Always Us

mini me pt. i

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Olivia cleared her throat loudly for the third time in two minutes. "Are we here to rehearse or are we texting all night?" Her daughter was engrossed in whatever conversation was going on on her phone. "Because I can grab my phone if that's the case. Though I happen to remember someone begging me to watch them run through their dance one last time."

"Okay, okay! I'm done," Sienna insisted, locking her phone and throwing it onto the pile of sweatpants in the corner of their home studio. Skittering to the middle of the room, she smiled sweetly at her mom, who sat crossed-legged against the mirrored wall with her baby sister dozing off in her lap. "I love you, mommy."

Shaking her head, Olivia leaned over to press play on her phone. Seconds later, the familiar guitar strums of Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" flowed through the speakers. Her daughter bowed her head, counting down the beats. When Gary Lightbody's voice broke the stillness, she couldn't help the proud smile that formed as Sienna floated around the room, her fluid body moving in ways that Olivia could only wish she was still capable of.

From a young age, Sienna had struck an interest in dance, awed by old home videos of her mom as a kid. And then what started as an interest quickly blossomed into a passion. So much so, that over the years, her daughter had slowly laid claim on the studio wing that Spencer had added to the house as an escape for his wife.

"You've got it down, SiSi."

Her daughter laid flat on the hardwood, chest heaving. "You sure?" She breathed out.

"Can your dad get a preview?" Spencer's voice surprised them both from the corner of the room.

Sienna's limbs sprung to life as she scrambled across the room. "What did you see!" she shrieked with all the dramatic fanfare of a sixteen year-old.

Spencer threw his hands up in defense. "Nothing. I didn't see anything," he sputtered through the shoves.

"Mommy! Make him leave!"

Spencer threw his wife a look, but she shrugged, her hand lazily stroking the curled up toddler in her lap.

"Traitor."

"Why don't you want him to see?" Olivia laughed once Spencer's footsteps had faded down the hall. "You used to force him to watch you rehearse."

"He doesn't have a critical eye like you do. Everything I do is perfect to him. I could flail around on the ground and he'd call it amazing!"

Olivia smiled, a warmth settling in her soul. "He's your dad. That's his job."

"That's not helpful. I need to get better," she huffed, padding back to the center of the room. "I need to be perfect on Saturday."

"Well there's not much that needs improving on this piece. You've really—"

"See now you're doing it!"

"Sienna..."

"Just press play!"

_____

The night before the recital, Sienna was sitting in her room, writing in her journal to keep her mind distracted when she heard a soft knock on her door.

"Come in."

She gaped at her eleven year-old brother, dressed in a full suit, tie and all. "Jax, what are you...?"

"Do I look good?"

"You look fine, but what's this all for?"

"For your recital. I know it's important to you, so I want to make sure I'm dressed right!"

Sienna let out a quiet snicker before setting down her journal. "Jackson, it's a dance recital, not dinner at the White House."

He shrugged. "I know, but I don't want to embarrass you in front of all your friends."

Sienna bit her lip, fighting the weird, sappy feeling that was encroaching on her usually composed exterior. "Well, you look good, but maybe just lose the jacket," she gestured at his chest, "and the tie."

"Okay," he sighed.

Sienna watched her little brother as he shuffled towards the door, fumbling with the buttons of his suit. "Hey, Jax."

He turned over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"You look cool when you wear that green turtleneck mommy bought you last month."

His eyes lit up in excitement. "Okay. I'll wear that!" And then he was off, running back to his room next door.

_____

The Sienna James' fan club took up almost an entire row of the auditorium as its members waited for their star to take the stage. Grandparents perused the program while cousins and siblings played telephone down their chain of seats. Multiple bouquets littered the floor since Gianna and Jackson had gotten into a heated argument over who was going to get to hand over the flowers.

Jordan leaned over to whisper to his sister. "I'm getting a sense of déjà vu. You were a nervous wreck before your first solo. I hope all of us being here isn't heightening it for her."

A soft smile graced Olivia's lips, but her hand squeezed down on Spencer's. "She's ready. On top of her classes, we rehearsed every night for the past month."

"She's got this," Simone pitched in from Jordan's other side.

The lights in the auditorium eventually dimmed right as the curtains rose. Through the first few numbers, Savannah continually tugged on Spencer's sleeve, asking, "Where's Sisi?" And each time, the father murmured back that she'd be on soon. That was until his daughter took a spot slightly off center stage and someone else stood next to her. His gaze hardened. "I didn't know she was doing a duet."

Keeping her eyes fixed on the stage, Olivia shrugged and murmured. "Must've slipped my mind."

An elbow nudged into her ribcage. "Who's that?"

Olivia ignored him, her gaze trailing Sienna's every step as she danced in tandem with her partner. The young man caught her daughter as she leaped into his arms, her legs wrapping around his waist for mere seconds before she was back twirling across the stage.

Another sharp nudge. "Liv."

"Spencer James, watch your daughter dance," she hissed.

"Okay, but we need to talk after—" his heated whisper was interrupted by a sharp shush from behind. Dropping his voice even lower, he added, "I don't like this keeping secrets thing. We don't do that."

"Yeah, yeah, okay," she mumbled.

After the duo slinked off the stage, the performance transitioned into a group number, followed by a couple other pieces before finally ending on Sienna's solo. Thunderous applause filled the auditorium as the sixteen year-old curtsied, beaming at the standing crowd. The rest of the dancers joined her on stage for their applause, and once hands were raw from clapping, everyone began to shuffle towards the aisle.

Turning to check that all her kids were following, Olivia was intercepted by Spencer and his expectant, and highly unimpressed, gaze. "What's his name, Liv?"