A/N: Hello you guys! I think it's been about 6 months since I've written something so first of all let me apologize for not updating. It's been probably the most busiest months of my life but other than that, I've no excuse.
Thank you for the reviews that kept coming even if the story seemed not likely to be updated. A few days ago I decided to read them all and it was what got me inspired to write another chapter.
Hope I don't disappoint any of you and as always my most sincere wish is for you to enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own any character. No copyright infringement intended.
Chapter 7: Problem Resolved
It's been a month since Lux showed up in their lives. A month since theirs respective worlds turned upside down, but, in the greatest possible way ever.
Lux was slowly settling into her new life. She would wake up every morning, have a nice and quiet breakfast with Piper and Larry, go to her new school and befriend new girls. Alex would pick her up later, they'd hang out, preferably on a different place than the bar, until she would return for dinner to Piper's. Yeah, all of this would happen if they followed the strict and perfectly detailed time schedule designed by no other than Piper herself.
The thing is life is complicated and hard.
Let's rephrase. Life as a teenager is super complicated and hard.
Let's rephrase again. Life as a teenager/former orphan/child of two women whit lots of unfinished issues/new at a school with the meanest girls in the whole world whose most serious problem was like finding a perfect birthday present to their boyfriends is indeed super, tremendous, mega hard.
Despite all of this, every night Lux closes her eyes and remembers how very easy she is finding it to spend time with both of her mothers, how cool and comforting they are. She is perfectly aware the so-called complicated life is the same one that gives her the opportunity to get to know them and be a family which makes everything worth it. So she sleeps calm and warm like she never used to.
"What are you doing here?" Piper heard the unique raspy voice of her ex girlfriend ask her.
"I'm signing up for cheerleading. What do you think I'm doing here? I'm picking up Lux. We have plans" Anyone thinking that a month would smooth things over Alex and Piper's strained relationship was in fact, wrong.
"No. Why? School's my gig and we have plans too"
"Plans? Like yesterday plans? When you and Nicky stuffed her with junk food and an uncountable number of sodas. No... I'm sorry. We are having dinner with my mother and Larry's parent tonight. You should've asked me earlier" Piper's lecturing high pitched voice was the worst.
"Oh, okay. Like the heads up you gave me when you yanked her out of Longfellow and enrolled her here?"
"Yeah. To get her away from criminals and gang members" A boy riding a motorcycle with a weird and scary tattoo on his neck parked at the school entry. "People like that" Piper finished saying while pointing to the boy.
Alex was about to reply and Piper was surely getting ready to answer back when they both saw Lux coming out and kiss no other than the boy in the motorcycle and, let's rewind, a GIANT spider tattoo on his neck.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Get your lips off of her! You with the bike!" Alex yelled while slow running to meet them.
"Back away from the girl!" Piper followed.
"Are these your mothers?" The boy smirked and asked.
"Let's say no" The young blonde ashamedly replied.
"Yes.I am her mom. So back it up, little dude" Possessive and overprotecting, but in a sweet way, was one of the favorite Alex's personality qualities of Piper. She can be very territorial with the people she loves.
"Alex, relax. We were just hanging out" Lux said, trying to calm her mother down.
"Just 'hanging out'? That's how you hang out? You let some random guy suffocate you with his mouth?" Alex immediately cut her off.
"He's not some random guy" Lux defended herself, again. Having a over protective mother was resulting anything but fun.
"Wait, wait. Is this Bug? The boyfriend?" Piper asked remembering the talk she had had with Natasha.
After the young blonde nodded an astonished Alex turned to look at Piper for some kind of explanation. "You knew about this? And you didn't feel the need to over share?"
"I only knew that his name was Bug" It was now Piper's turn to defend herself. Alex was on a row here.
"Okay. A guy named Bug didn't raise some concerns?" She questioned with a serious look on her face. "No offense, pal" She then said to the boy.
"Nobody needs to be concerned. He just came to pick me up. We're going to go hang out, grab some dinner. I'll be home by 10:00. Don't worry"
"Lux, honey, I came here to pick you up 'cause we are having dinner with my mother and Larry's parents tonight at our house"
"And I came here to pick you up, as usual may I add, 'cause I wanted to take you and Olivia out to thank her for helping me to find a new apartment where you can actually stay, you know"
"And Bug came to pick me up because he is my boyfriend and I haven't seen him in ages so why don't we all have dinner at Piper's tonight. See? Problem resolved. See you there" And just like that their young and apparently not so innocent of a child climbed the motorcycle, put on a helmet and disappeared.
Back at Piper and Larry's house everything was ready but Piper herself. She literally couldn't think of a way of pulling this off. Dinner with Carol Chapman, the Blooms, this Olivia girl who works in the Bar with Alex and Bug the tattooed boyfriend screamed AWKWARD and MADNESS out loud. That were the only plausible words to describe this evening. Although disastrous could work too.
To say Piper was extremely nervous was an understatement. What was Lux even thinking when she decided she would meet her grandmother in front of this other people. Okay granted, two of these 'other people' were her other mother which has every right to be present and her boyfriend who may or not may last another week but who the hell is this Olivia girl Alex had invited. Piper heard she had helped her raven haired of an ex finding an apartment and she knows she works at the Bar too. So, option 1: she is great at everything and can be a real estate agent by day and a bartender by night or option 2: she is great at everything, really no doubt on that, but also she is after Alex which would been okay if it didn't evoked some sort of sick jealousy deep down her.
Feeling a little nauseous over the thought of her past lover settling down with the red haired girl she had met a month ago at Nicky's loft she was about to go inside the kitchen when she heard Lux talking to Bug. She didn't want to be nosy but couldn't help to wonder why Lux was telling her boyfriend not to worry about anything because she was going to help him. Just when she was a about to inquire what were they talking about the bell door rang.
Larry opened the door to find the one and only Carol Chapman and her loving parents standing outside. Here we go, Piper thought.
"Oh, my gosh. You must be Lux. Oh, you're gorgeous. Oh, God, I can't believe how much you look like Piper. And you have my hair" Everyone, Lux included, was surprised Carol Chapman was being nice to her. She never knew the woman but given the fact Piper was so hesitant to tell her about her existence in the first place she didn't trust her at all.
"Hello, it's very nice to meet you. Our son Larry told us so much about you. Oh, it's like looking in the mirror, you are a mini-Piper" Lux smiled nervously at the Blooms. They seemed kind people but it wasn't habitual for her to receive so much compliments and attention. Everything was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. Thank God she had Bug with her.
"Well yes, she and 'Older Blondie' really look alike but please notice the big and cute green eyes thing going on, totally my friend over here, so give her some credit, please" Seems good ole Nicky had showed up.
"Nicky, you came!" Lux smile grew wider. Finally someone she cared about came to the dinner. She didn't want to be disrespectful with Piper and Larry's families but when you spend some years on Foster Care you attach to a very few people cause you don't want to get even more disappointed with life. She definitely had made room for Piper and Alex and she knew there was infinite space on her heart for her grandparents but she didn't wanna rush everything and be hurt over it. Baby steps.
"Nicky, how nice of you to join us" Sarcastic Piper mode-on.
"You know me Blondie, I never miss the fun and your almost panicking face tell me I'm not gonna be disappointed tonight. So thank you in advance" Alex softly slapped her friend and told her to stop being such an ass while mouthing a silent 'sorry' to Piper.
Carol, interrupted their interaction dragging her daughter by the arm to the kitchen. And with the vilest expression she said "Honey, I thought we agreed to meet and the possibility to be a grandmother to your daughter but I thought I made myself clear years ago when I told you I didn't want anything to do with your criminal 'friend'. And frankly I thought you had moved on too but apparently not because here she is acting like nothing happened"
"Mom please, you know she is Lux's other mother. I'm with Larry now but under no circumstance I'm gonna deny Alex to be a part of OUR daughter's life, okay? You are here to meet your granddaughter. So, can you please, please, please keep the arrogance to a minimum?" Standing up for Alex in front her mother made her feel like she used to 17 years ago. Crazy in love with her. Except this time she wasn't doing it for her love for Alex, she was doing it for Lux. Right? Or at least that was she kept telling herself. This had to be all for Lux. Alex and her… they were over.
Back in the living room Amy, Larry's mother was embarrassing Lux, Bug and why not everyone on the house. "You look so cute and in love together. I just want to put you both in my pocket"
Nicky and Alex couldn't stop giggling from the aside. "Now we know why Larry is so akward and weird. Genes, man! Am I rite?"
"Excuse me, but Piper dear, who is your drug importer lesbian ex lover who was imprisoned while you had child my son, your fiancé, only knew about a month ago" Piper dreaded the question but it was Nicky who snorted her drink first and then said "I'm telling you Vause you've to write a book about your life and become rich from it"
"Terrific idea Nicky, just terrific" Piper had no intention of stopping her sarcasm when referring to her. "To answer your question, Howard, that would be Alex. Tall brunette over here. Umm, you know, I haven't had the chance to tell you this yet, but, uh, Lux is going to Westmonte" Growing up at the Chapman household gave Piper the super power of changing the subject real quick when needed.
"Well, how do you like it? You made any new friends?" Carol was glad her granddaughter was keeping the tradition of their long and well established family of going to the prestigious Westomente.
"Well, I already had friends. But Piper doesn't want me to see them" Lux dead-serious declared.
"So Um, you know what? We, um, will you excuse us for a second? We're gonna go have a little family pow-wow, 'cause, you know, like, families, it's what we do" Piper dragged Alex and Piper to the now established place to talk when you don't want anybody else listening the kitchen.
"Okay, team, we are here to make a good first impression. So, let's focus up and save the cat fights for later, okay?" Piper vigorously expressed and after getting a sense of uneasiness from Lux she then continued "I just, I don't know even know what I've done that's so wrong. What, is it that I got you into a good school, or I didn't let you dry hump, you know, um, spider neck guy?"
"I was at a school that I was perfectly happy with. I have a boyfriend that I love. I've spent my whole life in foster care where no one has given a crap about what I wanted. So, I guess I just pictured that if I ever got a mom she actually would. But you don't. I'm not you, okay? I don't want what you want. You want me to sit at this dinner and pretend like these people are my family? They're not"
The rest of the dinner of course sucked, not even Nicky's snarky jokes could lighten up the mood between the spiteful comments from Carol, good ole Blooms and a super quiet Lux.
They had made it through dessert when Larry had the magnificent idea to ask about Bill, Piper's father which gave Carol the motivation she was looking for to start ranting about everything he and herself thought of Piper's past lifestyle.
Piper couldn't believe her own mother, saying all this wicked stuff in front of her daughter. She knew they were anything but supportive about her past relationship with Alex but it was exactly that relationship what had caused the upbringing of their own granddaughter for God's sake. Her father had expressed he needed more time to process everything but Carol has acted incredibly excited to meet her and to be a part of her life so Piper was fed up with her mother attitude and frankly she was done.
"You know what mother? I'm done with you. You can take all of your Chapman pride and show yourself out because I am done with you, and I am done with all of this. Sixteen years ago, I was afraid to tell you. And you know, it seems funny, given everything, because I didn't wanna disappoint you and let you down. But somehow I have managed to do that every day since. You were never going to believe that I was responsible. You were never gonna believe in me. So, I don't, I don't know why I agreed to this dinner. Oh, no, I do know why. It's because you told me you wanted to meet her and I truly thought for once in your life you were gonna actually support my decisions and above all, you were gonna be supportive of my kid" The blonde was at the verge of crying but she was ready was to let it all out. "Because that's what I'm trying to do here, Mother, whether you believe it or not, I'm trying to support my kid. Because that's what I think a parent job is"
"How dare you. Your father and I supported you every day of your life" A humiliated Carol replied.
"Not in the way that counts. You call me crazy, but I think that loving your kid means that you actually care about her and not what your fucking neighbor is going to think. You know what? You ask me why I want to do this, why I want to be a mother? It's because I don't wanna turn my back on Lux the way that you did with me" And just like that the initially awkward dinner turned to an expected terrible mother and daughter encounter.
Carol eventually left. Apologies for the unintentionally unpleasant night were made and Larry offered Piper's future in-laws to drive them home. Nicky and Alex were about to leave as well.
"Way to go Blondie, from one 'Evil mohter' child to another you were exceptionally fine standing up for your family" She then smirked and continued "And be aware that from now on I expect to be invited to every familiy gathering because this was not bad for a Wednesday night" She then went to her car and waited for her best friend to say goodbye to her ex.
"Hey, are you okay? I'm sorry everything went down this way" Alex felt awful but kind of proud about the version of Piper she had seen moments before.
"Don't. I mean, you know, if they had done a better job raising me, I would be better qualified to raise Lux. So, really, if you think about it, this whole thing, it's their fault" Piper softly joked and smiled.
"Yeah, yeah. And kind of mine. I should have never come in the first place. We both know how Carol and your family feel about me"
"Some things never change, huh? Listen, I still haven't told you this but I shouldn't have enrolled her at Westmonte without talking to you, either. I just read that article, and I pictured her in that school, and I really just wanna make every bad thing go away. But it just seems like the more I try, the worse it's getting"
"Maybe that's the problem. Not everything in her life was bad. Like I don't like the looks of him, but Bug, Natasha What? I don't know. To Lux, they're the good. I mean, if you if you think about it, we both had families before Lux. So, maybe she just wants you to realize that she had a family before us" Alex gently explained.
Piper nodded in agreement and added "Pretty insightful, for a former drug importer lesbian lover according to my in laws"
"Thanks" Alex replied chuckling with soft grin in her face.
"And I'm sorry Olivia couldn't make it" Even Piper didn't believe her own words.
"No you are not. But I'm glad too. It was hard enough for Carol to be around two lesbians tonight, imagine if it had been three. God forbid"
"Oh so she is…" Realization striked Piper. "So you and her are… you know"
"No no, she is a friend. A very good one but nothing more" Was Alex explanig to her engaged to be married to a man of an ex? Yes, she was.
'I bet she is' The blonde one thought to herself.
Meanwhile, over the street, Lux was saying goodbye to her boyfriend.
"What a family you have…"
"Yes, it can get intense sometimes, but did you see what Piper did, I think she was pretty great" Lux enthusiastically stated and stared at her mothers direction.
"All right, you should go before Alex and Piper send you away. I think deep down they almost like you so let's not ruin it" The young blond playfully laughed.
"Are you gonna tell them?" Bug muttered under his breath.
"No. Just pick me up in the morning, I'll sell the bong-lamp as the most perfect and hip present you can give your boyfriend to one of the girls of my school and give you the money later, okay?"
"Okay. You, Lux, are the best thing to ever happen to me" Bug kissed and hugged her till it was time for him to go.
A/N 2: What will happen? Why does Bug need money?
Thank you for reading and if you liked this chapter please leave a review with your thoughts and the story so far to let me know.
See you soon!