“Are you sure Elena?” Mom asked for the third time.

“Yes mom, I like going to his house! I don’t mind spending my weekends with dad there.” I assured her for the third time.

“Okay.” Mom finally said, sighing. “Even Halloween?”

“Yes, even Halloween.”

I could tell there were so many other things she wanted to say but she kept them to herself.

“A family portrait,” Miss Amber said, ignoring some of the groans from some students, “You can create a family tree, you can make a collage, you can make a drawing, you can write a story or make a video. The point is to have fun with this project. You’ve been working hard on your science projects and I wanted to give you a fun break! Plus, I want to get to know all of you and your families better!”

I could hear Jimmy mumble that a better break would have been no homework, but I ignored him. I was excited for the project!

My family was growing and maybe, just maybe, if I showed Dad and Kai the drawing I was already planning in my head then they would see that I was ready for them to tell me they were dating.

“Pfft!” Jimmy snorted, “You’re dressing up for Halloween?”

“Yeah? And?” I shot back. I hadn’t even been talking to him, he needed to learn how to mind his own business.

“Only babies dress up for Halloween, guess you’re a baby!” He sneered.

I rolled my eyes at him.

“Jimmy,” Sophia said (I’m so happy we ended up at the same school!), “Wasn’t it just last week that you started crying cause you thought you’d lost your toys? Kinda sounds like something a baby would do, if you ask me.”

“Hey, I only cried a little! And those toys cost a lot of money!”

“You’re welcome for helping you find them by the way,” I told him.

“Oh right,” He said, “Thanks.”

“And, I don’t care what you say,” I told him, “I’m going to dress up and go trick or treating and have a lot of fun!”

Sophia nodded supportively, “She’s going with her dads. Well, not her dad dads, not Robbie and Danny. She’s going with her dad dad and her unofficial dad dad, Pappa Seal.”

Jimmy blinked at us. “What? How many dads do you have?”

“Three,” Sophia explained for me, “Her bio dad Danno, his boyfriend, Pappa Seal, and her step dad Robbie.”

“Pappa Seal?” Jimmy asked, looking at me.

“It’s what the campers called him at camp, instead of Pappa Bear, Pappa Seal.” I told him.

He looked at me like that clarified nothing.

“Because he’s a Navy Seal.”

“Oh! Wow, that’s cool. And you’re dad-you’re bio dad-he’s a cop right? He came in to talk to us.”

“More like you, Miss Amber just made him disguise it like he was talking to all of us, but you're the one that needed that talk," Sophia said.

Jimmy rolled his eyes and waited for my answer. 

I nodded.

“That’s so cool, they must be total badasses!” He said, voice in awe.

“They’re dressing up too!” Sophia said, “Do you think that makes them babies?”

“Obviously not,” Jimmy said, rolling his eyes. “What are they going to dress up as? Probably something cool, right?!”

“Um,” I smirked, excited to see what they would look like in the outfits I had picked out, “Yeah, kinda.”

"I was helping him make the bed." Dad said, wide-eyed as he walked downstairs with Kai. "Well, I was helping cause I slept on the bed, cause I was getting tired of the sofa, and you know how big Kai's bed is."

I took a second, realizing this was the moment. I nodded as vigorously, but also as nonchalantly as I could. "Having Danno around always helps keep the nightmares away for me too."

Because HELLO!!! It wasn’t that big of a deal!!!!