"You would think that I'm so lu-cky, that I have so many things. I'm realizing that every present comes with strings."

"Though I know I have so li-ttle, my determination's strong. People will gather around the world to hear my soooooonnnnggg."

I watch in amusement as Megan and Michelle sing the parts of Anneleise and Erika in The Princess and the Pauper. They've forgotten that they're "teens who aren't supposed to like Barbie anymore" and it makes me happy. Ah, the joys of childhood memories. They continue to sing, remembering every word. It appears that even the movement of the characters has  become imprinted in their brains!

The twins get every word and every move down, meeting face to face (but at a slight angle of course, as the movie has it) before belting the last line of the song..

"In my DRRREEEEAMMMS I'll be freEEEEEEEE!!!!"

"Dang!" Ben laughs, smacking his hands together. "You freakin' got the harmony down and everything!"

Michelle flips her hair dramatically. "We'll be here all week," she teases.

"We've got another song coming up!" Megan points out.

"Oh yeah!!!" Michelle exclaims, recalling that the characters have another duet later in the movie. "Bring it on!!!"

They plop back down on the couch with the rest of us. Megan is left sitting on the arm because the others and I have already taken up the rest of the couch.

We all observe as the scene switches.

"Ohhh yeah I forgot about this weirdo," Michelle comments as the villain of the story comes into view. I look at her around Lacy, who's directly to my right.

"How could you forget about him? They mentioned him at the beginning," I laugh.

"Did they?" Ben asks, looking at the screen with a very confused expression.

"Yeah!" I exclaim. "Remember? He's the classic 'queen's most trusted advisor who turns out to be evil.'"

"Well, yeeeeesss, I remember nooowww," Michelle drones sarcastically.

"But, can you sing his evil plan songs?" I tease, wiggling my eyebrows at her.

She looks at me and spits out a laugh. "First of all, never do that again," she commands, referring to my 'eyebrow wiggling.' "And second, no. To be completely honest, this is the song you don't pay attention to as a child." Here she looks at Ben mischievously. "Unless Benny Boo can remember it since he claims to know the words to all the songs."

"Ha. No," Ben chuckles. "We're like, five minutes in and I've realized already that I don't remember the movie at all like I thought I did, much less the songs."

"Oh sssh, sssh!" Megan says, hitting Ben's arm. "I'm starting to recognize this song!" Then she strikes a weird pose and says, "How can I refuse?" along with the villain.

The song continues and we all watch in silence for a few moments.

"Ohhh yeah, this creeper wants to marry Anneleise," Michelle mutters, more to herself than anyone else.

"Why the heck does he want to marry the princess?" Ben asks.

"To be king, dur," Michelle retorts.

"Cause the kingdom's bankrupt or something, right?" I review. "So the princess needs to marry some rich dude..."

"This movie actually makes more sense when you're seventeen," Megan whispers, her hand on her chin as she thoughtfully gazes at the screen.

"You also realize how serious this all would be if it was actually real, like, what the heck?!? The only reason this is rated G is because it's Barbie!" Ben exclaims.

"That's not true!" Michelle argues.

"Maybe it's a bit of an exaggeration but like, there's arranged marriage going on here," Ben states, thrusting his arm towards the TV.

I crack up at the serious conversation and say, "I love how absorbed we all are in this."

Megan's thoughtful expression turns light and she throws a smile my way.

"Well, I for one-"

"FAAAAAAAMILY MEETING!" Dad's voice forces us all to break out of the world of make-believe, where all dreams come true.

"What on earth for?" Michelle complains. Everyone shrugs in reply as we slowly force ourselves off the couch. Hoping that after the "meeting", we'll be in a mood where we'll want to finish the movie, I grab the remote and pause it.

We all trudge up the stairs in one big long line, afraid of the news ahead. I try to read the expressions on my parents' faces as we reach the living room. They don't look worried but they kind of look... Nervous.

Humming the song from the movie to try and keep the air light, I pick up Lacy and set her in my lap. Everyone else settles in various spots around the room. Dad rubs his hands together the way he always does before telling us big news. He licks his lips, trying to think of how to start before settling on, "How would you all like another sister?"

My eyes widen. I gasp and start bouncing in my seat. Lacy smiles and says, "Whoa... Whoa... Whoa.." With every bounce. I can hardly contain the squeals begging to burst from the mouth. Ben looks at me and gives me a huge grin and a thumbs up.

Megan and Michelle look shocked and Liam looks plain confused.

"Mom, are you pregnant?!?" Michelle demands.

I lock eyes with Ben immediately and then we both start laughing our heads off. Dad says, "No!" and face palms, realizing he may have wanted to start that off another way.

Once Ben and I have calmed down from our laugh attack over the irony of what just happened, Dad begins to explain.

"Ya know the little girl who gave up her kidney for Lacy?"

We all nod, except Lacy who says, "We never did meet her, Dad."

Dad looks at her with big eyes. It seems like he's on the verge of tears just hearing her speak when he thought she never would again.

"Honey, Genevieve is that girl," Mom explains.

Lacy's eyes widen. She catches on to the rest of it quickly too. She hops right off my lap and screeches, "We're adopting Genny???"

"Yes, dear!" Mom laughs.

"Yayyayyayayayayayayay!!!" Lacy squeals, jumping up and down. Megan has a thoughtful look on and she moving her hands like she's trying to connect everything.

"Genevieve... Is your friend... She came to visit you when you had your concussion... Isn't she that girl we always pass on the way to school?" she asks.

"Bingo!" I say with a smile.

Michelle's jaw drops. "She- She wa-" she stammers moving her pointer around like she's trying to connect the dots. Liam just shrugs and says, "She seems nice."

I laugh at his relaxed reaction to all this. Then I turn my head to Mom. "When will we have her come?" I ask.

Mom shrugs. "As soon as she's ready."

"Can I go talk to her?"

"Go right ahead!"

"Oo! Oo! Me too!" Lacy shrieks.

Mom nods and I grab her by the hand and run out the door.

     _______________________

When we arrive at Gen's usual spot, she's not there. This concerns Lacy, but I reassure her that nothing's wrong. I wouldn't expect her to be here all day anyway. We sit down in the grass to await her arrival.

"Bridge?" Lacy's little eyes look up to meet mine.

"Yeah?"

"Can we buy Genny a teddy bear?" she asks.

I laugh and pinch her nose. "Sure we can, Lacy."

"Lacy? Bridget?"

We both look behind us to find Genevieve standing there, smiling.

"What are you doing here?"

"I have big news," I say, twisting my body around and gently tugging on Gen's arm to invite her to sit. She goes along with the tug and sits herself on the ground, eyeing Lacy and I skeptically.

"Whaaaat's goin' on?" she asks with a little laugh.

"Ok my parents talked it over aaaaannndd..." I shrug, smile and say, "They're willing to make you our new sister!"

Gen doesn't react the way I though she would. She furrows her eyebrows and asks, "They didn't... Agree to this before you asked me about becoming part of the family?"

I open my mouth, realizing that I had left out the part about my parents not knowing about my plan. "Nooo, they didn't," I admit, chuckling awkwardly. "But that doesn't matter any more cause they gave the ok!" I finish, throwing my hands in the air triumphantly.

Lacy clasps her hands and looks at Genevieve with hopeful eyes.

Gen smiles a little and let's out a half-gasp, half-laugh. She look down at her hands, seemingly deep in thought. Then, before I can process what's happening, one hand flies over her mouth and she begins to cry.

Lacy's hands and smile all slowly begin to fall. I bite my lip.

"Gen...?"

"I... I'm sorry," she gasps, wiping her eyes. But every time she goes to brush away a tear, a new one falls.

Lacy doesn't say a word. She simply crawls into Gen's lap and wraps her arms around her waist. Gen gives up wiping her tears and rubs circles on Lacy's back.

"Are... Are you ok?" I ask cautiously.

Gen looks up to meet my eyes.

"I... I d-d-don't know i-if I c-could e-ever call a-nother person M-M-Mom," she confesses.

My heart instantly begins to ache for her. "That's ok Gen," I say. "You wouldn't have to call her that."

She takes one hand off of Lacy's back and begins to wipe her cheeks again. Then, she takes in a deep, shaky breath.

I scoot over to her side and throw one arm over her shoulders. She puts one arm around mine and squeezes Lacy tighter with the other.

The questions I've had for what seems forever now, push to come out. But I hold my tongue, feeling it'd be terribly disrespectful to try to get her to spill her whole life story at this moment. Right now, I've just got to be with her.