Forward

Thanks.

Going home for the holidays took a lot of mental preparation. In the past, Olivia would be riddled with anxiety the entire week leading up to her departure. The holidays this time around were a time for healing and that made her more anxious because she knew that meant facing her parents. The distance in their relationship had widened over the years. It was time to have that difficult conversation so both sides could heal from whatever animosity had been there since Olivia left LA.

"You should invite your family over," Olivia suggested a couple of days before they were supposed to go back home. "Maybe we can make it a potluck."

Her reasons for this were obvious. Olivia didn't want to be alone in the Baker's household. Having Spencer there was her safety net when it was time to talk. But he couldn't do that. This was something that she'd have to do alone.

Spencer shook his head, "No. We'll stick to the plan. Dinner with our families then everyone will meet at my mom's house to watch Chris's game."

"Okay."

Pausing his game, Spencer continued, "You said therapy has been helping, right? Time to put all the things you learned there into action. Trust me, you're strong enough to talk to them. Just like you talked to me or how you talked to Jordan."

Olivia buried her face in her hands and let out a frustrated sigh, "I hate when you're right," she laughed softly. "I don't know why I'm this nervous to talk to my mom and dad or why I'm just now doing it in the first place."

"Everyone needed time to heal. At least you're doing it now. That's all that matters," Spencer added, going back to his game. "You want to play me before I leave?"

Olivia perked up and grabbed the second controller, "So I can kick your ass again? Sure!"

"Please don't mention that while we're in LA. Your brother won't let me hear the end of it. Plus, I let you win that time," the player joked, covering Olivia's eyes as she selected the team she wanted to play with. "Ew, the Bengals. Really, Liv?"

"Pick up your controller so I can whoop on you," Olivia planted her feet on the ground and got set in her playing position.

At least they  both could enjoy the calm before the storm.
—————
LOS ANGELES

Spencer landed in Los Angeles at 6pm on Wednesday night. He would only be in town until early Friday morning then he had to fly back home to prep for his game that Sunday. Olivia had already arrived a bit earlier and was helping Patience with last minute shopping for Grace. The Crenshaw crew would be spending Thanksgiving watching Chris play with the Cowboys. So Grace was cooking extra food to feed her surrogate babies that would be crowded into the living room. Thankfully once she and Dillon moved into De'Angelo's house, they had more room.

"Why do you keep staring at me like that," Spencer asked his mother who kept looking up at him as they both worked on food prep.

"I can't be happy to have my baby at home," Grace grinned, letting the water run over the greens. "Can you make sure these are clean while I season the yams?" Grace continued watching Spencer. He moved differently and seem genuinely happy but as his mother she could still see the slight hesitation behind that happiness. "You know it's okay to be happy, right?"

"What are you talking about, ma," Spencer questioned, the random statement causing confusion.

"You're always waiting for the other shoe to drop, baby. Just let yourself live in the moment for once," Grace continued, offering a warm grin.