[Samuel x Roman]

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"And We'll be with you, even if we're not under the same roof," Evan added, just a small thing because he couldn't agree with his wife's statement more. Allison seemed to appreciate her parent's words and nodded into her mother's hug.

"I love you," She murmured, then let go of London to hug her dad. Evan never wanted the hug to be over, he just wanted to hold his little girl and feel like they had forever like when she was a little baby, but she was growing up and he had to let go. And so he did.

"We love you too, more than anything," he said, standing with his hands on Allison's shoulders. Allison was quiet for a moment before pulling both her parents in for a group hug. And so they continued to take a tearful goodbye until they finally got to the final words and final hugs, not for life obviously, they'd come to check on her in a day or two, but for now.

When they left and heard the door shut behind them Evan pulled London into a hug. It would be so weird without Allison around, but this was a part of life and he was so incredibly proud of her, and so happy he and London had managed to raise her into the amazing person she was, even if they had had all odds against them.
 
h a r p e r
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Harper wasn't sure what to expect out of today or how to feel about it. Today they were just going to be spending some time with their Papa's brothers and sisters, getting to know them and things like that. It should have been a good and positive thing. But Harper couldn't help but feel nervous about it.

He still wasn't even used to the idea of having aunts and uncles from Papa's side, much less aunts and uncles who were his own age. It was just so strange. Harper couldn't forget the tension he had experienced last time they had been there, either, but Manuel and Mónica weren't going to be there so maybe things would go down better.

"Papa, when are they coming?"
 
s t e l l a​

Stella, to say the least, felt really sceptic about today. Her Papa's brothers and sister were coming over. To anyone who didn't know the situation that wasn't a big deal, but they didn't know that her Papa's dad was an awful person. That didn't mean her aunt and uncles were awful, she knew that, but she was scared that they'd have similar opinions about things as their parents and that would make things weird because she would want to argue but that might make someone sad.

They were all gathered I the kitchen, waiting for Manuel, who Stella never ever would call her grandfather, not that she was asked to, to drop off the kids, apparently any minute now, according to Papa's answer to Harper. And it was confirmed by the doorbell. Daddy and Papa went to go open, urging the kids to stay put. Stella could easily make out Sebastian's chipper voice as well as the adults talking more quietly. It took a while but soon enough Daddy and Papa were back in the kitchen, the three other children joining them.

"Oh my god it's so fun to see you guys again, it feels like it has been ages," He said, happily, Julia just nodded along a little. Stella wondered if she was shy or if her parents told her not to make friends with them because was what it had fel like at dinner, ages ago. Because it didn't just feel like ages, it had been ages. Papa had spent some time with Sebastian just the two of them that summer, nothing big, just hanging out for a day, but it was clear that this was a tricky situation. Hene, why it had taken a long time to meet again.
 
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Harper didn't know how he was supposed to feel about his uncles and his aunt but that didn't mean he was going to be mean to them. He smiled when they entered and it was a genuine one, too, because despite his nerves he was truly happy to be meeting them again.

Because they were family. Maybe not biologically and maybe not even by bond, but they were his Papa's family, and to an extent he felt he needed to try and build something with them. But not because of those connections, because he wanted too.

"It's good to see you, too," Harper said, nodding his head in greeting to the newcomers. "Hi, Tomas."

"Hi."

"Do you guys want any drinks or anything?"
 
s a m u e l​

"Yeah, sure!" Sebastian said and went to sit down by the kitchen table as if he owned the place. His siblings followed him, seemingly just going what he did for comfort. Stella recognized it at something her and her siblings would do, they would all follow Harper or Edie would follow her, but now she wondered why the other two seemed to feel unsure in their own relative's home. Maybe they were just a little shy though, It's not like Eden wasn't acting the same as Stella wet to sit down and he followed to st down next to her.

Daddy and Papa got them all some juice and sat down as well. Stella sipped on her juice and looked at the other three, it was so weird that they looked so much like Papa. Papa's relatives had always been people who didn't look much like him, at least at first glance.

"How' have things been?" Samuel asked his three siblings with a kind smile.

Sebastian started to ramble right away, talking a little about everything. School, video games, the books he was reading and then finally made room for his siblings to speak. They didn't so Papa went ahead and tried to give them ideas of what to talk about, "Julia, how is soccer going?"

"Um Okay?" She said a little awkwardly.

"HEr team won their last tournament," Sebastian filled in.

"Oh really, that's fantastic!" Samuel said and a smile appeared on Julia's face.

"Oh uh, maybe, I guess, we didn't even have all our best players in all the time, coach wanted to give everyone a chance for this tournament which is unfair because some of the girls barely even show up and that's not our fault. But they didn't weigh us down too much and I think the other teams were doing the same thing so we managed," That was a lot coming from Julia in one go, and when she got quiet she blushed a little.

"Yeah, I remember we did things like that too when I was your age, but it's very impressive that you still won," Julia shot him a smile as a thank you and Samuel turned to Tomas, "What about you, Tomas? Read any cool comics lately?" clearly grasping for something to talk to him about.
 
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Harper could easily understand Julia's frustrations, it was always so annoying when people didn't try and dragged the whole team down. He knew it was unfair of him to just expect other people to care about things as seriously as he did. But at the same time, why would you even bother playing?

"Um, yeah, I read a new Captain America one," Tomas said shyly.

"That's cool, was it good?" Dad asked.

"Yeah, it was really funny," Tomas said. "It sucks that the movies aren't funny like that."
 
s t e l l a​

Stella listened to Tomas, kind of curious what he'd say and when he did she had opinions on it. But she almost didn't want to share them, she knew it maybe was mean and stubborn but there was a part of her that didn't really want to talk to this kids. By definition they were family, but by their family's definition, they also weren't. Blood didn't determine family, bond did, you could have a bond with your blood relatives, like she did with Edie and Daddy did with his siblings but these kids they had never even known of until last year. And now they were suddenly family? Though maybe they weren't, maybe the point was that in getting to know they could become family.

But she still wasn't sure if she wanted to be involved in a family like theirs either.

After a moment or two of hesitating, she still decided to chime in, "Well the movies are funny too, they are just a lttle more low key funny because they have to hit a wider audience. And it have to keep the same tone throughout, the comics have the luxury of being able to change it up a little from issue to issue, you know?" she explained to Tomas, realised that maybe she came across a little harsh and added, "but you're right, it would be rad the movies were funnier. If they ever make it a cartoon they'd probably nail the feel of the comics better,"
 
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Tomas seemed genuinely interested in what Stella was saying and Harper was glad because he had had the impression that these kids weren't willing to hear about other people's opinions. He knew it was unfair to make these assumptions based on their parents, but he and his siblings had inherited traits from their dads so it wasn't completely impossible. Then again, Papa didn't have much of his own dad in him, and he had the same dad as Sebastian and Julia and Tomas.

So maybe he just shouldn't judge.

After a while the kids went into the living room to play a board game. Harper wanted to play Monopoly as it was his favourite but he guessed it was polite to let the guests decide.

So he asked, "Do you guys wanna pick?"
 
"Oh hm, I dunno, what do you have?" Sebastian asked, his siblings following him closely.

Stella pointed towards the shelf with board games and said, "We usually just play monopoly but we have some other stuff, we could play a card game too, or like Uno," She shrugged and went with her siblings to sit in the couch and their aunt and uncles went to pick a game. They came back a little later with the monopoly game and sat down. They sat very grouped, Hemlock-Ortegas close to each other and Ortegas close to each other.

"Is monopoly hard? It was a while since I played it," Sebastian said.

"I haven't ever played it," Julia added, though she didn't say it in a negative way, she was more eyeing the game curiously.

"yeah, like we don't really play board games at home, so"
 
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"It's a strategy game, it takes a bit of getting used to but once you get the hang of it it's fine," Harper said to the Ortega kids. He was prepared to leave it at that, and split them off into two teams of families, but sweet little Letha had another idea.

She crawled over to sit with Tomas, the one closest to her age. "How about we split off so some people who know how to play can help the ones who don't know?"

Of course Letha was the one to suggest such an arrangement. Out of all of the Hemlock-Ortega kids she was the most open to the idea of getting to know their aunt and uncles. Harper was a bit apprehensive, but he wasn't actively trying to ruin anything or make things more difficult.

So he shuffled to sit next to Sebastian, leaving the twins with Julia. "Okay, highest roll goes first."
 
While Stella wouldn't protest her sister's idea she felt a little hesitant about it. It wasn't like splitting into teams like this was a big deal and it made sense. But it meant more interaction with the others, that didn't have to be bad either but Stella just wasn't sure about them yet.

They started the game, while the beginning usually was pretty exciting as everyone rushed to claim the pricey streets, it ended up being a little slow as they taught the other children how to play. But they all seemed to pick it up after a while and then the game got a little more exciting, not just in terms of speed, but it actually seemed like the children were all getting a little into it. Stella and Harper were competitive as ever and Stella started to forget why she was being so hostile with her relatives, especially after Julia started to talk more, showing that her personality actually was different than the shy persona she had put up until then.

Harper and Sebastian landed on one of Stella, Eden and Julia's tiles and before Stella even got a chance to gloat Julia exclaimed, "yes!" Victoriously and grinned at her older brother, and also Harper, "pay up!"
 
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Harper scowled at Julia, not because he was actually mad at her or anything but simply because he and Sebastian now had to pay a good chunk of their money because they had landed on hers and the twins' space. "God dammit," he said as he counted out the notes and dropped them into the girl's hand. "You guys suck."

"Aww, Harper, I'm sure you'll get the money back, you have Park Lane so you'll probably make it back in no time!" Letha, forever the optimist. She was such a sweetheart.

They continued to play Monopoly for a while, and then UNO, and then Snakes and Ladders. It was all simple board game fun, but Harper was still having a good time. He couldn't deny the fact that he still felt a little apprehensive about his aunt and uncles. But this board game session had just helped him realise that these kids weren't just his Papa's evil father's kids, they were their own people with their own thoughts and feelings and opinions.

And honestly, they weren't that bad at all.
 
m a t t h e w​

Today had been one of those rare days when Elissa was home a little earlier, it was also a Friday, so Matthew had come up with the idea that the family would do something fun together. So he had planned for them to go to one of their favourite restaurants in the area after he and Elissa had picked Will up from school. It wasn't the fanciest place, but the atmosphere was homely and nice and the food was absolutely fantastic, with a lot of vegetarian options.

They were a little early as their car rolled up in the parking lot, judging by the fact that kids hadn't really started to swarm out of the building yet. Matthew excited the car and went around it to open the door for his lovely wife. It wasn't like she couldn't do it herself and Matthew knew things like that could be a little excessive, but he just like showing Elissa he cared about her.

"I think he's going to prefer it if we're waiting here right?" Matthew said thoughtfully, he didn't really consider himself or Elissa embarrassing parents, but judging by Will they were apparently a little overbearing sometimes, so he wanted to show him respect by giving him some distance until they weren't in the school area anymore.
 
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Elissa was very happy about the opportunity to go out with her family and just enjoy herself on her early-finish day. She wasn't able to do things like that very often, so the chance to do so was highly appreciated, and Elissa was determined to make the most out of it.

She smiled when Matthew, ever the gentleman, opened the car door for her. Of course she could do it herself, but it was nice to be pampered by her husband every once in a while. Well, he pampered her more than that. But she loved it.

"Yeah, I think we should just wait here," Elissa said. As she did so, the bell rang, and they didn't have to wait long before they saw Will coming up the path.

Just as Elissa lifted a hand to wave to her little boy, a much larger, presumably older kid came up behind him, and Elissa let out a horrified gasp as her son was maliciously shoved to the ground.
 
m a t t h e w​

The moment Matthew saw some kid shove Will, show his little boy, all pleas for him and Elissa to stay out of things and not make a big deal out of things just vanished from his memory. He didn't even say anything, not even to Elissa as he grabbed her arm and jogged up to the scene that had just taken place in front of them.

A couple of the kids that had witnessed what had just happened had lingered on, including the boy who had shoved Will, and Matthew was not going to let him get away with it. Not someone who hurt his lovely and perfect little boy. First Matthew helped Will up on his feet then he turned to the other kid and said, "What do you think you are doing?" His voice was raised, not loud, but filled with anger, an amount of emotion he'd never express otherwise but when it was about Will being hurt it seemed like his normally very suppressed feelings just boiled over.

He did not wait for the other boy to answer, he had seen what he had done and he was not there to hear any excuses, he had just wanted to mark out that this kid was busted and that there was no point trying to escape the scene. Instead, Matthew turned to will and asked, "William, are you okay, did you get hurt?"
 
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Elissa followed her husband down the path and to where that horrid boy had hurt her son. She threw him a filthy look but it only lasted a moment because even if she was livid towards the assailant, her son's wellbeing was, and always would be, the most important thing to her.

"Will, sweetie? Are you okay?" she asked her little boy carefully. Every maternal bone in her body was screaming at her to wrap him in a hug, but he was scared and flustered and she didn't want to overcrowd him. And besides, she had a feeling he still cared about his reputation behind all of that.

Will pulled his hands away from his face to reveal that he was bleeding heavily from his nose, and then he burst into tears and ran into his mother's arms. She crouched down and didn't care that he was bleeding into the sweater she had changed into after work. She was due to go clothes shopping anyway.

Elissa rubbed his arm and looked up at Matthew. "We're taking this to the principal, right now."
 
m a t t h e w​

Matthew's answer to his wife wasn't more than a firm nod. He wasn't going to argue that in any way. This was serious. That kid had clearly been out to harm Will, but it wasn't just that. He recalled a point in time weeks ago when Will had come home seriously sad because someone had shoved him. So there was potential for this being an ongoing thing. That was terrifying, and it was making him absolutely furious.

He wasn't just going to take Will there though, no, he needed the other boy, who until now had just stood there with a dumbfounded expression. Not even regret. Matthew didn't care if he was a child, he deserved no sympathy if he was a bully and he only cared about the fact that he had gotten busted, so he would show him none.

"You're coming with us, hopefully, we can get a hold of your parents," his voice was slipping back into its usual flatness, though there was an edge to it that wasn't usually there, some kid probably wouldn't be able to pick up on it, but his family would. It seemed to work in their favour though because the other child grumpily followed them at a distance as they went inside instead of protesting, maybe thinking he wasn't in as much trouble as it first had seemed.
 
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Before they set off Elissa shrugged out of her sweater and handed it to Will so he could keep it pressed to his nose and therefore staunch the blood flow. She kept both arms on his shoulders while they marched into the school to get this problem sorted out. Elissa wasn't leaving until they had a solution.

They walked in and demanded to see Mr Davis about what had just happened. They were quickly ushered in and Elissa sat Will down on the opposite end of the room to his assailant. And then she turned to Davis with the passionate and fierce expression on her face that had won her many cases over the course of her career.

"Mr Davis, we saw this boy --" She pointed at the bully, "-- shove our son into the ground, and we've heard on previous occasions that this has happened before. We want something done about it immediately. Our son will not to go school in fear for his safety.
 
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Mr Davis looked shocked as they revealed what had happened, the other child looked a little more scared now that he was alone in a room with two furious adults and one that had the authority to call his parents. Mr Davis, saw that expression and probably due to being a good principal, saw it as a sign to see both sides of the story, looking and the other child and asking what had happened. It still annoyed Matthew to no end. Clearly, Will was the one who was the victim, he was literally bleeding after being shoved and he would like to think that both he and Elissa were both more credible than this schoolyard bully.

"I was just hurrying out, that's all, I didn't even see him," The other child lied blatantly to defend himself.

"That is not what happened at all, Mr Davis, I assure both Elissa and I saw what happened clearly, and William has come home before and told us about being shoved, I can not sit here and tolerate lies if there is a potential bullying situation going on for months that we have not been aware of," Matthew said, tone sharp.

"Of course, and we really do not tolerate any violence at this school, but it's also important for us to hear all sides of the story," Mr Davis reasoned, probably used to talking to upset parents as the principal of a school with younger children, "Which is also why I would like to hear what William has to say," he turned to the bleeding boy, "would you like to tell us what has happened, William?"
 
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Elissa was a lawyer. She was a calm and rational person and she believed that in every case, every party should have the right to express their side of the story and be given the same rights as everyone else. Fairness and equality were two of the fundamental principles that made up the legal system.

However, in this situation there was absolutely no question as to whom the victim was. It was obviously Will, as he was the one who was bleeding, and this wasn't a court case, this was a primary school office where one boy was crying and another was clearly lying through his teeth. But Elissa still believed in those principles and she would adhere to them, even out of the courtroom.

"I - I was just w - walking and he shoved me for n - no reason," Will stuttered, his voice slightly muffled due to the sweater he was holding against his nose. Elissa rubbed his shoulders a little to support him.

Being able to speak out now seemed to make Will capable of speaking out about what had been happening for the last few weeks. "H - He and his friends have been shoving me around for w - weeks. And they've been pushing other people around as well."
 
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