whispers.

Mariana Vargas + Iain Fitzpatrick

Magdalena Brooks + Graham Putnam III 

Theresa Avery + Lorenzo LaCroix

Carleigha Ortiz

Graham Putnam III

The Fortier Siblings

Gray turned with a soft grin as he heard Magdalena’s voice. His smiled widened as he motioned for Cara to hold out the flowers to her mother, sunflowers of course, she was not a rose kind of gal. “Of course they are sunflowers. I know better than to be a rose giving cliche” His heart jumped as she referred to him as Daddy to Cara. It had taken Cara a while to reply to him as anything other than Gray, her first use of Daddy had left him wiping away tears. It took Mags even longer. He couldn’t blame her though, he had a lot to make up for. Turning his attention back to Cara he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and accepted a kiss right back. “Wish me luck” The words came out as a soft whisper with a little wink as he set her back down on the couch to resume playing. 

Turning back to Mags he offered her a smile, hoping she couldn’t tell that his heart was pounding in his chest in anxiousness. He could be suave with anyone but she always managed to make him crumble. It was her super power. Pulling open the door he offered her is arm. “Ready to go my dear?” 

There had been a time where Magdalena had worried about keeping Gray and Cara apart. Her mother, who had been her fiercest protector in the years following Cara’s birth, had finally sat her down and asked her to consider what her anger would cost her daughter, and Magdalena had come to the realization that she didn’t want to be the mother who kept her child away from her father simply because she was bitter. She didn’t want to suffer the heartbreak of having an older Cara hate her, even if it meant suffering the daily heartbreak of having Gray around. Looking at them now, it all seemed silly, a trivial thing that she’d worried herself sick over for nothing. “You’re stealing my sidekick,” she whispered as she took his offered arm. 

It was meant as a joke, but there was a piece of her that genuinely worried. She’d been Cara’s entire world for so long that Maggie wasn’t quite sure how she’d handle sharing her daughter. There was a small piece of her that worried that Cara would love him more. It was ridiculous, she knew, so she tried not to give it much thought, but there were times when the thought persisted. Like right now, when she was so nervous that she couldn’t help but be lost in her own head. “Are you going to tell me what to expect,” she asked, glancing up at him. “Or is this all supposed to be a surprise?”

Enzo couldn’t help his chuckle hearing her words. It probably wasn’t the best phrase but it worked. His parents had spoken fondly of her and his siblings made jokes about how he managed to catch such a beauty. Reality was she had caught him and he was really just along for the ride. “Well they liked you. Not surprising though, you are pretty awesome and you’re become a lawyer which I guarantee my father would have father I’d done than going into archaeology” His father had never really understood his love for the past but in true political form he made sure to be visible at every event Lorenzo was apart of at the museum. 

He smiles rubbing her feet gently and shrugs slightly. “I suppose so yeah. I don’t have to handle the paps as much as my siblings, they only really pop up when I come back into town then grow bored of me. But I’m kind of required to be at all the events when I’m in town.” He chuckles and nods, “I’m sure after tonight you are a shoo in” His eyebrow raised as she pulled her feet from his lap and disappeared into her room. As she came back he turned toward her, his features serious as he offered her a nod of understanding. “I promise, no questions until the end” 

His life sounded magical, like something out of a movie, and for a second, Theresa envied it. There were days when she wasn’t even sure if she would’ve pursued law had it not been necessary. Maybe she would’ve gotten into something less academic, something more frivolous. It wasn’t worth the thought, though, since law was the only real possibility. “Let’s hope so.” She believed in speaking things into existence, but hope could be painful, and Theresa wasn’t ready to put too much hope into working for the DA. She’d be devastated if she didn’t get the position, and she wasn’t really sure where she’d go from there. 

With a deep breath, Theresa opened the box and extracted a photo. It was difficult for her to talk about. Theresa didn’t usually share about her father. Not because she was ashamed of him; in fact, she adored him, and admired the strength it took to be in his position. She didn’t tell many people about him because his story didn’t feel like hers to share and there weren’t very many people with whom she shared an intimate enough connection. Somehow, Lorenzo had gone from someone she’d flirted with to someone important in her life, which was why she was sharing this with him now.

“I’ve told you things about my past before. You know about my dad, and foster care, and moving to New York, but there’s a lot that you don’t know.” She slid the photo she’d been holding carefully across the couch so that it was closer to him. “That’s my dad. My mother left us when I was a baby, so dad’s the only parent I know. He’s everything, you know? But then, he was arrested. The company he was working for was brought up on embezzlement charges and dad ended up paying for it because he was the unwitting accountant. The big guys never really pay for cutting corners.” She sighed. There were flaws in the system and as much as she loved the law, it didn’t always help those who needed it the most. “That’s why I have to get into the DA’s office. I might not be able to help him, but I can help people like him.” 

Lorenzo enjoyed nothing more than his time with his nephew. Emilio was his favorite little human and given that he was much like a big kid himself they always found fun ways to entertain themselves. Granted this often annoyed his sister, which was a bonus in its own way. She’d tried to suspend his babysitting duties but that hadn’t lasted. Still he made sure to have him atleast most of the way ready to go home before his mother arrived. Hearing the door he smirked hearing her question. “Well hello to you too, and actually we had an ice age marathon so we’ve been learning about mammoths, sabertooth tigers and the giant ground sloth, or whatever Sid is, i’m not actually sure.” He motioned to the table where Emilio was drawing pictures. “I’m keeping the velociraptor talk for next time, that way i can perfect the sound it makes”

“You’re a nerd,” Saraya half whispered, as if the word was an insult. She loved her brother, but there were days when she wondered how he’d managed to maintain so much of his childish innocence. Adults were supposed to outgrow their dinosaur obsessions; instead, Lorenzo, had turned his into a career. She supposed that she was the last person who could talk, though, considering the fact that she was attempting to make a career out of art. They were a parent’s worse nightmare. “I’m not sure the boy is old enough to learn prehistoric mating calls yet,” she teased as she made her way into his apartment, slipping off her shoes and dropping on to his couch. “Did he give you any trouble?”

Ezra: I never thought about the bugs, mood killer. Definitely better to bring the outside inside

Ezra: sounds like a plan, he’ll love that

Ezra: thanks for the help, your my go to stars guy. How have you been anyway, it’s been a while

Aiden: listen, i'm just saving you the trouble. last thing you need is to be in the middle of getting it on when an insect infestation takes place.

Griffin: You know you can babysit anytime

Griffin: I imagine not, likely he hid himself from the cameras in her apartment complex but we can hope the surrounding buildings caught something.

Griffin: Yeah i'm not that brave, i was more suggesting it so you could suggest it to her. She'd never hurt her dear brother.

Edgar: I'll be ready to babysit by the time you're ready to have another one.

Edgar: I'll check traffic cams if I have to. Though I'm sure she'll say that that's me being heavy handed and over the top.