Sugilite's Pov

Opal and I got to my mom's apartment before the kids got home on Monday. It was just her, her boyfriend, and the youngest kids.

"You know," Opal whispered as we knocked on the door. "From the way she pays all your bills, I thought she'd be a little better off." I sighed.

"She probably spends more money keeping dad happy than her kids." A man opened up the door.

"Look we ain't takin any girl scout cookies." He looked at the two of us up and down. "But if you're selling somethin else..." I groaned. I couldn't believe Amethyst was living with this disgusting man.

"My mother lives here." He frowned.

"Ramona!" He yelled. He walked away and the woman I hadn't seen in over ten years walked in.

"What do you want?" She asked the man, before making eye contact with me.

"Hello, mama," I said softly. She pulled us inside quickly and closed the door.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked. "Is there another social worker with you?"

"I'm here to take Amethyst and Nikki for Thanksgiving. We talked about this." She looked at me as if it was news to her.

"Okay, good then. They should be back soon." She didn't offer us anything to eat or drink. She didn't offer us a seat. I rolled my eyes as she and her boyfriend continued talking like we weren't there.

"We're home!" A young boy suddenly yelled, opening the door behind us. Amethyst and five other kids entered the apartment.

"Amethyst!"

"Sugilite!" We ran and hugged each other tightly. "I've missed you so much."

"Amethyst! Nikki! Go get your bags and get out!" My mother yelled. Amethyst and the oldest of the other children went into a bedroom. I turned to her.

"I'm glad you appreciate the bond between siblings," I said sarcastically. She just rolled her eyes and went back into the kitchen.

"Hi! I'm Izzie!" A little girl said, popping up in front of me.

"Are you Amethyst's sister?" I nodded my head.

"Yeah." Izzie smiled.

"Cool! Amethyst and I share a room, come and see!" SHe grabbed my hand and dragged me to the bedroom with Amethyst ad the other girl while Opal got stuck talking to the three boys.

The room was tiny. It was probably smaller than AMethyst's room at home, and the fact that it was packed didn't help anything. I almost walked face first into a bunk bed. I turned to my right and the girl who I assumed was Nikki was kneeling on a toddler bed to get into the closet. Amethyst was sitting on a cot in the other corner packing her bag.

"You guys all share this?"

"Yep!" Izzie said, clamoring past me and sitting on the bottom bunk. "But this week it'll just be me and Beatriz!" A toddler who couldn't have been older than two or three crawled between my legs and up onto the toddler bed.

"Isn't the space a little cramped though?" Nikki shrugged.

"We make do."

"The boys have two bunk beds in their room!" Izzie said. "Cause there's been four of them in there for a while. But Bryan's just a baby so his crib is below Jason's bed. I bet when Beatriz gets bigger we'll have two bunk beds too!"

"If all eight of us are still here by then." Nikki sighed.

"That's right!" Izzie said, like it was no big deal. "I know that Jason might go back to his mommy, which is sad because he's in first grade too even though he's already seven. It's almost like we're twins!" Opal knocked on the doorframe.

"We should get going soon if we wanna make it home before nightfall," she said. Izzie crawled down to the bottom of her bed.

"Wow, you're pretty! I bet you have lots of boyfriends!" Opal and I looked at each other, unsure of whether to laugh about 'lots of' or 'boyfriends'.

"Something like that." We loaded into my car soon after and started driving.

"Are you guys get treated right at home?" I asked. "There's eight kids, and mom doesn't exactly seem like the best parent."

"Oh, she's not." Nikki sighed. "Until Amethyst moved in, I was taking care of all of the younger kids."

"All by yourself?" Opal asked. Nikki nodded. "For how long?"

"Well, I've only lived with Eric and Ramona for a few years," She started. "They've broken up and gotten back together once when she got pregnant with Beatriz. Before that I was living with Eric, my mom, and my brother." I nodded.

"Eric's not your dad?" She recoiled in disgust.

"No. He's a creep. I don't like being around him. Ramona yells but he creeps me out." I nodded.

"He creeps me out too."

We ended up stopping for fast food. I knew Tahitia would be mad but I could tell the girls were hungry. Amethyst eagerly ordered her favorite and Nikki was hesitant. She tried to order a kids meal but I told her she could get whatever she wanted She ended up getting a dollar menu chicken sandwich. Nikki told us about living with my mother and Eric and Amethyst and I told her about my dad.

At one point I looked over and noticed that Opal was recording the conversation. I went to tell her something, then stopped. It was probably for the best.

"All four of my girls back!" Tahitia yelled, racing out of the house the second we got out of the car. SHe hugged Amethyst first. Nikki looked a little scared.

"Nikki, this is Tahitia. My real mom." Tahitia smiled and let go of Amethyst, coming over to hug me instead.

"Aw, you!" She then pulled away and hugged Nikki. "I'm so happy to have you this week." She pulled away. "I'm just so sorry it has to be during such hectic times. I've got so many people coming over on Thursday, but you girls will be sweet and help me, won't you?" I smiled.

"Of course. You know I'd do anything for you."

"Amethyst?" We all turned to the doorway, where Pearl was standing. Amethyst smirked.

"Hey, P." Pearl looked like she was going to cry, then ran to Amethyst with arms open. Amethyst opened her arms to accept the hug, but was shocked when Pearl punched her in the stomach instead.

It couldn't have hurt much -let's face it, it's Pearl- but it almost knocked her off her feet.

"Amethyst, how dare you not call us? Do you even know how worried we were? If you thought this was bad, wait until you get n earful from Peridot tomorrow!"

"Love you too, P." Amethyst managed, still in shock. Nikki was speechless, and I can't say I could blame her. "Wait, what do you mean tomorrow?" Tahitia looked at me and Opal.

"What, you didn't tell them yet?" I put my hands up.

"Hey, I just thought it would be better if we let Pearl flip out on her first."

"Didn't tell us what?" Nikki asked shyly. Tahitia smiled.

"Well, Pearl's girlfriend Peridot is the daughter of the Headmistress of Amethyst's old school. We're friends, so I was talking to her, and..." She trailed off with a smile. Amethyst shot up.

"No way! I get to go back to Crystal Prep tomorrow?" Opal nodded.

"We figured you'd like to go back tomorrow and Wednesday." She looked over at Nikki. "You don't have to go, but we figured it might be more fun than sitting here with people you don't know for two days." Nikki smiled.

"I'd love to go. I've always wondered what fancy schools were like."

"Oh, it's great!" Amethyst yelled, jumping up. "I can't wait to see Peri!" She smiled.

A little while later, once Pearl was in her bed, Nikki and Amethyst were comfortably on the air mattress(which Tahitia said had found a permanent home on Pearl's floor), Tahitia was settled on the couch with some wine and Grandma Baroque(all the way from Colorado bless her soul) was in Tahitia's bed, Opal and I finally got a chance to relax.

"You know, I just can't fall asleep in any bed but this one."

"I know how you feel," Opal said. SHe grabbed my hand and I drifted asleep, more peaceful then I'd felt in months.

(A/N) Oh yeah so this Chapter takes place on Monday I'll get the rest of the week out over the weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving! Be prepared for two Thanksgivings, first the Baroque Thanksgiving(because as you all should know by now I'm addicted to Dinner Parties) and the Lazuli Thanksgiving(because who needs Happy Lappy Chappys?)