I slid my wallet and a granola bar for Gregory into my handbag before looking underneath the futon and pulling Mikey's bed out, the sausage-esque canine jolting awake as I revealed his location. While Little Greg was bouncing and full of energy Mikey wasn't, so the lazy dog had decided to hide from the kid whenever he turned his back.
"Come on, Little Greg," I said excitedly, "TT is taking you out to grab breakfast before we meet up with the whole family."
"The whole family?"
I smiled and nodded, earning an excited squeal from the boy. "Yep. Even Auntie Jaz."
It'd been four days since the guys had left and come back but Yoongi and Jin hadn't come with. I'd kept in contact with Jungkook and Jimin mostly but Yoongi hadn't tried to contact me nor had he accepted or responded to any of my video and phone calls or texts.
I tried to think of a reason why he wouldn't call me back or at least send me a text letting me know something but I couldn't think of a single one that made sense.
Namjoon still wasn't talking to Yoongi nor was he willing to reconcile with him, so Taehyung had told me Yoongi had stayed behind because he needed some R&R and time away from the town after the situation with his brothers. But it took for Jungkook and HoSeok to repeat the same thing in their own words for me to believe it.
As for myself, I was currently on my way to the second meeting with Adam and things were looking up in that department. Old hopes and dreams were being rehashed and I was building a portfolio of more recent shoots for close to nothing. Not to mention he fact that Adam's schedule was flexible enough to accommodate my own.
Today, since my brother was still in town, and with Adam's eager response in the affirmative, I'd decided to call up my family and get a family photo shoot going, and I'd even pay for everyone to get as many copies as they saw fit printed. The whole gang was gonna show up: Magenta, Clementine, Blu, Cherry, the twins, Baby Olive, Gregory and even all of our parents and grandparents were gonna show.
Or so they claimed.
******
"What the hell is she doin' here?" My aunt Rachel, Clementine's mom, growled, eyeing Catherine with obvious disdain as she walked in hand-in-hand with Greg.
I walked up awkwardly and hugged my brother, waiting for shit to really hit the fan.
"Didn't we tell you?" I asked lightly, trying to laugh and smiling so hard I felt my face would remain creased afterwards. "Catherine is gonna be in the pictures."
She gave me her signature "oh really" look.
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"Peri, you know damn well she isn't welcome here."
Greg sighed, stepping forward. "Aunt Rachel-"
"Don't 'Aunt Rachel' me, she's a harlot. A homewrecker." The severity in her tine implied that she was cutting her speech short this time, which meant she intended to leave.
Fuck. I should've prepared better for this. "I don't want her ho rubbing off on the rest of the women in my family but it seems the only girls I can save are my own." Rachel turned to Clementine and Charlotte. "Let's go."
"We're here!"
FUCK YES. THAT TIMING.
The moment Gregory's ex Tanya appeared around the corner I pounced on her, wrapping my arms around her shoulders and rocking her from side to side. "ThankyousomuchforcomingohmygodIloveyousomuch!"
She awkwardly patted my back, a mixture of amusement and confusion clear on her face. "You're thanking me for being late?"
"I mean, you could've come sooner but this works."
"Tanya!" Rachel exclaimed excitedly, walking over with her arms wide. She hugged Tanya, air kissing her cheeks before pulling back to take in her appearance. "You look stunning- very classy, but subtle."
The way she glared towards Catherine was my queue to get the proverbial ball rolling.
I reached out to hug my niece, her pigtails tickling my chin. "Julietta! It's been so long, how old are you now? 15?"
"No..." She smiled bashfully, picking at the stuffed bunny my father had bought her when she was just a baby. "Four."
"Really," I gave her a knowing look. "Well, I heard somebody's birthday is coming up."
Her face brightened up. "Mine!"
"Is that my baby girl I hear?"
I turned to the entryway, where my father emerged carrying Little Greg.
Julietta's smile spread even more as she ran towards her grandfather and I turned to Tanya. "I'm really glad you guys came."
"I bet," she muttered teasingly, "I could hear Rachel's mouth all the way outside."
"Have you talked to my brother about moving?"
She shrugged and shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. "He keeps sugar coating and flipping my words around on me. I should've known-"
She paused with a sigh and I rubbed hr back. "No worries. Everything will pan out. You're Tanya Ferguson, Queen Bee of Stagg Co. You got this."
"Let's hope so. For our sake, and the kids'."
******
The photo shoot was surprisingly chill- my mother and Jazmine and their households showed up, finally, hardly as much fighting took place as I expected, and my grandmother didn't make Adam feel uncomfortable.
Only problem was the huge group text I received from the guys.
