The Academy In My Head

The Lil Mama Bear

"He doesn't like us much, does he, Mama?"

Erica looked down at her 7 year old daughter and smiled. "He just doesn't know how to trust us yet, sweets." She smoothed a hand down over Jessica's head and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

Jessica's eyes were dark with emotion as she looked up at Erica. "But Luke's his brother. And he doesn't seem to like him either. Luke's upset..." She scowled.

Erica rubbed her hand down Jessica's back gently. "How do you know?" She asked, a bit startled that she hadn't picked up on any mood changes in Luke today. He was usually always such a happy go lucky kid. And typically quiet, compared to Gabriel.

"He didn't take the candy I offered him and he doesn't want to climb the trees with me, Mama."

"Well that is definitely not like him." Erica agreed. "Let's try chocolate chip cookies with dinner. Maybe he'll want to help us with those."

"Okay, Mama. He likes to bake cookies." Jessica nodded and considered the space between Erica and the table before climbing up into her lap. "Can we invite Owen and Sean to dinner?"

"Sure baby." Erica wrapped her arms around her baby girl and hugged her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"Good. I like them."

"Me too, baby girl." Erica couldn't help but agree. Kota's friendship with the two older boys had started some changes in her older child. She was appreciative for the help and support they gave her as well. She'd even been using Owen as a babysitter when she needed someone to stay with Jessica. He was surprisingly good with her.

She'd been a bit worried when Kota had explained that there was a 13 year old boy that he was calling Mr. Blackbourne and he wanted to be able to invite him over every so often because he and the others were going to be part of his family.

And then she'd met Owen and Sean and realized that they were in charge, so to speak, but had no problem respecting her wishes when it came to permission and what the boys were going to be doing at 10 under the control of a couple 13 year olds. Also, they needed hugs and Erica was always trying her best to be an advocate for her small group of charges. Somehow along the way, she'd ended up the only constant mother figure in their lives and she was not about to give up without a fight for her boys. So she added a couple older cubs to her family and along the way they'd picked up a couple more as well.

She just hoped that Jessica would make good friends, too. But for now, the boys did still play with her and Jessica seemed fine with that. It helped that the two older boys appeared completely fascinated at the idea of a little sister.

Heaven help her daughter when she ever decided to date. Erica suspected that the poor kid would be subject to the scrutiny of 9 older brothers instead of just one. She often caught an authoritative wave of power radiating from Owen. It was quite impressive to watch him when he felt totally empowered to take charge.

"We need to discuss this year's Holiday plans anyway." She said to Jessica. "It's mid-November already and we haven't talked about what the boys want to do yet."

"I wanna wear pj's all day." Jessica declared, giggling when her mom tickled her.

"Me too. I think that sounds like a great idea." Erica said. "Do you want to go see if Luke wants to come help make the cookie dough? It's okay if he doesn't want to, just come back and help me, okay?" She tilted Jessica's face up to look at her with two fingers under her chin.

"Okay mama." Jessica nodded. "You call Owen and Sean, okay?"

Erica smiled. "Yes, snuggle bug. I'll call the boys." She eskimo kissed her daughter, rubbing her nose against hers before she helped her off of her lap so she could go ask Luke about cookies. Jessica scampered into the living room with the boys and Erica stood up, stretching for a moment before she grabbed the phone to dial Owen's number.

(Fade...)