Adopted by Billie Eilish

24

I wake up with my head on the pillow on the far end of the couch. Billie's no longer sitting with me. The lights are turned off, as well as the TV. I smell smoke coming from the kitchen and hear Billie coughing. 

"Whyyyyy?" I hear her groan. "I just want to make a good dinner for the two of us!"

I stand up sleepily and walk over to the kitchen. "I can cook dinner if you want me to." I look at the charred mass in a rectangular baking pan that had just slid out of the oven (A/N: Not sure if they're made in the oven, but just so with it for the sake of the story lmao). "What the heck were you trying to make?"

"Burritos," Billie huffs. "I'm not that good of a cook. Have you made burritos before?"

"Once. It was for my dad's friend's birthday party; he had some fiesta with a pinata and everything. Of course, I didn't get to attend. I stayed home and cleaned the entire house. Every square inch. So instead of smashing in a paper mache llama's face, I got my face smashed in instead."

"Oh, geez. I'm sorry to hear about that, Brooke!" she tells me, wrapping her arms around me. "How good were the burritos though?"

I frown. "Hold on! I went to tell the story of when I made burritos and then got punished, and you steer off course and ask me how they were?"

"Well, I can't cook, so," she laughs. "We can just go to Taco Bell or something if you want to. Do a little bit of bonding time while we eat lunch."

"That sounds good. Thanks!" I freeze. "Um, what do I call you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, should I call you 'Mom' yet?"

She puts a hand on my shoulder. "I'm not going to force you to call me 'Mom' if you don't feel comfortable with it yet. You can get to know me and then when you feel like the time is right, then you can call me 'Mom.' Okay?"

"I already do know you, though," I mutter, not intending for her to hear it. I hear her snort. "I did not mean to say that out loud! I'm so sorry!" I say.

"Nah, it's fine. You're better than some stranger not knowing who I am. That would be really awkward. But you know me, so we can get to know you instead."

"Sounds good to me," I say. "It feels really awkward saying your name though."

"Why's that?"

"Well, I'm only twelve. You're an adult. It's considered rude to call an adult by their name."

Well, I did it in my dream, so I guess it doesn't matter . . . .

"I'm okay if you do that," she tells me. "You won't get in any trouble for it. Just until you're comfortable with it. But the minute you decide to call my Mom, do not call me my name anymore. Okay?"

I nod. "Okay. Let's go."

We get in the Dragon and begin the drive to Taco Bell.

Okay, here's the surprise.