Lia didn't mind seeing her therapist, and honestly found that she really was helpful. She was quite surprised and frankly annoyed, however, when her mother had informed her Thursday morning of a new appointment that afternoon. Usually she saw Dr. Sanders once a month and they'd already met a couple weeks ago. Why they were meeting again was beyond her.

"And what if you don't get into MIT?" Dr. Sanders posed, noticing her client's right heel moving up and down rapidly. "How do you think you'd handle that?"

Lia glanced at the clock on the wall for the fourth time in the 15 minutes she'd been there. She didn't have time for this today. Why hadn't her mother asked her if she had time for this today? Lia had so much to do that evening. Her SAT retake was in two days and she had an exam the next day, plus regular homework. Lia didn't really have a choice since she was still on thin ice with parents after the party debacle.

She sighed and examined her chewed up fingernails. "I don't know," she replied, disinterested. "You know me. I'd probably crawl into a hole and die."

Dr. Sanders cocked her head to the side and watched her client. She sometimes tried to use humor to dispel real feelings, but it tended to be when she was in a bad place, as her mother suspected.

"And what do you think that would do for your life?" She posed.

Lia rubbed at her eye, exhausted and absolutely not in the mood to have conversations about theoretical life events.

"Can we..." she started, then stopped, letting her hand fall loudly into her lap. "Can we not do this today? I'm sorry. I know my mom called and everything and she made me come but I am up to my ears in homework and SAT prep-"

Having seen Lia for years now, Dr. Sanders knew her client's emotional tells pretty well. She was fidgety and her fingernails were a mess. Just as Vanessa had reported over the phone, it seemed like Lia was on the verge of a breakdown. Add the break up of a three year relationship to the pressures of senior year at a highly competitive school and a famous father and it was a recipe for a meltdown.

Lia began to get up but Dr. Sanders asked her to sit back down firmly but kindly. As a therapist the last thing she wanted was to talk to a client then have her immediately go off the deep end.

"Lia, we can stop but first I need you to take a deep cleansing breath," she instructed her calmly. Lia sighed, rested her back against the couch, and closed her eyes, deciding to pacify her therapist. The quicker she could get this done she faster she could get home and dive into her work.

"In through your nose," she continued slowly. "Out through your mouth. Good. Keep going."

Lia began to reluctantly relax. She couldn't remember the last time she'd just sat on a couch with her eyes closed and breathed. As a student in the age of multitasking, she almost felt guilty whenever she sat without doing anything.

The next thing she sensed was a hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her awake.

"Lia?" Dr. Sanders called her name quietly. Lia gasped in surprise and picked up her head. She'd fallen asleep. She'd fallen asleep?

Lia looked up at Dr. Sanders in a panic. "I fell asleep?!" She asked, incredulous. "You let me sleep?"

Dr. Sanders sat back down on her couch. "Seems like you needed it."

Lia looked at her like she was nuts. She was a professional and she just let her sleep through her session? She'd begged to be able to leave because she had so much work to do and now she'd wasted forty-five minutes sleeping!

Lia huffed and reached for her backpack, feeling slightly disoriented. "I didn't have time for this today," she growled, which was completely unlike her. Lia could feel hot tears stinging the back of her eyes. "You should have listened to me and let me leave."

"Lia!" Dr. Sanders called out to her, shocked at her attitude. In all the years Lia had been seeing her, she'd never acted like this. She'd always known Dr. Sanders was on her side and trying to help her, even if she copped an occasional attitude.

Lia stormed out the door, not stopping for the calls. After racing past the receptionist, she took the stairs all the way down to the sidewalk. Down went her sunglasses and up went her hoodie. Her feet found their way to the subway.

—-

"Daddy!!" The two familiar little voices screamed in delight at seeing Lin walk into their classroom door late that afternoon. It was his afternoon to pick them up from day care and Lin was making sure he kept good on his promises.

Lin smiled widely, crouched down and opened both arms to receive the two toddlers' running hugs.

"Hey guys," he grinned into them, inhaling their scent. Was there any better feeling than getting hug bombed by his kids?

"Did you have a good day?" He asked as he pulled back to look at them. Stella's ponytail was askew and both had marker stains all over the hands and arms. Evidence of an eventful day.

"Uh-huh," they both told him, nodding enthusiastically. Lin saw the lead teacher approaching and sensed she wanted to talk to him.

"Good! Go get your backpacks while I talk to Mrs. Ferrera."

They ran to get their things as their teacher stepped over and smiled at him. Both he and Vanessa agreed they got a very good vibe from the lead teacher. Both she and the teacher assistant didn't seem starstruck at all and were very patient with all the kids.

"How was your day?" Lin asked.

"Oh it was great, thanks," she smiled as they watched the two toddlers wrangle their backpacks out of their cubbies, which were side by side. "I just wanted to give you a heads up about something Miss Contreras and I both noticed the last couple days with the twins."

Lin stepped in a little closer, crossing his arms. "Sure, what's going on?"

"We've been trying to get Stella and Seb both to interact with the other kids, but neither of them really seem interested at this point," she explained. "The first day or two can be intimidating but we'd hope they'd start branching out a bit by the end of their first week."

Lin nodded as he watched his kids talking as they stuffed the day's projects into their bags. They adored each other and had been each other's first best friend. They'd been practically attached at the hip, always together since birth.

"I see," Lin observed. "Are they being nice to the other kids?"

Mrs. Ferrera nodded. "For the most part," she continued. "Stella did get a timeout for pushing on the playground."

Lin nodded, poking his tongue at the side of his cheek as the twins waddled over with their things. "We'll talk to her about that tonight. And we'll ask them both about other kids in the class. Do they know names?"

"Claudia seems to keep trying to befriend them both," Mrs. Ferrera pointed out another little Latina girl playing with Duplo blocks with another boy. "You might try asking about her first."

By that time, Stella had attached herself to Lin's leg and Seb wasn't far behind. He picked up his son and playfully shook his leg. "Why are my pants so heavy?!"

The twins both cackled and Mrs. Ferrera grinned. Already she loved the Mirandas. Lin thanked her and started to make his way to the elevator with his extra cargo.

—

After a short walk, the three Mirandas found their way to their apartment building, greeted the doorman and took the elevator.

"And then we had graham crackers for snack," Seb told his father as they got off at their floor. "And Stewwa's broke and she was crying so I traded her."

"That was very nice of you," Lin commented, holding both their hands. "Stel, did you say thank you to your brother?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded and started picking her nose. "Seb is nice."

"He is," Lin agreed. "Fingers out," he gently reminded her.

Lin unlocked the door and the twins ran straight to Vanessa, who was unwinding with some wine on the couch.

"Mommy!" They both shouted gleefully, and soon had crash landed on the couch. Vanessa smiled and hugged her two babies, always glad to see them after a long day away.

"Hi guys!" She kissed them and ran her fingers through their hair as they cuddled into her. "What did you do at school?"

Lin listened to the twins go into some long winded explanations of the happenings at daycare as he toed off his sneakers. He started to pull the twins' papers from the day out of their little backpacks. They'd made autumn trees using red, orange and yellow tissue paper. Stella's was more notably neat than her brother's which had pieces pasted all over the paper. They were both very much miniature versions of their parents. Stella's work was neat (to the point a toddler's work could be) like her mother's and Seb's was more scattered and haphazard. Lin grinned as he noticed the differences, marveling at how his two youngest were already growing into unique personalities but very much Mirandas and Nadals.

"Why don't you both take your shoes off and I'll get you a little snack," she offered, knowing the promise of food would get them both moving.

They all got up and Vanessa first walked to her husband and gave him a quick kiss. "Thanks for picking up the twins," she told him, her dark eyes tired but happy.

"Of course," he told her, his voice going up slightly. Lin tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "How was your day?"

"Long but good," they parted so Vanessa could grab some Goldfish crackers and two small plastic bowls. "I got a call from Dr. Sanders after Lia's session."

Lin could tell by his wife's tone that it wasn't pleasant news. "Yeah? What happened?"

"Apparently she was very disinterested in being there in the first place," she said as she poured the snacks. Lin leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms, listening. "She was going to let her leave early and call the session a wash, but asked her to do some breathing exercises because she seemed so stressed and tense. She fell asleep on the couch for 45 minutes."

Lin's eyebrows raised, but he wasn't surprised. The kid needed to crash desperately. "Wow," he commented, rubbing at his goatee.

Vanessa nodded in agreement and handed both twins their bowl. "Take it to the coffee table please."

The twins scurried off and she continued. "And when she woke up she was really upset with Dr. Sanders for letting her sleep. That she'd wasted her time and should've let her go earlier. That's not like her at all."

"No it's not," he agreed, pushing himself upright as he started to pace a little. Lia could give them both some attitude at times, but it was very out of character for her to act that way towards another adult. She was a very respectful kid. "Obviously she needed the rest. She's taking life way too seriously, V."

"Agreed," she said, grabbing her empty wine glass. Lin took the signal and reached for the opened wine bottle. He refilled his wife's glass as she sighed in resignation. "Something's gotta give. She's worrying me Lin."

"Me too," Lin said. "Where is she?"

"In her room," she reported and took a sip. "Studying."

Lin closed his eyes and nodded. "I'll go talk to her. You relax."

Lin kissed his wife on the forehead and made his way down the hallway.