[Complicado] We Are Family

[Blake Emma Renner]

Blake picked up all of her hair and tied a ponytail holder into it quickly just to get it out of her face. Okay. Everyone’s favorites. She looked down at the counter, mentally checking people off in her head. Mackenzie. Pasta. Check. Lance. Sheppard’s Pie and mashed potatoes. Check. Logan. Steak. Baked potatoes. Check. Samantha. Salad. Got it. Riley. Shrimp scampi, just finished boiling. Chad.. ribs. Plenty of em. Chocolate fountain set up for Kiersten? Currently plugged in with an assortment of fruit and candy for her to dip. Shane was still home with Claire, but they were so busy with their hands full with a newborn that Blake had just put together an assortment of everything, and some home made tacos and put it in a container for Riley to take to him after dinner. She took in a deep breath and sighed, looking over at the stuff that was set aside for Lily, the mac n’cheese, the mashed potatoes, whatever she would eat off Riley and Mack’s plates. Kenzie was still off a bottle, so she wasn’t able to spoil her with her favorites yet. Same went with all of Chad and Sams’ kids. ‘ Hey did you need any help?’ Samantha asked as she entered the kitchen. Ha. Help. If you weren’t Mack or Shane, get the hell out of the kitchen. Slightly difficult to phrase that considering Samantha was Logan’s family. “ No I’m good.. thanks for offering..” she added on to sound polite. Logan’s family. Chad’s wife. She cleared her throat, moving past her as she started to get things ready. She watched as Samantha looked over all of the food, “ Who are the ribs for? It looks like everyone elses’ favorites” she said before Blake placed her hands on her hips, “ Um… Chad loves ribs. Always has. He used to eat them like his life depended on it. I have.. no idea how many picnic baskets he finished off in the back of his tr-“ she said before she stopped herself. Awkward. She stopped, clearing her throat again. “ Right,” she said before she turned and walked out of the kitchen to find Logan, her fiancé..again..

“ Hi honey,” she said as she stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around him tightly, pulling him close to her as she kissed him. She held on to him, not even letting him budge for a split second. What if’s had already torn apart the greatest thing she had ever experienced. Sometimes it was hard to look at Chad. And honestly, sometimes she had to bite her tongue to watch what she said around Logan and Samantha. Sometimes Chad smiled like he did in highschool, or wore the same pair of jeans that had probably been in his closet for years. Or sometimes she caught herself staring at the scar over the side of his thumb that he’d gotten that night his truck died when they were out past curfew. But she needed that experience. She needed to get her heart broken. She needed to have something to write about, to kick off her career, to experience. All of it led her to Logan Renner. She pulled away from the kiss, resting her forehead lightly against his. It would be silly of her to say that she hadn’t loved Chad, that sometimes she didn’t remember what it felt like to be in love with him when he was feet away. But the girl that was in love with him, wasn’t the same girl she was now. That old girl probably still was in love with him. But the new take charge, successful, confident, take the world by storm Blake? She was irrevocably Logan Renner’s. “ Ready for dinner?” she asked as she smiled slowly and gave him another quick kiss.

Outfit

[Samantha Jade Masters]

Samantha looked down at the three tiny bodies that her and Chad had created. Thank God it was basically a three for one special, because she could not endure that pain again. He had wanted a big family, and she was sure three probably wasn’t enough, but it was a good start at getting them out of the way with less pain. She smiled as she leaned down, giving them each a kiss on their borderline hairless little heads before she made her way into the kitchen, letting Chad take over and talk to them about sports enthusiastically. Or whatever the hell he was doing. She leaned against the counter after offering Blake some help. It was sort of the least she could do. Logan and Blake had patched things up and had so openly just welcomed Lance into their home to help take care of him with his sudden disability. She still couldn’t believe her uncle, his choices.. but it showed a lot about how Logan cared for his brother, and how Blake cared for Logan. Speaking of Logan… she narrowed her eyes as she made her way towards the dining room where Logan and Blake were since she had placed all the food in there.

Sam pursed out her lips, waiting for Blake to suction herself off of Logan before she made her move. There was something she wanted to talk to him about. He was a business man… he might be interested. “ Hey Logan,..” she said mousily, trying to make her way over to him. “ Can I talk to you about something?” she asked quietly again before she took a seat by where he was standing. “ Um..” she started, before speaking very quietly. “ I was sort of thinking about starting a company,.. or a school. So much pressure gets put on these ballet girls. You know I understand that more than anyone and.. you’re friends with Shane.. look at Claire. And I um.. I think a lot of the pressure comes from the schools. And I was sort of thinking about doing a school for when they are younger.. sort of help get the mindset when they are young about being healthy.. and um..” she said, still quietly, still nervous that he might think she was a complete idiot, “ Well I was sort of thinking that um.. maybe you might sort of want to be sort of um..” she said nervously again, wringing her hands together before she cleared her throat, “ Would you consider investing?” she questioned barely over a whisper before she cringed and looked up at him .

Outfit

[Riley Scott Collins]

Riley was in the middle of a very serious, very intense match of patticake with Lily. She had such determination in her eyes and he was doing his best to keep up. He had to sing the words since she couldn’t say all of the song, but the hand movements? She sure as heck got those. Choreography was something that she must’ve learned from watching her mother, the grace, the memorization of things easily. That had Mackenzie written all over it. Mothers Day had been beautiful and he was glad that he had been able to spoil both of his girls, and now they were there just to have a partial family dinner with some of the kiddo’s. Damn it was going to be crazy when Shane started toting Brayden around. He looked up, overhearing that Kenzie was down for a nap. “ Go give her a kiss goodnight,” he whispered to Lily before he stood up and made his way over to the dinner table, stealing one of Chad’s ribs before he sat down. Best friend, entitled. He shook his head as he chewed, pointing the rib bone at Logan and Blake as they kissed. “ Isn’t that what led you two to your first pregnancy?” he asked before he smiled up at Mackenzie, pulling her chair out for her. Oh for her to be pregnant.. though that would put a damper on her career. So he just stayed quiet, never mentioned it. Probably didn’t fit in with the wedding plans.

Riley stretched his arms out, draping one delicately around the back of Mackenzie’s chair and leaned over to kiss her cheek, feeling as Lily started to climb her way into his lap. “ Daddy” she said in her little angelic voice. “ Juice?” she questioned. Riley narrowed his eyebrows, he didn’t remember bringing in her bag. “ What do you say, princess?” he asked, picking her up into his lap as he looked around to see if her sippy cup was anywhere in sight. ‘ Peez… thank you’ she said in a rushed sentence. Riley scrunched his nose, looking over to Mackenzie. She’d probably know exactly where it was. Or was monitoring how much juice she had in the first place. All that little girl drank was juice and tea, it was hard getting any type of water or milk into her. Riley leaned down, placing a soft kiss on the side of her hair before something caught his attention in the corner of his eye. He turned his head, looking over at Lance as a silence filled the room.

Outfit

[Lance James Renner]

Lance adjusted the sunglasses over his eyes. For some reason he still wasn’t comfortable without wearing them. He could pretend that he wasn’t blind, that he was just wearing glasses, that people could try and pretend to be normal around him and not be weirded out by him. He felt the button of his shirt, trying to remember… which shirt was that? What color was it? Was he wearing brown shoes? Was this a black shirt? He lifted his hands up to the bandaging that was still on the side of his head. Riley and Chad had both been the ones to change that, clean it, make sure that it didn’t look infected every few hours. He didn’t regret his actions. He would still jump in front of a bullet if it was heading Kiersten’s way, any day of the week. He stopped, hearing a noise in the doorway before he turned his ear towards it. He listened to the sound of the footsteps, the scent that floated in from it. Lily. Probably on a search for the rest of the little kids. He licked his lips, placing his hands out to reach for furniture, anything to lead his way to the hallway. He was still refusing to walk with a stick, no matter how many times Blake put it in his hand. It had sort of resulted in a lot of bruises, and he wasn’t sure how Logan felt about it. But he needed to feel normal somehow. Once he reached the hallway he placed his hand against the wall, walking closely to it and slowly, incase he didn’t count his steps properly and met the staircase before he expected to. “ One… two…” he counted with each step until eventually he reached them, holding his hand against the railing as he came downstairs slowly.

Blake had been cooking all day, all of the foods smelled so good. He just hadn’t ventured out into the rest of the house yet. Lance counted the steps quietly to himself until he reached the final one, holding his hand out against the door frame and moved to where he could just picture in his mind where the living room was. He licked his lips, noticing as the room seemed to go silent. He reached up, placing his hand on the back of a chair, which he already knew was Logan’s by the cologne that drifted from it. But instead he placed his hands on Logan’s chest, pretending to try and examine him. “ I’m sorry Blake, I didn’t know you were sitting here,” he said quietly, trying to break the tension. He didn’t need to speak loudly, it was already quiet enough. Lance licked his lips before he smiled slowly, moving away from Logan’s chair and reached out to try and feel for the table. He moved delicately, feeling for which spot would be his, but when he reached out for a chair he clenched his jaw, not feeling it where it was supposed to be and instead found himself reaching out in the air for nothing.

Outfit

[Logan Chase Renner]

Logan quietly shut the door to Kenzie's room, putting the baby monitor in his back pocket. She'd finally gone to sleep, he thought she was never going to stop eating. Guess her tummy got full eventually. That was one thing he enjoyed about the dad stuff, he may not have boobs, but he could totally give someone a bottle. And Blake had her hands full with the cooking stuff. It was something he could do to be helpful. After he'd gone down stairs he sat down beside Chad, who was talking to Austin and Aidan about football. Gotta get them started early. Logan reached down and picked up Alli, these kids were such a mix of Chad and Sam. It still seemed unreal that they had not only one kid, but three. Logan remembered when they brought Kenzie home, how scary it was, learning how to take care of her. He couldn't imagine having three new borns all at once. But Sammi was such a good mom. Alli smiled when Logan lifted her up so she was level with his face, smiling at her, "You and Kenzie are going to be friends, I can already see it." He set her back down, rubbing her little baby head and stood up, seeing Blake coming out of the kitchen. It seemed she'd finished everything up, which was good. He'd been having to smell it all day, he was starving. "Hi," he said when she approached him, and he too wrapped his arms around her tightly, kissing her back. Fiance. Again. He wished he could just call her his wife again, but he didn't regret the things that had happened. They only made him that much more sure that he belonged with Blake. So sure that he'd never leave her side ever again. There was no second guessing, no what ifs, not anymore. There was only Blake, and Kenzie, and they life they created as a family and it would only really get better. He loved her quirks, and her ambition. She wanted success the way he did. Just to make some kind of difference. Logan hugged her tighter and buried his face in her neck. Even if it'd been a long day and they had a ton of people with babies everywhere, Logan always wanted to steal moments like this with Blake. Blake asked him if he was ready to eat, to which he replied, "Yup," and was going to go sit down when Sam stopped him.

"Sure Sammi," he smiled and sat down beside her, leaning on the table and listened as she explained what she was getting at. She completely had the right idea, Logan was a business man. And as it turned out, recently he was looking for more investment options. A dance school hadn't been on his list and honestly, he didn't know a lot about dance or the business side of a dance studio type of thing, the benefits, the profits, etc. But eh could see Sam wanted it. And she had solid reasons behind it, which made for a good business venture. If Sam thought the ballet world put too much pressure on younger students, chances were, a lot of other people did too. People would be drawn to the idea, there was not doubt about that. Logan grinned, she was funny how she was nervous asking this. But he thought it was a really good idea. "Sam, honestly, its a really good idea. There are tons of people who agree with what you've said, it's a great model to build off of. I'd love to invest." Logan heard the baby monitor in his pocket, it sounded like Kenzie was either making noise in her sleep or stirring. He looked out of the dining room toward the stairs, seeing Lily walking around over there. Walking slightly poorly, more like wobbling cutely, but he smiled at Sam anyways, "Seriously, I'm in, we can talk tomorrow if you want. Excuse me for a second," Logan stood up and went in the entry way where he scooped Lily up and she giggled. "What are you doing in here, hmm?" he asked her, resting her on his hip. "Baby?" she asked pointing upstairs. "Ohh, baby is sleeping, you can play with her when she wakes up later." She wiggled out of his grasp and he set her down, shaking his head and headed back to the dining room where he sat down. Logan reached over to grab himself a steak when it got oddly quiet in the room. Logan felt a hands over his chest, turning slightly to see Lance, feeling around for his seat. It pained Logan to see his brother like this at all. Pained him to remember while he had to see Lance struggle, Lance couldn't even see. Yes, Logan was absolutely glad and relieved beyond belief that Lance was alive at all. Most gunshots to the head were fatal, how Lance survived he had no idea. But watching Lance try so hard to stay independent, not lose his temper too often... it was difficult to watch. But Logan understood the way Lance wanted to keep some normalcy in his life. It was awkward for everyone when the room went quiet. And Lance was making jokes, which was a huge step in a good direction. Logan couldn't help but go along with it to lighten up the mood, saying in a high pitched girly voice, "Oh Lance, keep you hands off, you're making me uncomfortable..." he laughed, about to stand up and get Lance to his chair but Kiersten beat him to it. God bless her and her patience, and her easy way of making Lance still feel like he was doing things himself.

[Chad Anthony Masters]

Chad watched Sam go into the kitchen. It was crazy as hell how time went so quickly. They'd been married for over a year now, had three kids, and he was still crazy about her. He still couldn't tell you what it was that drew him in, but it was the same thing that took him by surprise in Vegas when Sam had asked what they should do about their Vegas wedding and Chad had suggested they do nothing. Just stay married. And now a year into the future, he was so glad they had. He didn't want to think about if they'd gotten it annulled. If they would be married now. They certainly might not have any kids. Three was so crazy as it was. But the three of them were all so different already. Austin was the smiley one. Aidan was calm and quiet. Allison let it be known that she was the girl, and so obviously in charge of things. Such distinct personalities already. Bringing them home had been the biggest adjustment, but now they had such a routine it seemed normal already. Chad was telling the boys about how they were going to be football stars, and he looked over and smiled when Logan picked up Alli. The best thing about all of this was the fact that they didn't have to do this by themselves. He and Sam had family and friends who were always willing to help. And it seemed all of their kids were already destined to be friends. The triplets, Lily, Kenzie... probably Brayden once Shane and Claire started bringing him around. One big group of friends, growing up together... much like all their parents had. Chad left the babies where they were content together, still plainly visible from the table and went to sit down, piling his plate high with ribs. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had these ribs but he was pumped. He hadn't even taken a bite yet and he already knew they were going to be good. Riley had taken one off his plate but Chad just made a gestured that said, help yourself. He was willing to share the deliciousness. Sam was sitting beside him, so he piled some other stuff on his plate. He hoped it wasn't weird for her to think about his relationship with Blake. And it felt so long ago anyways. Lance had come into the room, and Chad couldn't help but reach over and take Sam's hand. It was tough on everyone involved. They were all lucky to have each other.

[Mackenzie Janelle Collins]

Mack smiled and sat down as Riley pulled out her chair, leaning over to kiss his cheek. This had to be one of the most surreal 'family' dinners to date. There were five kids under the age of two in the house. So crazy. And yet, looking around, everyone seemed happier than ever, especially under the circumstances. It'd been a rough few weeks. They were lucky to all have each other since as of recent events, things could be much worse. Mackenzie was still highly concerned about her sister. It was odd that she was acting normal. She half expected her to react horribly, but she had reacted... normal. Kiersten had been upset. Relieved. Angry. Eerily calm. And then she'd just... taken it upon herself to make things as normal as possible. But maybe it wasn't just what Lance needed. Maybe the pair of them needed that normalcy, so she supposed, whatever works for them. Riley had pulled Lily onto his lap. Lily promptly asking about juice. That was about the extent of her vocab right now. Daddy, please, thank you, juice. And of course when other people started bringing their kids around, 'baby' was added to her small list of words. Mack stood up and went to go grab Lily's bag of stuff and brought it over, and then dragged the high chair so it was somewhat between hers and Riley's chairs, but slightly behind them. Mack had filled Lily's sippy cup with milk because, Riley was right, the kid loved juice and did not drink enough milk. Lily looked at her asking, "Juice?" Mack shook her head and handed it to Lily, "No, milk. Can you say milk?" "Juice...?" "Milk." Mack laughed and picked her up off of Riley's lap, putting her in the high chair and then made a small plate of mac n cheese and mashed potatoes. Luckily Lily was drinking the milk with out protest, which was perfect.

Mack looked over too, a spoon of mashed taters for Lily stopping midair and watched lance come into the room. he seemed to be finding his way.... alright. Things would get better she was sure. She didn't want to look at Logan, he had that same face Kiersten got when she looked at him. Sad, pained. Helpless. Lance was trying to find his seat, struggling, but out of nowhere, Kiersten was there to help. Mack went back to getting Lily some potatoes to mush around before filling her own plate. No need to stare. Lily was making noises now anyways, small conversations starting back up. Mack looked at Riley, offering a shrug. "So," she started, spooning an obscene amount of pasta onto her plate, knowing her eyes were far bigger than her stomach, "My mom called today. Wanted to know when we were coming to visit..." she laughed, raising her eyebrows slightly. "I told her it really depended on your work schedule...can you pass me a roll?"

[Kiersten Mollie Bannon]

Kiersten stood over the sink and washed her hands, not even realizing she was just standing with her hands under the water, thinking. About Lance. Ways she could make things easier for him without him feeling like he was dependent on everyone else. And he shouldn't feel that way, he was completely fine except for losing his eyesight, he could get around on his own. And that's what he needed anyways. Lance didn't want to be dependent on any one, or a cane stick thingy, he just wanted to get back to his life as normally as possible. But it stilled sucked. When he got frustrated about small things. And angry about bigger things. And there wasn't a lot she could do to help him. She had kind of surprised herself though. She wasn't usually so calm, or patient. But that's what Lance sort of needed right now. And it wasn't difficult to figure that she'd want to try to be whatever he needed. Kiersten didn't know how long she'd been standing there before she finally turned off the water when is starting scalding her skin. She dried off her hands and went to the dining room, seeing that everyone had sat down to eat. Lance was downstairs, wearing honestly the most horrid outfit he could have possibly put together, but hey, he'd dressed himself, so who was she to judge him. She hadn't even realized that he had come downstairs, probably the smells had drawn him out. She didn;t know about anyone else, but she was near starving. And she knew there was a chocolate fountain somewhere...

Kiersten walked over when she saw Lance reach out, trying to find his chair, gently taking his hand and walked him closer to his chair so it was in arms reach, and placed his hand on his chair. As long as he knew where it was, he could pull his own chair out and sit down. He wasn't an invalid. She kissed his cheek and sat in hr own chair, ignoring the sideways glances from anyone else. After Lance had sat down, she leaned over and said quietly, "Okay, there's a shit ton of food but I'm guessing you want Sheppard's pie and mashed potatoes?" she questioned, already reaching for the dish and set it next to his plate. He could easily find his plate and his own silverware, which she was sure he had already felt around for them. he just had to get acquainted with what was in front of him and he was totally fine. She quietly took his hand and showed him where she'd put the dish of Sheppard's pie and then asked her sister to pass the potatoes. "I'm tempted to make a meal out of the chocolate fountain..."