Tethered (Book Two of The Invisible String Series)

Family

Lizzie beats me in responding to her first, shifting off my lap to walk around the table and take a seat next to the teenager. I watch as she reaches out and gently lifts Liv's chin up so she's forced to look at the older woman. "We do care about you, sweetheart. More than you could ever know."

Something flashes across Olivia's face, something that I can't put a name to, and for a moment it looks like she's going to say something before she decides not to. "Can you guys just take me back to the group home already?"

Lizzie and I share a look before I lean forward, resting my folded arms on the top of the table. "Like I told you last night, you're going back to the group home, babe."

The teenager frowns, glancing between me and Lizzie for a few moments before voicing her obvious confusion. "Then where the hell am I going?"

I crack a small smile as my girlfriend chastises the girl for her use of language (she sounded like such a mom just then), and upon seeing the way that Olivia sheepishly apologizes afterwards, before I move on to the next part of this conversation. "We were going to tell you next week, but I guess now is just as good a time as any. You're staying here, Liv."

"What?"

I can't help but roll my eyes as I think back to the horrid woman who kind of put us all in this position to begin with, my tone coming off as slightly annoyed in the beginning as I further explain it to the sixteen-year-old. "The caregiver at the group home kind of ruined the surprise, but yeah. You're staying here from now on. If that's something you want, obviously. You have just as much a say in this as we do."

It takes a few seconds, but my words eventually sink into the teen's mind and her eyes widen. "You guys were the couple she was talking about?"

Liv glances between the two of us once more, receiving a nod and a smile from both of us, and we let her process what she's just been told for a few seconds. Eventually she frowns once more and shakes her head as she looks back up at me. "Why didn't she just say so then? More specifically, why didn't you guys tell me?"

I glance over at Lizzie for this part, knowing that she'd be the one to want to explain this to her, and I silently watch as Lizzie takes a deep breath before reaching out to grab Liv's hands. "We were trying to keep everything out of the public eye until we could properly talk to you about it. Our every move is constantly being watched, and if the media had found out you would have been bombarded by them, and we didn't want that. We were just trying to keep you, and us, safe."

Neither one of us says anything else, as we both know this is probably a lot for the girl to take in, especially so early in the morning. Lizzie keeps a hold of one of Liv's hands in her own, and from my seat I can see as the older brunette occasionally rubs her thumb across the girl's knuckles in a comforting and soothing manner, and smile to myself, wondering how in the world Lizzie ever doubted that she could do this. She's the most motherly woman I've ever met, and for a moment my thoughts are replaced with images of Lizzie and our future children, until I force myself out of that fantasy.

One thing at a time, Y/N. We gotta marry her first.

Thankfully Olivia pulls me out of my quickly spiraling thoughts by sniffling, and it suddenly occurs to me that the teenager is crying, causing me to frown. Lizzie instantly moves to wipe the girl's tears with her free hand, and earns a small smile from Olivia just moments before the teenager launches herself into her arms. I let the two of them have their moment, but I do make my way around to join them on their side of the table.

When the teen pulls away from my girlfriend she glances up and meets my gaze, and I barely have time to balance myself before I also receive my own hug. For a moment I'm taken back to the first time we met, and smile to myself as I give the girl a tight squeeze, placing a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm going to assume that this means you're okay with this?"

Liv pulls away from me with a smile, but nods enthusiastically as she wipes at her cheeks. "Yeah, I'm okay with this."

I can't really help myself and I pull the girl back in for another hug, and also reach out to pull Lizzie in as well. The teenager that's sandwiched between us laughs, but doesn't make any move to remove herself from our arms. Eventually I let go of both of them, and move to clean up our plates from breakfast, smiling widely to myself as my girls chip in.

It's a wild thought, I think to myself, as I notice Lizzie and Olivia sporting smiles that I'm sure match my own. This isn't how we expected to get here, but I'm nevertheless glad that we are here.

Together. As a family.

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This was so fun to write. Lizzie in mom-mode is super adorable, fun to write, and it heals my inner mommy issues sooo much. There will be plenty more fluff to come in later chapters, and I'm so looking forward to writing more family stuff. It's gonna be so cute.

And, we're officially at proposal time, bitches! The next few chapters are gonna focus purely on that, and I have been looking forward to this since I first started this series. I've also been detailing a lot of shit for the 3rd book, and I am looking forward to starting on that whenever we finish this book up. But we're not quite there yet. We still have A LOT to go before this book is over. It's definitely gonna be longer than Invisible String was.

I am gonna go work on the proposal chapters, and I will see you all again soon hopefully! Remember to take care of yourselves. Eat some food, drink some water, take a break from the internet, pet a cat, listen to some good music and have a mini-dance party. Just have fun and be safe. -C