Our Master Bathroom (Olivia's Perspective)
"Hey, Mom."
"Come here sweet pea."
"You're gonna teach me how now?!" She smiled with joy as I told her to sit on the edge of my marble bathtub.
"Okay, so before we start I need you to get your legs wet."
"Why?" She asked while turning on the water and putting it over her legs.
"Shaving your legs dry is a no-no, it's better to shave when your legs are moisturized and it'll make you less likely to cut yourself." She nodded.
"That's good baby, so now you can add shaving cream or gel. You can also use soap."
"Can I use your soap?" I nodded and watched as my daughter lathered her legs in it.
"Okay, now," I said while reaching for my daughter's razor.
"Mint green, right?" She nodded and smiled at the color.
"You need to shave in the direction of the hair growth which is downwards."
"Okay!" I guided Bella as she did so with a smile on her face.
"Let the razor do the work sweetheart. I think every girl has a story where they were in a rush and cut themselves because they put way too much pressure. Put enough so that it works, but not enough to cut yourself. And be extremely careful around your knees and ankles, they're easy to cut."
"Okay, Mom!" I loved that Bella was so happy to do this, it made the whole experience more pleasurable.
"And now that you're done, you need to dry your legs off and then lotion."
"Yeah, my legs feel super dry." She spread the lotion over her legs and I was overjoyed to watch this whole thing.
"You did great." I gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead.
"You're growing up," I whispered.
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Saturday Morning (Bella's Perspective)
"Kathleen!" I ran up to her and gave her a huge hug.
"You're getting so tall! How are you?"
"I'm doing great! You know, the doctor said I'm 5'4 1/2 now. So I grew an inch from last time. Exciting." She smiled and gave me another hug.
"Olivia, it's been a while!"
"How's everything, Kathleen? I'm so sorry we haven't had the chance to visit your new apartment."
"It's alright, it's alright we're all busy."
"Well, Mom we're making up for that time right now! We're having a girls brunch."
"Bella has been waiting for this."
"I can tell! How's Noah and Leia?"
"They're doing great. Noah's getting ready for high school and Leia's at her soccer game. They're doing just fine."
"Mom, I can't find my shoes!"
"Which ones? You have so many shoes."
"My vans. Purple ones."
"They're not here sweetheart, trust me. Wear your black ones."
"I don't want to wear black though, but fine. Kathleen!" I ran back over to her and showed her my nails.
"Super cute! I like pastel!" Mom laughed and gave me a kiss.
"It's been a while since Bella has been the youngest in a situation...." Mom said more but I didn't hear it since she started to whisper.
"Aww, that's actually pretty cute."
"Bella, we're gonna go now. Are you ready sweet pea?" I nodded and we went into Mom's car. I wasn't really sure where she was taking us, but I hoped it was fun. During these car rides, I liked to think to myself. Mainly about my life. It was nice to see how far I've come. I also thought about hanging out with my friends. Just gotta love a nice car ride
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Soccer Practice (Leia's Perspective)
"That was amazing baby Lei! I'm so proud of you! High five." I drank a lot of water and then ran to Bailey and Faith.
"I'm so tired after that! I need to take a long nap!" Lucy smiled as I talked to my friends and said that we needed to go home.
"Okay! Bye guys, I'll see you at school!"
"Bye Bye!" We have to take the Q train back home. It was cool.
"Lucy, because I was such a good girl, can I get a treat?"
"What kind of treat?"
"Uhhh, boba!"
"Boba?"
"Yes, can I have boba? Pretty please?"
"Alright, but not a lot. Remember last time?"
"I got a tummy ache from drinking too much, it hurt a lot and I threw up. But it wasn't my fault Lucy!"
"Why wasn't it your fault?"
"Because Bella knew that was my favorite flavor! She should not have bought it, because once I start I can not stop! It was yummy until
I threw up!"
"Awww! But Leia, when you're tummy starts to feel full that's when you should stop."
"But it tasted so good!" Lucy giggled and we started to go and get boba from the boba store.
"Lucy, we should get some for Bella!"
"What about Noah?"
"No, I don't want to."
"Why not?"
"Because instead of talking to me he talked to his girlfriend! That made me unhappy!"
"Girlfriend?"
"Yeah, he had a girlfriend and Mommy is not supposed to know."
"Really?"
"Bella knows it too!"
"How did you know?" I tapped my chin and slipped my boba.
"They were talking about it in the basement! I can hear through the walls you know!"
"Interesting."
"It's very interesting Lucy!"
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Manhattan (Upper East Side) (Olivia's Perspective)
"I had received some very interesting information from Lucy, which she received from Leia. I wasn't sure if it was true or not, but I needed to find out by myself. So today, I decided to take Bella and Noah out for a picnic.
"Mom, tell Noah to stop it!" Bella whined.
"Noah, stop it."
"Sorry." Bella seemed sort of down today too, I thought some fresh air would serve her well.
"Do you guys know why I brought you here today?"
"No, but I wanna go home," Bella answered honestly.
"No, I don't know. Why?" I took a breath and started taking god out of the basket.
"I had a conversation with Lucy the other night when I got home from work. She told me some things that I want to discuss with you two?"
"If this is about cleaning, I didn't my share. Noah is a royal pain."
"Am not."
"Are too."
"Am not!"
"Guys, cut it out." The kids stopped arguing and went silent.
"I've been hearing things primarily about Noah. You can correct me if I'm wrong."
"What is it?"
"That you have a girlfriend. Even though I said no dating."
"He doesn't have one."
"Yeah, where are you getting that from?" These kids are blatantly lying to my face right now. But at the same time, I found it rather cute because it showed their bond.
"So then what were you guys talking about in the basement the other day?"
"Certainly about that."
"You know guys, there's nothing to lie about, I already know everything. I want you guys to be honest with me and respect the rules that I have. Am I not strict enough? Because it seems like I'm not being taken seriously." Bella looked around sadly and I was going to have a separate, private conversation with her. I just wanted her to learn a lesson from this.
"Is no one going to answer me?!"
"It's not like that, Mom."
"So then what is it like?"
"I don't give you guys that many rules, you're given quite a good chunk of freedom, all I ask is that when I enforce certain rules, you listen. It isn't that hard. I'm very disappointed. One, In you Noah for having this go one without you telling me, and you Bella for not telling me once you knew. I'm not happy about this. At this point, the problem really isn't that you're dating Morgan, it's the fact that you could've had the decency to at least tell me and give me a heads up, or ask for permission, considering I don't even want you dating."
"I understand, I apologize Mom. That wasn't right."
"We'll talk more in private at home."
"How did you even find out?" Bella asked.
"Leia overheard your conversation. She may be little, but she's listening and leading by your example, another reason why I'm upset. If you can get away with lying, then she will think she can too. I'm very disappointed in you both."
"I'm grounded, aren't I?"
"We'll talk about your punishment later."
To be continued*