"And the last thing is... we love you Dani" Christina concluded and I leaned my head towards my younger sister until Christina called for a group hug and I felt Lisa pulling me in with her to hug Dani, "Depressing" Christina said and I couldn't agree more.
"Okay that's enough depression for today" Dani said and squeezed the hand that was holding mine, we all let out a chuckle and let go of the group hug.
Boone lowered the camera and we knew we finished filming the video. They were all crying and I surprised myself how I could get myself together and be strong for her through the video. I think I just had enough crying about this already, I had leverage over the rest of my sisters because I was the first person Dani told, so I had a lot of time to process, cry and be part of Dani's process too.
Dani got up from the couch and looked at me, I took that as a sign and got up as well, she launched on to hug me tightly. She was done crying, but that got me to tear up. I wasn't expecting her to do that or to even need it, but I embraced her anyway for as long as she needed me to.
I don't know how much time has passed with us hugging, I don't think it was that long, but she finally broke the hug and went to hug Boone and Arielle. I walked over to Spencer as I put my arm on Amy's shoulder as I passed her, she was crying watching Dani hugging the rest of our sisters down the line, Amy would be the last.
"Are you okay?" Spencer whispered to me and hugged me from the side as I nodded and watched Dani.
"Better than I thought I'd be" I answered genuinely.
"Good" She winked at me and I blushed, Dani laughed at me when she saw and went to hug Spencer.
"Keep making her blush, it's cute, and she deserves that." Dani told my girlfriend when she hugged her but I heard it.
"Hey, what do you mean that I deserve that?" Dani pulled away and rolled her eyes at my question.
"I mean that you deserve to have someone who makes you blush Lauren" She explained and I blushed again, everyone was watching us because they were following Dani's movements.
"Oh" I lowered my head with a shy smile and she hugged me again, kissing my cheek.
"Okay, guys are you ready to go? Acacia is on her way to the restaurant" Kath asked us with a sweet smile and we nodded.
When I looked at everyone I saw Christina looking behind me at the door leading to our meeting area, I turned around with Dani and Spencer who noticed the same thing and my heart picked up the pace. Our dad was standing there watching us with teary eyes, I have no idea how long he's been there, but I wanted to know what he was doing here.
"I'm proud of you Dani, you are very brave for doing this" Dad said in front of everyone.
"Thanks dad" Dani said with a smile.
"Really dad?" Christina said with an angry tone and I knew she was doing this for me, "You came all the way here just to tell Dani how proud of her you are in front of everybody? Why? So we should know Lauren is the black sheep and Dani is better than her?" Christina raised her voice just enough to make her point and something about what she said made me really anxious.
"What are you talking about?" Dani asked our sister with confusion, I was glad Christina kept her promise and didn't tell her what had happened.
"It's nothing," Dad answered and I guess it only got Christina even more mad, "Just a misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding? Dad-"
"Stop!" I decided to intervene, "I don't wanna do this right now" I pleaded pointing with my head towards Arielle and Boone, but especially because of Spencer, I don't want to expose her to this.
"Can you guys please leave us alone for a couple of minutes?" Dad surprised me by asking them to leave my sisters and I with him.
"Sure, let's go" Arielle said immediately and looked at Boone and Spencer, "We'll see you guys at the restaurant" She told us and took off. I felt Spencer passing by me putting her hand on my arm for support.
"Stay" Dad stopped Spencer who looked at him surprised, she looked at me but I couldn't decide for her what to do, "Please." She just nodded lightly and stayed with us while Arielle and Boone left.
"You're gonna make us stay for a simple misunderstanding?" Lisa mocked him with anger.
"No, he just want us to know why Lauren is making a mistake and she should be the one leaving the group, right?" Christina continued with the mocking. Honestly, I was really surprised with them. They've never talked to mom or dad like that, not that I know of, but I was surprised that they would do this for me though.
"Will someone tell me what's going on here?" Dani asked impatient.
"Lauren told mom and dad about Spencer, but apparently dad is not so loving and accepting as we thought" Lisa explained.
"What?! What did you do to her?" Dani got in a defensive mode too.
"Guys let him talk" Kathrine tried to calm things down.
"Come here, sit down Lauren" Dad asked me, I looked at Spencer dubious, but she didn't do or say anything, so I shook my head.
"No" I said and apparently that choked me, Spencer noticed immediately and wrapped her hand around my shoulders.
Christina's POV
I heard Lauren sniffle from the other side, since I was on other end and our sisters were between us, but I walked behind them to get to my birthday twin and put a hand on her back for support, Spencer was hugging her from the other side.
"When she came to tell you and mom you told her to get out, what do you want now?" I was surprised by myself for talking to my dad like that, but I couldn't shut up when it came to defend my sister.
"Lauren," He ignored me and focused on her, "I didn't know how to process what I was thinking when you told us, but I was able to get it out of me with the help of your mother, so now I want you to please listen to me." His voice was sweet and careful.
"How about you apologize?" Lisa was still defensive, but I let my guard down because I felt like he was trying to say something important.
"I love you Lauren," He started with that, good start. "When you told us you were dating a girl my mind went spiral with all that it meant... I just can't stop thinking about what it means for you going forward, to both of you" He looked at Spencer too.
"What do you mean?" I had to ask, I knew Lauren couldn't really speak right now and Spencer was too shy to talk to him.
"Life is not easy for people in the LGBT community, even though marriage is now legal in all the USA, everything is still complicated and hard... and the last thing I want is for my daughter to have a hard life." I saw Lauren looking up at him and I knew something has changed in her at that moment, "I'll still support you with whatever you choose, it's just hard for me to know that it's gonna be tough for you."
"Life is hard anyway" Dani shrugged her shoulders.
"Yes it is" Dad answered, "So imagine how much harder it'll be for your sister now." He gently put the palm of his hand on Lauren's cheek and wiped her tear.
"She's strong, she'll get through it, they both will" I corrected myself to refer to both Lauren and Spencer.
"I know" He said and kissed her forehead, "I know..."
There was silence after that as Lauren wiped out her own tears and clamed down. I don't know how she was feeling with all the things our dad said, but I'm sure she will forgive him, if she hasn't already. I actually felt what he said, while I wanted nothing more for my little sister than to be happy, the last thing I wanted was for it to come with suffering, she doesn't need it to be harder than it already was.
"I'm sorry if I made you feel bad Lauren," He said and she nodded lightly at him, "How about you two come have dinner this weekend?" He suggested and I saw them looking at each other surprised by that.
"I..." Lauren sounded doubtful and I could understand her concern, "You want?" She asked her girlfriend who nodded. "Can you come too with Nick?" She looked at me with hopeful eyes and I nodded immediately.
"Great, so go enjoy the rest of the day, you all deserve it." He smiled at all of us and I saw that he was debating whether or not to say something else to any of us, at the end he just looked at me like asking for my approval for how he handled it, if I forgave him too, and I did.
**
Lauren's POV
"You're gonna make a hole in the floor if you keep pacing like that" Amy said while watching me walk back and forth in our living room.
I only had like 5 more minutes until I had to go pick Spencer up and drive us to my parent's house for dinner and I was nervous as hell. Amy was on the couch, she spent the last 10 minutes trying to ignore me and watch something on the TV, but at the end she couldn't hold it anymore.
"Are you nervous?" She asked me innocently and I stopped walking to look at her with shock.
"Really Amy? What do you think?!" I replied a little angry with the rhetorical question.
"Okay, I'm just trying to help."
"Well you're being really bad at it right now."
"Ouch! Rude much?" She rolled her eyes, not really offended but I realized I actually was a bit rude.
"Sorry, you're right, I'm sorry" I sighed and closed my eyes.
"Are you go-" She was caught off by the door and I frowned, "Is Spencer coming here?"
"No, I'm supposed to pick her up" I said as I went to open the door, "Dani" I was surprised to see our younger sister at the door.
"I need to talk to you" She immediately said as she entered our house.
"Um... I have to go in a minute..."
"Exactly, why?" She asked and I looked back at Amy trying to see if she was understanding what was that all about, but Amy shrugged her shoulders.
"Why what?" I asked Dani and closed the door behind her.
"Why did you ask Christina to go with you and not me?"
"What are you talking about?" I was struggling to figure out what was going on.
"I wanted to go with you, help you, be there for you" She started to say.
"Are you judging her?" Amy asked and I was actually surprised she said it, it's a claim I wouldn't think she was able to say.
"No, I'm just saying-"
"It sounds like you are" I caught her off, "You helped me all along Dans, you were the first person I told about us..." I wanted to reassure her.
"Yeah because I messed up and you had to, you didn't do it for me" Dani tried to explain but that threw me off.
"Because this isn't about you, it's about me, or do I need to remind you that?" I said in a harsh tone and I knew she would have nothing to respond to that. "I have to go" I went to the kitchen to take my phone and my keys.
"Good luck Laur, call if you need anything" Amy said in a sweet voice.
"Thanks" I smiled at her and looked at my little sister who was looking back at me with puppy face, I chuckled and left without saying anything else.
"I don't know who's more nervous, me or you" Spencer giggled as I parked the car in front of my parent's house.
"Probably me, you don't tend to be nervous so much."
"You seem calm too" She observed and I smiled at her.
"I wasn't until I picked you up, then I saw you and you made me feel like it's really gonna be okay" I told her sincerely and she bit her lips with a blush, "But I'm still more nervous than you are, for sure!" I tried to ease her shyness and took her hand, "We're gonna film tomorrow that relationship question thing video..."
"So the whole world will know you have a girlfriend" She said in a theatrical tone.
"I don't think I'm gonna say girlfriend specifically, but I do want people to speculate so the drop won't be so shocking" I was hoping she'll understand the decision.
"Fine... ready to go?" She asked, not giving it a second thought.
"I guess so" I sighed and turned the engine off.
"Wow, that's real confidence right there" She teased me and got out of the car, I laughed and got out too. I caught up to her at the door and opened it with my keys.
"Hey" I mumbled awkwardly as I saw mom and dad sitting in the living room in front of Christina and Nick.
"Hey guys!" Christina got up quickly to greet us, "Why are you late?"
"Dani came by, she needed to talk to me about something, sorry" I said without getting into any details.
"It's okay, dinner's ready though... Hi honey" Mom smiled and came to hug me, "Spencer, how're you doing?" She asked my girlfriend who just nodded, she was too embarrassed to answer with words and I stroked her back for support.
"Hey" Dad came and greeted us too and finally Nick, "Let's sit down and eat" Dad guided us to the table and I let Spencer sit as far away from my parents as possible, thankfully Christina got my intentions and cooperated with me.
"So Spencer, when do you finish college?" Dad asked Spencer when we started eating.
"I'm in my last year" She answered simply.
"And what are you gonna do after that?" He kept asking and I saw him glancing at Christina like trying to figure out if her plans matched ours, I actually had no idea if they were and what Spencer was going to do after college.
"I... haven't decided yet"
"Are you two even good with working together? You approved that?" He asked Christina eventually.
"Dad, I didn't know about them for almost 6 months and they did great, so I'm sure they can keep it up, right?" Christina smiled at us and I nodded eagerly.
"But in a year she'll finish college and find another job."
"We knew that since the first day" I said and looked at mom, she knew that too, we told her when we hired Spencer and she nodded in acknowledgement.
"And what's gonna happen with you two after that?" Mom joined the questions and I was running out of appetite.
"What do you mean? We're still gonna be together..."
"Well it's in a year, so you don't really know" Dad said.
"You're right" Spencer stepped in and we all looked at her, "But we do know how we feel now, it's all that matters to us." I thought she was gonna start a speech like in the movies, but she didn't.
"She's right Mike" Nick said, "There's no way they can know what's gonna happen in the future" He got our backs.
"Are you done with the investigation?" I asked looking sternly at my parents.
"We're not investigating, just curious honey" Dad tried to settle and I shrugged.
"Okay, well, Spencer and I are okay, more than okay..." I reassured them and saw them smiling at me, I finally felt like I could breathe in relief, Spencer looked at me and smiled brightly. We heard the door open and I saw my oldest brother Mike come in, he was caring a big bag with him and he looked surprised when he saw us.
"Oh hi, sorry, our washing machine just broke so..." He pulled the bag up, filled with dirty clothes supposedly, "I didn't know you were..." He scanned the room and I could see his eyebrows furrowing when he saw us, it was probably a weird combination for him since he had no clue about Spencer and I.
"Are you gonna finish any of your sentences?" I joked and he laughed when he realized I was right.
"Is someone gonna tell me what's up in here?" He pointed at us.
"We invited Spencer to get to know her, you wanna join us?" Mom asked innocently.
"Spencer and I are dating, sorry mom, I didn't get the chance to tell him yet" I said and looked at my brother for a reaction.
"You what??" Mike yelled and put his bag down, "Is that for real?" He looked at me with shock and I nodded, he was acting exactly like I thought my parents would, "Are you serious right now? You can't date a girl! You're not a dyke Lauren!"
"Mike!!" Mom jolted from her seat, "You don't talk to your sister that way!"
"Are you guys really on board with that?!"
"If she's happy, then of course we are" Mom said and I looked over to dad who was sitting in silence.
"You're all crazy if you're letting this happen, and you" He took a couple of steps forward towards Spencer and I but Nick got up fast and stopped him, Mike was still looking right at me, "You better think this carefully, I'm not gonna let you-"
"That's enough Mike!" Dad finally interjected, "If you can't keep your mouth shut and respect you sister then get out of here."
"And take the laundry with you" Mom told him.
He looked at all of us, lost, like he didn't know what his next move should be. Nick tapped Mike's chest lightly to encourage him to listen to my parents, he brutally pulled away from him and took a last glance at me before taking his bag and leaving. Spencer got up and walked out to the back yard.
"Sorry" I mumbled and went after her.