𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞//𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐮𝐩𝐬

With Love Comes Hostility

Alex awoke before the sun did; he did his mile-long run and hopped into the shower; by then, the sun was close to rising. When he got out, he went into the kitchen, grabbing an apple from the fridge. When his father came in, Becky was on his hip with the shoebox, the bird occupied clutched tightly in the small girl's grasp.

"Get Talia up, we're going to raise the flag," he instructs. Alex nods, and Becky smiles.

"And we're gonna let the bird go too, now that he's better," The child exclaims, Alex smiles warmly at his little sister.

"Okay, we'll be out there in a bit," he kisses his sister's forehead and tosses his apple core into the trash as he makes his way to the bedroom he shared with Talia and Owen, who was never really there anyway.

His eyes fall on Talia, who is curled up in the sheets; he quietly walks to her and shakes her shoulder gently. "Lia," he whispers as she groans.

"Sleep," she tells him as she flips around to face him, holding her arms out like she wants to cuddle, her eyes still closed. Alex chuckles and slowly gets into the bed, causing her to sigh happily and nuzzle close to him. "My personal heating pad," she yawns into his chest.

"We've gotta get up soon; we're raising the flag," Alex hums as he lays Talia on her back, cleaving open-mouth kisses down her neck.

Talia hums, her eyes still closed. "It can always be done later—" she's cut off with a soft moan when Alex nips at the spot behind her ear.

Alex grins as his hands roam her body finding her plump thighs. He wraps them around his waist and leans back on his heels causing Talia to fall on his lap. "Got you up," he grins.

"You cheated," she grumbles laying her head on his shoulder.

Alex hums. "I won," Talia pulls away with a playful scoff.

"Cocky much?" She questions getting off his lap to get a pair of shorts.

"Cocky's a strong word for it," he hums as Talia slips a pair of baby blue cotton shorts on.

The two made their way outside where everyone but Robbie's daughters, Marcus and Owen, were.

"Where are the others?" Talia questions looking for her father and best friend.

"The girls don't wanna get up, and we can't find Marcus or Owen," Roxanne shrugs; Lenny and Eric give each other a small smirk as Marcus is mentioned.

Lenny grabs the rope and starts raising the flag. "Happy Fourth of July, everyone," Eric exclaims as everyone claps and cheers.

"It's the birdy's Independence Day, too, so keep your fingers crossed, honey," Lenny picks his youngest up, and Becky holds her hands out; the bird flies from her hands, happy to be back outside, free as everyone cheers.

"She did it, Daddy," Becky smiles as everyone starts voicing their goodbyes to the small creature.

——

Gloria, Amber, and Owen— who was glued to Amber's side, are cutting fruit for the fireworks later tonight while Sally and Roxanne are sewing costumes. Talia sat and hand-sewed some cloth together while Alex watched her in the chair beside her.

The dark-haired mother bangs on the sewing machine and starts speaking quick Spanish. "That's so sexy. What did you say?" Sally questions.

"Oh, I think that she said:" —Deanne speaks gibberish, trying to imitate Spanish —"–Milan," she finishes causing everyone to laugh.

"She said nothing nice," Alex chuckles, causing Talia to look up at him with a grin; she opens her mouth, but Alex beats her to it. "Yes, I'm fluent in Spanish," he answers her unanswered question, causing Talia's grin to widen as she looks back down at her work.