Authors note: so the Montgomery home is based on a home my aunt use to live in. I miss that house a lot (haunted as fuck though) but it was a nice house. Maybe I'll buy it back when I have money because it's a $285,000 house. Anyways anxiety sucks.
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Zozana p.o.v
Yesterday was both a great day and an awful day. Now that my mother knows about Lilly she's going to be constantly texting my phone. I'm expecting a call from my sister today, then she's gonna want to set up a play date with Alex. Ugh, this is awful, but at least Lilly doesn't seem to be put off by my mother. It was early in the morning looking at the clock and seeing it was 5 am. Creature of the night yet I'm a morning person. I kiss Ari on the cheek before getting up from the bed. I walked over to Lillys room to check on her. She was half-covered by her blanket laying on her stomach, one leg was sticking out from under the blanket and both her arms were above her head. Her pacifier was in her mouth and Pablo was clutched in her right hand. I walk into the room and adjust her so she was back under the cover. She whined a little but fell back asleep.
"Shhh it's okay baby it's just mommy," I reassure her as I tucked her back into bed. She rubbed her face into her mattress getting comfortable again. I rubbed her back gently.
"Guess I should start to go make breakfast, I can tell you and momma are going to be sleepy heads today."
I decide breakfast in bed would be the option, Ari likes a traditional English breakfast it's a lot of work but I would do anything for her. I'll probably just make scrambled eggs and sausage for Lilly. She's going to be recovering from being on the streets so I don't want to give her too much. Maybe I'll make her a smoothie to drink. Yea that's a good idea, I'll do strawberry and bananas since that's a universally loved combo. For a witch, Arianna is really bad at cooking. I tend to do most of it, now that we have Lilly I'll be able to do more dishes that I haven't done in a while. It's good I woke up so early, I enjoy the quiet time. I open up the windows to let fresh air I began to boil some water for my tea. I hear movement upstairs hearing little cries.
"Mommy!" I heard a little shout for me and I quickly was at Lilly's side in an instant. Poor thing looked sleepy still as I picked her up.
"Oh, my sweet girl, what are you doing up so early? It's only 6 in the morning, let's see about changing that diaper." we walk over to the changing table and I begin to snap off the onesie seems like someone made a very messy diaper this morning. I got her cleaned up and took her out of her pajamas. I placed her into a matching purple sweatshirt and sweatpants set. If we were going to have a lazy morning I'm going to make sure she's comfy. I turn to grab some wipes to sanitize my hands.
"Do you want to help me make mama breakfast...oh why hello there you've gotten smaller. Is someone feeling really small today?" when I turned back Lilly looked to be about 1 year old. She had her hands in her mouth and was giggling at me. I picked up and kissed her cheek. I think I know why she's regressed so fast, but I'm not expecting it to last. Having grown up in multiple homes with different families never really being able to settle down or be a kid. I can completely understand her regressing with us just going basic family things.
"Mama?" she looked around a little and I rubbed her back.
"Mama is sleeping, let's go make her breakfast. Maybe get some food in your tummy." I got her a new pacifier and clipped it to her top placing it into her mouth. She was now back asleep on my shoulder, but when I went to put her down she would start to whine so I got a sling and wrapped her around me to keep her in place. Now with free hands, I was able to go back to preparing breakfast with Lilly asleep to my chest. Every so often she would make a small noise as she adjusted herself. When she was this little she only had a small bit of hair just enough to cover her head. It took me an hour to get all the food ready. I had to change Lillys breakfast I watered down the smoothie so it could better go through her smaller frame. I place the food on a carrying tray and made my way upstairs. I put the tray on the bed and gently shook Arianna awake.
"Ari babe? It's time to wake up." she groaned up did rollover to shot up. She noticed the food first then looked at me and saw Lilly.
"Oh, she is so tiny, is she okay?" she was so caring I loved that about her. I undid the sling and held Lilly in my arms. I must have somehow woken her up as she gave a big yawn and rubbed her eyes. Ari took her from my arms as I brought our food closer to us.
"I believe so love, I think she's just really comfortable right now. I'm expecting her to start being more in-between headspace and her normal headspace in the upcoming week." I grabbed my tea and started to drink it as I saw Lilly make grabby hands to her bottle. Arianna grabbed it and be it for her as she started to eat her food.
"I thought I was the one with the psychology degree" she laughed at me as she took a sip of her coffee.
"Once again lovely breakfast dear, the streaky bacon is good. The eggs are good you haven't made them in a while" she looked so happy biting into her food. This is why I love cooking because I get to make her happy thought the day. Lilly had her hands on the bottle holding it in place, she looked to be enjoying her morning smoothie. She stopped eating to look at her phone and she looked confused.
"What is it dear? Is everything okay?" she normally got this confused look when one of her staff would message her about something. We don't keep up on all colloquialisms or all the latest trending terms. If we see one that seems to be gaining traction then we lay attention so we can blend in easier. We both appear to look in our early 30s, so we have to present ourselves in that way.
"Oh it's nothing, apparently there was a complaint put in about us not having new magazines or giving candy to children." she laughed and put her phone away after sending off a quick note. Lilly was bored of the bottle now and was reaching to get things off her mama's plate.
"Looks like she wants some of your food." she looked and broke off a piece of egg giving it to her, then some sausage and bacon. She placed Lilly on the bed to crawl around. Obviously putting a barrier around the bed so she didn't fall off. It was fun watching her explore and then turn to us making sure we were still there.
"So what are the plans today, you woke us up so early dear. How about we just have a nice lazy day play a little do some arts and crafts? I think that will be fun, do you want to paint Lilly? We can get the finger paints out and you can make all the pretty pictures or mess you want. I should probably take you to the office to get an exam. When was the last time you went to the doctor?" Lilly didn't seem to like that idea so she crosses her arms and changed back to her normal self.
"I hate the doctors and arts and crafts! I'm not going anywhere and I'm not coloring because I'm not good at it. I won't make anything good." I move over to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"Well, how about we don't go anywhere and Mama just gives you an exam or we can just color? I have adult coloring books since it seems you don't feel small anymore." she nodded and went to leave the bed but was stopped by the barrier.
"Ma let me off the bed, I don't want to be here right now." I look to my wife and she ended her spell and sat up.
"We don't have to do any sort of check-up today if you don't want to, remember we won't force you to do anything. I would like to make sure you're healthy and just check to see the basics like reflexes and eye movement." I move back to my wife and place a hand on her arm.
"How about you get ready for the day, Lilly and I can go downstairs and clean some dishes. I'll put on a movie for us to watch. You know Disney+ has Newsies and I want to watch that." I end the conversation since Lilly seems to want it to end. We will circle back to it later.
Lilly walks ahead of me as we walk to the kitchen. She's stating silent so I let her just be in her mind for a moment. We put everything in the dishwasher and she sits at the table and puts her head on her arms. She looks upset so I pull out some ice cream and give her a scoop with some whipped cream and sprinkles.
"So want to tell the cool mom what's going on in that head of yours?" I'm definitely the cool mom.
"You're not the cool mom. Moms can't be cool." ouch that hurts.
"Well, then can you tell me what's going on while we eat some ice cream that we won't tell your Ma about?" she takes her spoon and just eats some whipped cream off the top.
"I don't want to be big, but Ma made me big. I don't like doctors, they never listen to me and always make things worse." she pokes at the ice cream and I put more whipped cream which seems to make her happy.
"Well, we wouldn't take you to a different doctor. Ma would be able to give you an exam or we can go to Ma's practice and have one of her employees look over you? They are all very nice, and I'll make sure they listen to you." she seems to weigh her options as she's eating her ice cream.
"If mama does it here do we have to go to her office?" I eat some of my ice cream taking my time. We should have everything Ari needs here for the general exam.
"Ya, I think Mama has all the items she needs here, she just wants to check to make sure everything is working as it should. How about she gives me an exam too? That way you can see what she's going to do on me first." Lilly looks up making her thinking face, it gets all scrunched up and it's adorable.
"Okay, but can we do it on a different day? I just want to relax today. Yesterday was a lot all at once and I need a simple day." I can totally understand where she's coming from, poor thing had so much thrown at her all at once.
"Of course, let's finish our ice cream then we can go make a fort in the living room. I'll grab all the extra pillows and blankets so we can make a super fort!" she joins me in laughing, we stopped as soon as we heard footsteps coming downstairs. Quickly eating the rest of the ice cream and putting the bowls in the sink. As Arianna came into the kitchen, she looked at the two of us and we tried to look innocent. She raised an eyebrow and looked at the sink walking over to grab a napkin getting it wet. She walked over to Lilly and wiped her face.
"Was the ice cream good?" Lilly nodded and laughed
"It was very good" Arianna put her hand on Lilly's cheek and kissed her forehead.
"Good, now I heard something about a fort?" she took Lillys hand and they walked to the living room. I went to the closet grabbed some extra blankets and pillows grabbed a tall lamp for support. I put things down and take Arianna's hand.
"So I talked with her, she agrees to a physical but I have to get one as well so she sees what's going to happen. So I'll go first then here and just switch between us" she nodded and had a huge smile.
"You're a genius why didn't I think of that! Also, we are not watching Newsies, you've watched it at least 23 times this month." It wasn't that many she's exaggerating.
"I watched it 10 times" I correct her and I look to Lilly who was starting to disassemble the couch and putting the cushions on the ground.
"That's still too many times now let's go help Lilly before she hurts herself." Arianna helped grab a few more blankets and walked with me back to the living room. Lilly was already starting to move things well trying to move things.
"Lillian you're going to hurt yourself moving that large chest. Here let mommy help you, where do you want me to move it?" She thought about it and pointed to the middle of the living room. I pick the chest up and place it to the spot she pointed out. If I were to push this Arianna would have surely killed me for scuffing up her floor.
"Why is it going here?" I ask as Lilly ran up the stairs.
"No running!" Arianna and I shout at the same time. Where could she possibly be going? I hear her stop running but clearly speed walking. She was then at the top of the stairs again.
"Mama? I need help." Arianna looks at me and cranes her head to see the top of the stairs.
"I'll be right there Lilly, is the laptop too heavy for you?" I hear her walk up the stairs while I start to build the skeleton of our fort. Every fort needs a good foundation.
"Yes, mama. Please take from me" I hear her cute little voice echoing down the stairs. She must have gotten back into headspace. I move a couple more things to the living room. All the dining room chairs and a lamp from the corner. I look up seeing Arianna with her laptop case around one of her shoulders and had Lilly on her hip.
"Well hello Lilly, how old are we feeling right now?" She proudly holds out a hand showing me five fingers.
"This many mommy. I gots the laptop so we's can watch a movie. Cause cause the tv will be hidden cause of the fort!" I walk over taking Lilly into my arms so Ari can set up the laptop. I tickle Lilly's side happy to have my little girl back. I do love adult Lilly but when she's this tiny and wants cuddles it's hard to resist.
"Oh, you're feeling five? Well, then that means you get to choose the movie. First, we need to finish the fort..."
"We need to start the fort" my wife corrects me.
"Excuse me I did start it. Look at all the sturdy objects I put in here so we can put the blankets on. Lilly how about you put some blankets on the floor and make us a place to sit so we can watch the movie." I put Lilly on the ground and she runs to grab some blankets and putting them on the ground. I watch her move some cushions around so we had a makeshift bed to lay on. I begin to drape blankets over the chairs and up to the lamp. Arianna got some yarn and used it to tie up some blankets so we could make the walls taller and sturdier. Lilly had decided she was done helping us and sat on her assortment of pillows.
Arianna went upstairs to grab a star projector to place inside the fort with us. I closed the shades and drew the curtains so it was darker in the room. Lilly look fascinated by the stars swirling around the fort. I pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. Arianna sat down and pulled a blanket over us to keep us warm.
"What movie do you want to watch Lilly Darling." She was gently playing with her hair working to get some tangles out. Lilly looked at the laptop and scrolled through potential movies.
"Can we watch Lady and the Tramp?" I hit play and make it go into full screen. Lilly clapped excitedly and that's when I remembered we needed popcorn. It was still early in the day so we can eat some later.
Lilly was curled into my side and had her feet resting on Arianna's lap. She was moving around trying to get comfortable so I just picked her up and laid her head in Arianna's lap and her feet in mine. I placed one of my hands on her feet and she kicked laughing.
"Mommy no, stop. No tickles" I smile booping her nose.
"So sorry my sweet girl, I didn't mean to tickle you. I was resting my hand on your feet. Didn't know they were very ticklish." She gave me a cute glare I'm sure it was supposed to be menacing.
"Your hands are cold and my feet want to be warm." I look at her bare feet, she had socks on at one point.
"Where are your socks? You had them on like 30 minutes ago." She looked at her feet and wiggled her toes. She looked to be thinking extremely hard before shrugging and laying her head back down. Arianna leaned down and kissed Lilly's cheek as she became distracted by the movie. It was a good movie, the live-action was interesting Lilly was telling us what breed the dogs were. We started another movie, Arianna picked this one. She has been wanting to watch the Marvel movies...Lilly wasn't interested and was fast asleep through iron man. It was almost noon so I kissed Arianna's cheek as I got up and went to start lunch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Time Skip~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I made us a small lunch just some sandwiches. I've learned Lilly does not like ham and cheese. She does like turkey and cheese but won't eat it with crust, but she did inform me that peanut butter and jelly had to have a crust on it. Lilly was full of energy after her nap and lunch. She was skipping around the house and Arianna was starting to set up a craft station. Laying down some newspapers and had some paints and heavy weighted paper. Lilly being the curious five-year-old she was currently went over to see what she was doing.
"Mama what are you doing, use suppose to read the paper" I love my wife's laugh when she finds something extremely funny she snorts and it always makes me laugh. She always starts sounding magical and majestic then the snort happens and it breaks the whole illusion of her grace.
"We are going to paint honey. Mommy and I need pretty pictures for the fridge and our offices." She lifted Lilly onto one of the dining room chairs. And her eyes lit up at all the different paints. She reached her hand out and dipped her fingers in the paint and began painting. Arianna was going to correct her but I put my hand on her harm and shake my head. Sometimes you need a brush but other times it's okay to use your hands.
"I'm gonna paint the bestest picture! Can I make grandma pictures too? I thinks grandma would like some." I grab a paintbrush and my own set of paints to begin making my picture. I grab a hair tie and get the hair out of Lilly's eyes.
"I think grandma is going to love getting a picture from you." Speaking of my mother. I grab my phone and answer the call from her.
"Hello mother"
"Yes hello how's everyone how's my granddaughter?" Of course, she only wants to know about Lilly. She's a cute kid I get it.
"yes, we are all doing fine. We've had lunch and we made a fort earlier. Lilly is painting right now, she said she might paint you something."
"Oh she's so sweet, now don't get mad at me but I've told your sister about Lilly. She's excited to meet her." I get up from my seat and go into the other room smiling at my two girls but once I'm out of hearing range I lay into my mother
"Mother! I told you not to do that! She's been with us for two days. Two! She's not ready to meet her potential aunt or cousin. You know how Alex is we need to ease them into meeting each other."
"Alex is a sweetheart, she just loves you guys so much." I sigh and I rub my temple.
"Mother...just give us some time. She's warmed up fast, I'm expecting it to all turn around in a week. We have two months, just let us work with her." My mother makes me frustrated sometimes
"Okay, I did tell your sister not to tell Alex till your ready. I'll let you get back to your arts and crafts. You always loved to do that sort of stuff when you were younger. Remember when you spent three summers making blankets. I think I still have some...I think I saw one of yours in a museum."
"Goodbye mother, I'll set up something next week for you and Lilly. I have a major case coming up so I'll need a babysitter and Ari needs to go to her office as well." I peek over to my girls who were happily painting. Lilly's hand was covered in a variety of paint colors and Ari got some paint on her cheek from where she tapped the brush.
"Goodbye my love, remember to drink some blood you're looking paler than normal. Do you want me to send you some blood packs?" She's always trying to feed me still, I think it's because I don't drink human blood and she wants to make sure I'm eating...well drinking enough.
"That won't be necessary mother. I drink my one pack of human blood every couple months and my animal blood after that. I also eat food so I'm okay, I've always just been pale." I end the conversation and walk back to the dinning room. I peak at Lilly's painting, looks like a tree and leaves made by her finger prints. I sit down next to her again so I could paint myself.
"Mommy I wanted to talk to grandma, I wanted to tell her I was gonna make her a painting. I wants to know what she likes." I smile at her and start a sketch for my painting.
"I think whatever you make grandma she will like, but we can surprise her with a picture. She really likes cats. So you could paint her a picture of a kitty cat or we can color one for her." I patted her head as she smiled up at me. She looks so tiny in the seat, she leaned over putting her pain colored hand all over my sketch. It look better this way.
"I'll helps you with you're painting mommy. Mama said mines needs to dry then we's going on a walk." She didn't seem happy about a walk.
"Well, let's get to painting now. As for the walk how about I give you a piggy back ride back home but you have to walk there a little bit." She thought about it and nodded.
"Okay but we gets to eats tacos tonight" fair compromise she'll make a great junior attorney
"Hmm Mama what do you think is this a fair deal." Arianna was wiping her face clean from the paint she got on herself.
"I think that is an excellent idea." I guess I'm making tacos tonight. I might have to go to the store.
Authors note: I've had a week hope this is good for you guys. It took me a couple of days to write this.