Colleen Parker was a lot more pretty than I was expecting. Her figure was tall and slender, her complexion pale, her hair long and black, her eyes blue as my nail polish that was terribly chipping off. She stood amongst the crowd in the waiting area with a bold sign that clearly read in bright, colorful letters: Welcome to Oregon, Bonnie Bennett. I internally groaned, thinking how cheesy the sign looked. I naturally assumed her kids made the poster, due to the little drawings and scribbles from crayons and glitter glue.

I adjusted the backpack strap on my shoulder and passed one of the flight attendants who gave me a large, exaggerated smile. "Have a good day, sweetie." I only forced a fake smile towards the plastic bimbo and then walked off through the thick, dispersing crowd, navigating my way towards Colleen.

Once she finally made eye contact with me, a bright smile spread. "You must be Bonnie," she pointed out, lowering the poster.

Able to get a better look at my legal godmother that I never knew about, she looked way younger than her forties. It might've been her outfit, which consisted of worn-out jeans and floral blouse. I had to admit, she actually had a bit of style, unlike typical housemothers.

"That I am," I answered her, a bit sourly. Inside, I cursed myself to be a little nicer. After all, it's awfully nice of them to take me in with open arms.

As if she didn't notice my sour tone, she still smiled sincerely. Her voice was softer, "I completely understand what you're going through, Bonnie." Do you really? I snorted internally. "And I know that you're probably, not exactly, thrilled to be coming home with me to my family." Gee, what the hell do you think? "But, no matter what, I want to welcome you with open arms, Bonnie. I'm so blessed to finally meet you!"

She surprised me by wrapping her arms around my petite body, the poster brushing against my back. Hesitantly, I returned her hug. The gesture was sweet and I could tell that Colleen truly was excited to have me here.

"Alrighty, time to go home and meet the rest of the family, they're all excited to meet you," Colleen chirped as she released me. Home... My chest constricted deeply. Home was where Mystic Falls was, my childhood. I swallowed down the pain as I followed after Colleen through the traffic inside the airport.

Talking to Colleen was surprisingly easy. Well, she did most of the talking while I was the listener. Being a listener was something I was incredibly good at. My best friends always came to me first when it come down to vent. I could sit there for hours in silence, processing information before expressing my humble opinion.

The drive was beautiful, much to my surprise. Colleen explained to me that her family lived in a rural setting, away from the city crowd. Me being raised as a small town girl, I've grown accustomed to the quiet, sleepy town life. Living deep in the woods in Oregon strangely didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. Most of my attention remained out the window, intently watching the forest life pass by, nothing but trees and the unmistakable scent of pine and nature.

"So, what's your favorite movie?"

"Huh?"

"Favorite movie," she repeated with a warm smile. "I'm only curious. My kids, all they seem to be doing is watching TV these days..."

"Oh." I said dumbly before thinking about my favorite movie. It took quite a moment to think of one, to be honest, I'm not a big fan of watching movies. "Um... I like Ferris Bueller." It sounded more like a question than an answer.

Colleen's eyes lit up. "Oh, yes. Ferris Bueller. That's a good one. My kids love that movie! Although, it's been a bit of a bad influence on my eldest, thought he could play sick and skip school," she explained with an affectionate eye roll.

I only nodded with a small smile and resumed keeping my gaze out the window. A moment later, Colleen picked up conversation again.

"Is everything okay, Bonnie? You've been very quiet..."

Let me know when your parents and grandma die in a freak car accident. My fingernails bit into my skin, creating moon creases. I decided not to say anything, thinking it would be best to not upset Colleen. She's been way too comforting and pleasant to me. I didn't deserve her kindness.

"Bonnie..." she tried again, her voice lowered and concerned.

I made eye contact with her, and nodded in a reassuring manner. "I'm fine." Stop lying. Just tell the truth about how you really feel. But I didn't, maybe in the future, but just... not now.

As if she could read my mind perfectly, she placed a motherly hand on my knee, patting gently. It was a silent gesture to prove that she cared for my well-being, despite the fact that she only met me less than an hour ago. God, she was too nice to me. My own mom didn't do the sweet, simple gestures.

Less than five minutes later, there was a huge two-story house in the distance of the single dirt road we were traveling on. As we drove closer, I could make out the outdoor toys that were tossed carelessly around the front yard.

"Oh, kids..." Colleen sighed, slowly pulling into the driveway. "Thought I told them to pick up after themselves. Sorry about the mess, Bonnie."

"Really, don't be. It's fine. It's actually kind of... nice."

That wasn't a lie. The yard had all kinds of toys and bikes all over the grass. It was very... home sweet home-ish. They weren't a perfect, spotless family and I strangely admired that. Before my family died, the household we lived in was very strict. Everything has to be cleaned up, outside and inside. The Parker family seemed more laid-back. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad here.

The engine cut off and I opened my door, flinging my belongings over my shoulder. The weather outside was extremely cold and dry, making me shiver inside my thin, worn-out sweater. It was in the middle of December, and I didn't think to take my snow jackets. How stupid of me.

"Oh, hon, you're freezing!" Colleen said as she met me on the other side of the car. Without further delay, she gently grabbed my arm and made me follow her up the porch towards the front door. "Let's get inside before you reach hypothermia." Okay, that might've been a bit of an exaggeration. It was cold, but not below thirty-five degrees Celsius. I didn't say anything however and trailed behind the taller woman inside.

A gust of warm air filtered around me, making me sigh in relief. The heater was on, and now I was starting to get a little more than warm inside my thin sweater and jeans. Already, I could hear the distant noises of activity going around in the house. For a moment, I almost forgot that Colleen and her husband raised eight kids.

"Kids..." Colleen called out. I assumed they were upstairs. "Get your butts down here and say hello." I stood awkwardly in front of the door. Colleen turned to me and said, "Oh, sweetie. You can set your bag down if you like. We'll have to figure out sleeping arrangements later."

"Okay." I did as I was told, my shoulder sagging in relief from the heavy weight I had to carry for the past day.

"Kids..." Colleen practically bellowed out again, growing impatient.

As I waited patiently and awkwardly, my eyes drank in everything. The inside was pretty ordinary, a bit cramped, but I could manage. A small smile lifted the corner my lips as I saw random coloring books, crayons, various toys littered around the floor. These kids obviously have a way more fun childhood than I ever did. There was a limit on how many toys I could have when I was younger due to my strict parents. At age five, they shoved books in my hand. I envied the Parker kids already.

Then, at the top of the stairs, one by one, the Parker kids practically stumbled down the steps, shoving and pushing at each other. The sight made me smile a bit. They were just normal kids. There were four boys and two girls. Wait, six kids? I thought the court mentioned to me that they had eight?

"There's only six?" I asked confused.

"My two eldest are probably at work. So is my husband. So, for now, you get to meet my youngest," Colleen clasped her hands together excitedly. "Okay, guys, be polite please and welcome our new member to the family."

I was a new member of the family. I was suddenly nervous again and I didn't know why. Maybe the idea of being forced to live in a new living situation with a brand new family and already I was branded as the new family member. I was oddly touched yet scared at the same time.

"Kids, this is Bonnie Bennett," Colleen introduced me and my mouth ran dry.

I forced a small smile and waved awkwardly at them. "Hi, everyone."

A few of them were equally as shy as I was and then some of them waved at me excitedly, like I was their shiny new toy or something.

"Okie dokie, everyone stand in a line and introduce yourselves." Colleen ordered and then muttered to me softly, "I know you won't get their names down the first time, so don't be shy to ask, okay?"

"Sure." I nodded.

The first boy to introduce himself was Joey. He had brown hair and blue eyes. He looked to be about maybe two years younger than me. Joey was one of the kids who waved happily at me. From what I could tell, he liked to play video games.

He asked, "You play Super Mario?"

Me being the ignorant idiot I was, I only shook my head with a confused, hesitant smile. "Sorry, no I don't."

"Oh, you haven't lived until you play a round on the Nintendo. It's one of my best prized possessions," he grinned.

"Okay, sounds cool," I chuckled.

The second kid was a girl, she looked ten years old with startlingly strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes. She strangely reminded me of Strawberry Shortcake. The cute little girl introduced herself as Lisa, she seemed very shy, but I had a feeling she would warm up. I hope.

The third kid was Dave, one year younger than his sister Lisa with dark ashy blonde hair and once again blue eyes. Seemed like blue eyes was a popular trait in this family. Dave was an adorable little boy. After he introduced himself, he startled me by suddenly lunging forward and giving me a hug. I laughed surprised and returned the hug, little Dave only reaching up to my stomach. Colleen smiled at the display of affection and when Dave didn't let go of me, she gently pulled him away.

Nathan was next. He was equally as shy as his older sister Lisa. This time, he had dark black hair and green eyes with big thick rimmed glasses. His eyes were almost similar to my own forest greens. I learned that was seven and he liked to read books. Already, I could tell that Nathan was the brains of his siblings and he had a bright future ahead of him.

Lastly, there was a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. Olivia and Lucas. They preferred to go with the nicknames Liv and Luke though, which I thought was really cute. They both had blonde hair and blue eyes and looked to be about five years old. They were giddy to see me, I could tell.

"My husband won't be home until around dinner, so you'll able to meet him then," Colleen informed me.

"Thank you, Mrs. Parker," I said sincerely.

"Call me Colleen," she smiled warmly.

After the long introductions, the kids ventured out to whatever they were doing previously and Colleen started the house tour. She showed me the living room which was very roomy inside. A small boxed TV, a large couch, a fireplace, coffee table, etc. The living room was very normal and welcoming. While Colleen was rambling on about random things, I peered curiously at the picture frames on the wall.

A few typical family photos here and there. School pictures. Halloween pictures. Suddenly, I wondered why the kids weren't in school today, considering it's a normal week day.

"The kids don't have school?" I asked.

"Christmas break," she answered.

Oh. That's right. I mentally remembered it was December 19th. Christmas was literally right around the corner. A sudden pain flared in my chest. This was the first year I was going to celebrate Christmas without my family.

I swallowed the sadness down my throat and distracted myself to look at more pictures. I recognized the faces of the kids I just met in the pictures, except two. I looked closer at one particular Christmas photo. There was Liv and Luke, and they were surrounded by two older kids. One boy and one girl, they looked about the same age. The four siblings were wearing matching Christmas sweaters, bringing a small amused smirk to my face.

"Is that your older ones?" I asked, pointing to the photo.

Colleen nodded. "Josette and Malachai," she confirmed. "They're born twins."

Twins seemed to be a thing in the Parker family. It was kind of cool. I wished I had my own twin, or at least a sibling. It was kind of lonely growing up as the only child in the family.

Josette, as I looked closer, she looked like a younger version of her mother with the dark hair and clear blue eyes that shined in the light. She was very beautiful.

Then I averted my eyes and looked at the older boy in the picture, Malachai. He had a handsome boyish grin and blue eyes that screamed mischief. I briefly wondered if he was the troublemaker of the family. Malachai was incredibly good-looking with matching dark hair and irresistible eyes. I snapped myself together; good-looking? Really, Bonnie? He had to be at least four years older than me. No thank you.

"So, Bonnie... Ready for an excruciating long tour of the rest of the house?" Colleen playfully challenged me. I tore my gaze away from the pictures and made eye contact with the older woman.

"Bring it on."

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My first Bonkai fic XD About time I started one! After reading so many awesome fics and stalking the Bonkai tag on Tumblr, I was inspired to write my own AU fic. It's a bit sloppy, I admit. I promise the future chapters will be more interesting... I hope ;D Okay, so if it wasn't clear, Bonnie is 14 years old right now. I know, I know, she's pretty young here but I'm fascinated by the idea of a younger!Bonnie and an older!Kai. Don't ask why. But right now, there's not gonna be any romantic interaction until a little while later, okie dokie?Okay, so the next chapter, we'll see more Bon interaction with the Parker kids. Jo and Kai will also be introduced next chapter too, so stay tuned! Also, I don't think they ever mentioned Kai's mother's name in TVD, so I made her name up myself. Hope that's okay! So, what do you think? Is this worth continuing? Did you hate TVD finale as much as I did? Let me know in a review xoxoxoxo