"and if the sun's upset and the sky goes cold
then if the clouds get heavy and start to fall
i really need somebody to call my own
i wanna be somebody to someone
someone to you"

-banners

-----

After the wedding, life was quick to fall back into order. The only difference that Nita and Emily had to put up with was Freen and Becky's sickening amount of affection.

They were newlyweds, and Freen and Becky were clearly finding it difficult to keep their love and gushiness at a tolerable level.

A week had passed, and it was clear that neither woman intended to let up on their regular PDA.

“Can we not bare witness to this again?” Nita asked as she ate her cereal, or at least attempted to, on a Monday morning.

“It was just a kiss,” Becky said past a laugh as she looked at the teen who was clearly exasperated.

“There was lip biting. You two shouldn’t be doing that at 7am!” Nita insisted as she grabbed her bowl and started to head for the stairs.

“C’mon, don’t be upset,” Freen said as she also started to laugh. “Where’re you going?”

“To eat my Cheerios in peace,” Nita explained, only making her mothers laugh a bit harder. “I’m glad this is so amusing, but I’d rather not watch my moms suck face this early in the morning.”

“Hear that, we’re sucking face,” Becky said to her wife who nodded her agreement.

“Yes, exactly. I like my coffee with a side of face sucking.”

“I can’t hear you, la la la la la!” Nita said as she made it to the top of the steps.

“Most kids would love to have parents this in love,” Becky reminded, but it was too late as the door of the girls’ room shut and Nita effectively blocked her out.

“What a drama queen.”

“She’s not a morning person,” Freen reminded before she pulled Becky in for another long kiss.

“Stop sucking face!” Emily spoke up as she finally glanced up from her book.

“Do you even know what that means?” Becky asked the child who gave a small shrug.

“I’m guessing it’s when you look like you’re eating mama’s face.”

Freen instantly blushed while Becky burst into another fit of giggles.

“Why don’t you hurry up and get ready for school,” Freen suggested to the child who shrugged once more before shoveling her final bite of cereal into her mouth and moving to do as suggested.

“No more face eating!” Emily reminded as she set her bowl in the sink and turned to leave the kitchen.

“No more being a wise ass,” Becky rebuttaled as she playfully used her foot to push Emily's butt.

Emily giggled at the nudge and the small profanity before she ran up the stairs.

“Ass? Really?” Freen asked as she rolled her eyes. “I thought we agreed to lessen the cursing around the seven-year-old.”

“I could say a lot worse. Besides, give her two more years and she’ll be able to read books that have way more bad words in them than she hears on a regular basis. There’s no stopping her from there,” Becky said, which made her wife sigh.

“Some parents have to monitor their child’s internet activity, we have to monitor our child’s reading activity. Aren’t we lucky?” Freen asked sarcastically before she finished up her coffee and set the mug in the sink.

“Very,” Becky agreed as she turned on the tap and reached for the sponge.

Freen grabbed the dishtowel to start drying when a knock at the door stopped her.

“I’ll get it,” Freen said before leaving her wife with the dishes and heading for the door.

When Freen opened it, she was surprised to find a fairly tall stranger at her door.

“ Sarocha Chankimha?” the man asked, making the mom nod unsurely.

“That’s me. And you are?”

“I’m Tong Thanayut. I’m with child protective services. May I come in?”

Freen felt like her heart was in her throat. Every fiber of her being was telling her to shut the door and lock it behind herself, but that would be a crime considering Emily and Nita's weren’t legally her’s yet.

So, numbly, Freen stepped aside and allowed the man to enter before shutting the door behind him.

“Is there somewhere we can talk?” Tong asked, making the mom nod.

“Right this way,” Freen said as she led the man upstairs.

Once upstairs, Becky seemed to notice the presence of a new person and turned to see the man behind her wife.

“ Bec, this is Mr. Tong Thanayut. He’s with CPS. Mr. Tong, this is my wife, Becky,” Freen introduced, making Becky shut off the water before she dried her hands and approached the man.

It was clear that she was in as much confusion as Freen was.

“Please, call me P'Tong,” the man said as he shook Becky's hand. “I need to have a word with you both regarding Pranita and Emily's case.”

“Of course,” Becky said as she nodded and led Tong to the living room.

“I’m going to let the girls know that they’re walking to school today,” Freen said before hurrying upstairs.

Freen knocked at the girls' door before pushing it open.

“ Nita,” Freen said as she entered the
room and found the teen packing her backpack.

“Did you finally pry Becky off your face?” Nita asked with a small smirk as she zipped her bag shut.

“There’s someone here from CPS. I need you and Emi to walk to school,” Freen said, deciding to cut to the chase so she didn’t leave Tong waiting for long.

“CPS? Why? They’re not going to take us, are they?” Nita asked nervously as she paled significantly.

If there was one thing Freen didn’t need right now, it was a panic attack from Nita.

Quickly, the mom wrapped the teen in her arms and lovingly kissed her forehead.

“Don’t worry ka. It’s probably regarding your mom. Bec and I will take care of it, okay? Nothing bad is going to happen.”

“You don’t know that,” Nita argued as her throat tightened. “I don’t want to leave until I know what’s wrong.”

“Baby, deep breaths,” Freen instructed as she held Nita's cheeks. “I promise that everything is okay. This is just routine. For all we know, P'Beer couldn’t make it today and sent someone else in her place.”

“Okay,” Nita agreed when a reasonable explanation was provided. “It’s just a check-in.”

“It’s just as check-in,” Freen promised as she thumbed at Nita's cheeks which were finally getting some colour back. “Now I really need you to help me out and take Emi to school. Can you do that?”

Nita nodded and regained her composure before grabbing her bag.

“Can mommy tell me what happened when she gets to school later?” Nita asked, allowing herself to refer to Becky as her ‘mommy.’ While Freen was starting to just be called ‘mama’ by the older girl, it was still a back and forth with Becky's name.

“I’ll make sure she does, okay?”

A bit more eased than before, Nita nodded and allowed Freen to hug her once more before she gathered her things as well as Emily's.

Once Freen and Nita got Emily from the bathroom where she was brushing her teeth, Freen led both girls down and saw them out the front door with the promise to see them when she gets back from work later.

After shutting the door and taking a composing breath, Freen returned to the living room where Becky and Tong were chatting and drinking coffee together.

Becky's calm disposition helped Freen fully relax as she sat next to her and grasped her hand.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your morning like this,” Tong began to say as he pulled out two files from his bag.

“It’s no bother. It’s only a twenty-minute walk for the girls and the fresh air does them some good,” Becky said, making the man smile and nod his agreement.

“I guess I’ll just cut right to the chase then. Ms. Beer has recently been terminated from her position after several complaints were made against her. All of her cases have been handed off to other social workers, and I am now in charge of Emily and Pranita Anantrakul,” Tong explained, making both women briefly glance at one another before they returned their attention to him.

“What happened? Are we allowed to know why she was fired?” Becky asked, though she and Freen already had their suspicions.

“From what I was told, Ms. Beer was working with un-licensed families and failed to properly conduct bio parent and child meetings. A recent incident in one of the homes was brought to CPS’s attention and she was finally investigated.”

Freen froze as she thought something over before she finally spoke. “Did the incident occur at the home of Mark and Jun?”

“How did you know?” Tong asked as he looked at Freen in confusion.

“ Nita's shared her stories about them. We know what Mark did to her.”

“Well, I guess you’ll be relieved to know that both Mark and Jun have been arrested and are going on trial for several offenses.”

“And P'Beer?” Becky asked, shifting the conversation to who she thought was the real criminal in all of this. “She just lost her job?”

“And her license. She’ll never be a social worker again. I know it isn’t comforting, but it’s better than nothing,” Tong reasoned, making Becky bristle slightly.

Freen was quick to grasp her wife’s hand and squeeze it as a comforting reminder that Nita and Emily were safe and away from P'Beer for good.

“What does this mean then? Can we move forward with the adoption of the girls?” Freen asked, deciding it would be best to focus on the future of the girls.

“Did you already start the process?” Tong asked in confusion as he flipped through the folders of the girls.

“I asked P'Beer about it back in April. She said she would take care of it.”

“I’m not seeing anything here,” Tong said with a defeated shake of his head.

“I can’t believe this,” Becky said with an unamused laugh. “That awful woman just couldn’t let our kids have one good thing in life. She had to go and try to ruin every opportunity they had at getting a family.”

“I don’t want to even think about what she would’ve done if she wasn’t fired,” Freen sighed as she rubbed her forehead. “So what does this mean?” Freen asked as she returned her attention to Tong.

“Are we going to have to wait another year? Nita is less than two years away from aging out of the system and after everything she’s been through I think she’d like to turn eighteen with the guarantee that she’s adopted and legally protected by me and Becky.”

“I understand your concern. And I appreciate how much you care for Nita's comfort. That being said, all I’ll need to get is a home check performed when the girls’ are around and we can move forward. You’ll be looking at an adoption day within the next six to eight months.”

“That quick?” Freen asked with a hopeful smile.

“Once we have everything in order all I need to do is set the court date.”

“ P'Beer really was prepared to drag this along until Nita aged out,” Becky said, frowning when the sad realization set over her. “She’s gone for good, right? She can’t hurt Nita anymore?”

“I know that this situation must make it difficult to trust the system,” Tong acknowledged. “ Ms. Beer was unfair to Nita and Emily and she no doubt hurt them a lot during their time in the system. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need you both to trust that I have the best interest of the girls at heart. As soon as I know that this is a safe and loving environment for them to grow up in, I’ll do everything in my power to make this a permanent situation. I’m rooting for you both and I’m rooting for your family.”

“We appreciate that,” Freen said with a weak smile. “Those girls deserve everything and more.”

“Agreed,” Tong said with a curt nod. “On another note, I did bring along some things that belonged to the girls’ mother. Most of her belongings were binned or donated, but anything that had a connection to Nita and Emily have been sent to me.”

Tong went back into his bag and started to pull out several little things.

There was a stack of photos, the popsicle stick picture frame that Nita made, two baby hats, a worn-down winnie the pooh plush, and a letter with Nita's name messily written on the back.

“It’s not much but I’m sure the girls will appreciate having some of these things back,” Tong said as he slid the items over to the women.

“Look at these pictures,” Freen mumbled as she briefly shuffled through the stacked photographs.

They weren’t well kept, and some were stained with foreign substances, but the images were clear.

For the first time, Freen and Becky had the opportunity to look through a small window and see what their children looked like before they met them.

Freen felt tears well in her eyes as she looked at photos of Nita as a baby, then a toddler, and then a young child. She went from small and chubby, to long and lanky.

There were photos of her missing teeth, and others of her striking ridiculous poses. And then there was her smile. In every photo she had a wide smile, wider than Freen had ever seen.

It was untouched, unaltered, and
straight from the heart. It hurt to realize that Nita may never be able to smile like that again, even if she was in a good situation. The world already broke her spirit; a part of her smile would always reflect that.

Shuffling some more, Freen found a few photos of Emily. She was a tiny baby with wide brown eyes. And despite some time gapping the growth in her photos, Freen was able to see baby Emily become the Emi she knows today. Her smile, thankfully, was still as bright as it was as a toddler.

Freen found some relief in the fact that the system, P'Beer, didn’t have a chance to completely destroy both her girls.

“I wonder who’s this was,” Becky spoke up as she grabbed the old toy and stroked its pale-yellow fur.

“Probably Nita's. Emi has Bunny but I don’t think Nita ever had a comfort item that she brought around,” Freen said as she reached for the note with Nita's name on it.

The foster mom thumbed it open and froze when she found out who the letter was from.

“Look at this,” Freen said as she pointed at the signed portion of the letter.

“ Khun Mind wrote this,” Becky said as she quickly scanned the letter for a date.

“She’s needed something like this. Something that could bring her real closure,” Freen said as she started to smile lightly.

“She wrote it after the girls were taken the first time,” Becky observed as she read the first bit of the letter. “ Nita's really going to appreciate this. Thank you ka, P'Tong.”

The social worker smiled and nodded at the thanks.

“I know these last few months have been chaotic to say the least with Ms. Beer, but I just want to tell you now that I am here for your family and I will do what’s best for the girls,” Tong said as he began to pack up his bag in preparation to leave.

“We appreciate that,” Freen said with a smile. “They need more people looking out for them.”

“Well, they clearly lucked out with you two,” Tong dismissed. “But I’m happy to step up for them as well.”

-----

When Nita found Becky during lunch, she was left with more questions than answers, not that it was the other woman’s intentions.

Becky, who didn’t want to say anything without Freen around, opted to tell Nita that she had nothing to worry about, but that they needed to have a family meeting in order to go over a few things.

Having a family meeting was an entirely new concept to Nita and she was rendered pretty useless for the rest of her school day as her anxiety gnawed at the pit of her stomach and made her too nauseous to even think about what her teachers had to say.

Becky seemed to notice Nita's pallor and green tint when she met the two girls at her car at the end of the school day.

Nita tried to bat off Becky's worried hand, but the older woman persisted until she landed her hand on Nita's forehead and then cheeks.

“ Okay mai? You’re pale. Did you have a panic attack?” Becky asked as she continued to feel for a fever.

“I’m just nervous,” Nita dismissed as she pulled back from the hand and pulled at the car door handle.

It was still locked so she gave it a few tugs as a hint to Becky.

“Can we please just go home?”

Becky glanced at Emily to see if the little girl had a clue as to what was bugging Nita, but the little girl was too invested in the small container of slime that she made in her science class.

“Okay ka,” Becky relented as she unlocked her car and moved to get into the driver’s side. “Why’re you nervous?” Becky decided to ask as she sat down and shut her door.

“Can we please just wait for mama to get home?” Nita asked, almost desperately, as she tried to keep a handle on her emotions.

Becky nodded her agreement and started the car after double-checking that both girls were buckled in.

“ Freen's probably going to beat us home, anyway.”

“Why? Isn’t she at work?” Nita asked as she began to shuffle in her seat a bit.

“She was. But she finished the piece she was working on and wanted to call it an early day.”

“So we have to talk when we get home?” Nita asked, her wavering voice catching the ear of Becky who furrowed her eyebrows.

“Okay, honey, I know you want to wait for Freen, but there is something bothering you and I want to help. You can talk to me.”

“I just don’t know what you mean by family meeting,” Nita revealed, though it cleared up very little for the older woman.

“We just have a few things we need to discuss as a family, that’s all,” Becky promised, which made Nita shake her head in the negative.

“That never ends well for me,” Nita said, a frustrated edge coming to her voice.

The occasional squelch of Emily's slime came to a halt when she heard her sister’s voice pick-up.

“ Baby, I told you earlier that you had nothing to worry about. I wouldn’t lie to you about that,” Becky said as she reached out and gave the teen’s hand a comforting squeeze.

“'Trust', mommy. I’m still working on trusting what you say,” Nita said, finally voicing where her doubt came from. “And I don’t want you to think it’s because I don’t love you-,”

“Hey, hey, no,” Becky quickly interrupted with a shake of her head. “I do not think that, Nita. I know you love me, and I love you. I understand. Trust is still a work in progress for some things. I should’ve never been so vague about what happened with the social worker. I just wanted to wait until Freen could be there.”

“You promise it isn’t anything bad?” Nita asked as she glanced at Becky while nervously chewing her bottom lip.

“Some news just takes a bit of time to digest. But all things considered, everything we will tell you is good.”

Nita sighed out a breath of relief and nodded her understanding. She could already feel some of her colour return as her breathing regulated and the fog in her brain cleared.

The car ride that only took two minutes felt like an eternity until Becky offered Nita some explanation. Now, the teen was a bit more eager to learn about what happened, which prompted her to hurry inside the house the second that Becky pulled up in front of it.

Becky and Emily took their time to follow in, and by the time they entered, Freen had already gotten Nita situated in the living room with a big paper bag in front of her.

“First their things and then the news?” Freen asked her wife after they quickly kissed each other in greeting.

“Sounds good,” Becky agreed before joining Nita in the living room.

“Mama, I made slime,” Emily proudly proclaimed as she held up her neon pink slime container.

“Look at that!” Freen enthused as she stroked back some of the hair that slipped out of Emily's braid. “Did your teacher show you how to do that?”

“Yup,” Emily agreed with a satisfied nod. “I can teach you and mommy and Nity. We just need chemicals and boogie-woogie monster snot.”

“That is a sweet thought, but chemicals and boogie-woogie monster snot doesn’t sound like a delightful mix. Why don’t we leave the slime making to Mr. Non, yeah?”

“Okay,” Emily said with a shrug before skipping over to the living room as well.

She clearly got the hint that everyone was needed to gather there. Freen followed after her youngest and sat on the single, just diagonal to her girls.

“So, girls, mommy and I had a visit with a social worker this morning, as you already know,” Freen started to say, making both girls nod. “And we have a few things we need to talk about. The news is good, though, so I don’t want either of you to worry.”

“ Nita and I already had a chat about that in the car. Unfortunately, when I phrased this as a ‘family meeting’ she got nervous,” Becky explained as she gave Nita's hand an apologetic squeeze.

“Family meeting? Really, bebe? You couldn’t think of a more basic traditional family thing for us to do?” Freen asked with a playful roll of her eyes. “My Mae tried hosting those. My dad and I made fun of her until she stopped, so it clearly wasn’t successful.”

“Well excuse me,” Becky shot back. “As you remember, I went through like ten different homes as a kid. 90% of them hosted family meetings. I was doing what the majority did.”

“Do your parents even have family meetings?” Freen asked, making her wife sigh before she flopped against the back of the couch.

“No,” the other woman huffed. “We have family interventions.”

“So, this is an intervention?” Nita asked skeptically, reminding both women that she and Emily were still present.

“No, this is a discussion,” Freen said.

“A family - meeting,” Becky said, putting emphasis on both words to prove her point.

“Family meeting sounds boring,” Emily interjected. “Can we call it a family jamboree?”

“There’s no music,” Nita reminded her little sister who shrugged before motioning to all three of them.

“We can put music. There’re three phones here,” Emily argued.

“Okay, we are getting way off topic,” Freen said as she regained her family’s attention. “This discussion-,”

“Family meeting,” Becky interrupted.

“Jamboree,” Emily added.

“Let’s call it a freaking circus and move it along,” Nita sighed before motioning for her mama to continue.

“Thank you. Okay, so, the man you saw earlier was P'Tong. He’s from CPS and he had a few things to talk to us about. But first, we wanted you guys to have the things he brought from your mom’s apartment. Anything that had some connection to you two was thankfully saved,” Freen explained
as she shuffled the paper bag closer to the girls. “You can look at what’s inside.”

Nita, always the more shy and reserved, held back as Emily started to pull things from the bag.

First the baby hats, then the pictures, followed by the picture frame, note, and Winnie the pooh plush.

Emily, who seemed rather indifferent to the items, began to shuffle through the pictures.

Nita, now being able to see the items laid out on the coffee table, swallowed thickly before grabbing the foot of the plush and pulling it onto her lap.

Her hands shook as she stroked the dusty old material before she grabbed the toy once more and pulled it towards her stomach.

Nita shut her eyes and took a long, deep breath. She was grounding herself and allowing her emotions to flow before she proceeded to look at the other items.

Grabbing the letter now, Nita seemed to freeze as she flipped it open to find who it was from.

“Mom,” Nita whispered as she looked at the sighed portion.

“Do you want us to leave so you can read it?” Freen asked as she reached up to wipe at the stray tear that ran down Nita's cheek.

“No,” Nita breathed out as she quickly folded the letter back up and set it beside herself. “I’m not ready.”

“Do you want to look at the pictures?” Becky asked as she motioned to the stack that Emily was still shuffling through. Once again, Nita was quick to decline the offer.

“Can you tell me about what the social worker had to say?” Nita asked as she continued to hug the old bear to her mid-section.

Freen and Becky briefly shared a glance before nodding and looking back at Nita.

“Well, he wanted to let us know that he is legally your caseworker now-,” Becky began to say before Nita interrupted her.

“What about P'Beer?”

“She’s been removed from her position,” Freen explained, before deciding to add some context. “CPS did an internal investigation and found out that she was working with un-licensed parents. She put a lot of kids in danger, including you and your sister.”

“Your license?” Nita asked skeptically, making Freen quickly shake her head.

“My license is good. P'Tong would’ve mentioned it if it wasn’t. But one of the homes you’ve been in was unlicensed,” Freen explained, leaving it in the air briefly to see if Nita could figure it out on her own.

“Mark and Jun?” the teen asked after a minute of thinking it over.

“Yeah, honey,” Freen said with a weak nod of her head.

“She never checked on us,” Nita said, mainly to herself as she began to rack through her memories. “Some homes she did it every month but in others… she just left us there until something really bad happened.”

“How many homes were like that? Do you remember?” Becky asked, making the teen shrug.

“Four, maybe? I can’t believe she would fucking leave us like that,” Nita seethed as she shook her head.

“ Nita,” Freen began, only to stop herself when she realized that now wasn’t the time to chastise the kid for swearing. She had every right to. “You get to be upset. What P'Beer did was terrible, and dangerous, and so incredibly selfish.”

“So what now?” Nita bitterly asked as she fought the tears that welled in her eyes. “ P'Beer loses her stupid job and those awful people get to walk freely?”

It was clear that Nita was angry by the news. She wanted justice for her pain, and P'Beer's job loss wasn’t going to cut it.

“Mark and Jun were arrested,” Becky said, almost instantly making the once seething teen simmer down.

Unfortunately, she pulled herself into the opposite direction and began to suck in shallow breaths as a new wave of emotion flooded her.

“They did it again,” Nita whimpered out as she began to realize how Mark and Jun ended up getting arrested. “They hurt another kid, didn’t they?”

Freen, now sensing that this conversation was getting to a darker area that Emily shouldn’t be privy too, quickly turned to the little girl and asked her to go and start her homework in her room before she returned her attention to the teen.

“They did it again,” Nita sobbed out once her sister left the space and she could allow all of her emotion to flood out of her. “I let them do it again.”

“No, baby, this isn’t on you,” Becky cooed as she set herself on the floor in front of Nita while Freen took to the child’s side.

“Even if you reported it, they were unlicensed and the only person that had control over them was P'Beer. She was going to keep placing kids in there no matter what you, or any other kid, said,” Becky reminded, though it seemed to do little to calm the girl.

“I should’ve still said something,” Nita continued to cry as she shook her head. “I could’ve protected someone else.”

“Baby,” Freen sighed as she pulled the girl into her arms.

Words seemed to do little to comfort
Nita at the moment, but physical love would make all the difference.

Nita was quick to turn and hug her mama back, allowing all of her frustration, sadness, and pain flood out of her with each sob.

Nita wasn’t sure how long Freen and Becky sat with her for. But she needed the comfort more than anything else, and her mommy and mama were willing to give it to her by the bucket full.

“This wasn’t on you,” Becky promised as she pressed a loving kiss to the side of Nita's head.

“You survived Mark and Jun, and you survived the system. Now that P'Beer is out of the way, that means that other kids can survive it too.”

“You said it was good news,” Nita whimpered out.

It nearly broke Freen and Becky's hearts when they realized the accusation was true. They said it was good news, but there was some bad in the middle of it too.

“It’s good because it’s over,” Freen began to say as she stroked back some of Nita's hair. “But sometimes you need to face the bad to see the good. It’s there, Nita. I promise. You just have to look a little deeper.”

Nita nodded her understanding before she cuddled a bit closer to her mama. She began to regain some control over her emotions as she shuffled through her thoughts to find the good.

Whoever fell victim to Mark and Jun must be in pain right now. Nita can sympathize with them. But then she remembered what it was like to be in the back of P'Beer's car as they drove away from the house.

To look back at what could only be thought of as her worst nightmare and see it grow smaller and smaller until it disappeared entirely. To feel the relief flood her before the dread of what was to come filled her back up again.

But this was different. Nita knew to expect something bad because she was with P'Beer, but whoever was with Mark and Jun last got something that Nita didn’t.

A chance to feel peace.

Driving away from that house must’ve felt like driving away from all the bad that P'Beer let happen, and Nita knew, she just knew, that the child must’ve been so relieved that they cried.

And that’s when she realized that her own tears weren’t all due to her sadness. Some of them were from her relief too. She was relieved to be free of P'Beer.

Relieved to know her worst nightmares were being punished for their crimes.

Relieved to know that maybe, just maybe, this made her free.

-----

After the family discussion - meeting, jamboree, circus - Nita decided to not let anything she heard or received that day alter her life in any negative way. It would give too much power to those who hurt her, and she wasn’t willing to do that.

Nita allowed her moms to keep the photos and baby hats, while she set her pooh bear onto her bed and the letter from her mom into a drawer until she felt brave enough to read it. And their lives carried on as normal.

Tong conducted his necessary evaluations and meetings, though these seemed to go over both girls’ heads as they deduced that it was appropriate to have their social worker be more present in their lives.

Neither was aware that Tong's regular appearance was due to his rushed efforts to get them an adoption date.

Not a month later, Tong performed the miracle of a lifetime and got Freen and Becky the date for the adoption. What P'Beer refused to do in nine months, Tong did in one, and both women were incredibly grateful for his efforts.

Christmas was the following day, and Freen and Becky were just given the best gift they could not only receive but give to their children as well.

Christmas morning, Emily was the first one to rise. She giggled wildly as she quickly jumped from her bed to Nita's, earning a grunt front the teen that received the heavy impact of her little sister to her mid-section.

“Ribs, Emi,” Nita coughed out as she rolled her sister off of her.

“Santa came!” Emily insisted before she scurried off the bed and out of the room, no doubt with the intention to do the same wake up all to her moms as well.

Nita rolled until she fell off the edge of her bed. She laid on the floor of her room and looked up at the ceiling until she heard both Freen and Becky loudly groan at their rude wake-up calls as well.

“ Emily,” Freen whined in the distance.

“What did we say about keeping the ninja kicks to a minimum?” Becky followed up with.

Emily broke out into a fit of giggles as she was no doubt tickled by the two women.

Nita giggled herself as she heard the delight in Emily's laughter. Just as quickly as it started, however, Emily was insisting that Santa came and that everyone had to go downstairs.

The sound of running feet had Nita sitting up quickly in preparation for another surprise attack. She tensed up when the door was pushed open quickly and shut her eyes as a way to brace for impact.

“Ribs-,” Nita quickly said before she realized that Emily's running had gone down the stairs and that the person at the door was one of her moms.

“She got you too?” Becky asked with an amused smirk as she approached the teen and offered her a hand.

Nita nodded as she grasped her mommy's hand and allowed the older woman to hoist her to her feet.

“Square on the plates,” Nita explained as she allowed Becky to hug her before they started to head for the kitchen.

“She punched Freen's chest pretty aggressively. Maybe you two can share war stories,” Becky said with a laugh.

“It wasn’t funny, Bec,” Freen pouted as she caught the tail end of her wife’s sentence.

“It was pretty funny,” Becky concurred as she allowed Nita and Freen to hug.

“Merry Christmas, my girl,” Freen said as she hugged the teen tightly before kissing the side of her head.

“Merry Christmas, mama,” Nita returned before releasing the embrace.

“I know we agreed to do gifts after breakfast, but your mom and I have something that we want you two to open now,” Freen explained as she began to lead Nita over to the tree that Emily was already sorting through.

“Hey Emi Bear, don’t go sneaking any presents yet,” Becky said as she playfully tickled Emily's sides, making the girl fall into another fit of giggles.

“I’m not!” Emily insisted past her laughter before she sighed out in relief when Becky finally let up.

“That’s what I thought,” Becky said playfully before she sat on the couch and watched as Freen retrieved the wrapped manila folder that they set under the tree. Freen also joined Becky on the couch with Nita following close behind.

“Who’s that for, mama?” Emily asked as she moved to sit on Becky's lap.

The little one looked at the to/from tag and read it out loud.

“To: Emily and Nita. From: mommy and mama. Is it a puppy?”

Freen, Becky, and Nita all rolled their eyes in unison as they laughed at the question.

“You are a smart child but that is a very silly question,” Becky said as she grabbed the folder. “How does a puppy even fit in here, Emi?”

“You shrunk it down real small,” Emily explained as she pinched her fingers together.

“And how do you unshrink a shrunken puppy?” Nita asked her sister who sighed in exasperation.

“Put it in water, duh?!”

“Yeah, Nita. Duh!” Freen teased as she gently nudged Nita. “Now, why don’t you two actually open the gift to see what’s inside?”

Nita shrugged and nodded before allowing Emily to do the honours. Emily ripped into the wrapping paper and turned the manila folder open to find a document inside it.

“Notice of adoption,” Emily began to read aloud. “of Pranita Anantrakul and Emily Anantrakul.”

“What?” Nita asked as she quickly stood up and went to her sister’s side to see the form.

“Please present yourselves,” Emily continued to read slowly as Nita scanned the document at a lightning speed.

“On February 14th,” both Emily and Nita said at the same time.

Emily carried on her reading while Nita took a step back and began to pace.

“Wait? Does this mean we’re getting adopted?” Emily asked as she stopped her needless reading of the legalities of the situation.

“Ka, Bubs,” Freen said excitedly as she cupped the child’s cheeks. “You’re going to officially be Armstrong-Chankimha.”

“We’re getting adopted!” Emily cheered as she jumped off Becky's lap and began to run around the living room in glee.

“ Nita,” Becky spoke up when she realized that the teen hadn’t fully responded to what she just learned.

“It’s happening?” Nita asked as she continued her pacing, not even batting an eye as her sister ran past her several times.

“Yeah, baby,” Freen said as she extended the document out to the teen. “We’ve got a date and everything.”

Nita took the paper and read over it once more.

Notice of Adoption.

Notice of Adoption.

Notice of Adoption.

Nita read the same line over and over before it became so overwhelming that she had to sit. Not finding any better place than where she stood, Nita sank to her knees and continued reading the same line.

“ Honey,” Becky said in concern as she and Freen crouched by the semi-catatonic teen.

“This is really happening?” Nita asked as she held the paper close to her chest.

“Yes, my girl. It’s really happening,” Freen affirmed, hoping with every fiber of her being that this is what Nita wanted.

“You’re-,” Nita began to say before a sob broke past her lips.

Freen and Becky both froze as they realized that maybe Nita wouldnt' want this.

Maybe she preferred to just live with them without any legal bounds that kept her there forever. This gift that they thought would bring the teen joy might've been what she wanted the least.

Nita stifled her sobs and took in a shaky breath before continuing her thought. “You’re going to be my mommies.”

The relief that flooded both women was so immense that they couldn’t stop themselves from crying as well.

“Ka, baby,” Freen cooed as she pulled the girl close. “We’re going to be your mommies.”

“Why are you all crying?” Emily asked worriedly as she stopped her sprinting and looked at her moms and sister.

“We’re just happy,” Becky explained as she wiped her cheeks before pulling Emily into her arms.

Becky moved herself and Emily closer to her wife and other kid before forming a large group hug.

Nita continued to cry until she felt Emily's little hand reach up to pat her wet cheek.

“Don’t cry, Nity. This is good. We get to stay here.”

“I know it’s good,” Nita affirmed as she pressed a kiss to the palm of her sister’s hand. “This is it, Emi. This is our forever family.”

To be continued...