went with the flow. She was always so good and did what she was supposed to, so she wasn't always the center of attention. Lin didn't want it to be like that. He needed to know Lexi was important to them.

He gently pushed her door open to find her sprawled out on her back, her mouth open, lightly snoring. He grinned at the sight of her. She'd never been a graceful sleeper. Usually, her covers were a mess and her body was contorted into an odd shape. Lin slowly walked over to her bed and knelt down next to her.

"Lexi," he whispered softly, putting his hand on her arm. He gently rubbed, trying to wake her up. "Wake up, sweetheart."

She mumbled something unintelligible and turned over. Lin sat on her bed and patted her on the hip. "Alexis, wake up."

"I don't wanna go to school," she groaned, causing him to chuckle.

"You don't have to go," he told her patiently. It's Saturday. "It's really early, but I wanted to know if you wanted to go watch the sunrise with me."

She was silent for a few moments, then turned over again and sat up. Her hair was a mess, and there were a few strands stuck to her cheek. "The sunrise?"

"Mmmhmmm," he said. "It's early enough we can catch it. Then we can go to breakfast. Just you and me."

Lexi smiled and nodded her head. "Get dressed and we'll go," he told her.

Lin left the room to find his shoes. He kissed Vanessa and told her he and Lexi would be back in a couple hours. His parents were coming over around 8:30 to help out.

Lexi met her father in the kitchen about ten minutes later, her hair pulled up in a ponytail. Together, they left and walked down the stairs to their apartment lobby. They walked outside and down the street to a park. They found a bench and sat down, Lin putting his arm around his daughter. This spot offered a pretty good view of the sunrise. They were in New York City, so they didn't have an unobstructed view, but it was pretty good.

Lexi leaned into her father as they looked at the sun beginning to peek over the horizon. "Lin, why did you wake me up?"

He gave her a squeeze. "Sunrise is one of my favorite times of day. I don't always get a chance to see it. I thought you might want to join me."

She smiled and cuddled into him. It meant a lot that he'd chosen her to come with him. Emma definitely wasn't a morning person, so she wouldn't have been good company.

"The colors are so pretty," she commented as they began to see the black fade to a dark blue, slowly joined by reds, oranges, pinks, and purples.

"It's beautiful," he agreed as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"Lin?"

"Yep?"

"What do you think Emilia will be like when she gets older?" she wondered.

"I don't know," he said. "If her colic is any indication, she might be a bit of a drama queen."

"Yeah, she might," she said. "Why do some babies get colic?"

"I don't know," he said honestly. "We got lucky with Sebby and Franky. They were both really good babies."

"Is Vanessa depressed?"

Lin always wanted to be open and honest with his kids. It was obvious Vanessa was having a hard time.

"She is," Lin told her. "She had a really hard pregnancy and a C-section, and now Emilia's being a very challenging baby. Put Emma's issues on top of that, plus two little boys, and you've got a recipe for depression."

"Is she going to get better soon?"

"Yeah, she's on medication and she's seeing a therapist," he said to his daughter. "I think she's getting better already."

Lin realized they'd been talking about other people this whole conversation. Lexi had a tendency to do that. She was always thinking about other people.

"Let's talk about you," he said, stroking her hair a little bit. "What's up in your world?"

She shrugged a little bit. "Same old, same old."

"Well, what's your same old, same old?"

"School. Skateboarding. Homework."

"Have you gotten together with Amber lately?"

"Yeah, on Thursday," she said. "We usually meet up two or three days a week."

"And are you still getting along well with Emily and Savi?"

"Yeah. We have a couple classes together too. Oh, and we're gonna try to do something together for the talent show."

"Talent show? Tell me more."

She grinned. "Well, you have to audition first. It can be music, acting, comedy, whatever."

"What you thinking of doing?"

"Maybe a skit," she said. "And maybe some singing. But we don't really have great voices."

"You have workable voices," he said. It was true – they didn't have operatic, amazing voices, but they could all carry a tune. He'd heard it when they sang their Moana songs. "When's the auditions?"

"In three weeks."

"Let me know if you need help. I know a lot of songs."

"I know," she said, smiling.

The sun had almost come up completely now, so they decided to go get some breakfast. There was a cute little hole-in-the-wall place down the street that made the best pancakes, Lexi's favorite. They slid into a booth near the window so they could enjoy the sunshine.

Lin was really enjoying his alone time with Lexi. She was a really neat kid. She was telling him about things he didn't know about her. She could flawlessly rap a lot of Eminem. She was thinking about taking up violin.

As the waitress picked up their plates and gave Lin the bill, he finished off his coffee. He was really enjoying this time with Lexi and he was sad that it was coming to an end. Lin had heard her laugh this morning more than he'd heard her in a long time. He made a point to say something to her every day to make her laugh.

"Lexi, thank you for being so sweet and patient with V and I these last few weeks," he told her. "I know it's been hard for you."

She shrugged and pushed her straw around, not looking at him.

"You don't have to act like it hasn't been a big deal," he told her. "We weren't giving you enough attention. Things were crazy. I still feel terrible about having to miss your play."

"Emilia was more important," she told him.

"But you're important too," he told her, and he could tell she had something she wanted to say. He just waited, hoping she would let it out.

"But I'm not your real kid," she reminded me, staring at her water. Lin sat up and reached across the table, pulling her hands in between his.

"Look at me," he gently commanded her. "You may not be my biological kid, but you're just as important to me as Sebastian, Francisco and Emilia. You're my kid and I love you."

She nodded and looked away uncomfortably.

"If you ever feel like I'm treating you different, please tell me," he said, giving her hands a squeeze. "Maybe we should start a new tradition. Every Saturday, we go out for breakfast."

She smiled and nodded at him. "But maybe not watch the sunrise every time. That was really early."

"No, we won't do that every time," he told her. "But maybe every once in a while."

Lin paid the bill and they walked home, where the house was filled with noise and laughter. Abuelo had Sebastian upside down by his legs and Francisco was pretending to be a dog. Emma sat on the couch in her pajamas, a mug of tea in her hands as she watched her family's shenanigans.

Lin bypassed the action and went back to the bedroom to check on his wife. If anyone else was in dire need of TLC besides Lexi, it was Vanessa. The poor woman was overwhelmed. He found her in bed, breastfeeding Emilia. Luckily, the infant had gotten the hang of it.

"How was breakfast?" She asked her husband as she held Emilia.

"It was great," he said, laying down on his side on the bed. He propped his head up on his hand as he stroked Emilia's tiny arm. "We had some really good conversation. She's such an awesome kid."

"She is," Vanessa agreed, looking down at Emilia.

"I think we're going to make it a tradition to go out for breakfast together Saturday morning," he said. "I think it'll bring us a lot closer. She was really opening up to me."

"I think she'll like that," Vanessa told her husband as she gently moved Emilia to her other breast. The child protested a little, still hungry, and immediately started feeding again.

"Hungry girl," Lin commented. "When's it my turn?"

Vanessa gave him a look and he laughed. "Are your parents okay with the boys?"

"Yeah, they're wearing them out. I think Franky will definitely go down for a nap this afternoon."

Franky was already starting to outgrow naptime. They had about a 50% success rate with afternoon naps. No matter what, he had some quiet time for a while in his crib. That also gave Vanessa and Lin some time to be with Sebastian alone. He'd gone from an only child to one of five in just a few years. Sebastian never seemed to show any jealousy.

They both heard screams from the living room.

"I better go check on that," Lin said, pushing himself up. He closed the door behind him so Vanessa could have some peace and quiet. Lin found Emma on the floor, sitting on Sebastian.

"Get ooooooffff!!" He laughed as Emma sat on his bottom.

"This is comfy," she said, moving her bottom around a little. Sebastian was laughing, trying to push her off. Lin snuck up behind her and began tickling her. She screamed and fell to the side as he continued. Sebastian joined in, though he didn't really understand how to tickle yet.

"That's what you get!" Sebastian told his oldest sister.

"I give in!! I give in!! I'm gonna pee my pants!!" She laughed, and Lin finally eased up. He picked up his son and sat down on the couch.

"You can borrow one of my Pull Ups," Sebastian told his sister.

"Thanks, Sebby, but I don't think they'll fit me," she said as she stood up and walked to the kitchen. She set her mug in the sink and disappeared to her bedroom. Since she was only allowed to go to ballet twice a week at the moment, she was trying to do some conditioning on her days off. She changed into a leo and some athletic pants. Once she'd found her pointe shoes, she headed downstairs to her barre. She found some music and plugged in her earbuds and began warming up.

Before she knew it, she'd been down in the basement conditioning for two hours. Lin wandered down the stairs to see if she wanted to stop for lunch. Emma rarely let her family watch her practice, so Lin sat down on the edge of the couch and watched his daughter for a few minutes, and she didn't protest. Lin noticed she was incredibly precise in her movements. She paid attention to the details, working certain transitions multiple times before she got it perfect. Finally, she took out her earbuds and let her feet fall flat against the hardwood floor.

"Just wanted to see if you wanted to take a break for lunch," he said. She sat down on the floor, pulling up her athletic pants so she could unlace her pointe shoes.

"Yeah, I'm starving," she said. "What's everyone having?"

"Abuelo's making tacos," Lin told her.

"Awesome," she said, tossing her pointe shoes to the side. "I'm gonna hop in the shower real quick then I'll be right out."

Lin nodded and stood up. She'd been doing two practices a week for two weeks now.

"Lin?"

He stopped and turned around to look at his daughter. "Can I start going to ballet full time this week?"

"How have you been feeling after practices?"

"Tired, but good," she said. "Nothing a little ice won't fix."

Lin knew she was anxious to practice more because the Nutcracker auditions were coming up quickly. She wanted to reprise her role as Sugarplum Fairy, and there was some stiff competition this year. Lin nodded and considered everything for a few moments.

"Okay," he said. "You can go back full time..."

"Yes!" She pumped her arms in the air. She ran to him and gave him a big hug.

"But if it's too much, you need to listen to your body," he reminded her. "Don't overdo it. That's how you got into this mess."

"Okay, I won't," she said as she ran ahead of him up the stairs to get her shower in. Lin headed upstairs as well and started getting out plates and silverwear for lunch. He filled up two sippy cups with water for the boys and wrangled them into their chairs. Vanessa came out with Emilia, who was feeling full and relaxed. She was passed to her grandmother for some snuggle time. The family enjoyed their together time for the rest of the afternoon, when Luis and Luz headed back home.

___

On Monday afternoon, Emma excitedly headed to ABT for practice. She was going to tell her instructor that she could be back full time now – four days a week. Emma really wasn't worried about it being too much. She'd had two weeks to ease back into it and she'd felt fine. Her instructor was pleased to hear she'd be back full time. When class began, she reminded all the girls that auditions for The Nutcracker would start next week. Emma breathed out, knowing she really needed to work hard. She was pretty sure she was in good standing, but with ABT you never knew.

Emma spent the next three hours working her tail off. She didn't even notice the pain in her toes. She had her eye on one of her classmates, Katie. She was fifteen and had just joined ABT over the summer. She was really good. If anyone had the chance of stealing her role of Sugarplum Fairy, it was her. Emma made mental notes of different dance moves she performed especially well so she could practice more at home.

Practice finally ended and she left the studio tired but happy. She took the subway home and arrived just as dinner was almost ready. Emilia was screaming her head off, but what was new? Vanessa was looking stressed, at her wit's end.

"Let me take her," Lin told his wife, seeing her distress. She gladly handed the infant over to her husband. He took her back to the bedroom for some quiet time. Lin laid down on the bed and let his infant daughter lay on his chest. She protested, moving her hands and head around as Lin rubbed her back. He positioned her head just under his chin and began to sing to her softly.

Dear Theodosia, what to say to you?
You have my eyes, you have your mother's name
When you came into the world, you cried
And it broke my heart

He'd discovered recently that she seemed to enjoy the vibration of his voice. If her little ear was up next to his neck, she could feel it gently. It seemed to relax her. Her crying began to lessen as he continued the song. When he finished, he planted a couple kisses to her head.

"What's with all the crying, hmmm?" He gently asked his daughter. "You're driving your mama crazy."

Lin slowly sat up and then stood, taking Emilia back with him to the dining room. Everyone was now seated around the table. Lin began to eat one-handed as he held Emilia upright.

"How'd you get her to stop crying?" Vanessa asked him.

"I was singing to her," Lin said. "She seems to like the vibration of my voice if she right up by my neck."

Vanessa nodded, happy that her husband had been able to find some way to calm their daughter.

"I could sing her PJ Masks!" Sebastian offered as he shoved a french fry in his mouth.

"I'll keep that in mind," Lin told his son.

After dinner, it was bathtime. Three children was a bit much to fit into one tub, so the boys went first and then Emilia was bathed by herself by Emma. As Sebastian was getting dressed, he wandered back into the bathroom and saw his little sister in the tub.

"Where's her testicles?" He asked his older sister.

Emma laughed a little, uncomfortable. "Uhhh...Lin? Vanessa?" She called.

Vanessa popped her head in to see what was going on. "Sebastian wants to know where Emilia's testicles are?"

Vanessa nodded and smiled and then knelt down to her son's level. "Remember talking about this before?" She asked. "Emilia's a girl, so she doesn't have a penis or testicles."

They'd discussed it, but he'd never seen his little sister naked. "Oh yeah," he said. "She has a vaginya?"

"Vagina," Vanessa corrected him. "Yep. Have you brushed your teeth?"

He shook his head and then stepped up on his little stool to reach his toothbrush. Emma finished off Emilia's bath, then took her into Lin and Vanessa's room. She put on a diaper and her pajamas and called for Lin. He appeared, having just put Francisco down.

"Want to say good night?" She asked him. Lin took his daughter and talked to her gently for a few moments, planting kiss on her forehead. He then gently set her down in the bassinet, and he and Emma both left the room.

With all three little kids down, the house was much quieter. Lin and Vanessa both collapsed on the couch, glad to have a few minutes to themselves. Lexi had her homework done, so she grabbed the remote and turned on MTV. Even though she'd had practice that day, Emma disappeared down to the basement to work on a few things she saw Katie was really good at.

She had a tendency to lose herself in her dancing because Lin came downstairs. She took out her earbuds and continued.

"Em, it's 9:30," he told her. "You need to go to bed."

"Just a few more minutes," she told him as she continued to work.

"Em, remember we talked about not overdoing it?" He reminded her.

"I'm not overdoing it," she told him.

"You were at the studio for three hours, and you've been down here an hour and a half. That's the definition of overdoing it."

She sighed and let her feet lay flat on the floor. Emma knew she was just starting to earn Lin's trust back and she didn't want to mess it up. She began unlacing her pointe shoes. Lin headed towards the stairs.

"Want me to leave you an ice bucket?" He asked.

"Yes, please," she told him as she tossed her pointe shoes back in her ballet bag. Emma headed upstairs as Lin was filling a bucket with ice and water. He set it down in front of the couch and told his daughter he was going to bed.

Emma sat down on the couch and slowly eased her feet into the ice bucket. She let her head rest on the back of the couch when she got a text message from one of her ballet friends.

Katie is telling everyone she's getting SPF 4 sure

Emma rolled her eyes. That kid had some nerve.

Not if I have anything to do with it

You were killing it today. No worries

Thnx. g2g

Emma let her feet soak for a few more minutes before toweling off and taking the tub to the kitchen. She poured it down the drain and then headed to her bedroom to prepare for bed. She had no trouble falling asleep that night.

___

The next day, Lexi invited her friends Emily and Savi home after school. They needed to get serious about what they were going to do for the school talent show.

"We can't do something babyish," Savi told the group as they sat on the floor in Lexi's room, music playing in the background. They were snacking on chocolate chip cookies.

"Should we do a song or a skit?" Emily asked as she munched away.

"I think we should do a skit," Lexi said. "We don't have great voices. Can any of you dance?"

They shook their heads no. They were silent for a few moments as they all thought. Suddenly, Emily's face lit up.

"Hey! What about if we do something from Hamilton?!"

Lexi rolled her eyes. That would be too obvious.

"We can't do something from Hamilton," she protested.

"Why not?" Emily countered.

"Because Lin-Manuel Miranda is my dad," she said, as if it wasn't obvious. "Everyone would expect it. Plus, we would butcher it."

"No we wouldn't," Savi countered. "We could totally kill it."

Lexi sighed. "I don't want Lin knowing we're doing Hamilton. He'll be all over it and it would be too embarrassing."

"Why?"

"Because he'd expect me to do it flawlessly," Lexi said. "How would it look if his kid totally messed up one of his songs?"

"But it's perfect," Emily said. "We can't sing; we'd be rapping. And it would be totally badass."

"Come on!" Savi pleaded.

Lexi thought for a few moments. Her friends were obviously super excited about it. She guessed it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

"Okay," she agreed reluctantly, and her friends cheered. "But which song are we going to do?"

"Well, we need to figure out which ones have three parts," Emily figured.

Lexi got out her laptop and searched for Hamilton lyrics.

"How about one of the Cabinet Battles?" Lexi suggested. "Or Right Hand Man?"

They played all three songs several times. Finally, they decided on Cabinet Battle #1. Then it was time to decide who would play who. It was decided that Emily would play Jefferson, Lexi would play Hamilton, and Savi would play Washington.

Lexi printed out three copies of the lyrics to the family printer and then they all got busy highlighting their parts. They put the song on repeat and started rapping along as they looked at their lyric sheets.

Lin got home a while later and could hear Cabinet Battle #1 playing on repeat from Lexi's room. He wondered what she was up to, so he knocked on her door. When he walked in, he found her and her two friends huddled around an iPod with papers all around them.

"What are you three plotting?" He asked. "World domination?"

"Lin, we decided what we're doing for the talent show," Lexi announced, smiling. "We're doing Cabinet Battle #1."

"That's great!" He told her. "Who's playing who?"

"I'm Hamilton," she smiled proudly. "Emily's Jefferson and Savi's Washington."

"That's awesome," he told the girls. "Hey, I think I still have the instrumentals in my office somewhere. I could make you a copy."

That excited the girls to no end. They would practice with the soundtrack a while longer, then would try to switch to just the instrumentals and rap along. Lin left the girls to practice, hearing the sounds of his music and giggling coming from behind Lexi's door. He grinned and shook his head, glad that Lexi had found such good friends.

___

Across town, Emma was getting frustrated with herself. It felt like she had two left feet today. Her whole day hadn't gone well. She'd gotten a math test back and had received a C-. That never happened to her. Plus, her AP Chemistry teacher had decided to pick on her. What was even more frustrating was that Katie, her new arch rival, was hitting everything and earning all sorts of praise from the instructor.

The more frustrated she got with herself, the worst she seemed to do. It got to the point where she was singled out and asked to work a pass by herself while everyone watched. She thought she saw Katie smirking. Emma really wanted to punch her in the face.

After a frustrating practice, Emma sat by herself as she took off her pointe shoes. The other girls were off to the side, laughing and talking. Sighing, Emma stood up and went to the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face. A few moments later, Katie walked in. Emma eyed her in the mirror.

"Rough practice, huh?" Katie commented as she walked to another sink.

"We all have our days," Emma replied.

"I don't," Katie said, obviously full of herself. "I played the SugarPlum Fairy at my old studio in Jersey."

"Good for you," Emma said sarcastically as she toweled off her face. Katie then walked up to her and Emma turned to face her.

"I know you think you're Queen Bee here," Katie said, and Emma furrowed her eyebrows. Who the hell did this kid think she was?

"I don't think that," Emma told her. She didn't like people to think she was full of herself. She knew she was good, but she wasn't arrogant about it.

"Well, keep up the way you did today, and you'll be dancing one of the shitty parts. Has-been."

Emma wasn't sure what it was, but she felt herself snap. She saw red. Before she could stop herself, she gave Katie a hard shove. Katie, surprised, stumbled backwards into the wall. Her eyes narrowed at her rival and she lunged forward.

Outside the bathroom, some of the other girls heard screaming and yelling. One of the instructors walked by and then pushed the bathroom door open to find Emma and Katie going at it. Mostly, they were pushing and shoving each other and reaching for hair.

"Girls!!" She yelled, reaching for someone's arms, she wasn't sure whose. They continued.

"Emma!! Katie!! Enough!" She yelled, and finally she was able to separate them. She pushed Emma towards the door. "My office, now!" She barked.

Emma knew she couldn't just sit in the room with Katie at the moment, so while the younger girl went inside, she paced outside the office. She could feel all eyes on her and she steamed.

The instructor went into the office and picked up the telephone. She called Katie's parents and asked if one of them could come down. Emma groaned, knowing her own parents would be called. This was exactly what she didn't need. Another reason for them not to trust her and suspect she didn't have herself together.

Emma continued to pace up and down the hallway while they waited for a parent to arrive to pick them up. Both of them received an earful from the instructor while they waited. Katie's mom showed up a few minutes later, followed by Lin. He looked really disappointed. The instructor called everyone into the room.

"We had a little problem this afternoon," the instructor began, folding her hands on her desk. "Who would care to explain?"

Katie immediately jumped in. "I was just minding my business and she just lunged at me."

"Bullshit!" Emma shouted.

"Emma, language," Lin warned his daughter, and she crossed her arms.

"Emma, what happened?" The instructor asked.

"I was washing my face and Katie started talking trash to me. Saying there was no way I was going to get Sugar Plum Fairy. She was acting super snotty, and I snapped. Sorry."

The instructor sighed. "Katie, is that about right?"

"Yes, ma'am," the fifteen-year-old replied softly.

"I'm surprised at both of you," she went on. "I expect you to act like young ladies. We are a family here. I know there are rivalries, but we are not violent. I cannot have this."

Emma and Katie glared at one another across the room.

"Because of what happened, both of you are suspended from class for one week."

Both girls gaped, thinking that sounded extreme. Emma opened her mouth to protest, but was stopped. Auditions were next week. If she wasn't able to practice, how would she stand a chance of getting the part she wanted? At least her rival was suffering the same fate.

"No arguments," the instructor said. "Get your things and go."

"This is so unfair," Emma muttered under her breath as they left.

"Just wait until we get home," Lin quipped, angry that he'd been called down here. Vanessa had already had a rough day and he'd had to leave her all alone with four kids to come down here. Emma wordlessly followed Lin outside and they caught the subway. When they reached home, Emma immediately went to her room to sulk.

Lin sighed as he jumped right back in to helping with the other kids. Sebastian had had an accident before he left, so he was now wandering around in just a new pair of underwear. Vanessa had Franky in her arms as she tried to finish off dinner. Emilia was crying in the bedroom. Lin headed back to his room and picked up Emilia, but she continued to cry. He checked her diaper, and knew she'd been fed just before he'd left, so he put her back in her bassinet. He was already frustrated, and he didn't want to take it out on any of his kids. Except maybe Emma.

About fifteen minutes later, dinner was ready, so Lin helped wrangle the kids to the table. Sebastian ate in his underwear, neither parent wanting to bother with getting him dressed again so close to bedtime. Emma had since showered and changed and she sat down at the table looking angry. She didn't speak or look at anyone during the whole meal. As soon as they were finished, she wandered back to her bedroom again to get started on her homework. Vanessa wanted to do the dishes so she could get a break from the kids. Lin began corralling the boys to the bathroom for their bath.

Once they were clean, he read them both a bedtime story and tucked them in. Luckily, Emilia had since stopped bawling. Lin sighed as he knocked on Emma's bedroom door. He found her on the floor, homework spread around. Lin sat on her desk chair.

"You wanna tell me how you ended up getting into a physical fight at ballet?" He asked her. Emma sighed and tossed her pencil away.

"She was being a total bitch," she told him.

"You know I don't like that language," he reminded her. "Please elaborate."

"She seriously was acting like Regina George," she explained. "I was minding my own business and she just started talking about how if I kept up how I was, I was going to get some crappy part, and that she was Sugar Plum Fairy back at her old studio. Something in me snapped and I just pushed her."

"Did you have a bad practice or something?"

"It was terrible," she said. "And now I can't practice for a whole other week thanks to Katie."

"Katie didn't make the decision to get violent. That was you," he reminded her.

"So I was just supposed to stand there and take it?" She protested.

"This isn't like you," Lin said. "I have never known you to get into a physical fight. What is up with you?"

"I just can't stand Katie."

"Is she new?"

"Yes. She joined over the summer."

"Well, Emma you're going to have to learn to accept that you might not always be the best," he told her. "There might be someone better than you, but that doesn't mean you suck. You're very talented, but so is Katie."

"So, you don't think I'm good enough to get the part of Sugar Plum Fairy?"

"I have no idea, Emma," he said honestly. "I don't know how to judge ballet. Obviously, Katie is also very good."

"I wish she would just disappear," Emma commented.

"Well, that's not going to happen," he reminded her. "So you're going to have to figure out a way to get along with her. You don't have to be best friends, but I better not hear any more about you getting into fights with her. Physical or verbal."

"Fine," she said, picking up her pencil to continue. Lin stood up to leave.

"You're grounded for a week while you're suspended from class," he told her. "Finish your homework and get to bed."

Emma let out a frustrated groan and threw her pencil across the room, barely missing Lin. She rested her head on her arms. Lin chose to ignore it and left the room.

The rest of the week, Emma spent her afternoons in the basement at her own barre, trying to keep herself up to par. When the next week rolled around, she got a firm reminder from Lin before she left for school.

"Are you going to be able to keep your temper under control?" He asked her as she put on her backpack.

"Yes," she said with some attitude, rolling her eyes.

"Try again," he told her, raising his eyebrows. She huffed.

"Yes," she said, her voice flat and respectful.

"Good," he said. "If anything else happens, you know I won't hesitate to pull you out again. Understood?"

She nodded and he told her to have a good day. Emma and Lexi disappeared, the front door closing with a bit of a bang. Lin sighed as he cleared up the breakfast dishes. He just hoped for a week free from drama. In a house with five kids, that was unlikely, but he could ldream.