I knew America's relationship with her mother had always been a difficult one.  I wondered if she'd ever had a positive relationship with an adult female.  Though I hadn't been crazy about the idea of fostering her, I wanted her to trust me and like me.  I wasn't sure how long she'd be with us, but I figured she needed someone to talk to.

I found her in Molly's room one evening, trying to get some space for a while.  She was reclined on Molly's bed, just staring up at the ceiling, thinking.

"Hey, you," I said, sitting at the desk chair.

"Hi Pippa," she gave me a small smile.  She sat up on the bed and fiddled around with a couple bracelets on her wrist.

"I've been meaning to talk to you," I said as she got comfy.  "Lin said he mentioned emancipation to you."

She let out a breath and nodded.  "I don't think I can.  It would kill my mom."

She was always thinking about her mother.  It was like she was conditioned to think about her first before herself.  With mother/daughter relationships it should be the other way around.

"But what about you? Do you feel you're doing well when you're with her?" I posed.

She shrugged.  "Well enough, I guess."

"Well, you've been with us for a couple weeks now," I went on.  "Haven't your grades improved?"

"Yeah, because you guys make me do my homework," she smirked a little.  I chuckled and nodded a little.

"Well, you're seeing how a relatively normal house runs," I told her.  "Any household with Lin in it can't really be normal though."

She laughed and agreed.

"Let me know if you want to look into it more, okay?" I told her, reaching over to pat her leg.  "I'm happy to help."

"Thanks, Pippa," she said, looking hopeful.  I can't imagine how she must have been feeling throughout her life, not knowing any different from her situation with her mother.  It was dysfunctional to say the least.  I was glad Lin and I were able to give her a stable home.

Cam was in her room doing homework.  She'd been giving Lin the cold shoulder since he'd taken her phone after finding out she had a C- in math.  The kid was constantly on her phone, like most teenagers.  I wanted to give her a heads up about America.  I knocked on her door and she looked up from her work on the floor.

"Hey," I came in a closed the door.  We had a much better relationship now, but we were still very much stepmother and stepdaughter.  I'd never have the same relationship with her that Molly had with me.  I sat down on her bed.  "Have you talked to America lately?"

"A little bit," she turned through one of her textbooks.  "Why?"

"Well, she's kind of dreading going back with her mom," I began.  "And Lin brought up legal emancipation."

She turned and looked at me.  "Like...divorcing her mom?"

"Basically," I said.  "Just wanted to give you a heads up in case she wanted to talk to you.  Your dad and I have both told her we can help if she wants to pursue it."

Cam nodded and continued with her work.  "Cool."

I pursed my lips and watched her work for a few moments.  "Would you mind her staying for longer?"

She shook her head.  "She's cool.  But it would be nice to have our own rooms."

"That's up to Molly," I said, standing.  I lightly scratched the top of her head with my fingers as I headed for the door.  "Don't stay up too late."

"Night," she told me.

I joined Lin out at the dining room table where he was working on his laptop.  I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around him.  He turned his head to kiss my cheek.

"Are the twins still down?" he asked me.

"Yep," I said, taking in his scent. (A/N: Anyone else wonder what he smells like?!) I looked at his screen and saw that he was looking up emancipation in New York state.

"I've been thinking," I began, then paused.

"Mmmmhmmm?" he turned his head to the side a little, waiting for me to continue.

"Are we doing the right thing?  Encouraging her to emancipate from her mother?"

Lin put his hand over mine and squeezed it.  "Well, I figured we could bring it up and let her take it from there.  I don't think I'll bring it up again."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," I agreed.  "I don't want her thinking we're encouraging it."

"No," he agreed.  "It needs to be her decision.  But if she decides to do it, I'm sure she'll feel pretty awkward about it."

Lin pushed his chair out and walked to the kitchen to get some wine.  He got out two glasses and poured us both some.  I joined him at the kitchen island and took a long sip.

"If she's emancipated, she's pretty much financially responsible for herself," he pointed out.  "If she stays with us, we'd be taking that on."

I nodded and stared off blankly.  "Two kids nearing college," I sighed.  "That'll be a lot."

He nodded in agreement.  "I don't think either of them will be earning any college scholarships with their grades."

"Molly will," I said a little proudly.  She was a studious kid and got really disappointed in herself if she earned anything less than an A.

"Hopefully the twins will take after Molly more in that realm," he commented.  We chatted a bit longer as we sipped our wine.  It was almost 10:00 and I was starting to feel pretty tired.  We both put our wine glasses in the sink.  I wrapped my arms around my husband and just hugged him as we stood.

He kissed my forehead.  "Let's get you to bed," he said softly, taking my hand.  I let Lin lead me down the hallway, past the moody teenagers, to bed.

___

The next day, America came home and went straight to her room, looking upset.  I looked up at Cam to see if she had any explanation.

"There's some parent thing coming up," Cam explained.  I think she's upset about it.

"What parent thing?"

Cam grumbled a little and dug around in her backpack.  A few moments later, she produced a flyer.  Parent/teacher conferences were next week.

"Ooo, fun," I commented as the twins raided the pantry for a snack.  They found the pack of Oreos and I saw Felix grab four.   "Uh-uh!  Only two."

"But Mooooom!" he complained.

"Take two, or take none," I told him.  He frowned and put the extra back.  Hopefully he'd washed his hands recently.  I glanced over the flyer as Cam got herself a snack.  Hunter was pretty good about keeping in communication with parents, but it was always nice to have an appointment to meet with the kids' teachers.  Since we had four kids there, I emailed a whole set of teachers to try to arrange times that were close together.

____

Throughout the week, America was subdued and often looked deep in thought.  I couldn't blame her.  I was eager to talk with her teachers about how she seemed at school.

It was important to Lin and me that we both be at the conferences.  We went down to the elementary wing first to meet with the kindergarten teachers.  Both were doing wonderfully.  They were outgoing and a joy to have in class.  Sometimes they had to be reminded to stop talking or being silly, but being Lin's kids, that wasn't a surprise.

Since there were so many high school teachers to see, we broke off from each other so we could cover more ground quickly.  It took us a good hour and a half to make it through all of America and Cam's teachers.  The verdict: Cam was slacking off and on her phone too much.  Very bright but not applying herself.  America was subdued but had gotten markedly better about homework.  She didn't seem to have any friends other than Cam.

We compared notes on the way home on the subway.  The older girls had been put in charge of taking care of the twins.  From the sound of things as we came home, it wasn't going well.  Raina and Felix were jumping up and down on the couch as Cam was yelling at them.

"Stop jumping and go brush your teeth!" she shouted.

"No!!!" they both replied.

"Felix.  Raina."  Lin's voice was firm.  At the sound of their father's voice, they both stopped and immediately sat down.  They looked over at us nervously.  "Come here right now."

The twins, dressed in their pajamas, walked over hesitantly as we set down our things.  Lin crossed his arms as he looked down at the five year olds.  "What did Cam ask you to do?"

"Stop jumpin' and brush our teeth," Raina said quietly.

"So why did I just hear you tell her no?"

The twins looked at each other, knowing they didn't have a good answer.  They looked at Lin and shrugged.

"Go apologize to your sister," he told them, pointing towards Cam.  The twins gingerly walked to their big sister and mumbled an apology.  Cam muttered that she forgave them and the twins scooted off to the bathroom.  Cam went straight to the pantry for a snack as Lin went to lead bedtime.

"Tough evening?" I asked as I got myself some wine.

"That's an understatement," she said.  "They were little terrors."

"I'm sorry," I told her as she found some chocolate.  "Why don't you go relax for a while."

She leaned against the counter as she started digging into some chocolate.  "What did my teachers say about me?"

"That you're very smart and not applying yourself," I reported.  "You talk too much and have to be told to put your phone away all the time."

She bit her lip, not looking at me directly.

"Your worst is English," I told her.  "A D+?"

"I have dyslexia," she reminded me.

"You know that's not an excuse," I told her.  Lin had never let her use it as an excuse growing up.  It was a setback, sure, but she had strategies to use.  "You're a smart kid.  Use it."

Cam let her head fall back and she dramatically made her way to her bedroom.  My phone rang and I broke into a smile when I saw who it was.

"Molly!" I picked up immediately.  "How's tomorrow?"

It had become a saying of mine whenever she called in the evening.  Because of the time difference, it was already the next day in Japan.

"Hi Mom!" she said happily.  "It's good!  The sun is shining here."

"Nice," I said, walking over to the couch so I could relax.  "The weather's been crappy here.  How's your new school?"

She proceeded to fill me in on all the happenings at school.  She'd made a couple friends, but they weren't that close yet.  Molly liked her teachers and seemed to be adjusting well.  I was constantly emailing her father to see how she was adjusting.  Molly didn't always verbalize what was wrong.  Sometimes you had to pry, and I wanted to make sure he knew that.

All in all, she was doing great, but she missed us.

"I miss you too, sweetheart," I told her.  "Things have been crazy here.  Lin and I just got back from parent/teacher conferences."

"Let me guess.  Raina and Felix are total monkeys?"

"Pretty much," I laughed.  "Their teachers really like them.  Hey, have Cam and America called you yet?"

"I saw a missed call the other day, but I haven't called them back," she admitted.  "What's up?"

"Well, I think they're getting a little cramped sharing a room," I explained.  "They want to ask you if America can have your room while you're gone."

Molly was silent for several long moments.  Without seeing her, I could tell she didn't like the idea, so I continued, "I told them it's your space and it's up to you.  Don't feel like you have to give up your space."

"Well...where would all my stuff go?" she asked.

"Storage, I suppose," I reasoned.  "Or maybe Abuela and Abuelo's."

"Hmmm," she thought.  I could picture her twisting a chunk of hair as she pondered.  I did the same thing.  "I'll think about it."

"That's very mature of you," I told her.  As we kept talking, Lin wandered out after putting the twins to bed.  America had stayed in her room the whole evening apparently.  He found a snack and then reclined on the couch, letting his head rest in my lap.  He waved his hand in the air, signaling he said hi to Molly.

"Lin says hi, by the way," I told my daughter.

"Hi, Lin!  Miss you!" she shouted.  I pulled the phone away from my ear and grinned. 

"Love you!" Lin said loudly.  We wrapped up our conversation and I tossed my phone to the side.  I absentmindedly ran my fingers through his hair as he closed his eyes.

"How's she doing?" he asked sleepily.

"Great," I reported.  "She's adjusting well at school.  Loves being around all her cousins."

"Good," Lin said, letting out a breath.  "And how are you doing with it?"

His eyes opened so he could look at my expression.  I shrugged.  "As good as can be expected."

Sometimes I walked into Molly's room, went to her closet, and just smelled some of her clothes.  I missed her scent.  I missed her like crazy.  Lin took my hand and kissed it.  "You're doing great.  I'm proud of you."

I don't know if adults really told each other they were proud much, but it felt nice.  The last couple weeks had been really hard.  "Thanks," I whispered.  Lin looked up at me, then sat up. He adjusted his body to face me, slinked his hand to the side of my head and captured my lips in a loving kiss.  I let out a little moan as he deepened it.  He chuckled into the kiss.

"What?" I smiled.

"You're such a pushover," he chuckled.  "One kiss and you're gone."

"Well, you've never made out with yourself before," I told him, as I continued to kiss him.  He chuckled again.  "It's amazing."

"That is true.  I do not make out with myself."

He leaned his body into mine a little more, taking control of the kiss.  It became hot and heavy and we broke apart when we heard a door open down the hall.  Lin kissed my cheek, then stood up.  "C'mon," he urged.  I smiled as I took his hand, almost always happy to follow him wherever he wanted to go.