You're Mine

chapter 135

"Oh wow, these burritos are amazing, Dad!", Logan praised his father when the family was having dinner. "Even Luna likes them.", he noticed, surprised. The twins were eating some off the stuffing and munching on the wraps instead of eating the burritos normally since they couldn't yet.

"What can I say? I am an outstanding cook.", Owen joked softly, checking on Lucas next to him to make sure he wasn't putting too much food in his mouth. "How do my girls like it?", he addressed Layla and Leo.

"It's good.", the toddler answered, giving him a thumbs up. She was only having half a burrito, because a whole one would have been too much for her. Her sister just shrugged and continued eating in disinterest.

"Hey, what's wrong, Honey?", Amelia wondered softly and stroked her daughter's shoulder. "Did you not have a good first day?", she wondered. She hadn't been able to ask earlier since she had arrived only when it had already been time for dinner.

"It was okay.", Layla replied and shrugged. She saw how her mother threw her father a worried glance. "It's whatever.", she added. "Can I be excused?", she wanted to know, causing her dad to sigh as he nodded and watched her walk upstairs.

"What happened?", Logan joined his sister in her room. She was holding a book and staring at it absentmindedly, sitting on her bed. "Was somebody mean to you or something?", he asked and sat down next to her.

"I...nothing happened.", the little brunette tried to lie, but her brother was relentless. "I didn't find any friends.", she mumbled, feeling sad and ashamed. "I was alone all day.", she began to sniffle.

"Oh Layls...", the thirteen-year-old sympathized with his little sister. "Did you ask the other kids if you could join them?", he softly wondered, wrapping his arms around her in the process and feeling her shake her head. "Were you shy?"

"I know nobody thinks I can be.", the seven-year-old sobbed. "But I am not always crazy and loud.", she shared as she cried into her big brother. "And I just wanna have friends here too. Like I had in Seattle. I have feelings."

"Sweetheart, nobody believes you don't.", her mother, who had eavesdropped, finally joined the conversation. "Alright? Nobody thinks you don't have feelings and cannot be shy. So many people are going to want to be friends with you, once you open up to them, I promise."

"I really hope so.", Layla sighed, letting her mom embrace her tightly, so she calmed down during the next ten minutes. Suddenly, the doorbell rang, which was confusing considering nobody had announced themselves.

Meanwhile, Owen had brought the twins to bed since they had seen so many new things today that both babies had been extremely tired and fell asleep super fast. Leo was allowed to play a little more in her room until it was time for her to be brought to bed as well.

"Layla, there's someone at the door for you, Munchkin.", the redhead said, after walking up the stairs and glancing into his daughter's room. His wife, who looked really surprised, got up too and came downstairs with them.

"Hello, I'm Daisy Marin, very sorry to disturb you so late. This is my daughter Sadie, who has been sick the past three days. Earlier, we called Mrs. Creel and asked for today's homework, so she told us about Layla, who is now attending Sadie's class and said, you would live here, three houses away from us.", the woman explained softly.

"Oh, what a nice surprise.", the trauma surgeon offered the stranger a smile and told his child to get her school supplies to show her classmate the homework they had gotten today. "Glad you're feeling better now, Sadie.", he said.

"Are you coming back to school tomorrow?", Layla asked, the hope evident in her voice. "Maybe we can meet up in front of it?", she suggested, scared of the answer. She didn't know Sadie yet, what if she was one of the popular kids that were usually very mean?

"Sure thing.", the little same-aged redhead nodded. "Maybe our parents can switch numbers? And I also play volleyball here every Tuesday...on the beach, you could come there with me next week, if you want."

"I played yesterday, so I would love to. Is it in the afternoon?", the seven-year-old wondered, causing her counterpart to nod again. "Great, see you tomorrow then.", she beamed, happy to have found someone she could spend her time at school with. The adults said their goodbyes as well after giving each other their phone numbers. "I feel better now.", Layla announced sweetly.

"I am very glad, Honey.", her mother's face lit up. "Alrighty, go get ready for bed and maybe you can read some more. I'll bring your sister to bed.", she shared. "Babe, can you walk El? She was in the garden for a while now, but she might wanna see something outside of the yard too."

"Of course, Love.", Owen winked at her. "Ask Leo what she thought about the pre-school, so we can talk about it later.", he reminded his wife and gently pecked her lips, before he said good night to the three kids that were still awake.

"Angel, is this the book you want us to start reading?", Amelia questioned her toddler softly, causing her to nod. "Sounds good to me. But first, did you like the pre-school we were at today? Do you think you would feel happy and comfortable there, or not so much?"

"It looked fun.", the four-year-old answered. "But don't you think I am too small to leave yours and daddy's side, Mama?", she cutely wanted to know. Maybe they had kept her home for too many times and for too long.

"Oh Honey, if it was up to me? You would be with me all your life. But honestly, that's just unfair to you, because elsewhere, like in pre-school for example, you can make so many new experiences that I could never provide you with. Your family shouldn't be the only instance influencing you.", the neurosurgeon replied.

"Well, then I wanna go there. But only if you pick me up each and every day.", Leo decided. "Pinky promise!", she demanded and received what she had asked for. "Okay, now the story, please.", she smiled.