The day after the press conference, I was tidying up after breakfast when the doorbell rang and I opened to find Oddball, Hale and Elsie outside. Before the door was fully open Elsie had jumped into my arms for a hug. At nearly 14, she was almost as tall as me, but I still managed to carry her into the hallway. Hale and Odd removed their shoes and I set Elsie down to get hers off before I led them into the lounge. Hale looked at me through his mop of curls.

From upstairs floated the sound of Ayame's cello.

"So... When we were little and you said we were your bonus babies..." he started.

"I meant that you were my bonus babies..." I smiled.

Hale lifted his eyes to mine and I could see a mix of confusion and tears.

"So? Why have we never called you mum?" he asked.

"Because, Your mum was Louisa. She was dead when we found you and technically, I'm just your guardian," I smiled.

"I explained the legalities," Oddball said quietly.

"You've always said that Izzy is my bonus-Mum, but I didn't realise it was for real," Elsie whispered.

Hale's face cracked into a grin.

"It does make your crush on Seb a bit... weird... having the same Mum and all.." he teased and I felt Elsie straighten at my side where she had snuggled.

"Shut it!" she snapped at her brother.

Hale laughed and reached out to hold his little sister's hand. His smile showed the pure love he had for her. It reminded me of how Ethan would look at Selma.

Odd and I exchanged a look of recognition. Way back, before Obstruction were famous, Oddball's sister had her first crush on Ethan and here Odd's daughter was crushing on Ethan's son. I tried not to laugh.

"Look. It's not like you're my biological children, but your Dad needed to have someone who could be your mum. I signed those papers because I saw how much your dad loved you from the first time he met you. If I hadn't you would have been sent to an orphanage and brought up with 50 other kids, and Oddball would have never forgiven me," I shrugged, trying to continue the actual conversation.

"So? Seb isn't our actual brother?" Hale asked.

"Nope," Oddball confirmed.

"See... You can still marry Seb!" Hale continued to tease making Elsie cringe.

"Who's gonna marry Seb?" a messy, tired looking Seb asked from the doorway. He looked just like his dad in the morning with his hair on end and a squashed look to him.

"Elsie," Hale replied without missing a beat, enjoying the way his best friend froze up for a second and the way his sister blushed.

Sebastian unfroze, studied Elsie's embarrassed face for a second before he gave a little smile. I knew the trust and mutual friendship between them was solid. They had all grown up together. And I knew Seb genuinely cared about Elsie.

"Hey... You could do worse..." Seb grinned.

There was a flattered friendliness in his eyes. A part of him wanted to make Elsie feel better without leading her on. My empathic son had her interests at heart.

Elsie nodded carefully before looking straight at him.

"Yeah... You ain't all that," she mocked.

"Breakfast?" My son asked towards me, signalling that the conversation was over. He could flirt with Elsie up to a point.

"In the kitchen. You know where to find it," I shrugged.

"But... Pancakes?" he complained.

"There's batter in a bowl and bacon in a tupperware," I instructed and watched him pad out to the kitchen on bare feet.

"Honestly..." I muttered.

"Okay... Kids. The point is. You needed a Mum. Izzy signed on and has been taking care of you as a mum when I've failed or not known what to do," Oddball said as his two studied us again, waiting for more information.

"And. I've always loved you and I always will love you," I supplied.

"So... You're still our Auntie Izzy?" Hale asked.

"I am whatever you need me to be," I replied.

"So? Can we go?" Hale asked.

I noticed the smell of pancakes and nodded for him to go stuff his face. Elsie stood up too.

"Hale! Give your sister a break!" Oddball said as the two left the room.

"Yeah. Sure," Hale grinned back. With a smile like that, I could almost convince myself that Oddball was Hale's biological father. There was that same carefree, amused observation in his eyes. And the same wide smile, filled with brotherly love as he gave Elsie a hug. It appeared to me that those days alone in the slum had tied Hale to his sister tighter than normal siblings.

Elsie hugged him back.

"You know... Seb is probably the only guy on the planet I'll ever let you date, right?" he told her and received a punch on the arm before she narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

"But not Nico?" she asked.

"Oh, god no! I'll strangle Nico if he even mentions it!" Hale chuckled and dragged her into the kitchen.

I shook my head at their weirdness.

"So, Mama... What's your plan for the day?" Oddball asked.

"Well... Apparently I have date to get ready for and I have no idea what to wear because the man in question didn't tell me if we're hiking or dining...." I shrugged.

"And are you fishing for intel?" Odd grinned.

"Kinda," I nodded.

Oddball chucked.

"And some fashion advice from my gay BFF wouldn't be such a bad thing" I smirked.

"I'm your BFF now all of a sudden?" Oddball laughed.

"Yep," I replied.

I led the way up to my bedroom where Oddball sat down on my bed as I dug through my wardrobe.

"Warm clothes? Heels? Trousers or skirt?" I asked.

"Okay. from what I know... Flats, comfortable, but stylish. There will be movement but also food," Oddball grinned.

"You are useless!" I huffed and started digging through my clothes, trying on several outfits.

"So? What's the deal with you and Dylan?" I asked while digging out a teal coloured dress from my closet.

Oddball shrugged.

"Nothing?" I asked, recognising the shrug.

"It's not like a relationship... " he dismissed.

"So a casual thing?" I asked.

"Something like that..." Odd shrugged again.

"For how long? I mean... Dylan has been wanting you since day one..." I asked.

"Remember our last party?" Oddball asked.

"When we took the break? After the last tour?" I asked.

"Yeah. Dylan asked me out and... we kinda hooked up," Oddball admitted shamefully.

"At the party?" I asked and saw Oddball blush.

"You slut!" I grinned, fully aware that Oddball had not been with anyone since Evan.

Oddball flipped me a finger and started browsing my handbags looking for sweets and coins.

"Where?" I asked, remembering that the party had been here, at our house.

"So you can disinfect the place?" he asked with a sideways smirk.

"No... But if it was the playhouse I will kick your inappropriate ass!" I grinned.

I couldn't stop the laughter at the cringe and the scrunched face.

"Man! That would have been a sight! Two grown men going at it in a playhouse with all that miniature furniture!" I giggled and tried to hold back the laughter.

Next to me, the big man was shaking with the same amusement.

"Yeah... It was a bit... surrealistic," Oddball laughed.

"But no relationship?" I asked

"Nope. He's too damned camp!" Oddball huffed.

Fighting back another set of giggles, I realised that in Odd's world, nobody would ever live up to Evan.

I was pulling a fluffy jumper over my head when I heard the three kids heading up the stairs. All three of them stopped at the open door and looked at the mess of discarded clothes.

"Are you tidying your wardrobe?" Elsie asked.

"No. Trying to find an outfit for tonight," I sighed.

"What's tonight?" Seb asked seriously.

"She's got a date, obviously!" Elsie told him with a dismissive eyeroll.

"A date?" Seb asked.

I nodded.

"A date, Mum?" he repeated.

I nodded again.

"You can't!" he stated firmly.

The look in his green eyes was close to anger, betrayal and grief. Suddenly it dawned on me that my little boy had been holding his emotions back over his parent's break. He was having trouble accepting our separation. Tears formed in his eyes and I rushed to him.

"Please don't go on a date" he mumbled.

"It's okay," I said.

"But Dad! You're dating behind his back? It will kill him!" Seb said, the first tear threatening to release. Stubbornly he wiped it off.

"No. Izzy wouldn't do that," Oddball said.

Seb looked between us.

"Dad knows? Dad knows you're going on a date?" Seb asked tight jawed.

I nodded.

"And he's okay with it?" Seb asked visibly holding back a sob.

"Seb. The date is with your dad," I told him and watched my teenage son crumble with the effort of trying to keep it together.

I wrapped him into a hug and felt him cry into my shoulder.

"We're going to try to fix things, Seb. I promise," I mumbled and pulled him to me.

Quietly, Oddball gathered his two and left Seb and me alone. I sat him down on the edge of the bed next to me.

"Look, Seb. Thing is... We're kinda trying to start over. We've kinda fucked this whole thing up..." I explained.

My son wiped his hand under his eyes and looked at me, trying to work out if he'd actually heard his mother swear.

"But... you still love each other?" he asked.

"I have never loved anyone the way I love your dad. But sometimes it's not enough," I said quietly.

"So? You're going on a date... why?" he asked, still sniffing unevenly.

"Hopefully to fall back in love. Maybe to find what we lost. Or just figure out if we've burned out and all we have left is friendship," I said.

"But you just said you love him!" Seb accused

I smiled at him.

"Your dad did the birds and the bees talk with you, right?" I asked.

"Awkwardly... yes," Seb shrugged.

I sent him a questioning look.

"Him, Oddball and Simon gathered Nico, Hale and me at Hale's house with a bunch of bananas and a pack of condoms..." Seb shrugged.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Yeah. And Dad was all moralistic about making sure both want it and there should be love not just lust. Simon was all about not just going for looks and Odd was blowing the condoms up like balloons... All a bit weird," Seb said with a scrunched face.

I couldn't hold back a chuckle.

"Those three are useless!" I smiled.

"I know the basics from school..." Seb shrugged.

"Did they talk about emotions?" I asked and watched him shake his head.

"Right. Basically there are three levels to connect with someone. You have the pure physical, where your body reacts to someone. And you can have a crush on someone and that person makes your heart beat faster and you think about that person constantly," I explained.

Seb nodded.

"And then there's love. You can love a friend. You can love your sister and your parents or children. When you love someone you want what's best for them. But when you fall in love for real, you combine the three. It's hormonal and crushy and you love that person. Sometimes you go through down periods where your love isn't as strong. But you also have phases where you need to touch each other all the time," I said.

Seb studied me carefully with a nod.

"I love your dad. I always will. But we need to figure out if it's worth getting back together or if we're just friends," I said sadly.

"You don't have to figure it out, Mum!" Seb said and his eyes filled with water again.

"Yes. We do, Seb. I promise. Whatever happens. I'll always love you and Aya. And so will your dad!" I smiled.

"But. You're like the ultimate couple!!! There are Instagram accounts with just cute photos of you! There are Wattpad stories about you!!! You have to get back together!" Sebastian said.

"That stuff isn't real, Seb. This date tonight will hopefully tell us what is real and if it's worth fighting for," I said.

"I'll make you fight for it!" my teenage son told me, his eyes so sad and desperate.

All I could do was hug him.

"I promise. I'll never "Eww" at your kissing again!" he said solemnly.

"You can Eww all you want buster," I mumbled into the hug and felt another piece of the armour around my heart crack.