chapter four:
betts

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mariposa walked into the cooper's kitchen, rocking a sleeping adelaine in her arms.

alice sat at the island with her glasses on, tapping away at her keyboard.

"alice. alice i'm sorry" mariposa spoke. "I shouldn't have challenged your authority. I am a guest in your house and you make the rules. I'll return my uniform tomorrow" she sighed sadly.

"no need mariposa, i think this will be good for your applications and good for your mind. and you aren't a guest, you are my daughter. i only want what's best for you" alice smiled, making straight eye contact with the brunette.

every time alice called posie her daughter, the younger girl felt her heart skip a beat. sure, it made her miss her own mom, but it also reminded her how much more loved she was here. well, loved by most. posie certainly wasn't hal's favourite.

"foster daughter" hal reminded his wife, "and her teenage mistake"

mariposa frowned.

"that's enough hal" alice scoffed, closing her laptop and walking over to the girl and her baby, ushering them upstairs, "let's go put little adelaine to bed"

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saturday night, and mariposa was stuck comforting poor betty, who was left in tears from the actions of archie and veronica. she couldn't quite remember who veronica was, but if she hurt betty, that was a good enough reason not to like her.

"i'm so sorry betts" posie frowned, "i thought for sure archie liked your back"

"it's not your fault pose, i shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. i thought veronica was so nice, but my mom was right" betty told her, leaning into a hug.

mariposa shook her head, laughing a little, "that's a first"

betty giggled too. "yeah i'd never thought i'd hear that come out of my own mouth" she said, wiping tears from her cheeks.

mariposa turned her head towards the window. under it was adelaide sleeping soundly in her bassinet, and out the window, you could see into the front yard. of course, archie andrews was making his way up the front walk, most likely on his way to see his best friend.

"uh oh, boy trouble" posie whispered, using her head to gesture at archie.

"i'll be right back" betty sniffled, smoothing our her pretty pink dress.

"no mercy betts"

"yes posie,,"

"and betty,"

betty hesitated in the doorway looking at the older girl, "yeah?"

"you look beautiful tonight" posie grinned.

betty smiled back, before dashing down the hall.

mariposa sighed. oh the things she would do for that girl we're endless. ever since she had made friends with polly, mariposa was just like another big sister to betty, which meant she'd care for her and protect her at all costs.

glancing out the window again, she saw betty reach the porch, and begin a conversation with the ginger boy. mariposa closed her curtains to give them some privacy.

her gaze then landed on her sweet baby, bundled up and asleep. mariposa carefully crept away, in fear of waking up the little girl. she quickly searched her bedroom for something that could cheer up betty.

sure she'd spent a good deal of time comforting the girl, but she wanted to do something special too, in hopes it would make her feel just a smidge better.

her mouth opened with a gasp as her eyes landed on something perfect.

a picture, only from a year ago, but it seemed so far away. it was betty's first day of freshman year, and polly and mariposa's first day of sophomore, and alice insisted they capture the moment. mariposa's hair was blonde, and betty was shorter, and polly's bangs had just began growing out.

polly. mariposa figured betty must've missed polly just like she did. maybe giving this to her would lift her spirits, and it's not like mariposa needed it. she had plenty of pictures of the three of them from when they would have little photo shoots together during slumber parties or summer nights. she wrote a tiny note to go along with it, and snuck to the younger girls room. she slipped her little gift of betty's dresser, and smiled to herself. she couldn't help but reflect as she went back to her room to sleep.

"oh betts" she thought, "i wish we could have the world"

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an

i'm sorry it's short, i've been dealing with some personal issues, but have felt inspired again lately, and i want to take advantage of it because i'm in love with writing this story