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❛ ʟᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀ & ʟᴀᴄᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ
ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴛᴡᴏ ꒱


❝ THE SECRET OF CHANGE IS
TO FOCUS ALL YOUR ENERGY
NOT ON FIGHTING THE OLD,
BUT ON BUILDING THE NEW  ❞

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Juliet pulled back the leaf of the plant to carefully pour water onto the soil that was hiding underneath it. Kendrick and Celeste were on one of their many trips out of town, this time due to the latter's job with Sotheby's that called for her to go to France to acquire some art pieces. Being the good friend that she was, Juliet had happily agreed to tend to the couples' townhouse while they were gone.

It was a bright, airy building with lighter colors than she would normally prefer— especially with her current (sorry, past) mood— and there was definitely a richer atmosphere than her own neighborhood. (She did have to admit that Kendrick and Celeste had a leg up on her as they weren't still paying off student debt. She could have lived closer to them, but Juliet was determined to make her own way without relying on her father's money.) Some of her jobs while tending to the house were to bring in the mail, take care of the plants and keep dust from accumulating on the surfaces. Sometimes she stayed longer to work on her dissertation to make the house have a lived-in feel so it wouldn't sit empty for too long.

Her laptop was currently sitting on the kitchen counter, waiting for her to continue her research project. Was she procrastinating by taking extra-good care of the plants? Maybe; she'd never tell. Eventually, though, she ran out of plants to water and had to concede to the peer-pressure her computer was subliminally sending her way. She did have a date this evening, after all, so she should do schoolwork while she could.

She had just opened the many-paged Word document and was waiting for the contents to load when a knock sounded from outside. "Thank god," she breathed out, grateful for another distraction.

Her annoyance grew slightly as the knocking continued, even as she got up to answer the door. "Coming, coming," she muttered, quickly unlocking the knob and turning it. Her eyes widened at the sight of was on the other side, though if pressed she would have guessed: Niwa, Celeste's spoiled, fashionista cousin from the wedding.

"Niwa, hi," Juliet greeted her, unable to keep the surprise from her voice. "What, uh, brings you to town?"

Her question came out slowly as she realized that this was not the same put-together Singaporean woman who had complained about dress color last winter. Instead, her once-sleek hair was frizzy and short around her face, which was completely void of makeup— so much so that Juliet could see the woman's desperate need for sleep. Her button down shirt was slightly crooked from misplaced buttons and there were suspicious-looking stains that littered the pale blue cotton.

Her personality, however, hadn't changed and was still as terrible as ever: "what do you think?" she retorted shortly, using her free hand to jab a finger at the small child she held. "This little beast. Is Celeste home?"

Juliet's eyes fell on the girl in Niwa's arms, who was looking around with solemn, dark eyes. She sucked on her fingers quietly, not at all looking like the woman's accusation of her. "Uh. . . no, she's not. Who's this?" she nodded to the child.

"Miya," the Asian woman replied, though she drawled out the name as of it disgusted her. "I couldn't be bothered to choose a name so my stupid mother picked it out. Now she's stuck with it. When will Celeste be home?"

There was a pause as Niwa's words registered. "Wait a minute— you're a mother?"

"Unwillingly. That's what I wanted to talk to my darling shoushi about."

Juliet cleared her throat as she took in the other woman's sneering expression. "Um, Celeste's gonna be gone for at least another week—"

"A week!" The dark-haired woman flinched at Niwa's affronted shriek. A slightly crazed look in her eyes appeared as her loud exclamation caused the girl— who Juliet presumed was her daughter— started to cry. "I can't wait that long! Look at what I have to deal with! All this brat does is cry, and cry, and cry and I can't take it anymore! This is not how my life is supposed to be, taking care of a slobbery, germy little shit—" She looked down at the girl in her arms, "shut up—!"

"Niwa!" Juliet cut across her sharply, all too aware that they were standing in the doorway on a street, where anyone could see them. "Look, I get that you're overwhelmed, but what is Celeste going to do to help? This is your child—"

A scoff loud enough to be heard over the girl's continued wails interrupted her. "Not for much longer. Do you know when I got pregnant? When I was in London for my shoushi's shit wedding. So, the way I see it, this child is her fault, and therefore, her responsibility. I've only just managed to get away from my mother to pawn this brat off on my shoushi before I skip town."

Her mouth dropped open in shock at how completely irresponsible one person could be. "Niwa, she's a kid! A real, living human being—"

"Yeah, well, she's your problem now until Celeste gets back from her trip." Niwa held the child out at arm's length, making no move to comfort her even as she squirmed and cried.

Juliet would have refused to take the girl— only because she knew that once she had, the other woman would disappear for good— but she took pity on the poor thing and gently settled her against her side. "You're crazy," she stated bluntly, not caring that she had insulted the other woman. "I can't be a mother! Celeste's far too busy with work, and so is Kendrick! Niwa, come on—"

"Oh no, I don't think so," the Asian woman said with a smirk, already backing down the steps. "I've done my job, now it's yours. Don't bother to keep in touch!"

With that, Niwa turned her back on the townhouse and walked over to where her motorbike was parked at the curb. She didn't even stop to put her helmet on (Juliet would be surprised if she owned one) before she revved the engine and took off. The dark-haired woman leaned against the doorway for a moment and let out a pent-up breath. "Jesus Christ." Then she looked down at the girl, who had quieted once her mother had left. "Sorry. Forget that I said that."

🌎🌎🌎

Juliet didn't know how to tell her best friends that their entire lives had changed in a matter of minutes, so she opted to call the next best person. "Minkus— Stuart, I need your help."

"'Anything for you, Juliet. You know that.'"

"Sorry, but I don't have time for flattery right now. Since you're a genius I need your advice: what do I do with a kid?"

He must have picked up on the slightly panicked tone of her voice as his became noticeably calmer as he replied, "'how old's the kid? Whose is it?'"

"Uh, I don't know how old she is. Almost a year? Two? Three? They all look the same. And, um, it's— she's— mine."

"'Yours? That's great! I didn't know—"

She quickly interrupted him: "no! No, not biologically. Jes— jeez." She took a deep breath. "I guess it would be better if I started from the beginning." So, after recounting Niwa's visit, she asked again, "what do I do with her?"

"'This really couldn't have come at a better time.'" Stuart sounded a little too happy in Juliet's opinion, especially for the gravity of the situation. "'I have a son, you know. Just about the age you think Miya is.'"

The dark-haired woman mouth dropped open in shock for the second time that day. "You have a kid? No offence, but is he really yours? Not, like, genetically engineered or anything? You didn't think to tell me in all the times— granted it's not that many— we've talked that you have a family?"

The man on the other side let out an quiet laugh. "Yeah, I really have a son. With everything that you've been going through I didn't think it would be a good time to bring it up, though you know I love a good boast. You'll never believe who I married."

"Really? Who?"

"'Jennifer Bassett. Remember her?'"

Juliet let out a little shriek at the name; she definitely hadn't forgotten the horrible girl from high school. Miya made a startled noise from where she'd been placed on the ground and she sent the girl a mouthed apology. "Are you crazy? And to think that I always claimed you're the smartest person I know! Seriously, I almost feel tempted to never call you Stuart again. Are you really sure your son is. . . well, real?"

"'Yes, I'm quite certain he is. His name's Farkle Minkus, by the way.'"

She let out a little chuckle. "Now that I can believe. If you have a girl, are you still gonna name her Hermione Einstein Minkus?"

"'I can't believe you remember that. But I don't think so— that name was reserved for our third child.'"

"I feel so lucky," she teased him. "Don't let Jennifer— or should I say Zathrak the Undead— hear you talking like that. She might actually suck out your head meat."

Stuart smiled slightly at the callback from their high school years. "'She's gotten much better, really. She told me so. Anyway, you're only watching Miya until your friends get back from their trip, right? You don't have to worry, Juliet— you're the smartest person that I know. You'll figure it out.'" He went on to give her some tips about feeding and taking care of the girl while Juliet made a list of the supplies that she would need. He finished with: "'Hey — my business is taking off quite nicely, so I think I can get away soon. I'm sure Farkle and Miya will be good friends once they meet, if you'd like to schedule something?'"

"That would be great!" Juliet said happily. "You should definitely come to London."

🌎🌎🌎

It only took the next several days for Juliet to become fond of the young girl. Miya was nothing like the 'little beast' that Niwa had described her as, though that really shouldn't have come as a surprise. Instead, she was mostly quiet as she played with the new toys that Juliet had gotten her and she even slept through the night. When Kendrick and Celeste returned from their trip, she greeted them with the child in her arms.

"Hey, guys. Welcome back!" she said brightly as she opened the door.

Kendrick's gaze was drawn immediately the girl. "Who's kid is that?"

His blunt question earned him a light slap on the arm, but Celeste must have been too curious to reprimand him further. Juliet took a deep breath. "Maybe you guys should get settled before we talk about her."

The man's eyes widened and his next words came out slowly: "Jules, you didn't. . . steal someone's kid, did you?"

"What? No!" she exclaimed, only a little insulted that he would think so. "Really?"

He held up his hands pacifyingly. "I just thought I'd ask. I wanted to know if my house was gonna be on an FBI watchlist."

"It's not," she huffed indignantly. After the couple brought their bags in and took their seats, she recounted the story for a second time.

Celeste jerked upright as she finished. "That bi—" She cut herself off abruptly as her eyes fell on the child. "You didn't try to stop her?"

"What was I supposed to do?" Juliet asked. "Stand in front of her motorcycle and get run over?"

"Yes!" Kendrick exclaimed, though he was mostly joking.

She shot him a faux-irritated look. "Really feeling the love here, guys. But now we have to decide what we're gonna do with Miya. You're both working full-time and I'm a student; I don't have a spare bedroom but you do. I could see if my mom would fly out to help take care of her—"

"You don't have to do that," Celeste reassured her. "She's my niece. She's tiny right now so the spare bedroom isn't really an issue." She paused to gauge her friend's reaction before she asked her next question hesitantly: "we've already asked you to do a lot for us, but. . . would you take care of Miya, at least for a little while? We'll figure out a more stable living situation for her, but right now I think it would be best if you looked after her during the day and we can take nights since you're usually busy then."

Juliet glanced down at the girl and offered her finger to her. Miya grasped the digit and waved it around in the air, causing the dark-haired woman to smile. "I think I could do that. The little beast isn't so bad." This time, the nickname was used as an endearment than a complaint.

🌎🌎🌎

The next day, Juliet decided that a phone call to her mom was in order. Daly still lived in Philadelphia and had become a music teacher a few years back to children at the elementary school that Juliet had gone to. Her father, Baron, worked at their family's bank and commuted from New York to Philadelphia to 'check in' on her mom. A part of her wondered if there was something. . . going on there, but she'd given up hope of her parents getting back together long ago. Besides, it would be almost weird if the did now, especially since she wasn't living at home anymore— but maybe that was the very reason why something might be happening between them.

"Hi, mom," she said after the phone had stopped ringing.

"'Darling, hi!'" her mother's bright voice replied. "'It's so good to hear from you. How have things been? You sound happier.'"

She smiled slightly as her mom picked up on the change she'd worked so hard for. "Yeah, I am. I've been working on myself."

"'I'm so happy to hear that, darling. Your father and I were— and always are, because we love you— worried about you, especially with you living in another country where it would be harder for us to support you. How's your dissertation? Can we call you Doctor Juliet yet?"

She rolled her eyes at her mom's terrible joke. "Not yet. A couple more months and then we'll have to see what happens."

They talked for a little while about normal things, though Juliet refrained from specifying exactly how many dates she'd been on. While her mother wouldn't necessarily disapprove, she wouldn't approve either. She asked about what was going on back in Philadelphia, holding her breath in case her mom mentioned whether he had been around, but thankfully her ex wasn't mentioned in the conversation at all. 

"Look, mom. . . I, um, have some pretty big news— and no, it's not about my PhD. Well, I'm not exactly sure how to tell you this, but do you remember Niwa, the bit—bratty girl I told you about?" Juliet cut off the curse word that she had been about to use as she glanced in Miya's direction; she'd gotten a lot better about catching herself. She told the story for what she hoped was the last time, at least for a little while.

"'She dropped her child off, just like that?'" Daly exclaimed indignantly once she was finished. "'I know I wasn't the best mother at times, but I'd never do something that irresponsible, no matter how hard things got. Is Miya okay now?'"

Juliet's gaze fell on the girl again, who was chewing on one of the plastic rings. "Yeah, she's much better. Trust me, Niwa wasn't fit to be a parent. I just hope Miya's time with her wasn't too detrimental. I don't know much about kids but I do know that these years can be pretty formative. I can only hope that whatever I do erases that part from her memory. She definitely deserves better than that."

 "'From what it sounds like, you're already doing better— not that the bar is very high. If you ever need help, darling you know that I'm here for you. I just don't know what I'm going to say to your father; I'm afraid that telling him he's a partial grandfather will trigger a full-blown midlife crisis.'"

"Thanks mom," the dark-haired woman said gratefully. "I might have to take you up on that offer depending on how things work out. I'm pretty sure that dad will be okay, you know. He's got Uncle Sam, Taylor, and definitely Greg to keep him level."

Her mom let out a worried breath. "'I don't know, darling. He's been talking about buying a motorcycle. A motorcycle. He says that it will make the drive between Philly and New York more 'fun,' but I don't even want to think about a forty-something-year-old man on a bike. That's a young man's vehicle. Maybe you should call him and help me talk him down.'"

Juliet tried to keep the quiet chuckle that escaped her lips from her mom's notice; the image of her suit-wearing dad on a bike was a little funny. "Alright, I'll be sure to mention it when I talk to him next. And you guys definitely need to fly over here to meet Miya— you'll love her."

"'I'm sure we will. But darling, won't you come back to the States to visit us? That way you can see your uncles as well.'"

She tensed at the mention of returning to the States; the whole reason why she hadn't was to avoid running into him. Sure, the U.S. was huge, but it would be just her luck that she would run into the one person that she was trying to forget about. She smiled to hide her unease. "Sorry mom, but children aren't really good fliers. Maybe when Miya's a bit older. Besides, it would be a pretty long trip since I'd have to stop by the Minkus' as well— Stuart would never let me hear the end of it if I came to the States and didn't visit him."

Juliet sent a up a silent thank you to the convenience of using Miya as an excuse. Luckily, it seemed to appease her mom as well. "'Okay, darling. But you know we'll have you back in Philly— or New York— sooner rather than later, right?'"

While she knew that her mom meant well, her words sounded more like a promise— or even a threat. Juliet didn't know what would be waiting for her in the States when she did inevitably return, but she would put off facing whatever it was for as long as possible.

A/n: okay, this time I actually have an excuse for not updating: I got sick during my spring break (which I had originally planned to write a lot.) But I feel better now so here's a new chapter!

Normally I don't like stories where the main character/oc is abandoned for 'trauma purposes' or to make her ✨ special ✨, but the other plot I had (which was where Juliet found her at an orphanage) didn't really work with the story. And it's not like Miya is the new Matilda- (a little spoiler) Juliet is going to be her "permanent" (and good, loving) mother. Besides, I have plans to use this version of abandonment later on rather than never mentioning it again (mostly for my bonus season 4 👀) That being said, I'm still not v comfortable with this angle so lmk if I'm pulling this off or being a complete hypocrite.

The only problem with this is that it makes the timeline a little iffy since the GMW kids were canonically born in 2001 and its already 2004 in this chapter. So, to make things make a little more sense, Riley & co. will now be born in 2002 and Miya is born in 2003, so she's just a few months younger instead of a whole year (and that way she can still be in class with them.) But in case it's not obvious, Miya is going to be Farkle's love interest once we get to the canon episodes. You only have to work with GMW crumbs for one more chapter :)

And I had to add in the last bit about Baron getting a motorcycle also for future plot reasons (that may or may not involve helping to improve the Shuliet relationship sometime after Home for the Holidays 😏)