[A/N: continued from last chapter just a little while later]

⌈ 𝘋𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘴, 𝘛𝘟 ⌉ 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 17, 2020 ⌊ 1:20 𝘗𝘔 ⌋



"Do you want to help me cook lunch?"

"Yes ma'am." Saris spoke.

She was now in a way better mood. She and Serena had gone through all the photos and inserted them in the baby book. It was a special bonding time for them that definitely uplifted the mood in the house.

"Do you know anything about cooking?" Serena questioned as she began pulling things out of the cabinet and fridge.

"No my m-" she stopped, still getting used to everything.

"Saris, it's ok. It's going to happen sometimes. Okay?" Serena reassured Saris.

"Yes ma'am. But no, I don't know how to cook. I usually ate noodles or a sandwich when I was hungry."

Serena was excited as she felt like this was her time to shine. 'Finally.' she thought to herself.

Serena gave Saris thorough instructions as they cooked the small meal. Towards the end Saris noticed how little food there was and she was confused on how this would feed 7 people.

"Is this for everyone..." she trailed off seeing only two handfuls of brussel sprouts along with two slices of salmon.

"Oh no." Serena chuckled, "Sorry, I think the boys are going out soon and I was thinking you could go with them and bond." Serena saw the confusion in Saris's face and instantly dropped the smile, "Unless you don't want to. I can share my food with you." She slightly began to panic, rushing to get another plate.

"No, no I can go." Saris reassured.

Although she was unsure of how she would feel not going where she was going, but she seemed to be doing that a lot recently.

"Ma we're leaving!" Serena faintly heard from the front door.

"Aht aht, bring y'all behinds here."

Saris's face slightly frowned up since she thought everything was going smoothly so far.

"Ma'am?" Kourtney held a goofy grin.

"Y'all know how I feel about y'all leaving without properly saying bye."

The other boys followed in and began to hug Serena and give her a kiss on the cheek. Everyone was smiling and joking as they said their goodbyes.

She was joking?

Saris couldn't wrap her mind around this, but after talking to Serena she figured all it would take is time.

Jayceon entered the room and joined the conversation they all were having. Saris stood off to the side being left out, but not on purpose. She wasn't feeling negative at all either. She was taking a chance to observe their family dynamic and how she would fit in there.

"Ok, now y'all can go." Serena spoke with a smile.

"Ouu baby this shit looks good." Jayceon spoke looking at the plated food.

"Thank you, Saris helped." after she said that everyone looked at her causing her to nervously chew her lip.

"Looks good baby girl." Jayceon spoke, causing her to do a small smile and whisper a 'thank you'.

"Ok we're gonna head out now." D'aire spoke and all the other boys nodded.

"Hol up." Jayceon said before pulling his wallet out of his pocket, "Take your sister, and buy anything she wants. I mean it." He handed a black card to Kourtney before patting his back.

Saris said thank you again and followed the boys out of the house.

"Take momma's car, it has enough space for all of us." Nehemiah spoke.

They walked to an all black range and the boys began to get inside. Saris approached the door to get into the backseat but heard D'aire call her name. She looked over to him and he held the passenger door open, motioning her to go inside.

"It's ok, I'm fine in the back."

"Nope ladies sit in the front." he urged.

She smiled, thanking him and sitting in the car. She buckled her seatbelt and looked out the window the entire way to the mall. The boys spoke around her, but since she wasn't paying attention she just heard their voices, not what they were saying.

"Did you ever like...live here?" Nehemiah questioned.

All the boys snapped their heads his way and gave him the 'shut up' look.

"It's ok." Saris said, making the boys relax, "Yeah I lived here till I was 8. I don't remember much about here besides school."

They all nodded as Kourtney pulled up to the mall. Saris felt a hint of similarity as she looked around the area.

"I think I remember this mall. I used to beg to go into Justice and Build-a-Bear." she smiled at the faint happy memory, one of the few she had.

"Tylear's ass wouldn't stay out of build-a-bear when he was younger."

They all laughed and Saris joined in.

Although this feeling of laughter and happiness around family was new, she could feel herself getting used to it already.

—

The first store they entered was Forever 21 and the boys all followed Saris. She was mindful to only get the bare minimum and also to be aware of the prices. The boys caught on how she would look at items for a long while then put them back with a slight frown once she saw the price tag.

At the end she picked out two shirts and a pair of jeans and placed them on the counter by the register.

"Hello, will that be all?" the cashier spoke.

"Y-" Saris began to speak before Kourtney and D'aire dropped a stack of clothes on the counter.

Saris looked closely at all of the items and noticed they were all the things she had put back because of the price.

"I don't need all this." Saris looked at them confused.

"Pops said buy anything you want." Nehemiah spoke with a shrug.

Saris's eyes went wide as they bought all the clothes without hesitation. This happened in every store they went into so she was very cautious in what she picked up. Towards the end Saris felt her stomach growl, but she decided to stay quiet and wait till they got home.

"My stomach is gnawing on my ribs." Nehemiah spoke, rubbing his stomach.

"Damn mine too. Momma had the house smelling good then only made enough for two plates." Kourtney kissed his teeth.

Saris lightly chuckled as they made their way to the food court. She looked over to Tylear and noticed he was already looking at her. He was being really quiet and she wanted to ask why.

D'aire and Nehemiah went one way as Kourtney, Tylear, and Saris went to find a table.

"Alright I'll go get the food, you want your regular Ty?" Tylear nodded, playing with one of his locs, "Ok, whatchu want lil bit?" Saris furrowed her eyebrows as she looked around.

She hadn't had fast food in years so she didn't know what any place had.

"Can you get me the same as Ty?" Kourtney nodded and went to the long line at chick-fil-a.

"You don't even know what I get." Tylear spoke with a chuckle.

"Well what do you get? I don't know what any place has on their menu."

"You've never been to chick-fil-a?" he asked, shocked.

"I don't remember, they sell sandwiches right?"

"Yeah, I get the spicy deluxe with fries and sweet tea."

"Sounds good." Saris trailed off.

"Are you ok...like from earlier?" Tylear questioned.

That was the only reason why he had been quiet. He wasn't sure where she was mentally and seeing her breakdown a couple hours ago and smiling later had him a little confused.

"Yeah I talked with- um you know and she made me feel better."

Saris was conflicted on what to call Serena and Jayceon. They were her parents, but it felt awkward calling or even referring to them as such.

"Ok, just making sure. I'll always be here and don't be afraid to just talk to me, it doesn't have to make sense I'll listen." Saris slightly poked out her lip feeling a lot better.

"You can talk to me too. I probably won't understand, but I'll try." she smiled.

As they waited for their food they joked around and talked until the other boys joined along with the food. Saris finished her food and offered to throw away everyone's trash. When she was walking back to the table she saw one guy had joined the group. As she approached the table she overheard some of the conversation.

"Y'all got all these bags from girl stores like some damn sugar daddies. Y'all got something to share?"

"Nigga shut up this for our sister."

"I've been to your house how many times and y'all don't have no damn sis-." Saris sat down in her seat looking around.

"DAMN she stole your whole face, or you stole her face which one was born first."

"Jalen shut the hell up." Tylear told him.

"My bad nigga always got an attitude."

"Nah, but this our sister Saris, Saris that's Jalen." Nehemiah introduced them.

Saris did a slight wave and a light "hi" as he gave a head nod back and dapped the boys up before leaving.

The boys wanted to check in Foot Locker to see if they had the shoes they wanted and Saris wanted to get a new pair of the white vans she already owned. They were dirty and beyond wash and repair.

Of course the boys picked out stuff for her as they were all shoe heads and couldn't resist. As they headed towards the exit Saris was on her phone trying to get a text back from Shawn. She wanted to say she never got her present and she was sorry she had to leave. Her IPhone 5c was glitching and she spammed the send button for the text, but it was frozen.

"That ancient phone." Nehemiah said, observing it.

"It's not working anymore." she frowned.

"Let's go." Kourtney said as they redirected to AT&T.

When they got inside they were immediately helped and directed towards the iphones. Saris zoned out and just followed the boys as they walked around until Kourtney called her name to get her attention.

"Pick a color."

"I thought we were getting my phone fixed, not getting a new one."

"You know you need a new one so stop fighting it. Now which one?"

Saris looked at the different phones and pointed at the purple one. After buying the phone and a clear case, they finally left the store. As they walked to the car Saris held the phone in her hand, feeling like she was holding a mini ipad.

"Whatchu want to do with this?" D'aire asked, holding up the 5c.

Saris shrugged and he tossed it in a nearby trashcan since they swapped out the sim card already.

—

Back home everyone was doing their own thing. Saris was in her room folding and saving the new clothes and shoes she got. Outside her door Jayceon stood trying to get the courage to go in and speak.

Everyone had their time with her and they seemed to be in their own dynamic in one day, but Jayceon had yet to have that heart-to-heart.

Jayceon finally decided to man up and knock on the door.

"Hello?" Saris spoke and the door opened shortly after.

"Hey um-" Jayceon cleared his throat, "Just wanted to let you know you're all set for school Monday."

"Ok thank you." she smiled, before returning to folding again.

"Actually I wanted to make sure everything was okay." he scratched the back of his neck.

"Yes sir. It's been a long day, but I'm feeling better."

"I've noticed your mood change and how comfortable you've gotten so far and I'm proud."

"Really?" Saris asked with hope, lacing her eyes.

"Always." Jayceon spoke before giving her a hug.

He kissed the top of her head before they pulled away and Saris looked up to him.

"Thank you."

—

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Tylear and Saris. Happy birthday to you." The Brooks family sang as the twins blew out the candles.

It was their first birthday together and this was definitely a turning point for both Tylear and Saris.

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I changed A LOT

‼️‼️Also since I'm currently editing, if you're reading this book and the editing isn't finished you might be confused at the complete change between this chapter and the next. Please ignore and follow me and wait for the new update to come. Thank you‼️‼️

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