Changes || [Johnny Lawrence]

Chapter 1

"Ma!"

Lucille chuckled at her children's bickering, well, Daniel's bickering and Rosana taunting him with few words when she takes a few seconds to pause from her book.

This was so much better than the silence they had over the past two hours.

Lucille smiled at her only daughter and knew that she was only taunting Daniel to get his mind off their move and to make her mother happy because she knew how much this move meant to Lucille.

Rosana was the glue that held them all together and Lucille wondered when her daughter had grown up so much. Always taking care of their little family before anything else.

She was lucky to have both of them.

"See? Ma's not saying anything because she knows it's the truth." Rosana did a childish move and stuck her tongue out at her brother.

Lucille laughed, "I have no favourites." She says truthfully.

Rosana winked at her mother, "Don't worry, Ma. I know you always loved me more. Danny is just jealous."

Lucille chuckled once more, okay, so maybe her daughter wasn't at all mature at times especially when it came to her brother.

***

They made a brief toilet stop at the Canyon Portal Motel before leaving but then their station wagon, more like 'dump on wheels' as Daniel and Rosana liked to call it, didn't want to start, again.

"Push, Daniel, Rose, Push! Give it all you got, kids!" Their mother shouted at them as Daniel and Rosana pushed the back of the car at each side, already knowing the drill.

Rosana chuckled at her brother's irritable face, making him roll his eyes at her but he couldn't control his own smile from taking over. Despite their bickering, Daniel loved it when his sister laughed or smile, knowing that she didn't do it much with people that wasn't him or their Ma.

"Push!" Their mother shouted again.

"If I push any harder I might give birth to my stomach," Rosana muttered to Daniel who laughed at her words as they pushed the car as hard as they could.

"Okay, okay, we got it! Get in. Come on, come on, get in, get in, hurry up."

Rosana jogged to the passenger side and jumped into the semi-moving car and Daniel followed, closing the door behind them at the same time the car started and gave a belch.

Their mother grinned widely, happy that they got it again, "We did it again! Way to go!"

***

"Daniel, Rosana, wake up, look up. Paradise at last!" The car slowed down and stopped in front of an apartment complex labeled the South Seas with palm trees shaping around it and one on the side of the entrance.

"Oh, we made it." Lucille swooned with a big smile and looked at her disgruntled son and her uninterested daughter, "Come on, you two. This is it. This is the end of the line." She said as she got out of the car.

Rosana looked at her brother who gave their mother a mild broken-hearted glare.

"You're telling me." He grumbled.

"Hey," she says softly and took his hand in hers, "We in this together, alright?"

Daniel let out a sigh as he soaked in her words and the warmth of her hand, his hopes rising slightly. At least he wasn't alone in this.

He smiled softly, "Okay, okay."

Rosana smiled back at him when their mother said, "Come on! All hands on deck." Her voice was hopeful and so full of positivity that Rosana promised that she will do anything to keep it that way. It has been a while since she's seen her mother this excited and happy about something that didn't involve her and Daniel.