Liona watched with a grin as her mom playfully bickered with her aunt as she bounced Ashleigh on her hip. The little girl was so sweet as she sleepily cuddled up to her.
"Well, you were probably the most well behaved of all Mom's kids! The boys saw you as a little doll to play with and it didn't help that Dad also treated you that way too! You being the baby meant that everyone adored you automatically and you also got away with so much when you were growing up! If I had pulled some of the things you did as a teen, then I would have been grounded for life! But you just got a gentle scolding and told not to do it again! But of course, you always did it again!"
"So, Grandpa Asher and Grandpa Darrol are here?" Liona asked to clarify which grandparents were being talked about.
"Oh, that would be your Grandpa's, Kaito and Lionel, Liona." Her Aunt Emma clarified.
"Really! Where are they now? And are Cassi and Cass still with them? What about Uncle Atreus and Aunt Alice?" She asked eagerly, looking around.
"Oh, they've already done their shopping and left. As for your Aunt and Uncle, they're still over in D.C. for a few more days. I'm told they're flight will arrive in time for your big celebration with the family." Aunt Emma said.
"Oh, I was hoping to see my grandpas a bit early." Liona pouted.
"Patience, Liona. I promise you'll see your entire family for the family celebration." Her mom said.
"I guess. It's not like I have a choice but to be patient!" She grumped. She loved her whole family, but her grandparents held a special place in her heart and wanted to see them. It had been too long since she last saw them.
"So, are those children over there the ones you were telling me about?" Liona heard her mom say as her aunt reached out and took the now sleeping toddler from her arms.
"Yeah. The boy is Erik and the girls next to them are his older younger sisters. The rest of them are playing around the play place…" Liona scanned the area before pointing out each of the kids to her mom.
"Dear me! Is it just me or do those children look a bit thin and possibly a bit under the weather, Sis?" Aunt Emma exclaimed as she studied the kids.
"Under the weather?" Liona asked, wondering how under the weather had anything to do with them being indoors with a roof over their head.
"It's a phrase to describe those not feeling well or who are sick." Her mom explained as she studied the kids. "How old did you say they were?" Her mom asked.
Liona pointed out the siblings and gave her mom their ages as well as a bit more information about them as she knew it.
"Oh my. It seems your friends might need a little help getting food on their table from what you've told me. Food insecurity shouldn't be a thing in this day and age, yet I still see it with some patients. It's reflected with low birth weights and then the children also tend to grow more slowly if the mother doesn't eat well or doesn't get adequate nutrition during their pregnancy." Her mom explained.
"Really? But Erik and Nikki are mine and the boys' age though! They aren't kids or babies like the other siblings!"
"Unfortunately, food insecurity affects all ages, Liona. I'll put in a word with a few charities I work with at the hospital and see if I can't get your friend's family registered for aid. It's all I can do for your friends right now, but just remember, Liona. It's fine to help a little, but don't get too invested in helping them. I don't want to see you spend everything you have on that family!"
"It's my money! I'll help them all I want!" Liona couldn't believe her mom would tell her not to help her friends.
Her mom audibly sighed before looking at her aunt. It seemed the baton was passed, and she received a lecture about drawing a line with helping. It was okay to help, but not to the point that they relied solely on her for support. She had no idea that was a thing. That's not what she was thinking at all when she had offered to get them some clothes. She took the lecture and vowed to make sure that she didn't get carried away and would only help out a little. Her making lunch for Erik was okay it seemed, especially since she was now spending his lunch breaks at his work, together. Her mom thought that was cute and reiterated again, much to her embarrassment, in front of her aunt about taking her to see her Aunt Jeanie.
"Ugh! Mooom! Please don't start that again! I'm only friends with Erik! Jeeze!" She huffed before she turned around to head back to Erik and his siblings.
When she strode over, she was still red faced, so it seemed that caught Nikki's interest as she sat down.
"What's with the red face? Did those old ladies give you an earful about hanging out with us?"
Liona laughed at Nikki's description of her mom and aunt, "No, my mom and my aunt were just teasing me. They did lecture me, but not about hanging out with you or anything like that. In fact, they were mostly telling me things I needed to know, hence the lecture."
"Your Momma is pretty! I wish I had hair that color!" Sighed Kylee.
"My mom has pretty dark hair now, but when she was a kid her hair was much brighter. It started to darken when she was a teenager. I've seen her school portraits and every year it looked more and more like my grandpa Dar's hair color." Liona explained.
"I totally love her hairstyle! Just how much hair does that take to braid it that many times around her head?!" Nikki wondered out loud.
"Oh, my mom has tons and tons of hair! She's barely cut it her whole life! If she unwound her hair it would touch the ground!" Liona wasn't exaggerating. Her mom's hair was her treasure and she never ever cut it. She told her that she had been growing it out her whole life and every time she thought about cutting it, she decided against it for one reason or another. Liona secretly thought that her dad would be devastated if her mom ever cut it all off.
After staying at the play place for a little longer, Liona left with Erik and his siblings and headed for the food court. A shopping day at the mall wasn't complete without pigging out on mall food. She got the Norman siblings anything they wanted to eat and happily watched them enjoy the food. Although it seemed that both Erik and Nikki put the kibosh on anything sweet like candy or desserts for the kids. They all got one dessert and shared it between them even though she had offered to get everyone their own dessert.
After they were done eating, it was time to head home. On the way to dropping off Erik and his sisters, the younger kids had fallen asleep on the ride. She thought it was cute how they conked out on the way. She took the siblings back to the park and dropped them off at their insistence. Erik still didn't want to let her see where they lived so she respected that. She figured in due time she would be allowed to see their home and would try to be patient until he was ready to reveal it to her.
Heading for her home next, Liona smiled as she remembered the fun she had helping Nikki pick out a few things that she obviously needed. She was glad to help her and was thinking she would be a fun little sister to have. Her sisters were so serious most of the time and didn't like to shop. They mostly stuck to their studies and their music. They both played instruments and were in the orchestra in school. Aurora played the Hurdy-Gurdy while Ariel played the fiddle. In fact, Ari's fiddle was once Grandpa Lionel's and Rora's Hurdy-Gurdy had been Great-Grandpa Karl's once upon a time.
Her brothers were total divas on the other hand. Nolan and Noah were both on the swim team and were total playboys too. They had different girlfriends every week, it seemed, and they spent more money on clothes than even she did! Even if they didn't hoard clothing, they still had a lot between them. They were total popular jocks and lived as the heroes on campus when they both came in first and second place at their last tournament. Despite their school attitude and the way they were hero worshiped, they were still her little brothers and she knew they didn't really care about all that, but they did have fun living up to their hype and put on a show like they were some kind of brightly colored birds.