#poly plastics

Safe to say, the plastics had completely fallen in love with you. They wanted you and they wanted you bad. Often watching you from afar any chance that they got. They weren't exactly subtle when it came to their shared affection for you.

You'd just gotten to school, heading to your locker to put your stuff away when you ran right into Gretchen. Who started profusely apologizing, bending down with you to help you pick up your dropped items.

"Thanks for helping," your eyes looked to hers and she immediately tensed under your gaze. Her cheeks flushed, quickly looking away.

"Y-yeah, no worries!" Gretchen stuttered out. You raised an eyebrow, finding her reaction a little odd," uh- bye!"

And then she took off after everything was picked up.

"Okay..." weird.

The following day, a similar interaction happened between you and Karen. You'd been assigned together as lab partners in science.

You joined her at her table and gave her a smile, that she very awkwardly returned.

"So... any idea how this works?" You asked, looking down to the paper with a frown. Science was never your best subject.

"You're like really pretty," Karen stated suddenly. That caught you off guard, you looked back up at her. Cheeks flushed.

Karen avoided eye contact with you when you looked at her. Making you sigh and wonder if you had actually even heard her right. She couldn't have said that... could she?

The next week, you attended a house party Regina had invited you to. You were walking through the halls, trying to find the nearest bathroom when you spotted the blonde herself. Talking with Gretchen and Karen.

They all spotted you almost at once. Gretchen and Karen avoided eye contact with you completely, Regina looked like she wanted to say something but her cheeks flushed and she looked away before she could.

georgewashington: I’m sorry but this is important and I’m freaking out. 

africabytoto: I mean… I forgave you because I hurt you just as bad as you hurt me but I don’t really think that’s the answer you’re looking for 

georgewashington: I’ll take anything. I just want to know why. 

gaylien: i’m still working on it but i forgave you bc i could see you’re really working to change. and i know that’s not easy, and plastic regina never did anything the hard way. so that means you must’ve already done some changing for the better 

georgewashington: Oh. 

gaylien: and ik it really sucked but getting hit by a bus also did you a couple favors 

africabytoto: Janis Olivia Sarkisian

gaylien: uh oh

georgewashington: No, that’s a fair point. 

africabytoto: Really though, are you okay Regina ??? 

georgewashington: I don’t know. 

africabytoto: Do you wanna talk about it? 

Regina calls her immediately. She has to tell someone. And Cady and Janis are both trustworthy. Well, trustworthy enough. 

“Hey, Regina,” Cady says. Regina can hear the concern in her voice. “Janis wanted to hear too, so you’re on speaker, but if this is personal you can just let me-”

“I’m in love with Gretchen! And… and Karen,” Regina bursts out. “Both of them.” 

“Damn, Reg, you really know how to pick ‘em,” Janis laughs. Regina groans and buries her face in her hands, even though they can’t see her. 

“I don’t know what to do,” she mumbles. “I can’t tell them, but… hanging out with them is so hard now, I’m always trying not to let it slip. If I don’t tell them I’ll lose them and if I do tell them I’ll lose them. I just… I don’t know which one I’d prefer.” 

“Why do you think you’d lose them?” Cady asks gently. 

“Because look at what I did to them,” Regina groans, rolling onto her back on her pink bedspread and staring at her ceiling. “Everything. I tormented them from the moment we met. I ruined Gretch’s self esteem, and Karen didn’t make it out unscathed either. I could’ve killed them. I’m lucky they’re even still willing to be around me.”

“But they are,” Cady says. “And that means they forgave you too. They’re still your friends.” 

“Yeah, friends,” Regina says. “And they’re together, they belong together, and they’re happy, and here I am trying to wiggle my way in and ruin it again. There’s no chance they’d ever stick around if I told them.” 

“I stuck around,” Janis says. “In middle school. There’s always a chance they will.”

“But how would… they’re already together,” Regina mumbles. 

“People can be polyamorous, Reginald,” Janis chides. “What’s the worst that would happen if you told them?” 

“They’d leave me forever and hate me,” Regina says immediately. 

“And what’s the worst that would happen if you didn’t tell them?” 

“I… I would leave them forever and they wouldn’t know why,” Regina says quietly. 

“This should be your choice, but I think I know which of those you’d rather have happen,” Janis says. “If you care this much about them, and we know damn well you do, then I think your choice should be pretty easy.” 

“But you guys are friends with them too, I don’t want to… cause a rift, or anything,” Regina says. 

“I don’t think you will. But you deserve happiness as much as any of us, I think you should take the chance regardless. The rest of us can deal with whatever happens. We’ve all been through a lot together, we can do a little more,” Cady says. 

Regina is quiet for a long time. “You guys really think they like me back?” 

“I think Karen definitely does,” Cady says. “And I’d be surprised if Gretchen never had feelings for you.”

“After everything?” 

“Yes, after everything. They’re still around,” Cady chuckles. “And we already went through the worst case scenarios. I think you’ll have a better result than either of those.” 

“Okay,” Regina mumbles. 

“You gonna tell them?” Janis asks. 

“Yeah. At some point. Gretchen is coming home for the summer, she gets here tomorrow. I’ll have… two and half months, roughly,” Regina sighs. “I’ll… I’ll tell them before she leaves again. Then we’ll be apart if they don’t react well and they won’t have to see me again.” 

“I think that sounds like a good plan,” Cady says. “But you should give yourself some more credit, Regina. You’re a really good person now. I think you have a solid chance here.” 

“I hope so,” Regina whispers. “Thanks, guys. I’ll… uh… I’ll let you know how it goes, I guess.”

“Of course! Good luck,” Cady says kindly. 

“Thanks.”

I’m gonna need it.

————-

Regina goes with Karen to pick Gretchen up from the airport. 

Karen is bouncing slightly with her eagerness to see her girlfriend in person for the first time since winter break, and Regina stands next to her anxiously biting her lips. She really needs to stop doing that. It makes her lipstick all patchy. 

She’s in the middle of thinking that they probably make gross lipstick to stop habits like that when Karen suddenly runs forward, sprinting full tilt at something. Or someone. 

Regina follows as quickly as she can, her heart aching slightly as she sees Karen throw herself at Gretchen and Gretchen squeeze Karen back just as tightly before slamming their lips together. How she longs to be sandwiched in one of those hugs. Feel those lips- stop it, Regina.

She gives them a moment alone before she moseys over and gives a quiet cough to announce her presence. Gretchen breaks away from Karen with a startled gasp and looks her way. 

“Oh my god, Gina!” Gretchen squeals happily, wrapping Regina in a hug of her own. Regina smiles happily and returns it. She notices absently that neither of them tense anymore. It’s a nice feeling. “I didn’t know you were coming to get me too, I’m so happy to see you! I brought you the most delicious macarons from this bakery, I-I hope you like them…” 

Regina squeezes her best friend. “You have good taste, Gretch. If you think they’re delicious then they must be. I can’t wait to try them.” 

Gretchen smiles in relief and gives her another side hug. “I hope they didn’t break. Let me go get my bags and then we can go.”

——

“Gretchen. I need, like, seven hundred more boxes of these,” Regina groans happily around a mouthful of macaron. She flops backwards onto Gretchen’s bed in delight. “Or just take me back with you.” 

“You just want to eat cookies all day while I’m at school?” 

“Yeah!” Regina says. “You be the breadwinner and I’ll stay home and clean and eat cookies. Do trophy wife shit.” 

“What about me?” Karen adds, stealing one of Regina’s macarons. Regina bats her hands away with a whine. 

“You have your own!” 

“Yours are strawberry!” 

“Then gimme a chocolate one,” Regina says. Gretchen giggles at their antics as she hangs all her clothes back in her closet. “You can stay home with me and eat cookies. But you have to share.” 

“I can live with that,” Karen nods. Gretchen hangs up one more sundress before falling backwards onto her bed in between them. 

“You two are nuts.”

“Hey!” 

“Ooh, do they have ones with nuts?” Regina asks. Gretchen laughs freely at that, and Regina smiles too. It’s good to see her happy. 

Just don’t kiss her.

Yet.

————-

Gretchen invites Regina, Karen, Janis and Cady over the next week for a get together, now that she’s had a bit of time to get settled back in America and recover from her jet lag. 

Regina gets there a bit early, like she always does. Punctuality is everything, after all. 

Gretchen opens the door for her and immediately pulls her into a hug. “Hi!” 

“Hi,” Regina says back, resting her chin on Gretchen’s shoulder and giving her a gentle squeeze. Gretchen always smells like freshly baked muffins. It’s comforting.

Much sooner than she wants to, Regina pulls back and follows Gretchen inside. Gretchen gently closes the door behind them and leads her to the kitchen. 

“There’s cookies if you want, I just made them,” she offers. “But I know you don’t eat desserts.” 

“That was before,” Regina whispers, almost ashamed. She’s made a lot of progress in her recovery, but she also still has a long way to go. 

Gretchen seems to pick up on her discomfort and hesitancy, because of course she does. She heads to the plate and picks up two of the best looking snickerdoodles. One gets gently offered to Regina, not pressuring, just… there. The other stays in her other hand. 

Regina takes the offered cookie. Gretchen holds out hers and gently bonks them together. “Cheers.” 

“Cheers,” Regina says back with a small grin. She’s hardly even thinking about it when she takes a bite at the same time as Gretchen. “Oh my god.”

“Good?” 

“Amazing,” Regina replies. “You’re really talented, G.” 

“Thanks,” Gretchen says sheepishly. Regina thinks she spies the slightest hint of a blush on her cheeks. Nah, probably just reading into things too much. 

Some kind of tension or another continues building, and they’re both almost relieved when Karen comes parading down the hall to find them. “Hey, girl gang. Ooh, cookies.” 

“Hi, honey,” Gretchen giggles, giving her girlfriend a snickerdoodle-sweetened kiss. “I missed you.” 

“I missed you too,” Karen says, giving her one more kiss before raiding the plate for her own cookies. 

Gretchen sneaks up when she takes a bite of one and steals the other half from her mouth with a sly smirk. Regina feels her heart give a painful squeeze and looks away, wondering if she should go to another room to give them a moment alone. 

Right when she’s about to, they break apart from each other and turn to her, blushing like they had forgotten she was there. She doesn’t blame them. 

“Sorry,” Karen chuckles. 

“Don’t be,” Regina says. “You guys are cute.” 

They both look at her a bit oddly at her omission of the word together, but Regina looks away before they can read her expression. 

“Hi,” she continues, fiddling with a stray thread on her pants. She’d never pull on it, knowing how quickly that leads to disaster. A fashion sin. But it gives her something to focus on. 

“Hi,” Karen grins. “This is nice.” 

“Yeah,” Gretchen agrees, perched on the counter. “Like old times.” 

“Really old. All we’re missing is fifth grade homework to do,” Regina chuckles. “It is nice, though. I’ve really missed this.” 

“So have we,” Karen says. Gretchen nods with a bittersweet smile. 

“We have a lot of time to make up for,” Regina says. 

“So we will,” Karen says. Matter of factly, no ifs ands or buts about it. With a smile. Regina is almost blindsided, but she smiles back. 

“Yeah. Starting today.” 

Gretchen and Karen both beam at her. Regina keeps her smile as they reach for a group hug. 

“I love you guys,” she whispers. Her friends may never know what she means. 

They haven’t hugged like this since they were in elementary school. Regina can hardly remember the last time she’d even hugged them individually. 

It feels amazing.

“We love you too,” Karen replies. Gretchen is quiet, but they both know she loves them too. They’ve always been able to read her best, even without speaking. 

—-

Cady and Janis show up a bit later, both suspiciously missing their lip makeup. Nobody bothers to question it. 

Cady makes easy conversation with everyone, ever the extrovert. Janis seems much more hesitant, following her girlfriend around like a lost puppy and only joining in on the conversations periodically. Regina supposes they still have a long way to go with her. 

Eventually, the chatting loses steam, and they don’t know what to do with themselves. They’re all scattered around the living room, staring aimlessly at something or another. 

“Do you guys want to swim? We just got the pool all set up for the summer,” Gretchen says anxiously after a while. 

“Fuck yeah!” Janis agrees immediately. Cady gently flicks her ear. “Yes, please.” 

“Okay,” Gretchen giggles. “I have plenty of bathing suits, you guys can just borrow one. We’re all… close enough to the same size.” 

Everyone follows Gretchen up the stairs to her bedroom. Gretchen herself picks her favorite swimsuit, and tosses the rest onto her bed for everyone else to look through. 

Regina is the last one to go, since she’s working on patience and not always getting the best option. She winces a bit when she sees the only one left is a bikini, and a rather small one at that. 

“What’s up?” Karen asks. Regina looks around and sees they’re alone together now, everyone else having scattered to one of the many, many rooms in Gretchen’s house to get changed. 

“Nothing. I just… don’t feel like swimming today,” Regina lies quickly, trying to keep her tone upbeat so Karen doesn’t catch on. “I’ll just watch.” 

Karen shoots her a look that tells her she sees right through her. Regina sighs. She should’ve known. Karen’s always been able to read her better than anyone. Better than she can read herself. 

“This bathing suit would show my back,” Regina mumbles, twisting the fabric around in her hands. “I still have scars. From… you know.” 

“Oh,” Karen says. “You know we’d never judge you, right?”

“I know,” Regina nods, still refusing to look her in the eye. She jumps a bit when Karen’s hand suddenly takes the swimsuit from her and shoves another into her grip. “Wh-”

“That’s a one piece. I’ve worn it enough times to know it’ll cover enough of your back,” Karen says with a grin. Regina gives her a grateful one back. 

“Thanks.” Karen just nods. She gasps quietly when Regina wraps her in a tight hug. “Really. Thank you.” 

“Of course,” Karen says back, returning the embrace. “You don’t have to hide, but if it makes you more comfortable for now I’ll do whatever I can to help.” 

“You’re so wise,” Regina teases. Karen huffs a bit. “No, really. You’re more emotionally intelligent than all of us combined.” 

“That’s not saying very much,” Karen grins. Regina scoffs sarcastically and rolls her eyes. 

“We’re working on it,” she huffs. “I’ll meet you out there.” 

“Okay. Love ya,” Karen replies, blowing her a kiss and heading to get changed. The meaning behind their usual salute is… different, now. 

Regina likes it much better this way. 

——

Karen keeps shooting her glances throughout their time in the pool, seemingly checking on her. Regina tries to reassure her every time, but she’s also not trying to stop her. It’s kind of nice, knowing someone cares enough to keep making sure she’s okay. 

After about the tenth check in, Karen seems content that Regina is comfortable enough in their swapped swimsuits and with everyone around, and manages to rope everyone into playing mermaids with her. 

“Do you guys remember that time when we were, like, eight and playing this? And Karen was convinced she could actually breathe underwater?” Janis laughs as she rides around on Cady’s back piggyback style. 

“Oh my god, yeah!” Gretchen cackles. “Poor thing almost drowned.”

“I did not! I was only in the hospital for one night!” Karen defends. 

“No, but the worst part is the rest of us almost tried it too! You were so convincing,” Regina laughs, bent over slightly with the force of it. “Until you got a good lungful of chlorine. That was scary.” 

“Oh, yeah, you were scared,” Karen huffs with a laugh. “I’m the one who almost died.”

“You just said you didn’t almost die!” 

Cady seems very confused as the rest of them get into a good natured argument, but she has a smile on her face watching the lot of them. 

She doesn’t even feel the need to reprimand Janis for joking, “Don’t look, Regina, there’s girls in their bathing suits,” when they all get out for a sandwich break. 

“Shut up,” Regina chuckles. “Like you haven’t been staring at Cady’s ass since before she even put on the bathing suit.” 

“I’m allowed to,” Janis pouts. “Not my fault Caddy’s pretty.” 

“I never said she’s not,” Regina hums. “But you could stand to learn some subtlety.” 

“Like you haven’t been-”

Regina decides she can’t risk Janis finishing that sentence and promptly tackles her back into the pool. 

“Hey, my peanut butter!” Janis whines as soon as she’s back above the water, holding the soggy remnants of her peanut butter sandwich. 

“It’s your own fault,” Regina huffs. 

“I was just gonna-” Janis tries. Regina tackles her back under the water. Janis manages to wiggle free this time, popping above the surface to gasp for breath before she pounces to get her revenge. Even Janis is careful with her back. 

“Should we stop them?” Cady asks in concern. 

“Nah,” Karen says. “Rule of twos. They’re figuring something out and having fun at the same time. Bikini emoji. Hey, that’s another one!” 

“Should I make Janis another sandwich?” Gretchen asks, laughing as Regina lets out a sort of squawk as she briefly pops above the surface. 

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Cady says. “She did deserve it.” 

“Do you know what they’re fighting about?” 

“I have a hunch,” Cady sighs. She looks up to see Gretchen and Karen both looking at her expectantly. “Oh, but, uh… who can tell with them, y’know?” 

They both look like they want to press further, and Cady finds herself already wondering what town she’s gonna have to move to in order to avoid Regina’s wrath if she tells them what she knows. 

But luckily for her, they both sigh affectionately and look back to their friends.

“If they drown each other will you guys act as my witnesses so I don’t have to pay a bunch of money in a liability lawsuit?” Gretchen asks softly. 

“We got you, girl,” Cady sighs. 

————-

A week later, Regina has some very important plans to make. She starts off by texting Gretchen. 

georgewashington: Do you have plans for Karen’s birthday? 

Gretchen, as always, answers almost immediately. 

fetchen: no i’m panicking about it!!

fetchen: her 21 is a big deal but i have no ideas! 

georgewashington: Do you want to plan together?

fetchen: yes

fetchen: omg regina ur a lifesaver 

georgewashington: Don’t speak too soon.

fetchen: oh boy 

georgewashington: Can you handle getting her cake and some snacks and stuff she likes? You know her tastes better than I do.

georgewashington: I’ll find a place and invite people. 

fetchen: yeah i can do that! 

fetchen: where are u thinking of doing it?? 

georgewashington: Oh just leave that to me.

fetchen: should i be scared? 

georgewashington: Probably.

————-

Gretchen and Regina both spend weeks getting everything ready for Karen’s birthday. Karen knows they have plans with the three of them together, but she has no idea of the actual scale of what Regina and Gretchen have been preparing. 

Gretchen isn’t totally sure either. Regina told her how many people to buy food for, and Gretchen baked the cake herself. It’s strawberry, Karen’s favorite flavor. 

Regina picks Gretchen up on the day, managing to stuff everything into the trunk of her small car before they’re off to pick up Karen. 

“Wait!” Regina says before Gretchen can get out of the car and run to her girlfriend. Gretchen freezes and turns to her. 

“Wh- oh my god,” Gretchen laughs. She puts on the party hat extra carefully so as not to mess up her hair and takes the party popper. Regina does the same, and they head up to fetch Karen. 

“Happy birthday!” they both yell when Karen opens the door, pulling the strings on their poppers and covering Karen in confetti. 

Karen shrieks in surprise, but laughs when she sees it’s just them. Regina lets her kiss Gretchen in greeting, used to the ache in her chest by now. 

“Happy birthday, baby,” Gretchen murmurs. 

“Happy birthday,” Karen whispers back absently. “Wait.” 

“Thanks,” Gretchen giggles. “Come on, we have to go!” 

“Go where?” Karen asks. 

“To your surprise, duh!” Regina responds, wrapping her in a tight hug and spinning her around. “Oh, here.”

Karen laughs as she gets a birthday princess sash and a matching tiara. She’s not so keen on the blindfold that follows it. “Hey, what?”

“It’s a surprise, you can’t see where we’re going,” Regina says like it’s obvious, tying the blindfold behind Karen’s head and smoothing out her soft blonde hair beneath it. “Come on.” 

She gently takes Karen’s right hand to guide her, while Gretchen takes her left. “Watch the step.” 

“I don’t like this,” Karen whines.

“Shush, you’ll be fine. Don’t you trust us?” Regina asks.

“No.”

“Hey!”

—-

“Oh. My. God,” Gretchen laughs when she sees where Regina has given them. “Regina, you’re kidding.” 

“I would never, how dare you,” Regina replies with a smirk. “KK, you ready?”

“I don’t know,” Karen replies nervously. “Teeth emoji.”

“You’ll be fine, c’mon,” Regina chuckles. She climbs out of the car and smiles at Gretchen as she goes around to help Karen out of the passenger seat. Gretchen helps walk Karen to the best spot for the reveal. “Ready?”

“Yes,” Karen says, still anxious, but a wide smile on her face. Regina carefully removes the blindfold. 

“Surprise!” they yell. 

“No way!” Karen squeals when she sees all her friends and close family standing in front of Chuck E. Cheese. 

“You said your favorite birthday party was your ninth when we had it here,” Regina replies, wrapping her arms around Karen’s shoulders to hug her from behind. It’s pushing the limits of platonic, but it’s believable enough for best friends to do. “Do you like it?”

“Yes! Can we go in?!” Karen asks eagerly. Regina nods and laughs as Karen grabs their hands and runs them towards the doors. Gretchen holds onto her party hat with her free hand so it won’t fall off as they hurtle towards the building. 

Karen bounces eagerly as she gets her invisible ink stamp on her hand and laughs as she sees the whole party set up at one of the actual tables they have for kid’s parties. 

“You actually paid for a party for me?” she asks. 

“Yeah, of course,” Regina shrugs. “I think Chuck himself is delivering the pizza when it’s ready. And you get to catch tickets in the wind tunnel thingy.”

“I thought I was too old,” Karen says, looking around at everything with a smile. 

“They said they’d be happy to as long as nobody gets ‘intoxicated,’” Regina chuckles. “Come on, we have to play the basketball game.” 

“Oh, yeah, yeah!” Karen says eagerly, running off in that direction. 

—————

Regina smiles seeing Karen running around to all the different games, greeting all her relatives and friends and taking all sorts of selfies with Charles Entertainment Cheese himself. 

“This was really nice,” Gretchen says as she plays a round of skee ball against Regina. “You did a great job.”

“So did you,” Regina replies. “That cake looked amazing. And it tasted even better.” 

“I’m glad you liked it,” Gretchen says with a smile. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Regina asks in confusion, looking at her and entirely missing the target. “Dammit.” 

“For this. And… just, everything, lately. You have no idea what our relationship now has been doing for me,” Gretchen mumbles. “My therapist even noticed.”

“Because you were only in therapy in the first place because of me,” Regina sighs. 

“No, Regina,” Gretchen says. “My anxiety is genetic, it’s not your fault.”

“I didn’t help,” Regina replies. “You can’t tell me you wouldn’t have been in a better place without me.” 

“Maybe I can’t,” Gretchen agrees softly. “But I wouldn’t have you now. The way you are now. And I don’t know if I could handle that.” 

“I’m glad to be here,” Regina murmurs. “I’m sorry.”

“You’ve apologized plenty,” Gretchen comforts. “And seeing you working on yourself means more to all of us than any apology could. No more ice queen.”

“I think I can leave that to Elsa,” Regina giggles. “It feels so much nicer to not be… like that. Like… it feels like I’ve been kinda… behind a mirror this whole time. Like I was me, but not, you know?”

“I feel like that a lot,” Gretchen says with a nod. “And the kicker is you locked yourself in the mirror.”

“Yeah,” Regina sighs. “But we’re punching through it now.” 

Gretchen smiles at her as she nudges her with an elbow. “Yeah, we are. And I’m gonna punch you if you don’t stop cheating.”

“I’m not cheating!” Regina scoffs indignantly. “You’re still winning.”

“Ha, so you admit it!” Gretchen practically cackles. 

“I’m gonna steal all your tickets.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Wouldn’t I, though?”

—-

Regina smiles as she looks in the rearview mirror on the drive home and sees Karen and Gretchen cuddled up together, decked in too-small plastic jewelry and holding various little trinkets they ‘won’ with their tickets. 

She wasn’t sure how Chuck E. Cheese would be received for a twenty-one year old, but Karen really seemed to enjoy it, and that’s all that really matters to Regina. 

Gretchen wakes up a bit when she feels the jostle of them pulling into Regina’s driveway, but Karen is still deep asleep. 

“KK, come on,” Regina whispers, gently shaking her awake. “Let’s go inside.” 

Karen yawns and stretches, looking around to see where she is. She smiles sleepily when she sees Regina, and it grows when she sees Gretchen cuddled into her. 

Regina helps them out of the car and up to her bedroom for a sleepover, tossing pajamas at the both of them and heading to change into her own. She rolls her eyes when she comes back to see them lying sideways in her bed instead of on the floor beds she set up. 

“Make room, losers,” she whispers, finding her way over in the darkness. Karen scoots closer to a sound asleep Gretchen so Regina has room to lie down. 

“Happy birthday, Karen,” Regina whispers. 

“Thanks,” Karen replies, slurring a bit with her exhaustion. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” 

“Love you,” Karen yawns, rolling onto her side and cuddling into Gretchen. Regina tenses. 

“Love you too.” 

Way more than you know.

—————

Regina always throws a rager for the Fourth of July. It used to be her parent’s deal, but she had taken over all the party planning by the time she was seven. This year is no exception. 

She’s spent months looking for the nicest quality fireworks (i.e. the ones least likely to explode on them and cause severe injury), buying hot dogs and burgers and other snacks, and buying up all the red, white and blue decorations she could get her hands on. 

“Mom, wait, those are supposed to go on the railings outside,” she says when she sees her mom about to hang some streamers from the ceiling. 

“Oh, sorry, baby! On it,” her mom says rapidly. 

“It’s alright. They looked good there, if we have extra you should put some there too,” Regina replies. Her mom smiles, and Regina feels her heart ache a bit at the relief visible in her eyes. Her relationship with her mom was the first one she started working to repair after coming home from the hospital. “Kylie, can you start setting the food up? Leave everything cold in the fridge, we’ll get that out closer to when people start getting here. But chips and stuff?” 

“Fine,” Kylie whines, trudging off to the kitchen to help. Regina rolls her eyes and grabs her own box of decorations for the front porch. 

She ties some balloons to the posts in front of the house, and hangs a sign next to the front door. She’s jumping up and down trying to hang some swirly things from the archway when she hears voices behind her. 

She whirls around, seeing Gretchen and Karen walking up the driveway towards her. They both wave and pick up the pace to a sort of jog to come greet her. 

“Hey,” Regina says. “What are you guys doing here, it doesn’t start for-”

“We figured you might need some help setting up,” Gretchen says. “I brought ice, by the way. Can never have enough.” 

“Oh my god, I totally forgot ice,” Regina says frantically. “God, you’re a life saver!” 

“It’s no problem,” Gretchen chuckles, accepting the hug Regina gives. “What do you need?”

“I don’t even know,” Regina sighs, looking around at everything left to be done. 

“You’re not even dressed yet, we have to do that!” Karen says. “Come on.” 

“Karen!” Regina yelps as she grabs her hand and drags her through the house, up the stairs to her bedroom. “What about Gretchen, she doesn’t know what to do!”

“We’ve helped you set up enough parties to know how you like it decorated, she’ll figure it out. Now get dressed,” Karen insists, rooting through the makeup on her vanity. 

Regina pouts a bit and grabs the bag of clothes she bought the other day. She hadn’t meant to buy an entire new outfit for yet another party, but some habits die hard. 

She pulls on her red and white striped off-the-shoulder top and ties the knot into the fabric by her bellybutton. Cady has recently re-introduced her to a wonderful world of proper denim, so she’s paired it with some jean shorts. 

“You look nice!” Karen compliments when Regina comes out of her en-suite. “Haven’t seen you wear blue denim in years.” 

“It’s so comfy,” Regina says in wonder, tugging at the fabric. “I had totally forgotten.” 

“Yeah, clothes designed to actually fit a human person are usually like that,” Karen teases. “Can I do your makeup? Pleeeeeease please please please?” 

“Yes, fine,” Regina giggles. “Make me pretty, Miss Smith.” 

“I can’t do that,” Karen replies as she brushes primer over Regina’s face. Regina scrunches up her nose as the bristles tickle it, making Karen laugh. “You’re already pretty.”

“So are you,” Regina replies softly. “In so many ways.” 

“Thanks,” Karen replies, flushing a brilliant pink. “Hold still.” 

Regina does, sitting obediently while Karen tenderly covers her skin in a BB crème and perfectly swipes some blue eyeliner on. She’s always been unfairly good at eyeliner. 

“What do you think?” Karen asks when she’s finished. Regina looks at herself in the mirror. Her freckles are visible beneath her makeup, and she only has on a bit of blush. Blue eyeliner and red lipstick, and Karen filled in her eyebrows. 

That’s it. 

It’s much less than Regina normally does, and she’s not sure how she feels about so much of her actual human skin being visible in public. But she looks and feels absolutely beautiful. 

“I love it,” Regina says. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Karen beams. Her smile is so cute. 

“Now how do I do my hair?” Regina sighs, puffing a stray blonde strand out of her face. 

“Ponytail,” Karen says immediately. “Halfway up.”

“Really?” Regina asks, holding her hair up behind her head. Karen nods eagerly, so Regina grabs a hair tie from the vanity and pulls it back. A few strands fall out as she’s tying it up, but she decides to leave them. She fluffs up the ends of the ponytail a bit and looks at herself in the mirror. 

“Definitely,” Karen nods. “You look great.” 

“So do you,” Regina says, gently bumping their hips together. “Alright, time to party.”

“Yes!” Karen squeals. Regina chuckles as she runs back downstairs. She follows a bit more slowly; she has a lot of partying to do and doesn’t want to upset her back now. 

“Wow,” she whispers when she sees the lower floor. Gretchen, her mom, and Kylie have made a remarkable amount of progress. Some things aren’t quite where they were supposed to be, most probably her mother’s doing, but it still looks great. 

“Hey,” Gretchen greets eagerly. “Is everything in the right place? I had to guess for a few things.”

“Yeah, it looks great,” Regina nods, tugging self consciously at her ponytail. 

“So do you!” Gretchen chirps. “I haven’t seen you in a ponytail in forever, you look amazing.”

“Thanks,” Regina mumbles sheepishly. “Karen’s idea.” 

“It works,” Gretchen says. “Do you need anything else?” 

“No, you guys just relax,” Regina says. “Should probably wait to get the fireworks set up, anyway.” 

“Can’t wait,” Gretchen grins. Regina smiles back and takes her hand to lead her to the kitchen and wait for the other guests.

——

The party goes amazingly. Regina is usually stressed during her parties, frantically running around and making sure everything is going perfectly. But, for whatever reason, she doesn’t feel a need to this time. 

The decorations look great, the food is expertly prepared by Karen’s dad, the playlist Gretchen put together is perfect for the mood, and people seem to be enjoying the various activities. 

Regina lays a blanket on the roof just outside her bedroom window for them, lying in between her best friends to watch the fireworks set off in the backyard. 

“Are these legal?” Karen asks as she watches the colors burst over their heads. 

“Probably not,” Regina says. “Nobody ever gets busted, though.” 

“They’re pretty,” Gretchen whispers. “Maybe the best you’ve gotten.”

“I think so too,” Regina nods. “I think the party as a whole was.” 

“Definitely,” Karen says. 

It’s quiet for a long moment, all of them just watching the show and feeling the warmth of the others next to them. 

Eventually, the last one pops off, and they hear the cheers of the other guests below them. None of them move. 

“Will you guys sleep over?” Regina whispers after a while. 

“Of course,” Gretchen hums, turning onto her side and resting her head on Regina’s shoulder. Regina rests her head against Gretchen’s and smiles, looking up at the smoky sky. 

Best party ever. 

—————

Every year towards the end of the summer, the three of them have a sleepover to celebrate. Even the year Regina spent most of the summer in the hospital recovering from the bus, they had their annual sleepover. 

Regina smiles fondly remembering that year as she packs her bag to head over to Karen’s house. She’d begged and pleaded with her nurses to let them stay past visiting hours for one night, and managed to get away with it. Gretchen and Karen had slept on cots borrowed from the maternity ward, and they’d stayed up late talking and apologizing and everything they could think to do. 

It was an odd sleepover, but one of her favorites. 

This one seems like it’ll pose some stiff competition, as Regina walks through Karen’s house to find everything set up in the backyard. The biggest tent Regina has ever seen is in the middle of it, practically taking up the whole yard. She ducks into it to see what Karen’s plan is this year. 

“Hi!” her friends greet eagerly when they see her face pop into the tent. 

“Hi,” Regina replies. “This is so cool!” 

“Thanks,” Karen grins, leaning back in her beanbag chair. “Cady let me borrow an old tent her family has.”

“Wonder if this is the one she lived in,” Regina replies. It certainly seems homey enough. Karen set everything up beautifully. Three air mattresses with sheets and nice pillows, beanbag chairs, and a truly unholy amount of snacks. Gretchen made cookies again, chocolate chip this time. Regina’s favorite. 

Karen also managed to bring the TV out, hooked up to an elaborate series of extension cords that are probably a fire waiting to happen. It’ll be fine for one night. A stack of their favorite DVD’s sits next to it, making Regina smile wider. 

“What do you think?” Karen asks. 

“This is amazing,” Regina grins. “You did a great job.” 

“Thanks,” Karen beams. Regina nods and takes the last available beanbag, to Karen’s left. “What movie should we start with?”

“Legally Blonde!” Gretchen and Regina say at the same time, locking eyes and smiling over Karen’s head. Gretchen crawls forward to put the DVD in, and they settle into their spots to watch. 

-

“You’d be a good Elle, Regina,” Gretchen mumbles during a quiet part of the movie.

“But I’m not blonde,” Regina replies, pointing to the roots of her hair she’s been allowing to grow in. “I’m dark blonde.”

“I’m sure you’re close enough,” Gretchen snorts. “You’d be a good lawyer.” 

“I guess so,” Regina acknowledges. “I don’t like arguing very much anymore, though.” 

“Yeah, I definitely think you’ll be a better therapist,” Karen says. “But you would be good. Pink pantsuits on Wednesdays.” 

“Oh my god, no way,” Regina laughs. There’s a pensive pause. “Should we do that?” 

“Maybe when we’re forty year old soccer moms,” Gretchen says. 

“Deal.” 

————

After Jennifer’s Body, The Devil Wears Prada, Bend It Like Beckham, and half a season of Gilmore Girls, they decide to take a break from watching anything and gorging themselves on all their snacks. 

They could use some fresh air, so they all decide to poke their heads out of the door to the tent, leaving their bodies inside so they don’t get eaten alive by mosquitos. 

“It’s a nice night,” Gretchen murmurs, looking up at the stars. 

“Yeah,” Regina and Karen agree at the same time. 

“It’s so clear,” Regina says. “For summer, anyway.” 

“I’m glad it rained the other day,” Karen says. “Not so muggy.”

“Yeah, it feels nice,” Gretchen says, inhaling the night air. “Smells like second grade.”

“What?” Regina laughs. 

“What?” 

“How does second grade have a smell?” 

“I dunno, it just does! It smells like a memory,” Gretchen chuckles. “From second grade.”

“Which one?” Karen asks.

“Huh?”

“Which memory?” 

“Mmm… when you broke your arm at the playground jumping off the swingset. And me and Janis and Regina came over after you got home from the hospital to make you feel better,” Gretchen begins. “It was a night like this. Warm but not too warm, clear sky. And you couldn’t move too much, so we just watched movies and then caught the last fireflies of the season.”

“That was the best night,” Regina murmurs. “We all drew on your cast. And I had to be the first one to sign it, obviously. And your dad let all of us sleep over, so we stayed up extra late watching movies we weren’t allowed to watch and then tried to name all the fireflies.” 

“Oh yeah,” Karen recalls fondly. “I forgot about that.”

“I think you hit your head, too,” Gretchen giggles. 

“Maybe that’s why I’m so stupid,” Karen jokes.

“Hey!” Regina insists, sitting bolt upright and glaring at her. “Take it back.”

“What?” Karen asks. 

“Take it back. You’re not stupid.”

“I am-” Karen begins, blinking in surprise when Regina puts her hand over her mouth. 

“You’re not. You’re brilliant,” Regina demands. “What was your GPA?” 

“3.0,” Karen says, muffled behind Regina’s hand. “But-”

“That’s amazing, K,” Regina insists. “You worked so hard just to get into college, and you’re still doing it? You graduated with a 3.0. That’s amazing. And you’re not just book smart, you’re wise, and you can read people like nobody’s business, and-”

“Gina, I can’t breathe,” Karen interrupts. Regina gasps and pulls her hand away. 

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Karen laughs, panting a bit to catch her breath. “Thanks.”

“It’s just the truth,” Regina mumbles, flushing bright red and looking away. Gretchen and Karen both smile at her, making her blush harder and curl into her knees. 

“Oh, look!” Gretchen says eagerly. Karen and Regina both look where she’s pointing. They’re briefly confused, but then they see a twinkle. 

“I’ll get a jar!” Karen says, running into the house. Regina and Gretchen both scramble up to run after the firefly. 

“Dammit,” Regina grumbles when she swipes for it and misses. 

“I got it!” Gretchen cheers. She comes back to Regina with her hands firmly held closed so the bug is contained. “What should we name it?”

“Mm… Fiona,” Regina hums. 

“Fiona the firefly. I like it,” Gretchen grins. “She tickles.” 

“What, you don’t like tiny little bug feet crawling all over your hand?” Regina giggles. 

“No! Ew,” Gretchen whines. “Don’t say that.”

“Sorry,” Regina says. Karen comes running out with an empty peanut butter jar, with a few wet leaves inside and holes poked in the lid. Gretchen gently plops their new firefly friend inside and slams the lid back on so she can’t escape. “There’s another one!” 

They’re a bit hard to find, being so late in the season, but the three of them spend the evening running around catching every little firefly they see. 

When the jar is sufficiently full, they head back into their tent and get comfy on their air beds. Karen and Gretchen push theirs together so they can snuggle. Regina wants to join, but she figures that’s more than a little bit creepy and settles for keeping her own bed close by. The jar rests in between them, the bugs twinkling and illuminating their tent like a nightlight. 

“Goodnight,” Gretchen yawns, cuddling into Karen’s back. 

“Goodnight,” Karen replies, turning around for a second to kiss her. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Gretchen mumbles sleepily. “Love you, Gina.”

“I love you too,” Regina replies softly. “Both of you. Goodnight.”

—————

Regina remembers on August first that she signed up for a portrait photography class this semester. She also remembers she’s never tried portrait photography before. So, as always, she reaches out to Gretchen and Karen for help. 

reginald: Why is this my name?

reginald: You know what, never mind. Do you guys want some couples photos?

fetchen: uhm… sure!! 

sexymouse: 📸📷🤳 

fetchen: she says okay too!

reginald: Okay, great. I signed up for a portrait photography class this semester but I’ve never done portrait photography. So everybody benefits.

fetchen: you’d make a great photographer! 

reginald: Thanks, Gretch.

—-

“Hey, Gina,” Karen calls as she and Gretchen make their way over to her in the park. 

“Hi,” Regina grins. “You guys look beautiful.” 

Karen is in some denim shorts and a slightly dressy top, and Gretchen is in a sundress that compliments Karen’s outfit perfectly. 

“Thanks,” Gretchen grins, doing her signature heel pop. Regina laughs, pulling her camera out of her bag and looping the strap around her neck. “What do you need us to do?” 

“For now, just… act like you’re on a normal date. Pretend I’m not here,” Regina says. 

“But you are here,” Karen says, almost pouting. 

“Just do what you normally do, don’t look at the camera,” Regina giggles. “You don’t have to totally ignore me if you don’t want to.” 

“Oh. Okay,” Karen says, seeming much happier with this arrangement. 

Regina stays behind them while they walk hand in hand down one of the many walking paths around. She snaps the occasional candid shot of their hands intertwined or them looking at one another as they make conversation, lit by the not-quite setting sun overhead. Regina wanted a few shots with broad light, and some after golden hour begins. 

Eventually they make it to a small creek. There’s a few other people; couples or families with kids taking them fishing or to hunt for crawdads with nets they probably got from the dollar store. Karen immediately kicks off her sandals and wades in. The deepest of the water doesn’t even come up to her knees. 

“Come on,” she coaxes, as Gretchen stands on the shore looking rather more apprehensive. Regina crouches down a bit and snaps a few photos of Karen alone in the water, reaching out to Gretchen with a wide, but natural (and unfairly beautiful) smile on her face. 

“You’ll get blisters walking with wet shoes,” Gretchen chides lovingly. 

“So I won’t put them back on,” Karen retaliates. “Come on, it’s not that bad. It’s just cold.” 

Gretchen sighs and kicks off her own shoes, wading over to her girlfriend. She squeals at the frigid temperature of the water and rushes over to Karen as fast as she can. Karen wraps her in a hug, lulling her into a false sense of security. 

Gretchen squeals as Karen suddenly kicks at her, showering her in icy cold water. “Hey! That was mean.” 

Karen shuffles over as Gretchen turns around and pouts, seeming genuinely upset. Regina herself is about to go see if she’s okay when Gretchen suddenly whirls around and dumps a handful of the water down Karen’s shirt. 

She cackles when Karen gasps at the chill with a, “Hey!”

“You started it,” Gretchen giggles, squealing and ‘running’ away as fast as she can. Karen chases after her, but their top speed is quite slow and Gretchen has a head start. Regina takes several action shots of them chasing each other around and cackling like mad witches. 

“Don’t you drag me into this,” Regina says as Gretchen hides behind her for protection. 

“Your camera is expensive,” Gretchen retaliates, peeking around her shoulder to see where Karen is. “I’m safe here.” 

“Fine,” Regina sighs. Gretchen hums happily as Regina leans back in her hold, resting her head on Regina’s shoulder as they wait for Karen to slosh her way over. 

“My feet are cold,” Karen says when she finally makes it. 

“I did tell you, honey,” Gretchen giggles. “Go get our stuff.”

“Aren’t you coming?” 

“You go first,” Gretchen says. “Don’t trust you.” 

Karen pouts. Gretchen rolls her eyes lovingly. 

“I trust you in general. Just not around water,” she amends. 

“Hmph,” Karen continues pouting. Regina tenses a bit as Gretchen leans around her to kiss Karen’s pout away, accidentally sandwiching Regina between them. 

“Go on,” Gretchen murmurs. Karen smiles a bit and sloshes her way back to the shore. Gretchen pulls away from Regina and starts to follow, but pauses when she doesn’t hear Regina’s footsteps coming after her. “What’s the matter?” 

“Nothing,” Regina whispers immediately. She can feel the words resting on the tip of her tongue, threatening to tip out, to spill. She bites her tongue so hard tears start to well in her eyes. Bites the words back so hard she tastes the tang of blood. 

“Are you sure? We can take a break,” Gretchen offers, taking small steps back in her direction. 

“No! I’m fine, Gretchen,” Regina bites, falling back into the comforting embrace of anger she found herself in for so many years. Gretchen’s face twinges, falls, and Regina finds herself face to face with something she’s spent years desperately trying to avoid. “Shit. I’m sorry, Gretch, I didn’t… I know you’re just… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Gretchen says gently. 

“No, it’s not! It never has been, I just…” Regina begins. “I’m sorry. For everything.”

“I know,” Gretchen says. “I know you are. And I can see you working on it. I know this isn’t you.” 

“I think it is,” Regina mumbles. Gretchen shakes her head, her dark hair swishing around her shoulders with the motion. 

“I know it’s not. If it was we never would have seen you be kind again. That’s you,” she insists. “I don’t know what happened, but you only do this when you’re hurting.” 

You’re protecting yourself, Regina hears her therapist’s voice echo in her head. Just in an unhealthy way. 

But how do I stop? Regina’s voice begs back. I can’t do this anymore. 

Work on healing, and find the right people. 

The right people are right in front of her. 

“You should go get Karen, she’s waiting for you,” Regina sighs shakily. “I’ll… I’ll be there in a second. I just need a minute.” 

“Okay,” Gretchen says gently. She rests a caring hand against her arm before pulling away, turning around and making her way out of the creek. 

Regina sighs and blinks back tears. She thinks about splashing some of the water on her face, but it’s green, and she decides it’s not worth risking some kind of brain-eating amoeba. 

She gives herself three minutes, carefully counting each and every second that passes. Any longer and her friends will start to worry more than they already are. Counting gives her something else to focus on, helps her ground herself the slightest bit and pull her thoughts away from the swirling cesspool they’re threatening to dive into. 

“There she is,” Karen says with a bright smile as she sees Regina claw her way through the tree line that outlines the creek. 

“Hey,” Regina says softly. 

“Hey,” Gretchen echoes. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Regina says immediately. 

“Do you need any more pictures?” Karen asks.

“I have a few more I want to get, if you guys have time?” 

“Of course,” Gretchen says. “We have all night.” 

“Well, I don’t have the lenses for night photography with me, so it won’t be that long,” Regina teases. “But, um… I brought props. To try.”

“Ooh,” Karen says immediately. Her eyes brighten as Regina rests her bag on the ground and pulls out two flags. The pan one gets handed to Karen, and the bi one to Gretchen. “Ooh!” 

“Wait, don’t be cute yet!” Regina says as Karen holds her flag over her head and twirls around. She scrambles for her camera and to get a good angle, adjusting her settings for the motion and snapping as many good pictures as she can. 

Karen eventually slows down, her hair wild around her from her twirling as she pants to catch her breath back. “I’m dizzy.” 

“Your hair looks fantastic, though,” Gretchen giggles. “Like you just got a blowout.”

“Thanks,” Karen replies, jokingly tossing her hair over her shoulder. Regina still almost chokes, and Gretchen is practically drooling. 

Regina leaves them to do whatever feels natural with their flags, taking some beautiful shots of Gretchen with hers held triumphantly over her head, practically glowing in the light of the setting sun. 

She feels her heart seize a bit when they both wrap their flags around their shoulders like superhero capes and lean in for a kiss. Regina continues taking pictures, but she feels her eyes start watering and knows her knuckles are probably white with her grip on her camera. God damn it, not now. 

“Gina?” Karen asks knowingly when they break apart. “What’s going on?” 

“Nothing,” Regina whispers. 

“Yes thing,” Karen retaliates childishly. 

“You can tell us,” Gretchen says kindly. Regina blinks back tears at the lack of malice in her voice, the gentleness of her grip as she takes and squeezes her hand. 

This is it. 

“I…” Regina tries to begin. She pauses and takes a deep breath. “No, I can’t.”

“What is it?” Karen asks. She looks to Gretchen in concern when Regina bursts into tears in front of them. Regina hunches in on herself, crossing her arms over her chest protectively. Protect your heart. At any cost. 

“Regina,” Gretchen says, reaching for her again. She gets a wounded look when Regina steps away, but respectfully pulls her hand back. “It’s okay.” 

“It’s not,” Regina sobs. “I-I-I-”

“Deep breath,” Karen says in the same tone of voice she uses when Gretchen has a panic attack. “Take your time. I promise you can tell us, it’ll be okay.” 

Deep breath. Take your- “I love you! I-I’m in love with you. Both of you. And I-I know… I know you d-don’t feel the same, I just… I had to tell you, I can’t… I can’t live like this anymore. I’m-I’m so sorry.” 

Gretchen and Karen look at each other with wide eyes. This was most definitely not something they were expecting to hear. Neither of them get a spectacular amount of time to process as Regina suddenly starts hyperventilating and nearly collapses to the ground in front of them. 

“Whoa, Regina,” Karen says, immediately going to help her. Gretchen quickly follows, sinking to her knees in front of her. Regina starts panicking harder and trying to get away, but this time they don’t let her. 

“Gina, hey. Look at me,” Gretchen says gently. “We’re not mad at you, okay? We’re not upset. I promise. We can talk about this when you’re ready, but for now we just want to help you, okay?” 

Regina looks at her and sees nothing but warmth and concern in her eyes. She can barely move her hands, they’re shaking so hard, but she forces herself to hold Gretchen’s outstretched one and nods. Karen sits on the ground behind her and hugs her; squeezes her to apply pressure to ground her. She supports Regina’s spine so it isn’t aggravated and seems content to just be Regina’s anchor. Tether her to Earth. Regina can feel her breathing against her back and tries desperately to match it before she sinks too far into this panic. 

“Good, breathe with Karen,” Gretchen says gently. Regina can feel Karen nod against her shoulder. She does her best to and continues looking at Gretchen’s eyes. Why is she being so nice? Why are both of them being so nice?

Gretchen also seems to be panicking slightly as she tries to work out what she can do to help her. 

“Okay, uhm… just try to stay here with me, okay? Nothing else matters right now. Just… do your best not to think. Uh…” she stutters. Karen’s usual go to for her is the countdown strategy, but Regina seems too upset to even do that. So, Gretchen starts talking. She’s not totally sure what to talk about, but she just goes for it. “Do you remember the day we met?” 

Regina looks at her and nods shakily. Gretchen gives her a sad smile and continues talking. 

“In preschool. I was crying because my mom left and you came over,” she recalls fondly. “You didn’t say anything for a long time, you just sat next to me while I cried and held my hand. And then when I calmed down you said we had the same shoes on and that meant we had to be best friends. And you took me to your table with Karen and Janis and showed me the play-doh. And then KK kept eating it and got it taken away.” 

Regina lets out a strange, harsh sound, a mix between a laugh and another sob. 

“I never told you, but I’ve remembered that day forever,” Gretchen continues softly. “In middle and high school, when you were… you know. I would think about that day. And it helped, a lot. Because I knew that little girl who held my hand while I cried, my best friend, was still in there somewhere. And here you are. I’m so glad we’ve managed to stay friends all these years.”

“I am too,” Karen adds quietly from behind her. “You were always a good friend. Even when you weren’t.” 

Regina is stunned almost quiet. She’s so busy trying to process what Karen means that she forgets what she was originally panicking about in the first place. Gretchen squeezes her hands once more to get her attention and gives her a gentle smile. 

“Can you count backwards from ten with me? Just focus on us again. And take a deep breath with every one,” she says kindly. Regina nods shakily. 

“T-ten.” Regina says. In through the nose, out through the mouth. 

“Nine.” Focus on Gretchen. 

“Eight.” Her eyes. 

“Se-sev-seven.” Her hands. 

“Six.” Her heart. 

“F-five.” Deep breath. 

“Four.” Focus on Karen. 

“Three.” Her hold. 

“T-two.” Her warmth. 

“One.” Her. 

“Good,” Gretchen says. 

“Are you feeling any better?” Karen pipes up, massaging Regina’s arms gently and helping her stand again. Regina nods with a shaky sniffle. 

“I’ve really done it now, haven’t I?” 

“You haven’t done anything,” Gretchen says. Karen nods, now that Regina can see her again. “I-I… I’m not going to lie and say I’ve never felt the same way.” 

“I definitely have too,” Karen adds. “I’m sorry we can’t give you a solid answer now. But we… need to talk this over. Make sure we’re using the same emojis, you know?” 

Regina gives a watery chuckle and nods. “I know. I’m sorry to dump this on the both of you now.” 

“No, Gina,” Gretchen says. “We’re glad you told us. We just need some time before we can do this the right way for all of us.” 

“I understand. You-you guys take all the time you need,” Regina says as she packs all her things back up. “I’ll be here. Uh… thanks. For helping me, and everything.” 

“Anytime,” Karen says. “Bye.” 

“Bye, Gina.” 

“Bye, guys.” 

-

Regina can feel it burning the whole drive home. For the first time in almost fifteen years, she sinks into her mother’s arms for comfort, and cries.

————-

Regina doesn’t hear anything until two days before Gretchen has to fly back to France. She’s spent most of the week hiding in bed, cuddling her pillows and watching Netflix in a ditch attempt to not think about the situation. And crying, she spent a solid amount of time crying. 

But she wakes up to a text. 

sexymouse: 🥞🧇🍳 ???

reginald: Sure. Usual place? 

sexymouse: 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

fetchen: we’ll meet you there at ten :)))

reginald: Okay. See you then. :) 

Regina sighs as she removes herself from her blanket cave for the first time in four days and pads to the bathroom to take a shower. What could this be about?

She nearly works herself into another panic attack as she brushes and blow dries her hair. What if they’re about to let her know they don’t feel the same? And that they don’t want to see her ever again? 

No, they wouldn’t do that, she thinks to herself as she brushes her teeth. Would they? The texts didn’t sound any different than normal. Well, it’s hard to tell sometimes with Karen, but Gretchen sent a smiley face. With three mouths, that must mean something at least okay, if not good?

“God, girl stuff sucks.” 

-

“Hey, Gina,” Gretchen greets as Regina slides into their usual booth across from her friends. 

“Hi.” 

“We ordered for you,” Karen says, pushing a plate of strawberry banana crepes closer to her. Regina smiles slightly when she sees they remembered her favorite. They haven’t even eaten here together since seventh grade. 

“Thank you,” she says genuinely, pouring some syrup out on the side like she always does. “How-uhm. How are you two?” 

“We’re good,” Gretchen replies. “How are you? Feeling any better?” 

Regina nods. “I… yeah. I mean, you get why I’m not… totally back to myself, yet. But I’m much better than the other day.” 

“Good,” Karen nods. Gretchen smiles fondly as she follows it with an entirely too-large bite of waffle. Regina grins as well, giving a slight chuckle when Gretchen helpfully dabs some stray syrup off of Karen’s chin. They deserve each other.

They continue making light conversation throughout their meal, but there’s a thrumming undertone of anxiety and anticipation that has Regina practically shaking in her Louboutin’s. Regina pays for the food, batting both other cards away and throwing her own at their waiter and shoving him back to process it. 

“Thanks, Gina,” Karen says. Regina just nods. 

“Of course.” 

—-

“So, Gina, uhm…” Gretchen stutters about a quarter of the way through their walk in the park to get rid of the sticky full feeling in their bellies. “We have a… proposition for you.” 

That doesn’t sound good, Regina thinks. She says, “Um… okay. Shoot.”

“Will you date us?” Karen asks. Regina freezes mid-step and chokes on air. 

“Wh-what?”

“We know this isn’t a great time,” Gretchen says almost apologetically. “Since I’m leaving again. But we talked it over, and we’re willing to try if you are.” 

“You’re serious?” Regina checks, looking at both of their faces for even the slightest hint of insincerity. Nothing. All she sees is two of the most loving faces she’s ever been confronted with. “Yes! Oh my god, what?!” 

They both laugh as she rockets in between them for a hug, and press in on either side to kiss her cheeks. They pause when they hear a sniffle and can taste the few tears streaming down her face. “Why are you crying?” 

“I’m sorry,” Regina sobs. “I just… I thought you both would hate-hate me, when I told you. I never thought this-this would… actually happen, you know? I’m-I’m so happy.” 

“Aww, honey,” Gretchen coos. “If we didn’t hate you when you were a raging bitch, we definitely won’t hate you for loving us.” 

Regina gives a watery laugh at that. Gretchen isn’t usually so frank or vulgar, so it’s almost a shock, but she’s most definitely not wrong. “I do. I love you.” 

“I love you too,” Gretchen hums. “Can I kiss you?” 

Regina nods eagerly and leans in. Gretchen meets her halfway and kisses her so gently. Her lips are slightly chapped from her habit of biting them, but so, so soft. She can faintly taste the delightful flavors of cinnamon and maple off her lips, and smell the enchanting aroma of baked goods that always manages to follow Gretchen. It feels like home. 

They smile at each other when they break apart. Regina repeats, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Gretchen beams, pecking her gently one more time. 

“I love you… three,” Karen pipes up. “My turn?” 

Regina laughs and leans in. Karen is more confident, eager in kissing. Gretchen was more anxious, more careful. Karen knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to take it, swiping her tongue at Regina’s lips and allowing her to taste the powdered sugar and maple syrup faintly left from their breakfast. Regina’s close enough to faintly smell the fruitiness of her perfume. She wants more. 

“I love you, Karen,” Regina murmurs when they break apart. Karen smiles back and kisses her cheek. “Was… was that a date?” 

“It was supposed to be, yeah,” Gretchen giggles. 

“Oh.”

————-

“I don’t want you to go,” Regina whimpers into Gretchen’s shoulder at the airport. “I just got you.” 

“I know,” Gretchen attempts to soothe through her own tears. “I’ll be back in December. You and Karen have four and a half months to think of a perfect Chanukah present for me.” 

Regina gives a watery laugh into her shoulder and squeezes her tighter. “I love you.” 

“I love you too,” Gretchen says. “Karebear, come here. Group hug.” 

Karen comes over and worms her way in between them. She gets her own few kisses from Gretchen and stays in the cuddle. 

They stay huddled together as long as they can, all crying quietly and peppering kisses on whoever they can reach. A falsely kind woman’s voice rings out over the speakers to announce Gretchen’s flight boarding. 

Gretchen cups Karen’s face and gives her a solid kiss. But this time, she turns to Regina after they break apart and does the same to her. “I love you. And I love you.” 

“I love you too.” 

“I love you three,” Regina chuckles around a sob. Gretchen kisses their cheeks one more time before she turns around and heads off to her gate. Regina and Karen stay and wave until she’s out of sight before leaving the airport hand in hand. 

“It never gets easier,” Karen sobs quietly. Regina squeezes her hand and nods. “But now I have you.” 

Regina looks at her and gives her a watery smile. “And I have you. I love you.” 

“I love you too.” 

They can feel Gretchen’s ‘I love you three’ from thousands of miles away.

—————

Monday. Easily your least favourite day of the week. The weekend was over and you had to go back to the drama filled world of school. The only good part? Getting to see your girlfriends. You'd just finished packing your bag when you heard the familiar sound of Regina's horn ring out through your bedroom window. A smile immediately found its way to your lips and you rushed right out the door, running out to her car with your bag over your shoulder.

"Took you long enough," the blonde smiled as you got into the passenger side. Gretchen and Karen were cuddled up together in the back. Karen fully asleep, head on Gretchen's shoulder. Drool and everything. It was too early for the girl.

Regina paid them no mind, focusing on the road and you. Mostly you as you babbled about some dumb project and how you were paired with someone you didn't even like. That you were doing most of the work. She'd listen, occasionally throwing in her own two sense. That was usually just an insult towards the person you were paired with.

The school day itself was boring as ever. Assignments, even a test. Nothing really exciting happened. Until the finale bell rang. Signalling that you finally got to go home. Well, even then you weren't exactly going home home. You and your girlfriends were having a slumber party at Regina's that night.

The four of you cuddled up on the blonde's bed, enjoying a tray of snacks prepped by Regina's mom. Some movie only Karen was paying attention to. Gretchen was on her phone, scrolling through tiktok and Regina was once again focused on you. Just as you were focused on her.

Her lips pressed to your neck, trailing kisses and leaving the occasional bite mark. Your own lips parted, soft sounds escaping from them that only served to encourage the blonde.

Not that you were complaining.

You loved being the centre of her attention, almost as much as she loved being the centre of yours.

Her lips continued creating their pathway down to your chest. Until they were blocked by your shirt collar, Regina's eyes looked up to yours. Asking in a silent request. When you nodded, granting her request, she pulled your shirt up over your head. Tossing it to the floor somewhere by her bed.

Gretchen glanced up from her phone, smirking a little when she saw what you and Regina were up to. Leave it to Regina to start a make out session during their movie night. It happened nearly every time, without fail. The only question really became when it would happen.

Regina's lips continued moving down. Trailing along your stomach now. Her hand cupped your breast, softly squeezing through the fabric that covered it. Pinching through your bra to give your nipples a teasing tug. Your stomached arched up into her lips, hand instinctively reaching out to grab the sheets. Holding them tight.

"Just relax..." Regina muttered against your skin. Having long forgotten about Gretchen and Karen by now, who didn't exactly mind. Karen was focused on the movie while Gretchen gave Karen's neck little kisses.

The blonde adjusted herself so she was further down on the bed, laying between your legs. Your legs against either side of her shoulders. Her hand moved down from your bra, dancing along your side before her fingers hooked the wait of your pants. Gently pulling them down to reveal your underwear.

Her lips got back to work. Moving across the soft fabric that covered your core from her. You couldn't help but twitch, another moan falling from your lips. Regina simply smirked. Her thumb massaging your side as she sucked you through the fabric. Mouth on your clit. Making you soak through your underwear. The whimpers you made providing her all the motivation she needed.

Your teeth gritted together, body laying down against the bed. Eyes closed, feeling nothing but pure bliss. Your stomach tightened in a familiar knot, a few higher moans leaving you before you came. The release leaking through the fabric and into Regina's mouth.

"Guess you're gonna have to take these off now," Regina teased, her tone playful as she tugged at your underwear. When you came down from the rush, you slumped against the bed. Trying to catch your breath again.

"Mmmph..." you murmured in response. She laughed softly and propped herself up on her elbow, hand under her chin.

"Don't tell me you're done already," Regina smirked.

"Wow, that's gotta be a record for you," Gretchen commented. Looking over at you and Regina.

"No- I'm good for more-" you managed.

The fair was full of buzzing energy, so many people were here from kids to adults that it was a little difficult to move through the crowds. At one point, you and the girls lost Karen. Which was a terrifying few minutes trying to find her again. When you did, you found her eyeing a massive stuffed tiger that was hung by one of the mini games.

The look of awe in her eyes made it nearly impossible to say no to at least trying to play the game. Up first was Gretchen, who had the most determined look in her eyes. The mini game was a ring toss. Gretchen picked up one of her three rings, aimed, and tossed it. The ring twirled around the top of the far post, before simply bouncing off helplessly to the side of it.

“Ooooo, tough luck,” the mini game host stated as he watched them.

Gretchen huffed and grumbled something to herself that you couldn’t quite catch, she picked up the second ring and aimed for the same post she’d nearly gotten before. This time the ring didn’t even make it to the height of the post. It ricocheted off the base and almost hit the host. He had to duck out of the way, looking a little startled as he glanced at Gretchen. Who had the decency to look embarrassed.

“Um… nearly there,” he awkwardly cleared his throat.

Regina laughed, finding the whole thing utterly amusing. You stifled your own laughter, being polite enough to not outwardly laugh at your girlfriend. When the startled look passed from the host’s face, even he looked a little amused. Now that he wasn’t in danger of being the target.

Karen placed a hand to Gretchen’s shoulder, a kiss landing on her cheek,” I think you can do it.” She assured her, the blush on Gretchen’s cheeks turned a little deeper shade of red.

“I think that last shot was a sign,” Gretchen murmured with a little pout tugging at her lips.

Regina rolled her eyes at Gretchen’s dramatics,” watch this,” she smirked and picked up the finale ring. Giving it a toss and-

Wasn’t even close to the post. It smacked into the back wall of the stand. Regina’s cheeks flushed before she scoffed and crossed her arms,” it’s rigged. Obviously.”

“Looks like you’re all outta rings, maybe if you play again you’ll get it!” The host encouraged them to buy a second round of rings. You stepped up and decided to take a whack at it, purchasing the second round. The host handed you the three rings, a smirk on his lips as he gave you a nod.

“Good luck, kid!”

You picked up one of the rings, eyes narrowing in on the post Gretchen had been aiming for prior. You took your first shot, it hit the top of the post but caught it on the wrong angle and fell with a clatter.

With gritted teeth, you picked up your second shot and tried again. It got closer, but once again caught the wrong angle.

“Oooo, nice try! One more shot,” the host commented.

Taking breath first, you aimed and tossed. Fist clenched as you internally found yourself chanting its victory.

It sailed through the air and hooked around the post, twirling down the metal. Third time’s the charm after all. You got it! Gretchen and Karen both cheered, Gretchen’s own fists flying into the air. Regina chuckled at their antics but was secretly quite proud of you too.

“Well I’ll be, looks like we have a lucky winner!” The host announced, he gestured to the prizes,” take your pick!”

You pointed to the tiger stuffy that Karen had been eyeing and the host smirked,” if you want that big guy, you’re gonna have to get a couple more rings on!”

“Oh come on!” You groaned, classic fair tricks.

Regina slammed down her cash, staring directly at the host who smiled and handed you another three rings. Ring one, miss. Ring two was a hit! But ring three was another miss. You gestured to the ring that landed and the host shook his head,” gotta get three rings!”

You groaned and Regina gave him some more money, earning yourself another round of three. Miss, miss, hit!

“Boom! Third ring!” you pointed to it, the host rolled his eyes at your boast but took down the long awaited tiger stuffy and handed it to you. Which you then gave right to Karen, who looked beyond happy. Even more happy than a child on Christmas morning.

snarkisian: what ??? 

reginald: Don’t make any plans. For that whole week. 

reginald: And that goes for the rest of you too.

snarkisian: reggie wtf 

snarkisian: this is so ominous what are you planning 

reginald: Fun.

snarkisian: that’s not helping 

reginald: You’ll find out tomorrow oh my god. Just let me have this. 

snarkisian: ok ok damn

reginald: Thank you. Goodnight and happy birthday twins!! 

snarkisian:  ?????? goodnight 

“Reggie’s up to something,” Janis sighs, clicking her phone off. They both look around at the sea of balloons around them and realize they can’t see the floor anymore. “This is probably enough.” 

“I think so,” Cady chuckles breathlessly. “Let’s go to bed, we have a big day tomorrow.” 

“Big day indeed,” Janis murmurs, kissing her wife and leading them up to bed. 

————-

“Okay, let’s find out what this creepy mystery present your aunties got you is, hm?” Janis says, holding Leo on her lap. Cady has Layla on her lap next to them, and they help the twins open a large bag in front of them. 

Layla happily pulls out all the tissue paper and wags it around, seeming more excited about the crinkle sounds than the actual present underneath. Leo reaches in and pulls out a tiny sun hat. 

“Aww,” Cady coos. “How cute! Little hats.” 

“There’s more, keep going,” Karen chuckles as Leo puts the hat on and it falls over her eyes. The twins pull out two little bathing suits, and two pairs of adorable sandals. 

“So what does this have to do with… any of that shit yesterday?” Janis asks confusedly. 

“Where can they wear that stuff?” Gretchen asks. Cady looks up as she catches on to what’s happening. 

“A beach?” 

“We bought a lake house, we thought we’d take all of you there for the Fourth,” Regina nods. 

“Oh my god! That’s awesome!” Cady says. “Girls, you get to go on your first beach trip!” 

“That’s… not what I was expecting, but… wow,” Janis says. She looks at Leo, who now has both hats on and is wearing her sandals on her hands. “I think this one is more excited about the clothes.” 

Leo looks up at her and giggles when Janis adjusts her hats so she can see again. Janis bends down to kiss her chubby cheek. 

“Little goof. Only a year old and you’re already trying to be funny.” 

——————

They all have about a month to prepare for the trip, and gather supplies. Cady and Janis decided that trying to fly back to Illinois wasn’t quite something they were ready to face with two babies and decided to drive. Aaron and Damian said they’d drive with them, and the Plastics begrudgingly joined. So they all chipped in to rent a large van and decided to go together. 

Cady frantically researched tips for taking wee ones on long car trips, and found that the best tip is to leave early, while they’re asleep, so they’re quiet for a good chunk of the trip. Their friends seem much less on board with the idea of waking up at four in the morning to get going, but understand that it’s a necessary evil. 

Janis is the strongest night owl, so she’s told to be the first driver while everyone else sleeps in the back. 

All the luggage gets loaded in and pets dropped off at daycare the day before, so they can just hop in and go. Or so was the plan. 

-

Cady carefully transfers the babies to their car seats from their cribs so they don’t wake up, before she tucks them back in with their little blankets and stuffies. Janis puts them in the car, with Regina stuck in between. She’s the most… apprehensive, of the babies, so they decided to give her babysitting duty while the twins would spend most of the time asleep. 

“Is everyone here?” Janis yawns, taking a solid swig of her coffee to help wake her up. 

“Damian’s not,” Aaron replies. 

“Ugh.” Janis huffs. “I’ll go get him.” 

She opens her door and stomps back to her house, opening the front door to yell for her best friend. “Damian! Come out!”

“I’m gay!” Damian yells back. 

“To the car, dumbass! We gotta go!” 

“Car, I’m gay!” Damian replies childishly, coming downstairs in a onesie. “Chill, I had to finish my skincare routine.”

“Caddy wants to go before the smalls wake up, come on,” Janis grumbles. 

“It’s five in the morning!” Damian retorts. “We got time.” 

“You don’t know these babies,” Janis sighs. Damian clambers in the back next to his boyfriend while Janis climbs back into her seat. “Okay. For the love of fuck, do we have everything and everyone?” 

“Yeah,” Regina yawns. “Let’s go.” 

“Thank Christ.” 

————-

Janis and Cady switch places at their first stop, after about three hours of driving. By some miracle, both babies are still asleep. Regina is subbed out for Damian and they’re back on the road within fifteen minutes. 

The second break comes much quicker than they were hoping, only about half an hour later. Leo wakes up and rubs her little eyes with a fist, before looking around with a yawn. She whimpers when she sees she’s in her seat and neither of her moms are anywhere to be found. 

“Oh no, you’re okay,” Damian says frantically when she starts to cry. Leo looks at him with a little wail and reaches for him, straining against her buckles. “Uh… I can’t take you out, but you don’t have to cry! Your moms are right there, we didn’t steal you, I promise!” 

Leo’s crying wakes up Layla, who also begins fussing when she can’t find her moms. Damian frantically tries to calm them, dancing their little toys in front of their faces and making sure they both have their pacifiers. 

“Sorry Dame,” Cady apologizes. “They should calm down in a second. And we’re almost to a gas station, I’ll pull over there.” 

“It’s okay,” Damian says. “Poor things.” 

He tries to play peekaboo with both of them

at the same time until they can stop. It doesn’t quite work, but it distracts them enough that they stop crying quite so loud. 

“Here we go,” Cady says. Everyone stretches and works their way out, while Cady and Janis see to their daughters. Janis grabs Layla and Cady gets Leo. “Hi, munchkin! Did you wake up all alone? Poor baby, come here.” 

Leo gratefully cuddles into her mama and smiles when she sees Janis inside the building. Janis passes Layla over so Cady can go get them changed and dressed for the day. 

-

“Where’s Cady?” Regina asks, browsing the racks of snacks inside. 

“She’s with the babies,” Janis answers. “Getting them dressed.” 

“Speak of the devil,” Damian says as the restroom door opens and Cady exits, carrying Leo and holding hands with Layla. “Oh my goodness.” 

Everyone turns to see what he’s talking about, and give similar reactions. The girls are dressed as little watermelons, in green short shorts and red and black polka dot tunic tops with green trim. And complete with matching watermelon patterned sandals. 

“Aww, my little melons!” Janis coos, taking Leo as she reaches for her. “Hi Bee. You still sleepy?” Leo nods and rests her head on her shoulder. “Aww. You can sleep in the car. Sweet girl.” 

Layla lets go of her mama’s hand and takes shaky steps over to greet her aunties and uncles. She makes it to Aaron first and reaches to be picked up. 

“Hi Lala!” Aaron greets happily, picking her up and tossing her in the air before holding her close. She giggles and tries to stick her little fingers in his mouth. Aaron doesn’t let her, but he moves his chin to make her laugh. “Cool outfit!” 

Damian comes up and gently kisses his niece’s cheek. Layla squeals happily and leans closer into Aaron. “And these outfits are reversible. If you turn them this way,” he explains, taking Layla and holding her upside-down. “Little strawberries!” 

Layla laughs as she looks around upside-down, and shrieks happily as her exposed belly gets tickled. Damian laughs with her as he turns her back the right way. 

“Crazies,” Cady chuckles affectionately. “Are we ready to go again?” 

“I think so,” Gretchen replies, armed with the snacks her partners have purchased and made her help carry. Everyone else nods and heads back out into the parking lot. 

They settle back into the same spots, since this stretch of the trip was shorter than they had counted on. The twins seem more okay with their moms being out of sight now that they’re less sleepy, and are content to play games with Damian and babble about the things they see out the windows. 

Damian smiles as Leo grabs onto his hand and goes quiet, her little fists wrapped around his ring and index fingers as she looks wistfully out the window. Layla shrieks happily as she sees some cows out her own window. 

“What are those, Lala?” Damian asks. “Are they cows? What do cows say?” 

“Moooooo!” Layla replies eagerly, pointing to the creatures as they go by. Everyone laughs. 

“Yeah, good job,” Damian chuckles, tickling her belly. Layla giggles happily and tries to wiggle away as best she can. 

“She loves animals, she knows all the sounds,” Cady replies. “Except pigs.” 

“Why pigs?” 

“Janis never read that page in their story right. Now they think pigs say ‘you have a right to remain silent.’” 

“It’s important knowledge!” Janis defends. “How many times are they actually gonna need to know the sound a pig makes?” 

“When we get letters home from their preschool that they’ve incited a riot, you’re handling it,” Cady giggles. “I’m just glad they’re not copying you yet.” 

“I’m just raising them with street smarts.” 

“Uhhuh,” Cady replies sarcastically. “Have fun using that excuse to bail them out of jail.” 

“We’re raising them to be decent humans too, they won’t be in jail! I’m just doing this, like, you know. Just in case.” 

“Whatever you say, my love.” 

——————

After another few hours, it’s Damian’s turn to drive, and nobody is safe. 

Surprisingly, it seems to be going well for the first fifteen minutes or so.

Then, Regina pipes up from the back. 

“Guys?”

“Yeah?” Janis replies, looking in the mirror to see them from her spot in the passenger seat. 

“Where’s Aaron?” Regina asks. Janis whips around and looks, counting everyone. Babies, Cady, Plastics, Damian… no Aaron. 

“Oh my god, we left him at the gas station!” Damian screeches. “I’m a terrible boyfriend!” 

“Turn around!” Janis shrieks as well. 

“I can’t, this is a no U-turn zone! When’s the next exit?!” 

“I don’t know!” 

“Well, look!” Damian demands.

Janis does, frantically switching between looking for road signs and looking at her phone map until they find somewhere they can safely turn around and head back to the previous rest stop. Everyone in the backseats is howling with laughter. 

Finally, they get turned around and headed to rescue their lost passenger. Janis calls Aaron to let him know they’re on their way back. 

“I was wondering how long it would take you guys to notice,” is the first thing Aaron says when the call connects. 

“Babe, we’ll be right there, we’re heading back right now!” Damian says frantically. 

“Take your time. I’ll just be here. Aaaaalll alone. Because you forgot me.” 

“I’m sorry but now is not the time to be petty!” 

“You forgot me at a gas station!” Aaron huffs. 

“By accident!”

“Mmhmm,” Aaron chuckles. “Don’t worry, honey. I made friends with the cashier, got some snacks, it’s all good.”

“I love you!” Damian says desperately. Aaron laughs. 

“Uhhuh. You owe me for this,” he replies. Janis gags at the implications. “Sorry Janis.”

“Your room better be as far away from ours as possible,” Janis grumbles. 

“Whatever you want, babe,” Damian purrs into the phone.

“Okay hanging up now byeeee!” Janis says desperately before she hangs up on Aaron. She turns to her best friend and huffs, “You are paying for my brain bleach.”

“I love you.”

“I hope we crash.”

—-

As soon as he parks the car (rather poorly), Damian throws his door open and runs to find his boyfriend. The rest of them follow and find Damian clinging to Aaron like a lost child and frantically apologizing into his shoulder. Aaron, ironically, is the one doing the comforting as he weakly pats Damian’s shoulder. 

“Dame, smile,” Gretchen teases. “I’m making a scrapbook of this trip.”

“You’re all awful,” Damian grumbles, refusing to remove himself from his boyfriend. 

“I take it I’m driving now?” Aaron chuckles. 

Damian nods. “I’m distraught.”

“Uhhuh.” Aaron hums. “Alright, I’ve spent more than enough time here, let’s go.”

—————-

After many, many hours and several naps on everyone’s parts, they’re finally on the last leg of the trip. Gretchen takes over driving for Regina, which means Regina is in charge of the tunes. 

Naturally, she starts blasting Taylor Swift, to some mixed reactions. Janis laughs as her little ones dance along as best they can all buckled into their seats. Layla gives some very vigorous head-bangs that don’t totally match the vibe of the song, and Leo seems content to just wiggle in her seat to the beat of the music. 

After a couple songs, Regina’s playlist brings up I Knew You Were Trouble. Regina, Cady, Gretchen, Karen and Damian all immediately sing along. Janis and Aaron join rather more begrudgingly. And the babies, evidently feeling left out, begin to babble along as well. 

When it gets to the chorus, the volume level could rival a jet engine. Everyone screams along, including the little ones as they catch on to the rhythm of the song. They don’t quite get it at the right time, but they’ve got the spirit. 

“Yeah, sing it, girls!” Regina cheers, turning around to smile at her nieces. They can’t see her, but their volume does pick up a little bit in response. “Get those emotions out. Hell yeah.” 

“Don’t fucking swear in front of my kids!” Janis chides. Cady gently thwacks her on the back of the head. “Ouch.” 

“Practice what you preach,” Cady hums lovingly, popping up to kiss her wife’s cheek to make up for the clearly very severe injury she’s inflicted. “They already copy you, it won’t be too long before they start trying to copy what you say.” 

“They would never,” Janis scoffs, aghast at the mere suggestion that her children would ever so much as dare to curse. “Right, Bug?” 

“Aaah!” Layla says. 

“Ladybug, the song is over,” Janis laughs. “Should we play it again?” 

Layla nods eagerly, already wiggling in preparation to dance again. Janis bends to kiss her nose as Regina skips back to it. 

“You’re a very good dancer, Loopsy,” Janis chuckles. “And you too, Bumblebee.” 

Leo looks away from her window and at her mommy, giving a precious little grin when she sees her. Janis smiles back and kisses her cheek. 

Leo whines when she pulls back and reaches for her again. Janis smiles sadly and gently holds her baby’s little face. “You wanna cuddle? We’re almost there, you just have to stay in your seat a little bit longer.” 

Leo starts to cry when she pulls her hand away. Janis pouts and puts her hand back, but Leo doesn’t calm down. 

“Baby, it’s okay,” Janis hushes gently. “Just a few more minutes and then I can hold you, I promise. Oh my goodness, Bee, why are you so sad?” 

Almost like a repeat of the morning, Layla also starts to cry as they get closer to their destination and her window is no longer enough to entertain her. Janis pops between them to pepper kisses over their little faces in a ditch attempt to calm them down. 

Cady starts playing peek-a-boo with Layla from behind the seat, which distracts her enough that she stops crying. Leo keeps wailing no matter how many smooches she gets from her mommy. 

Janis is almost desperate enough to take Leo out of her seat while they’re still moving by the time they finally arrive at their lake house. Janis wastes no time undoing her baby’s buckles and picking her up for a cuddle. 

Everyone works their way out of the car and grabs either a baby or a bag to carry inside. Cady stops Layla from running full speed into the lake, and Janis continues trying to calm Leo down. 

By the time they cross the threshold, Leo is dead asleep against her shoulder. Cady enters with the other one, panting slightly after their little game of chase. 

“Sleepy little girl,” she hums quietly, kissing Leo’s teary cheek as she passes by. “Still can’t drift off without a cuddle.” 

“I’m not complaining,” Janis whispers, carefully holding the back of Leo’s head. Layla wiggles out of Cady’s hold as soon as they’re inside and runs off in the first direction she can. 

“Guys, heads up, baby incoming!” Cady calls to their friends in the living room. Her daughters have only been walking for less than six months, so she could easily catch her if she wanted to, but she feels it’s important for Layla to get some energy out. “Just don’t let her kill herself, please!” 

“We got it!” Aaron calls back. Cady grins and turns to her wife. 

“Regina said we’re in the first door on the left upstairs, can you go put her down?” 

“Yeah,” Janis replies, crouching down a bit so Cady can kiss the baby goodnight before heading up to their room. Cady heads into the living room to find the other one. 

Layla is running in a loop around the island in the kitchen and all the way through the living room. Their friends are all standing around watching her go, except Karen, who decided to join her. 

Cady crouches down behind the counter and waits. When two little pigtails pop out, so does she, with a, “Bwah!” 

Layla shrieks in surprise and freezes, turning to see her. She laughs when she sees it’s just her mama and carries on running around. 

“How long will she keep going?” Regina asks, watching her niece and partner chase each other in circles. 

“As long as it takes,” Cady shrugs. 

“As long as it takes to what?” Damian asks in slight concern. Layla suddenly collapses face first on the ground, sound asleep. 

“That.” 

“This happen often?” Aaron chuckles. 

“You have no idea,” Cady sighs as she goes to scoop her daughter off the floor. “Lotta energy in this little body. Goodnight, everybody.”

“Goodnight!” 

—-

Cady is woken the next morning by ‘singing’. One of her babies has evidently decided to begin her day with a little jam session, and Cady can almost recognize it as one of the Taylor Swift songs from yesterday. It’s a strange, but adorable change from how their days usually begin. She yawns and heads to go get them up for the morning.

“Good morning, gi-“ she says as she approaches the cribs. One of them is missing. “Girl. Bee, where’s sissy?” 

“Dedede,” Leo explains, pointing to the door and then her sister’s crib. 

“Uncle Damian took her? Should we get dressed and go find them?” Leo nods and reaches out for her, so Cady scoops her up and kisses her all over her little face. Upon turning back to the bed, she notices Janis is also missing. “What about Mommy, do you know where she went?” 

Leo shakes her head, sitting patiently on the big bed while her mama picks out her clothes for the day. Cady grins seeing her baby looking so small huddled amongst the pillows. 

“We’ll find her too then, hm? Or maybe we just stay here all day and hide together. I like Leo and Mama days, what do you think?” she chuckles. Leo shrieks happily as Cady suddenly leaps onto the bed next to her and starts tickling her belly and blowing raspberries on her cheeks. “Yeah, maybe another day. Let’s get you dressed, come here.”

Leo is very helpful as Cady gets her out of her jammies and into her little swimsuit and sundress that the Plastics had bought her. Miraculously, it all still fits perfectly. 

“There we go, you’re all dressed! You look very pretty in your little beach ouffit!” Cady coos. Leo grins and hunches in on herself sheepishly. “You’re so cute, I can’t take it. Okay, let’s go find sissy and Mommy, come on.” 

“Lalala,” Leo helpfully informs her upon hearing her sister in the kitchen. 

“I hear her too, I think she’s in here,” Cady says as she pushes the door open. “Yeah, here’s everybody!” 

“Hey!” Everyone choruses upon seeing the two of them. 

“I was gonna take both and give them breakfast but this little munchkin was still sleepy,” Damian says, taking his niece from Cady as she reaches for him. “But now she looks fantastic in this little tropical getup!” 

“Beach ready,” Janis chuckles, kissing her baby good morning and offering her some banana to eat. “You have pineapples on your dress, you look so pretty!” 

Leo giggles happily and munches on her banana. Layla looks up from her spot on Karen’s lap and bleats happily as she spies her mama. Cady laughs and goes to greet her other baby. 

“Good morning, my sweet girl! Did you wake up early today and hang out with your aunties and uncles?” she asks. Layla giggles and cuddles into her shoulder. “Aww, hi. I missed you too. Are you excited to go to the beach today?” 

“Eee!” Layla squeals happily. Cady laughs and kisses her temple. 

“Almost! Beach.”

“Eee.”

“We’ll work on it,” Cady sighs. “Should we go get you dressed too?” Layla nods and points upstairs, so Cady carries her back up to get her ready for the day. 

-

By the time Layla and Cady are both ready, everyone else has gotten changed and packed and sunscreened for a day at the beach. Cady returns to find Leo now fully decked out in her beach hat, sandals and some teeny tiny shades. 

“Oh my goodness, Leo, you look so cool!” she laughs. “Should we go?” 

“Yeah, come on,” Regina says. Their place is practically on the beach, so they just have a short walk to be on the shore of the lake. Layla toddles the whole way herself, holding her mothers’ hands, and Leo rides on Damian’s shoulders. 

When she sees the lake, Layla immediately tries to take off towards it to go swim. She makes it a few inches before Janis’ grip tightens slightly on her hand and she falls onto her bum. 

“Blelele,” she says pleadingly, pointing to the water. 

“You can go to the water in just a second, we just have to go with you!” Cady giggles. “Come here.” 

Layla lets her mama take off her dress and sandals so she’s left in her baby bikini. She giggles as Cady blows a raspberry on her tummy and picks her up. Janis does the same to Leo, and they head down to see how their daughters react to their first real body of water. 

Aaron and Karen both tear past them and cannonball into the water, making the little ones giggle as they hear the splash. 

“Okay, ready?” Cady asks, holding Layla aloft. Layla kicks her legs in excitement and squeals happily as Cady bends down to dip her little toes in the lake. “What do you think? Is it cold?” 

“She’s definitely our little fishy,” Janis laughs as Layla starts kicking again to splash. “Let’s see what this little munchkin thinks.” 

She bends down next to Cady and Layla to dip Leo’s toes in. Leo looks at the waves lapping against her little feet for a moment before she bursts into tears. 

“Oh no, baby,” Janis says sadly, standing back up and holding Leo close. “You don’t like it?” 

Leo wails in reply, wiggling herself as close to her mommy as she can get. Janis pouts and rubs her back to comfort her. 

“Mamamama,” Leo begs, reaching a little hand for Cady. Cady pouts and switches twins with her wife. 

“Come here pumpkin, it’s okay. Let’s go play in the sand, we can try the water another time. Shh, sweetheart, Mama’s got you,” Cady hushes. Leo sniffles and buries her face in her neck. Cady kisses Layla and Janis goodbye and heads to find where Damian and Regina are sunbathing. 

“Hey!” Damian greets. His energy shifts when he sees the distraught baby in Cady’s arms. “Oh no, Leo! You didn’t like the lake?” 

“She’s just not ready yet,” Cady says, giving Leo a little bounce and drying her tears with her thumb. “We’ll hang out up here for a while and watch.” 

“Yeah, there’s plenty of room,” Regina says, scooting over a bit so they can sit between herself and Damian. Gretchen seems to be asleep already in the sand next to her. Cady settles on a towel and kisses Leo’s temple. 

“Dede,” Leo murmurs, pointing to her uncle. Cady grins and peppers more kisses to the top of her head. 

“You wanna sit with Uncle Damian? Okay, here,” she says, passing her over. Damian happily takes her and holds her in his lap. 

“Yeah, hey, Leo,” he says, propping her up on his knees. Leo finally smiles and reaches to grab his face. “Ow, watch the hair. Let’s see… can you say Damian? This is gonna be your first word or so help me. Damian.”

“Dedede,” Leo replies, tugging on one of his ears. Damian gently removes her little fist and looks into her bright blue eyes. 

“Daaaaamian. Day.”

“De?” Leo echoes. Damian nods. 

“Me.”

“Mee!”

“An.”

“Na.” 

“Damian!”

“Dedede,” Leo says again. Damian sighs. 

“We’ll work on it.” 

“Damian’s tricky, give her a break,” Cady laughs. “Janis is still just ‘Mee’.”

“Mee?” Leo asks, looking around for Janis. 

“Mommy’s with Lala,” Cady replies, pointing to her wife and other daughter splashing around the lake. 

She laughs as Layla gives a particularly vigorous one and they can just barely hear Janis call, “You little stinker!” as she’s showered with cold water.

Leo seems content now that she knows where her mommy is, and turns back to her uncle. Damian tickles her belly, earning himself a happy shriek as she tries to wiggle away. 

“Has she been in the sand yet?” he asks Cady. 

“No, do you want to try?” Cady responds. Damian nods and makes a sort of hoop with his legs, resting Leo in between so she’s contained but still has a little bit of room to explore. 

Leo looks up at him curiously, confused by the rough new texture against her little legs. Damian picks up a handful of sand and rains it down over her little feet. She wiggles her toes and grabs her own handful to investigate. 

“What do you think?“ Damian asks. “You’re not crying, that’s a good sign. No, don’t eat it.” 

Leo pouts as he catches her fist halfway to her mouth and brushes the sand off her chubby palm. 

“Don’t look at me like that, I can’t let you eat sand,” Damian pleads. “You look too much like a tiny Janis, I can’t handle it.” 

“Don’t they? I’m always saying they look like if she shrunk and had blue eyes,” Cady says. “Can you keep an eye on her? I wanna go check on Jay and Lala.” 

“Of course,” Damian replies. Regina doesn’t say anything, having joined Gretchen in dreamland. Cady kisses both Damian and Leo’s cheeks before she heads back to the shore. 

“There’s Mama, Ladybug, look!” Janis says when she sees Cady standing there. “Tell her to come swim!” 

“Mamamama!” Layla babbles happily, reaching out for Cady. 

“No way,” Cady laughs. “This lake is freezing.” 

“It’s not so bad,” Janis begs. “Come onnnn.” 

“Mamama,” Layla pouts, straining against Janis to try to get Cady to come in.

“Pleeeeease?” Janis adds. Cady rolls her eyes lovingly.

“Fine. You’re lucky you’re both cute. Stand back.”

“Why-ack!” 

Janis and Layla both yelp as Cady dives into the lake, showering them both with freezing cold water. 

“Caddy!” 

“I told you to stand back,” Cady giggles as she pops back above the surface. Layla laughs and reaches for her. “Hi, baby bug! Come here.”

“Can you show Mama what we practiced?” Janis asks. Layla nods and eagerly wiggles away. Cady almost panics when Janis suddenly lets her go, but Layla just turns onto her back so she can breathe and kicks her legs until she bumps into her mama’s chest. 

“Oh my god, Lala! That’s amazing!” Cady gasps. “Look at you go, I’m so proud of you!” 

Janis swims over too, squishing the baby between them as she leans to give Cady a kiss. “She wanted to swim, so… we worked on our backstroke.” 

“You guys did great,” Cady grins. “You’re such a good mommy. Huh, Ladybug? We love Mommy so much.” 

Layla nods and cuddles into Janis, who smiles widely and peppers kisses against Layla’s temple. “I love you too.” 

Layla giggles happily as she’s suddenly held high in the air, and splashes as she’s brought back to the water. 

“We’re gonna work on that next,” Janis huffs. “No more splashing.” 

Impishly, Layla splashes again, showering her moms in cold water. 

“Let her have her fun, she’s still little enough that she can’t do that much damage,” Cady hums. She’s suddenly hit with a small tidal wave. “I take it back.” 

“Not very nice, Ladybug,” Janis chides gently. Layla rubs her chest with her little hand to say sorry in sign language. “Aww. We forgive you, baby. Here, splash this way.” 

“They’re getting better with their signing,” Cady says happily as Layla gleefully splashes all she wants away from people. 

“Yeah,” Janis grins. “You want this?”

“Sure,” Cady laughs as she holds Layla aloft. “Gimme dis baby.” 

“I’m gonna go make sure Damian hasn’t killed Leo,” Janis says, handing Layla to her wife and kissing them both. “Or the other way around. Have fun.”

“You too,” Cady giggles. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Janis calls from the shoreline. 

Janis returns to find Leo lying next to her uncle on the sand, with her arms bent up under her head and her legs crossed so they’re lying in the same position. She’s also wearing Damian’s sunglasses and her own pacifier, and seems content to just chill. 

“Lishy, you look so cool!” she laughs. “Look at your shades.” 

Leo grabs them and pulls them down so she can see, and grins when she sees her mommy sitting down next to her. “Mee.”

“Yeah, hi baby,” Janis grins. Leo takes her sunglasses off and hands them back to her uncle, nuzzling into her mommy. Janis grins and gently brushes a hand through her short curls. “What have you been up to?” 

“Sananana,” Leo explains. “Dede.”

“Sounds fun,” Janis nods, as if she understands what Leo is saying. “Come here.” 

Leo giggles happily as Janis scoops her up and holds her in her lap, resting her head on Janis’ chest. Damian tips his head slightly to see his niece, and smiles as she seems to get much sleepier as soon as she’s being cuddled. 

“She’s so cute,” he says, watching Leo’s eyes flutter shut and her breathing even out. Janis carefully cradles her baby against her and nods. 

“She has good genes,” she murmurs. “My little cuddle bug.” 

“They’re already so different,” Damian says. 

“They always have been. Leo’s always been quieter and cuddlier. And Layla’s been running away from us since she could roll herself over,” Janis chuckles. “I just… like, you know I love you. And I obviously love Caddy more than I can say. But I never thought I could… love something this much. Let alone two of them. Like… they’re me, y’know? They’re only a year old and they’ve already helped me feel so much more confident and settled in myself.”

“I’m glad,” Damian murmurs. “And I can see why. They’re so sweet. And absolutely precious. You’re a great mom, Janjan.” 

“Thanks,” Janis grins, gently fiddling with one of her baby’s curls. “Have you and Aaron talked about kids at all?” 

“Not really. I think I got drunk once and kept talking about how we should have a baby,” Damian says, his eyes seeming a bit haunted at the vague memories. “But nothing serious.” 

“That’s fair,” Janis says, trying not to laugh at the mental image and wake her child. “You’d be a good dad. You’re already a great uncle.” 

“I try,” Damian chuckles. “They make it pretty easy.” 

“Yeah,” Janis grins. “I got lucky there. Once they came home they were some of the easiest babies I’ve seen. Made everything worth it.” 

“Worth it?” Damian asks, tipping his head in confusion. “What do you mean?” 

Janis sighs and tenses slightly. “Well, you know everything while Caddy was pregnant. That was a lot of bullshit. But we also only got pregnant on our third try. None of the embryos implanted the first time and we had a miscarriage the second.” 

“Oh god,” Damian whispers in horror. “I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“She didn’t want to,” Janis replies, looking out to the lake and smiling as she sees her wife laughing at Layla. “It messed both of us up for a long time, she just wanted to… process it on her own time and try to move on as best she could. And we wanted it to be more of a surprise when we actually got pregnant.” 

“That makes sense,” Damian nods. “And it definitely was a surprise. I didn’t think you even wanted kids.” 

“I didn’t either,” Janis says. “For a long time. But Caddy… she… she’s perfect. I knew she would be a perfect mama, that we’d be doing it together. I realized I just wanted a bigger family with her. And she had been asking for a long time, she kinda wore me down, too.” 

Damian laughs outright at that. “I’m glad. You seem so much happier now than you used to be.”

“I am,” Janis whispers, kissing the top of a little head. Leo stirs slightly, but Janis just slips her pacifier back between her lips and she drifts off again. “I think I’ll always have stuff going on in my head. But now I have more reasons to get out of bed and fight it. And I’m still in therapy and stuff. But yeah, high school Janis would not have believed you if you told her this is where she’d end up.” 

“I think that’s for the best,” Damian says. “I’m so happy for you.”

“I’m happy for you too,” Janis says. “You seem really happy with Aaron.”

“I am,” Damian says with a fond smile, watching his boyfriend act a fool in the water with Karen. “He’s the best partner I think I’ve ever had.” 

“Good,” Janis says. “You know what I’d do if he wasn’t.” 

“Easy, tiger,” Damian teases. “Please don’t murder my boyfriend.” 

“Just say the word,” Janis hums. 

They stay there for a long time, watching as Karen and Aaron play a slightly modified game of chicken with Cady and Layla. The little one shrieks happily every time she’s dunked into the water, even though Cady keeps a firm grip on her and she’s never under for more than a few seconds at a time. 

Eventually they move on to Marco Polo, and Janis grins as Layla tries to say the words as best she can from Cady’s hold. She giggles happily as they’re chased around, and wiggles with glee when it’s her turn and she tags everyone. 

Leo eventually stirs in her lap, yawning around her pacifier and blinking up at Janis. 

“Hi, baby bee,” Janis murmurs. “Did you have a nice nap?” Leo nods. “Good, come here.” 

Leo giggles softly as Janis holds her up higher and smooches her little cheeks over and over. She throws her arms around her mommy’s neck for a hug and cuddles in again. 

“Sweet girl. Should we go get sissy and Mama to come eat lunch?” Janis grins, gently scratching Leo’s back. She feels her daughter nod against her and stands up. “We’ll be back.”

“I’ll be here,” Damian hums, stretching back out on the sand for another relaxation session. 

Janis carries Leo down to the lake, feeling the baby cling to her tighter and squeak in fright as they approach the water. “Shh, it’s okay, we won’t make you do it again if you don’t want to. Let’s just sit here, okay?” 

Janis sits them where the sand is wet, resting Leo between her legs and holding tightly to her chubby little belly to help her feel secure. Leo whimpers when a wave approaches, clinging to Janis’ fingers. 

“Shh, I’m right here,” Janis soothes. “Watch, it’s just water.” The wave runs over Leo’s legs and then recedes, only going about as high as the baby’s hips. “See? It’s not so bad, huh? It’s just like a bath! You love your baths, baby girl.”

“Abababa?” Leo asks, tipping her head up to look at her. Janis nods. 

“Yeah, it’s just like a bath. Here comes another wave, look!” Leo watches the wave as it hits her feet and rushes up her legs. She’s got a very serious and thoughtful pout on her face, but she seems less scared with each wave that hits them. “What do you think?”

Leo shivers, making Janis laugh. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty cold, huh? Look what sissy and Mama are doing, do you want to try that?” 

Leo looks where she’s pointing, at Cady gently holding Layla and slowly bouncing her around in the water to lull her into a nap. Their games seem to have tuckered Layla out, since she’s accepting the cuddles without complaint. 

Leo looks up at her warily, but she does nod. Janis smiles and picks her up, holding her tightly against herself and slowly walking over to where her wife and other baby are. 

“Hey.”

“Oh my god!” Cady gasps in fright, whirling around to see them. “Hi, Bee! You’re in the lake!” 

“So brave,” Janis adds, kissing Leo’s cheek. “And choking me just a bit.” 

“Like you’re complaining,” Cady teases. She kisses Leo too and says, “I’m so proud of you, sweet girl! What do you think?” 

Leo looks around, clinging tightly to Janis’ neck and assessing the situation she’s found herself in. Cady grins as she kicks her little legs and watches the waves she creates ripple away. 

“Look, you can splash,” Cady says. Janis carefully pries the little one off her neck and holds her so Leo’s back is against her chest, so the baby can use her hands. Leo weakly claps one against the water and flinches as she accidentally splashes herself. “Yeah, you got it!” 

Leo splashes a couple more times, feeling the cold water against her little hands as she explores this new thing. She kicks her legs again, harder this time, and gives a quiet giggle when she makes more waves. 

“See? It’s not so scary,” Cady says. “Oh, I’m so glad you came in, I’m so proud of you.” 

“This one seems about ready to get out, though,” Janis chuckles, looking at the half asleep Layla resting on Cady’s shoulder. 

“It is nap time,” Cady chuckles. “Should we go get dry?” Leo shakes her head. “No? You don’t wanna get out?” Another head shake. “Not even for lunch?” Leo thinks for a second before she nods. “That’s what I thought.” 

“We’ll come swim again after lunch,” Janis chuckles. “Brave little bee.” 

They head back to the towel and beach umbrella pile their friends have made and get situated. Karen and Aaron have returned as well, and joined in the picnic Gretchen brought with them. 

Layla gets wrapped in her froggy towel and left to nap in peace, while Leo is wrapped in her ducky towel and sits on Cady’s lap to eat with everyone. 

Janis watches in silence as Leo finishes her bottle and sneakily grabs half of Cady’s sandwich to try a bite. Cady is busy talking with Regina and doesn’t notice until she finishes the first half. 

“Who-“ she says, looking around in confusion when she sees the tiny teeth marks in her sandwich. Only one person could be the culprit, and she’s caught red handed when Cady looks down to see her still chewing. “You little stinker, this is my lunch! You had a bottle!” 

Leo gives her most precious grin, instantly winning her mama back over. 

“Do I make good sandwiches, Lolo?” Gretchen chuckles. Leo nods and reaches for the other half in Cady’s hand. 

“You are what you eat,” Cady hums. “My little turkey. Here, you can have another bite.”

Everyone laughs as Leo chomps into the sandwich like a little dinosaur. Her mouth is too small for her to get much of anything but bread, but she seems happy regardless. Cady quickly eats the rest before her kid can steal any more of her food. 

When Leo looks up again expecting more, Cady shows her her empty hands. “Where did it go?” 

Leo looks down and points to her tummy. Cady laughs and kisses her cheek. 

“Yeah, it’s in your tummy. Clever little girl. Okay, let’s go play again, I wanna go with you this time!” 

-

After a long day full of playing in the lake, building sandcastles and sunbathing, everyone slugs back to the lake house, changes into pajamas, and collapses into bed. 

————-

A couple days later, Janis wakes up on her own. Which is odd, because the twins would usually be awake and trying to escape their cribs by now. 

Yawning and rubbing her eyes, she heads to the cribs to check what’s going on. But her babies aren’t in them. “Caddy?”

“Mm?” 

“Where are the babies?”

“I dunno,” Cady yawns into her pillow. “R’gina took ‘em. A while ago.”

-

“Oh, hang on,” Regina says, politely interrupting her nail tech when her text tone goes off. She pulls her phone out of her purse to see a text from Janis. 

snarkisian: where are my children 

Regina laughs and excuses herself for a second to go find the twins with her girlfriends. The babies are lying in between them on their massage tables, in matching face masks and little cucumbers covering their eyes. The twins seem to be asleep, since they’re not anywhere near as wiggly as they usually are when they’re awake. Regina snaps a picture to send to Janis. 

reginald: Sent a picture: We’re having a girls day. Facials and mani-pedis. You have a problem with that? 

snarkisian: i have a problem with you effectively kidnapping my daughters yeah 

reginald: We asked Cady, she said we could take them for the day. 

snarkisian: was she awake ?? 

reginald: Enough. 

snarkisian: …

snarkisian: just keep them safe.

reginald: Oh, we were actually gonna take them jet skiing and then to feed some wild bears after this. 

snarkisian: >:l 

reginald: Oh my god, they’re fine. They’re asleep now, we’re just gonna go shopping and get lunch after this and then you’ll have them back. They’re having a great time so far. 

snarkisian: fine. have fun, tell them i miss them

reginald: I will. Have fun with Cady on your little break. 

Janis clicks her phone off and blinks at the wall in confusion for a moment, before turning around and crawling back into bed next to her wife. 

“You find ‘em?” Cady asks, voice adorably rough with sleep. 

“The Plastics took them out for a spa day,” Janis says. “Apparently they got facials.”

“Hm,” Cady hums, already half asleep again. 

“So we have the morning to ourselves,” Janis purrs. “Whatever shall we do?”

“Sleep.”

“But-“

“Jayjay. We have twin toddlers. I wanna sleep in,” Cady begs. Janis can feel her resolve waver as Cady nuzzles into her chest and looks up at her, blinking those big, sleepy blue eyes at her pleadingly. Janis isn’t exactly well rested herself. 

“Fine,” she hums, rolling onto her back and pulling Cady on top of her. Cady peppers some gentle kisses against the crook of her neck in thanks. 

“I’ll take you back to bed later,” she whispers. Janis squeaks quietly, earning a breathy laugh against her shoulder. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Janis whispers, cradling her wife against her and drifting off for some much needed and deserved rest. 

——-

Cady did end up making good on her promise after a delightful morning of sleeping in, and they were nearly walked in on when the Plastics returned home with their babies. Damian and Aaron had a date day exploring the town, so luckily they had been saved from that particular bit of mortification. 

They quickly sort out their rumpled hair and get dressed before they head down to the living room. The Plastics instruct them to sit on the couch and close their eyes so the twins can surprise them with the new outfits they bought. 

“Are you guys ready?” Regina calls down the hallway. 

“Yeah!” Cady calls back. They hear the pattering of tiny feet as their daughters come running down the hall to find them. “Oh my goodness!” 

Janis breathes a sigh of relief that her babies are both in one piece, and smiles widely as Layla comes running over to show off her snazzy new outfit and pretty painted nails. “Hi, Bug! What did your aunties do to you?” 

“They picked their nail polish colors all by themselves,” Gretchen says. “Leo cried when she had to let go of the bottle, though. But we got cookies and everything was good then.” 

“Aww,” Cady chuckles. “Let me see, come here, Bee!” 

Leo runs over and does a spin, showing off her very fancy blue unicorn dress and sparkly blue nails. Layla has a matching dress, but her nails are red. 

“Woooow,” Cady says. “Did you pick these dresses, too?” 

“They might’ve had help,” Karen replies. “But mostly, yeah.” 

“Well, they’re lovely, good job,” Cady chuckles. Leo leaves for a second to go tug on Regina’s pocket. 

“Hi, honey, what do you need?” Regina asks. Leo does something with her hand, prompting Regina to look to Cady for an explanation. 

“She’s saying thank you, that’s sign language,” Cady replies. 

“Aww, you’re welcome!” Regina coos. Leo reaches for a hug from her aunties, so Regina hesitantly scoops her off the ground, unsure if this is the right course of action. Gretchen and Karen squish in on either side, making the baby giggle as she’s wrapped in a group hug. 

Gretchen shrieks when something else wraps around her leg, but upon looking down, discovers it to just be Layla trying to join. “Oh my god, Lala!” 

Layla waves when she looks down, as if she hasn’t just scared the wits out of all her aunties and her sister. Janis is laughing so hard she’s almost in tears watching the whole situation go down. 

Karen picks Layla up too, allowing her to join in the little love fest. None of them quite catch Cady sneaking a few pictures of the adorable scene. 

Leo wiggles her way down first, deciding she’s had enough and heading to show her mommy her new outfit and nails too. 

“Hi, Bee! What’s on your dress?” Janis grins, picking Leo up and resting her in her lap. She laughs as Leo makes a horse sound. “Yeah, I think that’s about what a unicorn would sound like. Can I see your nails?” 

Leo gently rests her tiny hand on top of her mommy’s, allowing Janis to inspect her glittery nail polish. Her hands and nails are still much too small to really be painted, but there’s neat blobs of blue on the end of each finger that work well enough. 

“That’s a very pretty color, you picked it all by yourself?” Janis asks, fluffing out the tutu on Leo’s dress with her other hand. Leo nods happily. “It’s so nice! Do you like it?” Another nod, and Leo gently taps her fingertip to make sure Janis is aware of the glitter. “I see, it’s sparkly! It’s perfect for the Fourth of July.” 

Cady sits down closer to them and leans into Janis’ shoulder, smiling at their daughter. “So… the Plastics got the two of us a hotel room for tonight. What do you think?” 

“Without them?” Janis asks in concern, looking at Leo. Cady nods. 

“Just for a night. Damian said he and Aaron would babysit.” 

“But…”

“We need a break, love,” Cady whispers. “We’ve only been away from them four times since they came home from the hospital.” 

“But I miss them,” Janis pouts. 

“I miss them too,” Cady says. “I love these two so much.” Leo giggles as she tickles her belly. “But I love you, too. And I miss having you to myself. Think of all we can do with a whole night.”

“Okay, yeah, we can go,” Janis says, seeming much more interested all of a sudden. Cady laughs. 

“That’s what I thought. I’ll go pack us a couple things.” 

—

The twins’ cribs get moved to Damian and Aaron’s room for the night, and Cady packs an overnight bag. With a quick cuddle, Janis and Cady leave with the Plastics while the babies are distracted. 

—————-

“Whoa,” Cady whispers as they walk into the lobby of their hotel. “Fancy.” 

“I fucking love having rich friends,” Janis says in delight. Cady thwacks her across the chest. “Ow.”

“Be polite,” Cady huffs. Janis pouts. “We’re not only friends with them for their money.”

“But it helps,” Janis says. Cady rolls her eyes and kisses her cheek. 

“You’re on thin ice.”

“Whatcha gonna do about it?”

“We’re alone for the night, keep at it and you might find out,” Cady hums casually. Janis flushes scarlet and looks at the ground with a flustered squeak. 

Cady gets them checked in and leads them to their room, and is immediately pinned to the very large bed by her wife. They’re both getting progressively more hot and bothered when there’s a knock at the door and Janis rolls off her with several mumbled profanities. 

Cady straightens her hair and clothes back out and answers the door, finding the Plastics on the other side. “Hey!” 

“Hey,” Karen replies. “We’re gonna go get dinner, do you wanna come?”

“No,” Janis pouts. 

“Sure,” Cady says at the same time, gently stomping on her wife’s foot. “Give us a second to get ready?”

“Take your time, they don’t even open for a while,” Gretchen says kindly. “Just not too much time, Janis.” 

“Hmph.” 

Cady closes the door and they both rush through putting on nicer clothes and doing their hair. Cady does some light makeup and kisses Janis on the cheek with a promise to continue their activities later, and they’re out the door. 

—-

“You guys are spoiling us,” Cady says as they sit across from the Plastics in their very nice booth in the dining room at their hotel. 

“We just haven’t seen much of you since the babies were born, we figured you might want a night off,” Gretchen says. “We’re glad you came.” 

“We are too,” Cady says. “We definitely need a break.”

“No we don’t,” Janis grumbles, still pouting about being so rudely interrupted. 

“Jay, my love,” Cady chuckles. “Those girls grew in me. I have the strongest connection to them out of anyone. And even I know they’re exhausting. We need a break every now and again, even if we miss them.” 

“But I miss them too much,” Janis whines. “I trust Damian and Aaron and all, but… they’re so little.” 

“And Damian understands that, he’s been around them enough to know what they need and want, they’ll be fine,” Cady comforts. “He’ll call if he needs us, but tonight is about us, come on.” 

Janis nods and takes a deep breath as she picks up their menu. Their waiter comes by to bring them their drinks and take their orders, and then they’re alone with the Plastics. 

“So tell us what’s been going on with you guys, I need gossip other than who has the worst behaved kid at daycare,” Cady says, leaning on the table and looking at their friends. 

“Actually, we did have… kind of an ulterior motive bringing you guys here,” Regina says. 

“Dude, you brought us to the nicest hotel in Illinois, an ulterior motive is the least of my worries right now,” Janis chuckles. 

“We’re getting married,” Gretchen says. Cady squeals excitedly and does a little tap dance under the table. “And we want to return the favor and have you guys as our maids of honor.”

“Of course!” Cady says. “Congratulations, oh my god! When did you get engaged?”

“We didn’t,” Karen says. Janis tips her head in confusion. “Not really. I just was like, ‘Hey, we should get married.’ and they said okay. And that was that.” 

“I mean, if it works,” Janis says with a chuckle. “Congratulations. Where are you doing it?” 

“Here,” Gretchen says rather sheepishly. “In October.”

“Did Karen pick that?” Cady giggles. Karen nods happily. “Cute!”

“We’re planning on a pretty big wedding, like, our whole extended families and everything,” Regina says. “That… understand us, anyway.” 

“That’ll be cool,” Janis says, understanding why Regina’s eyes have darkened a bit. Their food arrives then, and distracts them from the slightly heavy mood.

“So gimme all the details,” Cady says around a mouthful of carbonara. 

“Karen and I are the ones getting legally married,” Regina says. “For tax benefits.”

“Nice!” Janis laughs. “But the ceremony is for all of you?” 

They all nod. Gretchen says, “Kylie’s officiating, we’re just… adding another person to a pretty normal ceremony. And then Dylan is unfortunately our DJ for the reception.” 

“Fuck yeah,” Janis cheers, getting some dirty looks from the tables around them. She hunches in on herself in embarrassment. “Sorry.” 

“Nobody here cares, they just have to pretend to,” Regina shrugs with a chuckle. 

“Rich people,” Janis tuts under her breath. “Anyway, by here did you mean, like… here here?”

“Yeah. That was the ulterior motive, we wanted to check out some of the rooms and stuff beforehand,” Regina says. “And also try to bribe you guys into being our maids of honor.” 

“You don’t have to bribe us, we would absolutely have been anyway,” Cady says. She nudges Janis under the table in a ‘hush before I make you’ gesture before she can let out a disbelieving hum. 

“Doesn’t hurt though,” Regina replies teasingly. “Right, Janis?”

“Nothing! I mean, uh…” Janis says, obviously having zoned out and only hearing the last sentence. “What are we talking about?”

“Jay,” Cady says with a chuckle. “You’re a goof. Do you need a moment?”

“No, sorry. I was just… thinking about the girls again,” Janis mumbles sheepishly. Cady’s eyes soften in understanding and she leans in to give her wife a comforting kiss. 

“They’re gonna be okay, my love,” she whispers. “You know them. You know Damian. They’re perfectly fine.”

“I know,” Janis whispers back. “It’s just hard.”

“I know,” Cady says. She gently takes Janis’ hand under the table and gives a comforting squeeze. Janis squeezes back and shyly looks back to their company. 

“We get it,” Gretchen murmurs kindly. “It must be tough. Being away from them. We didn’t mean to drag you away if you didn’t want to come.”

“No, no, it’s not that,” Janis says immediately. “You guys are right, we do need a break, it’s just…”

“They were premature,” Regina says with remarkable kindness and understanding. “You worry. If you’re not there you… can’t protect them. You have to trust someone else.”

“…Yeah.” 

“We get it,” Karen repeats. Janis gives them all a small, thankful grin and clears her throat. 

“Anyway, uh…” 

“Tell us how you guys got together again?” Cady interrupts, attempting to steer the conversation to a lighter topic. Janis gives her hand yet another thankful squeeze and takes another bite of her dinner. 

—————

Babies, unfortunately, only stay distracted for so long. Damian braces as Leo gets bored with her toys and stands up, wandering around to try to find her mothers. 

“Mee? Mee?” she calls in her squeaky little voice. “Mamamama?” 

“Your mommies left for the night, sweetheart,” Damian says gently. Leo turns to look at him. “They went bye-bye.” 

“Mamama?” Leo asks, as if to confirm they’re really not there. Damian nods, feeling his heart break as his niece’s lip starts to tremble and she falls to the ground in tears. She crawls to the front door, and starts crying harder when she notices there’s no car in the driveway. 

Damian goes to pick her up, closing the door and gently patting her back as she wails into his shoulder. 

“Mee!” she sobs desperately, pointing to the door. 

“Shh, I know,” Damian hushes gently. “They’ll be back tomorrow, I promise. They’d never leave you. You just get to spend the night with me and Uncle Aaron and then they’ll be back.” 

Leo wails again, weeping into his shoulder with more strength than Damian thought her little body could muster. 

“I know, I know, shh,” Damian says. He gently starts bouncing her up and down to soothe her and starts wandering around in a ditch attempt to get her to calm down. 

Eventually they make it to Aaron in the kitchen, where he’s making dinner. He’s well aware of their approach, since Leo’s crying can be heard from a mile away. 

“Have we been discovered?” Aaron asks his boyfriend. Damian nods and continues bouncing the baby. 

“She tried to find them and then noticed the car was gone,” he says. “She won’t calm down, I dunno what to do.” 

“I think she just needs to get it out,” Aaron says sadly. “A whole day without your moms is hard when that’s, like, a pretty significant portion of your life. She’s only one.” 

“But she’s so sad,” Damian pouts. “Makes me sad.”

“Just hold her,” Aaron says. “She’ll realize she’s okay soon.”

“Mmkay,” Damian says, gently hushing his niece. “Where’s your little… baby cork thingy.”

“Her what?”

“The… thingy,” Damian says, as if that clarifies anything. “That they suck on to stop crying.”

“Her pacifier?!” Aaron laughs. 

“Yeah!” 

“Baby cork,” Aaron tuts under his breath. “Check the other room.” 

Damian and Leo briefly disappear, and then return with Leo’s pacifier and Layla. 

“There!” Damian says. “No more crying and the other one isn’t dead.”

“Gold star, babe,” Aaron chuckles. “Dinner’s ready.” 

“What are we having?” 

“Butter noodles,” Aaron says. “I dunno how to feed babies, this seems like it probably won’t poison them.” 

“We just have to cut theirs up, I think,” Damian nods. “Sounds good, though, thanks honey.” 

Aaron helps wrangle the twins into their seats and gives each of them a bowl of the noodles, which have been cut into a safe size for their little mouths. He and Damian grab their own portions and sit across the table from them almost like a dinner date. 

Layla gets hers in her hair within thirty seconds, grabbing fistfuls of the mushy noodles and shoveling them in her face. Leo sits politely and doesn’t touch it. 

“What’s the matter, Leo?” Aaron asks. “You don’t want dinner?” Leo looks down at her bowl. “You wanna try some?” 

Leo hesitantly grabs a handful, squishing it between her fingers a bit and tasting it. She squeaks happily at the taste, but frowns at the texture coating her hand. Aaron quickly grabs a napkin when she holds her hand as far away from her body as she can and whimpers, before they have another tear fest on their hands. 

Leo looks at him in relief as he wipes the offensive pasta off her hand and thanks him in sign language. 

“You’re welcome, Lolo,” Aaron chuckles. “Come here, I’ll feed you. Little princess.” 

Leo seems much happier with this arrangement, sitting next to her uncle and accepting bites of her noodles off one of her baby forks. 

“She just wants to be clean, don’t judge her,” Damian says. “She’s like Caddy.”

“She really is,” Aaron agrees. He looks across the table to Layla, who seems to have gotten more pasta on her face than in her mouth and is wearing her bowl as a hat. “And that one’s Janis.” 

“Great,” Damian sighs. “Layla.” The baby grins impishly at him. “Don’t play cute, little missy. You made a mess.” 

“We probably should’ve fed both of them, to be fair,” Aaron laughs. “Can’t really expect a baby to eat by herself without making a mess. Do you want more, Lala?” 

Layla nods and does her sign for more, so Damian gently removes her hat and goes to get her another portion. 

“As much as I love your accessorizing, try to eat it this time instead of wearing it,” he says as he sets it on her tray. Layla grins again and digs back in. 

“Might be bath time after this,” Aaron hums. 

“Definitely.” 

—-

Layla is so covered in pasta by the end of dinner that a bath is an absolute necessity. Damian carries them up the stairs into Cady and Janis’ en suite and starts drawing them a bath. 

Aaron watches fondly from the counter as his boyfriend expertly keeps both babies in the tub and occupied while he washes their hair and scrubs them clean. It’s oddly domestic, in a nice way. 

He knows then that he’ll definitely be using the ring he brought before they leave.

—-

After bath time, the twins are lotioned and their hair is brushed before they’re zipped into their pajamas for the evening. 

They have a little bit of time before bedtime, so Damian turns on a movie and leaves them to play. Leo refuses to be put down with her twin, however, so she just cuddles with Damian and Aaron while they watch together. 

About fifteen minutes before it’s time for bed, Damian’s phone rings. Upon checking it, he finds it to be an incoming FaceTime call from Janis. Of course. 

“Hey, Jan,” he greets as he picks up. Janis looks very sheepish as she lies next to her wife on their very nice hotel bed. 

“Hi.”

“Couldn’t stay away?” Damian teases. Janis flushes further and nods. 

“They’re my babies, I miss them,” she pouts. 

“What are you guys up to?” Cady asks, leaning closer into her wife so she can see too.

“We’re watching a movie,” Damian replies, turning his camera around for a second to show that they’re watching Tangled. Layla makes an appearance as she toddles her way across the room. “Well, Leo and Aaron and I are. Layla’s exploring.” 

“Aww,” Janis chuckles. “Can we see them?” 

“Sure. Oh, Leo, what’s the matter, honey?” Damian says. Leo has tears in her eyes and gives a precious sniffle as she points to the TV before reaching for a hug. Damian looks to see they’ve reached the scene where Rapunzel is taken from her parents. “Oh, is the movie sad?” Leo nods. “Poor thing. Come here, you wanna say hi to your moms?” 

“Poor baby bee,” Cady coos sadly. “Hi, sweetheart! I miss you!” 

Leo perks up when she sees Janis and Cady on the screen and gives a delighted wave. Her moms both wave back and smile as she starts babbling about her adventures with her uncles. 

Layla comes running over when she hears their voices, crashing into the couch and falling backwards before Aaron picks her up and pops her next to her sister.

“Hi, Lala!” Janis laughs. “How are you, Ladybug?” 

Layla joins in the storytelling, eventually grabbing Damian’s phone from his hands to see better. Her mommy and mama are stuck in the screen, how can she get them out? 

Janis and Cady both laugh as they see her slide off the couch and start toddling around, still investigating the phone and telling them about her evening. Damian suddenly appears in the background with a teary Leo in his arms. “Layla, come back, honey! Leo wants to see your moms too!” 

“Oh, baby girls,” Janis says sadly when she sees the tears in Layla’s eyes as well. “We’ll be back tomorrow, it’s okay! We miss you too.” 

Layla accidentally hits the end call button and her mommies disappear. She looks at the phone in shock before she bursts into tears, toddling back to her uncle to show him the problem. She’s crying so hard she’s barely making sound, breathless with her desperate little sobs. 

“Oh no, did you hang up on them?” Damian asks sadly, pulling her into a hug. “We can call them back, it’s okay! Oh, lord, I hope it’s bedtime soon. Come here.” 

Damian returns to the couch and rests both very upset little ones on his lap. He brings Janis’ contact back up and gives her another call. She answers right away, seeming to know what happened the first time. 

“Oh no, baby loves,” Cady says sadly. Both babies stop crying when they hear her voice, and Damian visibly relaxes a bit. “What happened, sweethearts?” 

“Layla stole you guys and set this one off,” Damian explains, resting a gentle hand on Leo’s head. “And then she hung up on you by accident and got sad.” 

“Aww,” Janis hums sadly. “Poor things. Uncle Damian has you, you’re okay! Mama and I will be back tomorrow!” 

“Mee,” Leo says with a wave. 

“Hi, baby,” Janis chuckles. “Are you having fun with your uncles?” Leo nods. “Good. I miss you.” 

Damian lets the babies keep talking to their mothers for a while, holding the phone firmly in his hands to prevent any more incidents. Gradually, the babies start to slump down in his lap and their eyes grow heavy, and he decides to try ending the call for the night to put them to bed. 

“Give kisses, it’s bedtime for you little monkeys now,” he says gently. Each twin gives his phone a kiss and a wave goodnight. He thinks it’s gone well until he says goodnight himself and hangs up. Both of them immediately burst into tears yet again, reaching desperately for his phone. “Oh, this was a mistake.” 

—————

“See? They’re fine,” Cady says gently, lightly trailing her fingernails up and down Janis’ arm.  “They miss us too, but they’re safe. Damian and Aaron even gave them a bath. They haven’t been out of their sight since we left.” 

Janis takes a deep breath and nods, before rolling onto her side to face her wife and leaning in close for a kiss. Cady returns it, and hums into surprise when Janis sinks into it and tangles a hand in her hair. 

“We,” Janis murmurs in between kisses. “Have this whole room. This whole night. To ourselves. Don’t suppose you packed anything fun in that bag?”

“You know I did,” Cady gasps, grabbing her wife and pulling her back down.

“Tits.”

“I have those too.”

—————

Later that night, Damian is woken by a tearful, “Dedededede?” 

He opens his eyes expecting to see Leo calling for him, but is surprised to see Layla standing in her crib, cast in shadow and reaching out to him. 

“What happened, Layla?” he whispers, carefully climbing out of bed and heading over to see what the problem is. She has her pacifier and stuffed animal, and her favorite blankie. But she still whimpers and cuddles into his shoulder when he picks her up. “Did you have a bad dream?” 

Layla sniffles and wraps her little arms around him, clinging to him for comfort. Damian holds her in return and gently pats her back. 

“Come here, it’s okay. You can sleep with me and Uncle Aaron,” he offers. Layla whimpers again when he bends over to grab her things, thinking she’s about to be put back in her crib, but he gently hushes her once and she goes quiet. After a quick check to make sure Leo is still asleep, he carries his niece over to the bed and crawls in. 

Aaron rolls over in his sleep and tries to cuddle into him. He huffs in confusion when something blocks his way and pops an eye open. 

“That’s not ours,” he mumbles. “Why is she in our bed?” 

“She had a bad dream,” Damian defends, holding Layla closer. “She needs comfort.” 

“She can’t talk, how do you know she had a bad dream?” Aaron chuckles. 

“I just know,” Damian huffs. “Look at her, I couldn’t just leave her in there.” 

Layla, conveniently, rolls over, allowing Aaron to see her adorable little face as she clings to her stuffed elephant. 

“Aww,” Aaron whispers. “She looks so upset.” 

“See?” 

“Fine, she can stay,” Aaron chuckles. “Goodnight, Layla.” 

Layla waves, as close as she’s willing to get to a goodnight in her state. Aaron gently taps her elephant to get her attention. 

“Hey,” he whispers. Layla looks at him with an absolutely precious pout. “You’re safe, little one. Your moms will be back tomorrow, and Uncle Damian and I will protect you until then. We’ll keep all the bad dreams away, okay?” 

Layla sniffs and looks at him suspiciously. Aaron tucks her in a little tighter with her blankie and turns on the flashlight on his phone. Layla looks at the ceiling as he points upwards, rolling onto her back. Aaron props himself up on an elbow and holds his other hand over the light. 

“Look, it’s a bunny!” he says, making the shadow puppet bunny bounce around. “Or… maybe a doggy? Woof, woof!” 

Layla giggles quietly as the shadow dog barks. Aaron makes up a little story for her, and drags Damian into it when he needs more characters. Layla gradually drifts off to dreamland, her little head filled with her favorite animals instead of scary dreams. Aaron turns his light back off and rests his phone on his nightstand. 

“Do you have any idea how bad I want a baby with you now?” Damian whispers. “That was sickeningly adorable.” 

“You want kids?” Aaron replies in the same tone, rolling over carefully so he doesn’t wake the little one snoozing between them. 

“Yeah,” Damian replies. “At least one. Do you?” 

“Yeah. Sometime down the line, anyway.” Aaron says. “Did you know I’m adopted?” 

“No,” Damian says in slight shock. Aaron nods. 

“My birth mom was a teenager when she had me, and my bio dad wasn’t in the picture by the time I was born. She wanted me to have a better life, and stuff. That she… couldn’t provide. I was in the foster system until I was two,” he says. 

“Were your other siblings adopted too?” 

“Some of them,” Aaron nods. Damian was rather shocked to learn that Aaron is the youngest of seven children, and made several jokes about him being part of the Von Trapp family. “Ava, Owen, Alana, and I.” 

“Wow,” Damian says. “I had no idea.” 

“I didn’t think to tell you. They’re just… my family, you know? I don’t remember anything different,” Aaron whispers. “But I’ve always wanted to… pass it on, I guess. Adopt another kid. I don’t remember most of it, but I saw what the foster system did to my siblings. If I can stop that for one other kid, or at least help, then it’s worth it to me.” 

“I’ve always wanted to adopt too,” Damian says. “And thanks for telling me, now.” Aaron nods. 

“We’ll talk about this more later?” he whispers. “It’s two in the morning.” 

Damian nods with a grin. “Definitely.”

“Goodnight, honey,” Aaron whispers, carefully leaning across Layla to kiss his boyfriend. 

“Goodnight, babe,” Damian replies, kissing him back before he cuddles into the baby and drifts off to sleep. 

—————-

Janis and Cady get home around lunch time the next day, and follow the sounds of chaos to their daughters. 

Damian is evidently wrapping up bath time after some sort of fun activity. Leo is standing off to the side wrapped in her ducky towel while he finishes washing Layla’s hair. 

Janis sees this as a perfect opportunity to scare the wits out of her best friend. 

She starts tiptoeing into the room, preparing to attack, but she’s thwarted by a tiny gasp and a sweet little, “Hi Mommy!” 

Damian, Cady, and Janis all scream in delight and look at Leo, who’s peeking at Janis from under her duck hood. Leo jumps, startled by the sudden noise, and bursts into tears. 

“Oh no, baby girl,” Janis chuckles sadly. Leo toddles her way over for some comfort and cries into her shoulder. Janis picks her up and bounces her a little bit. “You just talked! I’m sorry we scared you, come here.” 

“Hi, my little ducky,” Cady murmurs, gently stroking the tears from Leo’s cheeks and kissing her forehead. “I missed you so much! And you’re talking so well, my big girl!” 

“Mama,” Leo sniffles, reaching a small hand out for Cady. 

“Oh, come here, sweetheart,” Cady says, smiling widely at her baby actually calling her Mama for the very first time. “Let’s go get you dressed, hm?” 

Janis kisses Leo’s cheek as Cady heads to their room. Layla is now wrapped in her froggy towel and comes running over to her. “Hi, Lala! I missed you soooo much! Did you have fun with Uncle Damian and Uncle Aaron?” 

Layla nods, and giggles as her mommy kisses her cheek before carrying her off to get dressed. Leo waves at her again as Cady pulls her shirt over her little head. 

“Hi, sweet girl,” Janis chuckles, waving back. Leo smiles and slides down to go find Damian again. “Well, that lasted long.” 

Damian comes back a few moments later with Leo. He sits down on the bed and holds his niece in his lap. “Okay, you can talk now. Say ‘uncle’.”

“Unca,” Leo parrots. Damian nods. 

“Close enough. Now say, ‘Damian’.”

“Dedede,” Leo replies. 

“Man,” Damian sighs. “How about Uncle D? Say uncle again.”

“Unca ‘gain,” Leo tries. Damian laughs and kisses her forehead. 

“Good job. Now say ‘D’.”

“Dee!” Leo crows happily. 

“Uncle D,” Damian coaches. 

“Unca Dee,” the baby echoes. Damian beams and tosses her in the air. 

“Yeah, that works. Okay, your mommies missed you, go say hi. We’ll play some more in a little bit.” 

Leo heads back to her family and wraps herself around Cady’s leg, sitting on her foot. 

“Hi, baby,” Cady chuckles. “Whatcha doing?” 

“Mama,” Leo explains. Cady nods slightly.

“Do you want me to hold you?” Leo shakes her head and cuddles into Cady’s shin. “No? Just gonna sit on my foot?”

Leo nods.

“Okay,” Cady giggles. “Hold on tight.” 

Leo laughs happily as Cady walks around, clinging to her mama’s leg and enjoying the ride. Cady laughs too, catching her other baby as she’s trying to crawl away from Janis as fast as she can in an attempt to escape getting dressed. 

Layla fusses as she’s captured and forced into some clothes, but she giggles as Janis tickles her belly and sets her down. 

“Man, what?” Cady says as Layla plops down on her other foot and holds on. 

“Cute boots,” Janis chuckles. 

“Thanks,” Cady grins back, striking a pose. “Made them myself.” Janis laughs and tries to pry one off her wife’s leg. They both absolutely refuse to let go. “Alright, come on.”

The babies both laugh as Cady attempts to walk downstairs, having to take swinging steps since she can’t really lift her feet. The stairs are a challenge, and she stops frequently to ensure they’re holding on tightly so they don’t fall off.

Cady looks down at her new shoes when they hit the bottom of the staircase. “You girls wanna go down to the beach?” They both nod. “Okay. Jay, can you grab the sunscreen?” 

“Yeah,” Janis says, grabbing it out of their beach bag and managing to pry a baby off of her wife. Layla fusses as she gets her sunscreen lotion put on, but she calms down when she gets to latch back to Cady’s leg and Leo is pried off. 

Once both babies and themselves are thoroughly protected from the sun, Janis grabs a blanket and her phone and opens the door for her wife. 

Very, very slowly, Cady shuffles her way down to the beach, holding hands with her wife and giving the occasional smile down at her daughters. Eventually, they make it, and Janis lies the blanket down on the sand. She sits on top of it, and Cady carefully eases herself down next to her. The babies finally release her legs and sit down on the blanket with them. 

“Here we go,” Cady says. “Gimme loves, bugs, I missed you so much!” 

Her daughters both grin and crawl over to give her cuddles. Cady smiles back and kisses all over their faces. 

“You know who I love most in the whole wide world?” Cady whispers, giving them even more kisses. “You,” she says, kissing Layla’s cheek. “And you,” she says, kissing Leo’s cheek. “And you.” She says, kissing Janis soundly. 

“I love you too,” Janis whispers against her wife’s lips. “And these two.” 

“You,” Leo says softly.

“What, Bee?” Janis says with a smile. 

“You,” Leo repeats. 

“What about me?” 

Leo huffs in frustration, trying to figure out how to explain what she doesn’t have the words for yet. She settles for cuddling closer into Cady with a sigh. 

“You love us too?” Cady asks quietly. 

Leo nods eagerly. “Luff you.” 

Janis blinks back tears, and hears a sniffle from her wife as she wraps herself around her family. 

“We love you so much,” Janis whispers. “So, so much.” 

They stay like that for the rest of the day. Damian drops off dinner for them, but nobody else intrudes on their day. Janis and Cady cuddle on their blanket while their daughters run to get some energy out, and they walk up and down the shore of the lake as the sun sets over it, hand in hand with the babies toddling between them. 

It’s a moment Cady and Janis will both remember forever.

—————

Three days later is the Fourth of July. Aaron grilled everyone cheeseburgers for lunch, and they spend the afternoon playing games on the beach and building sand sculptures along the shore. 

The fireworks show is just after sunset over the water, so everyone heads to change into more patriotic (and dry) clothing before they get going. 

“Look at my beautiful girls,” Janis says when Cady comes downstairs with the twins. Once they hit the bottom, she sets them down to go get Janis. “These outfits turned out perfect!” 

Leo grins happily as she makes it to her mommy and gets picked up. Janis laughs at her hairdo, one little ponytail on top of her head that turned out, ironically, like a little firework. Layla’s hair matches, but her ponytail has a blue bow on it while Leo’s is red. 

The bows came with their outfits, red and white striped onesies paired with blue shorts that Janis had insisted they buy because of, “The stupid little butt ruffles Caddy look!” but the little ones do look adorable. In spite of the butt ruffles. 

“Are you ready to go? We’re gonna go back to the beach to watch the fireworks,” Janis asks her babies as she holds them both. They both nod and smile as she kisses their cheeks. 

Cady kisses her wife and the top of each little head and heads upstairs to get herself ready, so Janis opens the back door and starts the short walk down to their friends. 

Aaron managed to get a fire going with exceptionally minimal help from Damian and the Plastics. Leo shrieks happily when she sees the bag of marshmallows they have to make s’mores with and wiggles to be put down so she can dig in. Layla, for once, is the one content to hang out on her mommy’s lap as Janis sits down in one of the empty seats. 

Cady comes down and finds the adorable scene of her wife and one of her daughters cuddling by the fire, while Regina reaches the other one how to make a s’more. Leo looks very concerned as her precious marshmallow is impaled on a stick and held over a fire. 

“Mama!” she squeaks happily when she notices Cady, making Cady’s heart melt again. She’s still not over her child actually being able to speak. 

“Hi, Lishy,” Cady says. “What are you doing?” 

Leo doesn’t seem to know what she’s doing, either. She simply points to the marshmallow she’s helping her auntie cook with a thoughtful look on her face. 

“I think it’s ready,” Regina says, pulling it back to examine it and finding it to be perfectly golden brown. “Yep.”

Leo watches as her marshmallow is squished between some yummy graham crackers and chocolate, and then her s’more is held in front of her mouth for her to taste. Hesitantly, she leans in and chomps down. 

She has to chew carefully, since she only has a grand total of five teeth, but her eyes widen and she looks as if she’s just tasted ambrosia. Everyone laughs as she grabs the rest of the s’more in her little hands and scrambles to take another bite. 

“Oh, we’re gonna have to watch you around sugar when you get older, aren’t we?” Cady giggles, leaning in to kiss a sticky cheek. “One of those five must be a sweet tooth.” 

Leo doesn’t answer, too occupied with her new favorite food to care about anything else. Regina just lets her have it and dig in, trying to pretend she doesn’t care about the sticky crumbs landing on her lap. 

Everyone gets temporarily distracted, until they hear a squeaky, “Mo’e? Mo’e?” and look back at Leo.

“You are that whole s’more?” Regina asks in shock, looking at the baby’s sticky little face. She checks the ground to make sure she didn’t drop it. 

“Mo’e?” Leo asks again, doing her sign too. 

“How big is your stomach?! That thing was, like, half your size!” 

“P’ease?” Leo begs, getting increasingly desperate. 

“Let’s cook you a hot dog, if you’re still hungry after some of that you can have more s’mores,” Cady says. Leo whines. “I know, I’m so mean. Come here.” 

“Mama,” Leo pleads. “Mo’e.” 

“You need real food first, baby,” Cady says lowly. Leo whines again and gives an unhappy wiggle. “Shh, I know.” 

“You want me to handle it?” Janis asks as Leo releases a very loud shriek for her size. Cady tries to keep a hold of the little tantrum tornado she has, to no avail. 

“You want to?”

“Does anyone?” Janis chuckles. “Come on, Bee.” 

Cady takes Layla as Janis takes Leo a bit further down the beach to handle the tantrum. “Hi, Bug.” 

“Lololo?” Layla asks in concern, looking at her mommy carrying her sister away. 

“She’s okay, baby love,” Cady says. “She’s just sad.” 

“Look at this, Layla,” Damian says, offering her a distraction in the form of a sparkler. “Hold it down here. Mama will help you.”

Cady carefully rests her hands on top of her baby’s to help her hold the sparkler, and Damian lights it for her. Layla looks at it in awe and shrieks excitedly. 

“Look at that, Ladybug, what is it?” Cady hums. She waves it around, bringing Layla’s arms with her. “What do you think?” 

Layla shrieks again, making everyone laugh. She continues staring at it until it hits the end and fizzles out. 

“Great, so I have a sugar fiend and a pyro,” Cady sighs. “You both really are like your mommy.”

“Just wait for the real fireworks,” Gretchen laughs. “Pyro’s heaven.” 

“Maybe I’ll get lucky,” Cady hums. “And you two will have a little bit more impulse control.” 

“Hopefully,” Damian hums under his breath. They all watch the fire for a while, before he looks up again and says, “Speak of the devil.”

Janis returns with a calmed baby, remarkably quick for their daughters’ tantrum standards. 

“Somebody,” she begins. “Learned a new word.”

“Uh oh,” Cady says. 

“A good word,” Janis huffs. “Come on.” 

Leo sheepishly heads to her mama when Janis sets her down. “Mama?”

“Yes, Leo?” Cady murmurs. 

“Sowwy,” Leo says quietly. “Sowwy, Mama.” 

Cady grins at Janis and pulls Leo onto her lap next to Layla. “I forgive you, baby. Thank you for apologizing. Let’s get you your hot dog.” 

Leo sniffles and settles in and watches as Cady starts cooking a hot dog for her and her sister to share. 

—-

There’s still a bit of time between dinner (and part of another s’more, somehow, in Leo’s case) and the fireworks show, so Cady sets the babies down to run and get their sugar high off. 

“Oh shoot, I left their headphones upstairs,” she says. 

“I got ‘em,” Janis says immediately. 

“Love, no, you-“

“Baby, it’s not a long walk back. Two minutes,” Janis says. “Not a problem.” 

“I’ll miss you,” Cady says. Janis laughs and bends to kiss her. 

“I’ll miss you too. I’ll be right back.” 

Cady watches as her little ones happily run up and down the beach, feeling the sand between their tiny toes as they work out how to use those chubby little legs. 

“Haha, hi!” she cheers when Leo crashes into her legs. “You’re so fast!” 

“Hi!” Leo replies happily. ‘Hi’ has rapidly become Leo’s favorite word. Someone always says it back.

“Hi!” Cady echoes. “Are you having fun?” 

“Fun!” Leo confirms. Cady laughs. 

“Good,” she hums. “Are you excited for the fireworks?” 

Leo tries to copy her again, but her newly speaking mouth can’t quite handle that many tricky syllables. So she just nods. 

“Good, they’ll start soon,” Cady chuckles. “Okay, go play, I’m right here.” 

Leo happily speeds off again, heading back to her sister to play something akin to tag. Cady giggles quietly as she hears Leo babbling, “Hi! Hi! Hi!” on her way back. 

Janis returns just before the fireworks start, sitting down next to her wife and watching their little ones toddle around in circles. “At least they’re entertained.” 

“Yeah,” Cady hums happily. The babies notice Janis is back and come running, but they’re interrupted by a flash of blue and a deafening boom over their heads. 

Both babies freeze and look up at the sky, watching to see if it happens again. A red one goes off this time, making Leo scream in fright and run back to her mothers. Layla watches it interestedly until the last sparkle fades and she continues her journey. 

She apparently was expecting that to be the end of it, because she jumps when another one goes off and yells, “Fuck!” 

Janis tenses, her eyes going wide as she looks at her wife. Cady has a terrified baby in her arms and her lip between her teeth in an attempt to keep from laughing. 

“This is your fault,” she giggles, looking to her wife. “Go get her, she’s scared.” 

Janis nods, cheeks still a truly spectacular shade of scarlet, and goes to pick up her baby. “Ladybug, good talking, but don’t say that word.” 

“Fuck?” Layla asks. 

“Don’t say that,” Janis says. She feels bad scolding her baby for saying her first word, but… “That’s a grownup word.”

“Fuck!” Layla yells. 

“Hey!” Janis replies. “Oh, man, you need a new word. Um… how about Mama? Let’s go get Mama.” 

“Mama,” Layla says innocently, pointing to Cady. “Mama.” 

“Yeah, that’s Mama,” Janis sighs. “There she is.”

“Hi, baby love,” Cady laughs, gently shifting a still teary Leo over and taking her other daughter. “Are you talking too?” 

Layla nods. “Mama.” 

“Yeah, that’s me,” Cady grins softly, kissing Layla’s little button nose. “Come here, let’s try these.” 

Cady takes the headphones Janis brought down with her and sizes them as small as they go before popping them on the twins. Leo pokes her face out from Cady’s shoulder when the scary loud noises stop. Layla giggles and holds on to the still too big headphones so they don’t fall off. 

Janis lays their blanket out over the sand, and smiles as her wife shifts to lay her head in her lap. Cady cradles a baby in each arm and smiles back at her wife. 

Janis spends more time looking at her family than the fireworks, watching the bright colors reflected in her babies’ eyes as they watch in awe and reminiscing about how far they’ve come in just a year. 

Last Fourth of July, the twins had only been out of the NICU for two weeks, and Cady was still deeply in the throes of postpartum depression. 

The fireworks had kept their newborns awake, and Cady had nearly snapped under the pressure. Janis barely managed to hold her together and convince her to take care of herself before they had a sleepover with the babies in their basement so the fireworks were muffled and everyone could finally rest. 

But now, a year later and with the help of counseling, Cady seems happier than ever, expertly comforting a frightened Leo and pointing to the fireworks as they go off and explaining the science behind all the different colors. 

Janis brushes the wispy hairs away from Cady’s forehead with a fond smile. Layla points to the sky with a, “Woooow!” and makes both of her moms laugh. 

“I know, look at that!” Cady says, matching their daughters’ excitement. She notices Janis staring at her then. “What?” 

“Nothing,” Janis murmurs. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Cady grins. “But you’re gonna miss them.” 

“Fine by me,” Janis chuckles. “I got three little firecrackers of my own.” 

“You’re such a dork,” Cady giggles. 

Janis does look up in time for the finale, but still knows it has nothing on the faces of her family. She has all the excitement and beauty she could ever want right in her lap. 

It’s far past the twins’ bedtime by the time the fireworks display ends, so Cady gently leaves them to snooze on the blanket under the watchful eyes of the Plastics while she takes a walk on the shore with her wife. 

Janis is confused when she suddenly drags her backwards a bit, leaps onto her back so she can’t move, and claps a hand over her mouth. 

“Caddy-mmph!” 

“Shh, don’t ruin it,” Cady says. Janis makes a confused sound against her hand. Cady points a bit further ahead, and Janis is suddenly grateful for the hand over her mouth. 

Aaron is on one knee, proposing to her best friend, illuminated by the moonlight and a pathetic little sparkler Damian has. They can’t make out the words being shared, which they don’t mind. It’s a private moment. 

What they can hear is Damian screaming,  “Yes!” loud enough to be heard on the other side of the lake and Aaron’s laughter as Damian takes the ring out of the box himself and shoves it onto his own finger. 

“Lovey, are you crying?” Cady giggles quietly. 

“No,” Janis sniffles. “I have sand in my eye,” 

“Uhhuh,” Cady hums. 

“…My best friend is engaged!” Janis sobs suddenly. 

“That’s what I thought,” Cady says. “Shh, love, they’ll hear us. Don’t ruin the moment for him. Let’s go get the smalls to bed, let him tell you on his own.” 

“Okay,” Janis snuffles. “Aaron better have picked a good ring.”

“I’m sure he did,” Cady comforts. “They treat each other well, he knows what he’s doing. Now come on.”

Janis continues sniveling as she carefully scoops up Leo, having to try to contain herself so she doesn’t wake her daughter. Cady grabs Layla and starts heading back inside. The Plastics gather everyone’s things and extinguish the fire before they follow them. 

Janis ever so carefully gets the twins changed into their pajamas and undoes their ponytails before she rests them in their cribs and bends to kiss them goodnight. 

“Jan!” Damian says, somehow whispering and shouting at the same time as he slams the door open. “Sorry! But. Jan!” 

“What?” Janis whispers, pretending like she doesn’t already know. Damian motions for her and Cady to follow him out to the hallway. They both do with matching, knowing, grins. 

“Aaron proposed!” Damian squeals as soon as the door clicks shut behind them, brandishing a hand to show off his ring. His friends both tackle him in a hug, knocking him into the far wall and then to the ground. “Janjan, why are you crying?”

“I just have a lot of feelings,” Janis snuffles into his shoulder. “Shut up.” 

“Congratulations, Dame,” Cady says. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks, Cads,” Damian grins. Cady kisses them both on the cheek. 

“I’ll give you guys some time to talk,” she whispers. “Come to bed when you’re ready, my love.”

Janis nods and continues clinging to her best friend. They’re a trio, they have been since high school and always will be. But she and Damian will always have a special bond, and Cady has never tried or even wanted to intrude on that. 

“I love you,” Janis sobs. 

“I love you too, Jan,” Damian murmurs. 

“Thank you.”

“For what?” 

“Everything,” Janis whispers. “Everything you’ve ever done for me. I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t have the family I do without you. I wouldn’t… be here, without you. Thank you. I’m so happy for you. You deserve Aaron.” 

“Thanks, Jan,” Damian sniffles. They’re quiet for a moment, listening to the ticking of the clock on the wall and the occasional sniffle the other lets out. “You don’t have to be scared.” 

“I’m not!” Janis says, immediately defensive. Damian chuckles beneath her, and she crumbles. “How’d you know?”

“I know you,” Damian whispers. “It’s just like you and Caddy. No matter who comes into my life. Whatever family I have someday. I love them, but my heart always has room for you too.” 

“Platonic soulmates,” Janis whispers back. Damian nods against her shoulder. “Does this mean no more sleepovers?” 

“I mean, maybe not tonight,” Damian laughs. 

“Tomorrow?” 

“Sure, Jan.” 

Janis gives herself a reasonable amount of time to calm down before she pulls back and wipes her eyes. Damian grins at her and ruffles her already messy hair. 

“I love you,” he says. 

“I love you too. Go get your fiancé.” 

“Go get your girls,” Damian grins, standing and reaching a hand to help Janis. “Goodnight, Jan.”

“‘Night, Dame,” Janis grins, heading into her room and shutting the door behind her. 

Janis is deep in thought as she checks on her daughters and crawls into bed next to her wife. Her definition of family has changed as she’s grown up.

But now she knows she has two. The one in this room, and the one in the other rooms. Biological and found. 

And as she drifts off to sleep in her wife’s embrace, she knows. 

Both her families are perfect for her. 

And they always will be.

————

tadaaaa hope you enjoyed 

kinda got away from me but anyhoo

happy pride month and have a great day my muppets!

lots of love,