Henrietta rushed in, completely scared. She was afraid someone was seriously hurt, but all she saw was the two girls stuck under a clothes basket and a bookcase. Gawain made the boys release them and Elle ran over to her mom. Tears stained her cheeks and she let out a sob as she buried her face into her mother’s skirt. She went to say something, but all that came out was another sob. The woman made a hushing noise and then motioned for Lilly to come to her as she kneeled on the floor.

When the other girl was near, Henri wrapped an arm around each girl and made the hushing noise again. “I’m glad you girls are okay.” She pulled back and smiled at them. Elle wiped her eyes and hugged Lilly. “You were going to save me from that bookcase. Thank you! You’re the best friend ever!” Henrietta watched the two and thought of Emerald as they grinned at each other. Elle took her friend’s hand and then swung their arms back and forth.

Henri listened to Gawain tell the boys what they were to do. She stood up and glanced at the two young boys who had ended up trapping the girls somewhere. The woman approached them and gave them a quick smile. “I’m glad you’re all okay and everything doesn’t seem too banged up, including you. You guys just need to keep in mind the fact that they’re a bit different than you. Girls usually are.” The brunette winked at them before leaving them to clean up and watching the girls run off with happy smirks.

The brunette walked back into the other room to see Twyla looking a bit upset and Gawain asking if everything was all right. She was afraid she had walked in on a private conversation and quickly spun around to leave again, but she wasn’t sure where to go. “Uhh, I’m sorry. I can leave you guys alone if you want. I just don’t know where to go…” Henri trailed off, glancing around nervously.

There was a whole gambit of emotions that ran through the woman’s body in the next few minutes she had alone. At first, Twyla sat in the chair and stared down at her phone as she ground her teeth and shook a bit. She was so angry--it rocked through her. How could he do something like this to her? To her? After all the crap that she’d done for him for how long? Oh, seven years, no big deal, who cares about what she wanted so long as he had his fancy job and pompous car and his girls on the side--well, she’d found out about the girls when it was too late, but still. He was doing this to her? Really?

And then Twyla took a breath and realized she was being selfish, this was selfish anger and it wasn’t really justified--no matter how livid she was.

The problem with being angry was that it always made Twyla Ashby cry. She blinked slowly once, twice, three times. And then she was blinking rapidly to hold back the gobs of water that were threatening to fall from her eyes. Why didn’t she mean anything to him? It was obvious now that she didn’t--you didn’t get engaged to the bimbo less than a year after the break up, that wasn’t right. Kurt understood that, or at least he had before they ever started dating--he refused to ask her out for over a year after she first moved to California because he thought it would be uncool considering what she’d left behind, and here he was, getting married...

One tear flashed down her face and landed on her phone face. Twyla quickly wiped it off and then jumped when she heard someone enter the room. Looking up, it was Gawain. He told her what the kids had done with a smirk, then he caught the mood in her corner of the world because he asked her if everything was all right. She blinked away the tears still lingering in her lashes and hoped there was no mascara on her face. With a blush she started to stutter “Oh, I’m f..f..--” Then Henri walked in and looked uncomfortable and tried to make an escape. “N..n..no! Henri, it’s f..f..fine, it’s n..n..not what you think!” She was a blubbering idiot. This was really embarrassing. Way to go team.

Lilly looked happily at her friend as she was hugged, looking rather happy that she was now a hero to the younger girl. She held her friends hand happily as the boys came up to them, causing the young wolf to smirk at the slightly guilty look on her brothers face. While he was a jerk to her sometimes she still loved him even if he trapped her and her best friend underneath a basket.

Connor looked guiltly at his sister, he didn't want her to get hurt and if that basket hadn't been over the two, who knows what would have happened? The little boy didn't want to think about it. Suddenly he felt his twins arms wrap around him in a hug and the older boy reluctantly hugged her back.

Once the hug was over the kids helped each other clean up the mess, though they couldn't fix everything without an adult they tried their best. Soon after that Lilly decided to go up to her brother and touch his nose.

"Tag you're it." The little she -wolf giggle, darting off with Elle in tow.

Connor let out a tiny playful growl before turning to Rupert, a grin on the mischief makers face, before darting towards him.

Whoa. Twyla was crying. Gawain felt the confusion and awkwardness every men feels when he's faced with a crying woman. A crying woman who's beautiful, and fragile, and...

>>“Uhh, I’m sorry. I can leave you guys alone if you want. I just don’t know where to go…”

"Henri." he turned around; he was glad she showed up. Crying women needed their... girl friends, not their exes. At least, usually. "I could ask the same..."

>>“N..n..no! Henri, it’s f..f..fine, it’s n..n..not what you think!”

"It's not." Gawain agreed with a small smile. He just had to smile; here they were, teenage years long gone, and it was all still the same. Walking over to Twyla, he pulled up a chair to sit next to her; there was another chair on the other side for Henri.

"It's okay, Twy." he said "Tell us what happened."

Rupert raced after Connor, who raced after Lily and Elle; they all ran down the hallway, tore past the grown-ups (pretending that they were not actually running as wild as they were), and disappeared around a corner.

"Better not crash anything else!" Gawain called after them, shaking his head with a smirk "I'm in over my head, aren't I."

Twyla told the brunette that it wasn’t what it looked like, and Gawain agreed. She watched as the man pulled up a chair alongside her best friend and walked over to the empty chair on the other side. Quietly, she perched on the edge of the seat. He had already told her to explain what happened, so Henrietta didn’t add anything. All she did was grab Twyla’s hand in her own. She was good at comforting. The girl thought back to the first time Van had told her something serious. All she had done was take his hand. Sometimes, that’s all you can do for someone. Listen, and let them know that you’re there for them.

Elle giggled as she was dragged behind Lilly. It was as if nothing had ever happened between all of the children, because soon enough, all the kids were laughing and running around. Henrietta smiled as they darted through the kitchen. She thought it was cute how little kids never seemed to care about anything very long. Forgive and forget. The woman realized there was a lot to learn from children, just as there was a lot for them to learn from adults.

Gawain asked if he was in over his head and the woman laughed slightly. “Of course you are. They’re children and hard to tame. They’ll do what they want and throw tantrums if they don’t get something, but I also think children are one of the biggest blessings. It really helps you see things in different ways.” Her blue eyes stared straight ahead, a faint smile on her face. “Murielle has taught me lots of things and I’m sure Lilly and Connor have taught Emerald a lot of things. Just as Rupert has probably affected you and taught you valuable lessons. As they say, ‘out of the mouth of babes’.”

Henrietta turned back towards Twyla. “And when you have kids, I know you’ll be a great mom. You’ve always been more patient with children than me, and Elle just loves you. I’m not sure if that’s what’s upsetting you, or if something else has happened, but I want you to know we’re here for you and that you’re like a sister to me.” The woman squeezed Twyla’s hand slightly and gave her a small smile.

Twyla Ashby was on the verge of the breakdown she’d avoided having since the fateful night she got home early from work. She decidedly didn’t like being this close to the edge and feeling so thin. Matters were made worse by the fact that if she did indeed brake down it would be very public and possibly messy. This was not good. Mayday! Mayday! We’re going down!

Gawain sat on one side of her, making the tide of tears swell up again, Henri soon followed. When the other woman took her hand the dam almost broke but the woman managed to blink back the flood. She was about to b.s. her way though an answer to the man’s question when all four of the children came tearing through the hall, running like mad and looking like they were having the best time they could possibly have.

The conversation took a dangerous turn after that and Twyla’s lip began to quiver violently when Henri started talking about children. You’re fine,you can handle this. Just get to your room and-- “And when you have kids, I know you’ll be a great mom....I want you to know we’re here for you and that you’re like a sister to me.” That was it, either she exploded or she released the flood gates. Needless to say there was a lot of water.

About a minute was spent quietly sobbing before the brunette could get her act together enough to form coherent words. “He’s getting married.” Was all she could say at first and then after some wiping of her face with her sleeve, Twyla found herself continuing. “Kurt, he cheated on me--he’s marrying the woman he was sleeping with.” Her voice was strangely clear, all the things she’d been avoiding saying came out like a certain kind of vomit from a certain movie that she still had the urge to watch now and again. “I left him and he’s the one that’s happy--he’s the one getting everything I ever wanted...and everyone,” Her tears started to dry as her voice gained momentum. She looked at Henri and then Gawain on the other side. “Everyone has families and all this life and I...” She blushed, suddenly feeling self conscious about her confession (she blamed her ex’s presence). “All I’ve got is ten years worth of regret and wasted time.” Her free hand balled up some of the material of her dress into a fist.

>>“Murielle has taught me lots of things and I’m sure Lilly and Connor have taught Emerald a lot of things. Just as Rupert has probably affected you and taught you valuable lessons. As they say, ‘out of the mouth of babes’.”

"Amen" Gawain muttered with a small smile. He'd learned a lot from Rupert. He had been scared sh*tless when he was about to become a father; now, it was more fun than anything else. And the kid had great tricks too.
Back to the present; back to Twyla.

>>“He’s getting married. Kurt, he cheated on me--he’s marrying the woman he was sleeping with. I left him and he’s the one that’s happy--he’s the one getting everything I ever wanted...and everyone... Everyone has families and all this life and I... All I’ve got is ten years worth of regret and wasted time.”

It was a Gawain day. Guys' hearing is selective when it comes to rants from their exes. Gawain was a guy. He sorted out relevant information.

"No sh*t." he frowned, looking honestly shocked "The jerk strings you along for ten years and then marries someone else? Seriously?!"
He didn't even pause to think about what this whole thing meant, for him. Twyla walked out of his life for that guy. Even though he spent years wishing he would turn out to be a complete jerk, he didn't ever want Twyla to get hurt in the process. Not like this, not ten friggin' years later. She would have deserved that... jerk, to be a decent guy who gives her everything she wanted.

"That's bullsh*t, Twyla." he said, with anger in his voice "Do you have an address?"

Someone in sunny California was in serious need of some man to man talk. And probably a few punches.

Twyla began to sob and Henrietta had felt it coming. There was just something that had told her that her friend needed this. She could tell there had been something wrong, but she had avoided saying it, even if Gawain and Henri were probably the two people that cared for her the most. The brunette’s right arm instinctively wrapped around the other woman and her left hand began to pet her brown hair. She made a hushing noise to help calm her. She did it with Murielle when she was upset.

After some time to think it over, Henrietta began to feel angry. She couldn’t believe Kurt had done that to her. After everything the two of them had been through, it seemed like a real crappy thing to do. Letting go of her friend, she stood up abruptly. Not yelling at Twyla, but out of frustration, the woman’s arms flew up above her head in exclamation as she began ranting. “The nerve of some men! I mean, really?! What an a$$hole!” She turned towards Gawain. “And if you go after him, I’m bringing Van’s hand gun and I will personally--“ The kids ran through the kitchen again and she instantly stopped and smiled at them as they passed by.

When they were gone, she began pacing and took a few deep breaths. She ran her hands through her hair and sat next to Twyla again. She kept her voice low and then glanced down at her hands that were now in her lap. “Why didn’t you tell me this, Twy? You know I would do anything for you and you didn’t waste your time. You’ve been growing and becoming a wonderful, smart, strong woman.” Her blue eyes met Twyla’s brown ones and she took her hands again. “He’s the one wasting his time on some bimbo. He will regret doing this to you when he realizes how great he had it with you. How wonderful and special you are. You’re still young. You’ll find someone and have beautiful babies with them.“

The woman slumped in the chair was only half expecting the reactions that she got. Sure, she expected Henri to be comforting and to ask her why she hadn’t eluded to any of this sooner but on no level did she see Gawain’s anger or Henri’s half a threat coming. They both got so upset so fast that, despite Twyla’s tear stained face and her best intentions, she began to laugh. It was a husky, mucus-from-crying-filled laugh and it took over her entire frame. She shook in the chair and clutched her stomach to rock with her eyes closed. It wasn’t supposed to be funny at all, but for some reason it really was. The laughter lasted for a few moments, and it was well needed apparently. She felt a lot better once her giggles tapered off and she slowly sat back up.

“I’m sorry.” She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye that was more from laughing than crying. “I don’t know where that came from.” The woman looked sheepishly between her friend and her ex boyfriend. “I’m sorry that you guys had to see that.” Twyla made eye contact with Gawain for a moment as she said this--it was worse that he saw her episode than Henri seeing it. “Things have just been piling up--” Turning to Henri. “I didn’t want to tell anyone about the whole Kurt thing because I was embarrassed. He and I had been having issues for...a while.” Try a few years. “Thanks for the concern, but I’ve dealt with it...sorta.” A pat for both the man and the woman. A slight blush.

A sigh. She was going to come totally clean. “He didn’t have it all that great with me, honestly.” A pause and a gulp to suppress the emotion bubbling up in her through again. “We...wanted different things, you know? I was just too stubborn to admit that he didn’t want to get married or have kids. I was scared to admit that I’d made mistakes in judgment. I wasn’t ready for all that when I met him...and everything.” Her eyes found the floor and her blush increased. “But I didn’t want to see that he was never going to grow with me. It’s my own fault, at least partly, maybe mostly.” Her blush had crawled down her neck. “So he’s getting married and some friends back in Cali are finally going to be adopting a baby...that’s about it.” A nervous and shaking smile wiggled onto her face.

>>“The nerve of some men! I mean, really?! What an a$$hole! And if you go after him, I’m bringing Van’s hand gun and I will personally--“

"Deal, let's go." Gawain nodded, actually meaning what he said. Hunting down Twyla's @sshole ex-boyfriend? He'd be game anytime. He'd been waiting that for ten years.

Of course, the girls didn't mean actual revenge. Gawain sighed, and sat back, watching quietly as Henri comforted her friend. It was not his role, not anymore.

>>“He’s the one wasting his time on some bimbo. He will regret doing this to you when he realizes how great he had it with you. How wonderful and special you are. You’re still young. You’ll find someone and have beautiful babies with them.“

Yes, please Gawain thought, looking at Twyla. If babies were all she needed, he was happy to volunteer. For a whole bunch of them. Rup was a bart most of the time, but he adored the kid. He could've deal with some more of the kind. Especially with Twy as a mother.
Gawain resisted the urge to smack himsef upside the head for that train of thought.

As if she'd heard that last thought, Twyla laughed. Tension seemed to ease as she giggled away about nothing in particular, and then she started to talk.

>> “He didn’t have it all that great with me, honestly. We...wanted different things, you know? I was just too stubborn to admit that he didn’t want to get married or have kids. I was scared to admit that I’d made mistakes in judgment. I wasn’t ready for all that when I met him...and everything. But I didn’t want to see that he was never going to grow with me. It’s my own fault, at least partly, maybe mostly.”

That jerk, Gawain thought, listening politely, having Twy on for ten years with promises and not wanting to marry her and make her babies, he'd deserve to have his balls cut off just for that alone. What a bloody idiot.

>>"So he’s getting married and some friends back in Cali are finally going to be adopting a baby...that’s about it.”

"I'm sorry, Twy" he said finally "Henri's right, don't mourn him, you deserve a lot better. You'll have someone better in no time at all."
Okay, so that last sentence almost killed me. Well, damn.

"In the meantime, if you need to blow off some steam, I'm pretty sure there's a program in the DR computer with that jerk in it, ready to have nine colors of crap kicked outta him." he added in a conversational tone and a half grin. He was damn sure the program was there. He'd made it himself, some ten years ago.

Twyla apologized for crying in front of them. Henrietta let out a small snort. “That’s bull. You don’t have to apologize for having feelings and expressing them. If you can’t show them in front of us, who can you show them to?” She gave her friend a small smile. The woman was a bit sad that Twyla felt uncomfortable showing her emotions. Henri didn’t really take it personally; her friend was always a bit secretive when it came to her sadness, though it did still sting a little. The brunette usually wasn’t too afraid to tell people how she felt, even if she still did avoid the subject of her family. That was one thing she wouldn’t talk about. Her mother.

Gawain told Henrietta it was a deal. He seemed pretty serious about hunting down Kurt, but the brunette hadn’t been completely serious. Part of her was, but having a child meant she have to avoid doing jail time. The last thing she wanted for Murielle was a broken family like she had. It had been hard and caused her a lot of heartache and grief, so purposely doing that to her daughter was out of the question. The brunette leaned back in her chair and let out a small sigh. “If Van ever did anything to hurt me, I don’t know what I’d do, especially since we have a daughter together. I think bringing a child into something like that makes everything worse. You know?”

Her eyebrow rose at Gawain’s mention of the program in the Danger Room. “Hmm…Sounds like something you’ve had for a while. I wonder why.” She gave the man a smirk and chuckled quietly to herself. Henri guessed during this whole talk that Gawain was imagining himself with Twyla and what would’ve happened if they had never broken up. She felt a little bad for him, since he had been so crazy about the woman with the pink streak in her hair. At the same time, she understood that Twyla wanted a life beyond the one that they had together. It was complicated.

Henri told her that having a mini breakdown in front of two other adults was totally fine and argued that she should have been able to cry in front of both she and Gawain. The brunette decided not to point out the fact that there were children in the other room or that she really didn’t feel comfortable talking about any of this in front of her ex-boyfriend/almost fiance/lover(?), regardless of how amiable they’d been towards each other since she came back. It wasn’t right. It would confuse things. Lots of things.

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about Van...” Twyla trailed off. “He and Kurt aren’t the same type.” Kurt was exciting when she first met him--honestly they’d been friends. He’d only half had to convince her that California was the best way for her to escape her rut (and her panic about getting older and her strange 20-something fear of actually being committed). Van wasn’t quite the same kind of exciting, he was much more rock n’ roll while Kurt had been, well was, more rebel rich boy.

Gawain had no reason to be sorry, but that’s not why people said things like that, was is? You said sorry more from some sympathetic urge rather than because you yourself did something to be sorry for. Twyla noted that he had no reason to be sorry, not to her, not ever. And then he said something that made the woman look pointedly at him. It was a curious look. Danger room session? An eyebrow was raised in Gawain’s direction, but she made no comment. She was glad that he (and everyone else) had believed she’d ran off with Kurt for romantic reasons. It was entirely more complicated than that, but the truth would have been harder to tell than letting people believe a lie.

“Well..” Twyla sighed, standing up. “Let’s find the kids, I don’t like how quiet they’re being.” She started walking towards the living room where the kids presumably were. Before she walked into the other room the woman paused and looked back at her best friend and her...Gawain. “Thank you, seriously, for listening...and everything.” A small smile and a blush that made her feel like a teenager again, and then she turned towards the barely audible noises of her friends’ children.

While the adults were talking about adult things and issues that they didn't think concerned them or cared to pay attention to the kids were running about playing. But After a while, the untamed energy of even the most energetic child needed a rest and the young ones found themselves falling asleep on the floor of the very living room they had destroyed earlier. It was a peaceful scene in an otherwise turmoil filled world.

Sometime later:

The time had finally come for Twyla's little flat warming party and all the adults were invited while the kids were left with their designated baby sitters. Emerald was happy that Twyla had finally gotten a place of her own and moved out of the mansion, some of Em's students were starting to wonder if Twyla was going to become a student again. Well, Emerald called them students, some of the students called themselves victims. While Emerald did have a job at a Branch of the FBI she also worked at the Institute involving training the students how to fight and control their abilities. She was known to be very strict when it came to things and was not the type to coddle the kids to much. Not many of the students took her advanced classes and sometimes her students even feared the sound of the motorcycle tearing up the driveway of the mansion.

Speaking of that famous motorcycle, oddly enough, tonight Emerald wasn't riding it. Instead she was in her husbands truck, much to her dismay. Emerald's husband, Milo, Was a wolf mutant like herself and the two had similar tastes in certain things, but the one thing they often argued about was what form of transportation was best. While they did agree that the kids should only ride in cars until they were much older, Emerald still hated driving cars, her husband Milo hated riding motrcycles...mainly because he hated riding on the back of his wifes motorcycle.

As they arrived at the flat, the two were going back and forth about the subject. Emerald carried the paper plates she was told to bring underneath her arm as the two argued all the way up the stairs.

"If you sit on the back of my motorcycle its really not that bad and besides, we could have gotten here faster that way." Emerald told her husband, her tail lashing back and forth with irritation. She looked up and the brown haired male who looked down at her with an amused grin on his face. She hated that grin it always meant he was going to say something smart Aleck.

"Oh?" He asked, amber eyes twinkling with amusement. "And by going faster do you mean swerving in and out of cars quickly while all the cops who hate our agency anyways chase us down? Oh wouldn't that be an interesting story to tell officer Van, our dear friend. "I'm sorry Van but my wife just wanted to beat the five o clock traffic please don't arrest her for trying to prove her point." Milo laughed loudly, making it sound more like a bark, his white wolf tail wagging back and forth. The male wolf was taller than Emerald though not by much, but he was far leaner than the wolf girl. His own muscles seemed to be more compact than her own. He was faster than her and also older than her, two things he never seemed to let her forget. But the two went very well together, like cookies and cream and were seldom seen too far apart.

As they finally came up to the door, just as Emerald knocked, she felt Milo's arm snake around her waist a wolfish grin clear on his face. "Maybe we should help Maya get back together with Twyla tonight, besides, them being back together would make us all a stronger pack, Eh miss Alpha?"

Emerald shook her head at her overzealous husband, he loved playing matchmaker but she didn't like getting into the social issues of her pack. "Let them work it out on their own." Emerald told him, looking up at him from his grasp, smiling at him. "Besides you have your own issues to worry about."

Milo shook his head, "Yes, I have to remember not to let you argue too much with Our Dear Officer friend about Vigilantism and the benefits of it. Remember what happened last time? When you two drank to much and started arguing and it took me and Henrietta an hour to pull you away from your arguments and to get you two in the car." Milo kissed his wife on the top of the head. "So Be good."

"Aren't I always?" Emerald asked innocently, wondering how late her and her husband really were as well as what events were about to occur at this party tonight.

In the past ten years, in addition to her double mutation and all her training, Maya Morris had acquired a very special ability that was vital to her survival: she could change in a car in under five minutes.
In any car.
While driving.

She was running late from the housewarming party; she had work to do, they were going to start filming her latest movie, and they kept pestering her day and night about dress fittings and make-up and whatnot. Like professionals do. Right now, she was on her way back to the city from the set, busy changing from jeans and T-shirt (that she put on in a hurry after they pried off the dress) into something more party-ish. Thank God she was alone in the car. It was a show she didn't want Rupert to learn anytime soon.
It was a girl thing.
Also, quite dangerous. She was fairly sure she could do the same while flying the X-jet... but doesn't use the good ol' jet to go from work to party. The X-men had their pride, after all.

Still, by the time Maya Morris pulled up in front of Twyla's brand new apartment building, she was wearing leggings and a dress, pretty but simple, and short boots that didn't include heels (that was a nice change of pace). Her hair was still the way they did it for the rehearsal, braided and twisted and composed into a very complicated ponytail, with some locks framing her face. The beauty make-up was also there (it was made to stick, no matter what), complete with ornaments painted in many colors around her eyes and on her cheeks. They were supposed to be repsenting some kind of magical symbols, according to the script, and they were very pretty, but definitely not for everyday use.

"Gosh I look like someone's friggin' fairy godmother." she muttered as she killed the engine, glancing at herself in the rearview mirror. Grabbing her bag she got out of the car and locked it; turning around, she spotted familiar faces at the door.

"Hey! Ems!" she called out with a smile, walking over to them "And here I was thinking I'm the only one running late." she chuckled, catching her breath, and hugger Emerald before she turned to her husband. "Hey, Milo. Sorry, I was working late. What's your excuse?"

Henrietta stepped out of her silver Dodge Magnum wearing a cute, dark green party dress, small silver heels, silver hoop earrings and a grumpy look on her face. Her long hair was in an upsweep and as always her makeup was done. She was down the street, a couple blocks away from Twyla’s new apartment building. Holding a silver clutch and taking long strides, the woman began to make her way closer and closer to the building. After a few minutes, she made out three familiar shapes. As soon as she saw them, her frown turned into a smirk.

Walking up behind the trio, the woman said loudly, “I see we’re all a bit late. Makes us look like a bunch of idiots, but at least we all made it.” She hugged Emerald, then Milo, and then Maya. “You all look well. It’s been a while Milo. How’s everything going?” Henri was going to elbow Van to speak up, but realized he was working. She sighed quite audibly. Looking to her right, where he always stood towering a few inches above her, the brunette frowned again. “He’s been so busy and I love that he wants to make a difference, but it’d be nice if he could come with me places.” She laughed and rolled her eyes. “I’m being kind of dramatic. We do spend time together, today just happened to be a work day. I guess running late just doesn’t sit well with me.” The usually punctual woman smiled.

Clapping her hands together, the woman headed towards the entrance of the apartment building. “Let’s do this! I can’t wait to see her apartment!” For a moment, Henrietta felt like a teenager again, hanging out with her friends. She felt excited. Her life had become something so serious and routine, that just being around them made her feel a little more free. Of course she didn’t want to have a different life, but sometimes it was nice to mix it up a little. Maybe it was good Van wasn’t with so she could just have some friend time. Though, she would like it if her friends were his friends too, but that was his decision. She wouldn’t force people onto him. That would just be weird and mean.

((Twyla, if you want to have Van in, let me know and I’ll change this. I figured you wouldn’t want to have him in since it makes threads hard for you. Lol. Just let me know though and I’ll redo it no problems. ))