THE OLDEST ZIEGLER | dance moms

- malia has a secret -

before the zieglers headed to dance that afternoon, diego, andrés, and alejandro had stopped by. since the three girls dont get to see diego, andre's and alejandro that often since dance had gotten hectic, all three were spread out around the room with the boys

kenzie had been waiting all week for this moment. after getting her very first crown last weekend, she begged diego to come over and install a floating shelf on her bedroom wall, just like malia and maddie had.

"diego, come onnnn!" kenzie whined as she dragged diego down the hallway.

"i'm coming, i'm coming," diego laughed, carrying his toolbox into her pink-and-purple room. "show me the spot."

kenzie pointed proudly. "right there! above my dresser. so everyone sees it first thing."

diego nodded and got to work measuring the space while the rest of the kids settled around the room.

maddie,was sat cross-legged on the carpet with her math worksheet spread out. she pushed her hair behind her ear as she worked through the problems.

alejandro leaned over her shoulder. "you're doing it right," he said, pointing. "just don't forget to divide at the end."

"i always forget to divide," maddie groaned.

"that's why i'm here," he teased.

malia sat beside them working through her english packet. she nudged maddie with her elbow. "you'll get it. you're smarter than me at math anyway."

maddie gave a shy little smile. "thanks."

over on the rug, andrés sat with a coloring book open in front of him. kenzie immediately plopped beside him when she got tired of hovering over diego.

"you're not staying in the lines," kenzie observed, watching him color a rainbow dragon.

"the lines are just suggestions," andrés replied without looking up.

kenzie's jaw dropped. "no they're not!"

"art is freedom," he said dramatically.

malia snorted. "he's right, actually."

kenzie whipped her head around. "malia! you're supposed to be on my side!"

"sorry," malia grinned. "i appreciate creativity."

diego drilled the first bracket into the wall as everyone paused to look.

"careful," maddie whispered, even though diego definitely knew what he was doing.

"i am being careful," diego laughed. "trust me, this thing isn't falling."

once the shelf was secured, diego stepped back. "okay, corto. it's ready."

kenzie grabbed her crown delicately with both hands — treating it like it was made of diamonds — and placed it perfectly in the center of the shelf.

everyone watched quietly for a moment.

"it looks so cute," malia said softly.

"it looks official," maddie added proudly.

andrés held up his finished drawing. "kenzie, my dragon is also ready for display."

she squinted. "he's... colorful."

"that means you like it," he smirked.

kenzie beamed at her new crown display. "this is the best day ever."

~~

a few hours later at the studio, malia was an hour into her private rehearsal where riley had her run the number they worked on two weeks ago along with an old solo from last season.