Through Thick and Thin.

Blair sighed as she walked off the plane. She had no idea why she was back home, but here she was. She hadn't been home in about two or three years but even that visit wasn't very long, three or four days tops. Usually her parents would just come visit her in Arizona as would her sister. Blair never minded much because she never really had a desire to go back home. Blair went through security and smiled when she saw her parents standing by the gate. Blair smiled and hurried over to them and hugged them tightly, "Where's Emma?" She asked curiously once she had pulled away, "She's back at the house, dear." Her mother said. Blair smiled and nodded, excited to see her sister again, "Oh by the way, we are having a party tonight for you coming home. We invited mostly family and some friends. Everyone you know. It's just a little get together kind of to welcome you back home." Her mother explained as they walked out to the car. Blair fought the urge to roll her eyes and groan, but instead smiled, knowing that she could complain to Emma later about it.

---

Chris couldn't help but laugh lightly at Sebastian and how nervous his friend seemed to be, "Seb, calm down. It's just a little get together." He said to his friend with a small smile, "I mean I can see why you're nervous. It has been over ten years since you last saw her, but still, just calm down. Everything will be alright. It's not like things between you two ended horrible." He stated. Chris knew all about the party that the two of them were attending that evening, and he knew all about who it was for. Chris had been told all about Blair and everything that happened with her and Sebastian when they were younger. She was his first friend when he came to New York and they had stayed best friends up until their senior year of high school when they dated for the whole year and ended up breaking up before they both left for college. That was the whole reason why Chris was there with Sebastian, to keep Sebastian calm because of everything that happeed between them, Seb was a little nervous, or at least that's what it seemed like to Chris.

"Momma, when's Auntie Blair gonna get here?" Alana asked, bounding over to where Emma was seated at one of the tables on the patio out back. "She'll be here soon. Grandma and grandpa had to drive all the way to the airport to get her, remember?" Emma reminded her five year old daughter with a smile. Emma was looking forward to seeing her older sister. She flew out to Arizona whenever she could, but traveling with a five year old was never easy, and traveling alone with a five year old was even more difficult. Alana was a good kid, but she got antsy like any other five year old would after a certain point. The five hour flight from New York to Arizona was never fun, so Emma tried her best to get an early flight in the hopes that Alana would still be tired and fall asleep. Sometimes things worked out in her favor and it happened. Other times, well, not so much.

"Why's it takin' them so long?" The pout on her daughter's face caused Emma to laugh. "Well, sometimes there's a lot of traffic, baby. And flights get delayed. They'll be here soon though, I promise. Why don't you finish coloring that picture for your aunt in the meantime?" She suggested. She smiled when her daughter's face lit up as she was obviously reminded of what she'd been working on earlier and she hurried to the other end of the table where her Frozen coloring book was. Emma knew that everyone would be arriving soon enough. They'd timed it so the guests would all arrive just before her parents and Blair got back from the airport.

---

Sebastian couldn't remember the last time he'd been this nervous. He attended conventions and premieres with hundreds of thousands of people in attendance and he couldn't handle a damn welcome home party. He knew that he was being a bit ridiculous, but he couldn't help it. He hadn't seen Blair in years. They'd lost touch after they broke up just before heading off to college, and he hadn't spoken to her since. That was why he'd been a little surprised when he received the call from Emma a few weeks ago. He hadn't spoken to the younger Plessinger sister in years either, so he'd been pleasantly surprised when she reached out to him and invited him to the party. "I know, man. I can't help it though. What if she isn't happy to see me?" He sighed, shaking his head at the thought. He didn't want things to be weird between him and Blair, but he didn't really know what to expect with it being over a decade since they had last spoken to each other.

"I think we're a little early." He said as he parked outside the house. There weren't many cars parked out front yet, so he assumed that was the case anyway. "Thanks for coming with me again, man. I think I might have backed out if I hadn't already said I was bringing a friend with me." He chuckled slightly as he got out of the car, willing the nerves away as best as he could. As they walked towards the front door, he heard someone laugh in the backyard. "I guess they're out back." He said as he headed towards the back gate instead of the front door.

@ frank castle.
Blair sat in the back of her parents’ car and caught them up on her flight and how work was and such. Once they arrived at the house, Blair got out and got her suitcase out of the back. She could see other cars there and figured that her parents set up the party so the guests would be there when she returned home. It was something they would definitely do. Blair was really just excited to see Emma and Alana again. When her parents walked her through the gate to the backyard, she smiled seeing the friends and family that were there. Blair’s eyes scanned everywhere and she let out a squeal when she spotted her little sister, “Emma!!” She exclaimed before she ran over to her sister and hugged her tightly. Her smile widened when she noticed Alana appear at her side. Blair picked her up and hugged her tightly, “I’ve missed you, squirt. Your mom as well.” Blair said as she held her niece on her hip and looked at her sister.

Blair looked back out at the group of people that were all smiling at her and her eyes briefly fell on a pair of blue ones she knew all too well. It was him. Of course he had grown up in the past ten years since she had last seen him, or however long it had been, but she knew those eyes anywhere. Blair had to tear her eyes away to keep from staring, “I’m gonna go take my luggage up to my room really quickly. Em, will you help me?” She asked suddenly as she looked over at her sister with a small smile. She set Alana down and watched as her niece ran over to go finish whatever drawing she had been coloring. Blair practically pulled her sister from her spot and up to her room. Once a safe distance away, Blair spun to her sister, “What the hell is he doing here?” She asked quickly.

--

Chris rolled his eyes at Seb’s words, “Seb, you guys were best friends before you broke up. Why would she not be happy to see you?” He questioned before the pulled up at a house and the two of them got out of the car, heading up the driveway and towards the backyard, “I wouldn’t have let you back out even if you weren’t bringing me.” He replied. Once in the backyard Chris looked around at the group of people that were there. There were some people that came up to Sebastian, clearly recognizing him from Blair’s past. Chris scanned the crowd and notice that there was one girl that wasn’t mingling with everyone. He noticed that there was a little girl that was with her.

When Blair, or who Chris assumed was Blair, finally showed up, Chris figured out that the girl at the table was Emma, Blair’s younger sister. He watched as Blair greeted her sister and the young girl afterward. He raised his eyebrows when it was stated that this girl was Emma’s daughter. Chris stood next to Sebastian and watched as Blair’s eyes scanned the crowd until they landed on Sebastian, clearly shocked that he was there then finding an excuse to leave and take Emma with her, “Are you going to talk to her when she comes back out?” Chris asked once Blair had left.

Emma watched with a smile on her face as her daughter went back to coloring. Her mind drifted to how she'd invited Sebastian to the party, as per her mother's request, and she couldn't help wondering how her sister would take his presence. She knew that he was coming, he'd told her that he was going to be home and had nothing going on, and she doubted that he'd just blow it off or something. Which meant that things were going to get interesting really soon. And oh they did. Sebastian showed up with his friend not long before Blair showed up with her parents from the airport.

Initially, it was obvious that Blair hadn't noticed him as she ran over to her and Alana to embrace them both. Emma hugged her sister back tightly. "Missed you, big sis." She said, though she didn't get to get much of anything else in as Alana started rambling on about anything and everything, trying to catch Blair up on everything that had happened since she'd last spoken to her on the phone a day prior. Emma watched with an amused expression on her face, though she noticed a slight change in her sister's demeanor and knew immediately what the cause of it was. "Of course." She said, grabbing one of her sister's bags. "We'll be back in a second, Al." She told her daughter, ruffling up her blonde locks as she walked past and into the house. "Mom had me invite him."

---

"I don't know, man. It's just been a while." Sebastian said, shrugging his shoulders. He knew that he was probably worry a whole hell of a lot more than he should have been, but he couldn't help it. This was more nerve-wracking than any convention or premiere or audition he'd ever done, and that was saying something. "That doesn't really surprise me." He said as he stepped into the backyard. There was a decent amount of people there already, though there was no sign of Blair. Not yet anyway. He assumed she wasn't back from the airport yet or something.

"That's her sister Emma." He told Chris when he noticed his friend's attention on the back table where Emma was seated with a little blonde girl he assumed was her daughter Alana. He'd caught up with her a bit on the phone, so he knew that she had a daughter. He had a feeling he knew where Chris would end up. He was such a softie with kids. That's when Blair showed up. He tensed up a bit when they finally locked eyes but made no move to do anything. He watched as she headed inside with Emma not long after spotting him. "Yeah, I should probably get the awkward conversation out of the way as soon as possible, right?"

@ frank castle.
Blair listened with a smile as Alana started explain everything that had been going on lately, trying to catch up Blair. Once Emma had finished speaking about their mom having Emma invite Sebastian, Blair shook her head, “I should have known she would do something like this. What do I do? It’s going to be so awkward to talk to him.” She stopped herself there, instantly becoming upset over the words she just spoke. There was a time when Sebastian was her best friend and she couldn’t imagine not speaking to him, but now things were awkward, which is something that had never happened with him while they were younger. She really hated that things had changed so much. Blair took her things upstairs with Emma. She walked over to the window, peaking out and her eyes instantly finding Sebastian. Her eyes always seemed to do that, even when they were younger. He was always the first one she would be able to find in a crowd.

“He looks good, I’ll give him that.” She stated aloud, not really caring if Emma heard. Of course, Blair shouldn’t really be thinking those thoughts though. She was spoken for. Her boyfriend, Jax was back home in Arizona. He would be coming out in a week though. He was coming out to meet her extended family. He had only ever met her parents and Emma and Alana because they were the only ones to come out to Arizona. Blair and Jax had been together for almost three years, having met in a random coffee shop when Blair wasn’t looking where she was walking and ran into Jax, spilling her ice coffee all over him. Instead of freaking out on her, he just instead sat down and talked with her for two hours, then asking for her number before he left to go changed his now coffee stained shirt. The rest was history.

--

Chris raised an eyebrow when Sebastian clarified who Chris was staring at. He watched with a smile as the little girl chatted up a storm to Blair. Chris had always loved kids. It was just in his personality. When Sebastian spoke about getting the awkward conversation out of the way as soon as possible, Chris nodded, “Yeah that might be good. At least now she knows you’re here, so it’s not like you have to surprise her with the fact that you’re here. Though I’m pretty sure she was surprised when she saw you before she went inside.” She explained before he saw Blair’s parents walking over to Sebastian with smiles on their faces, “Sebastian, dear, it’s so good to see that you could make it. When Emma told me that you would be here, I got really excited. We haven’t seen you since Blair left for college. The initial adjustment was weird seeing as you two were always attached at the hip.” Mrs. Plessinger said as she smiled widely at Sebastian.

Then she looked over and noticed Chris, her smile widening even more, “Oh! You must be the friend that Emma said Sebastian was bringing. How rude of me, I’m sorry, dear. I’m Miranda. This is my husband, John. Welcome to our home. We are glad to have you here.” She said happily. Chris smiled widely, “Well thanks for allowing me to be here. I’m Chris by the way.” “Of course! We love having people over, and any friend of Sebastian is always welcome in our home, Chris.” John replied before his wife could say anything, but she just nodded in agreement. Chris smiled widely, loving the welcome he was receiving from everyone, “I’m sure Blair will love meeting you, Chris. She was always a social butterfly and loved meeting new people. Even when she was a kid. That’s what got her and Sebastian to be best friends. She came home from school one day and told us that she had made friends with the new boy in her class. Next thing we knew they were inseparable.” Chris smiled over at Sebastian, having heard only briefly about how fast he and Blair had become best friends, “That’s so cool. Well I look forward to meeting her.” Chris said before Miranda and John excused themselves to greet their other guests, “I see why you’re nervous. They clearly don’t know that you and Blair ended rocky.” Chris stated.

"Well, you can't just ignore him, Blair." Emma told her sister. She knew that things would likely be a bit tense and awkward between the two of them, but ignoring Sebastian was kind of out of the question with him here at the party and all. "He knows this party is for you. If he still had any hard feelings about the breakup do you really think he would have shown up today?" She punctuated her words with a raised eyebrow, figuring she'd try to reason with her sister and try to help ease some of her anxiety a bit.

"His friend isn't hard on the eyes either." Emma said, setting her sister's bag down in her room. She might be a mother of a hyperactive five year old, but she was still a nearly thirty year old woman with eyes. And there was no denying that both men looked really good. "You should at least talk to him. He'll probably just want to catch up. He was never the rude or spiteful type." She reminded her sister. Sebastian had been Emma's favorite out of her sister's high school boyfriends. He was just an all-around good guy.

---

"I assumed that Emma would have mentioned something to her, but I guess not." Sebastian said with a slight shrug of his shoulders. Before either of them could say much of anything else on the matter, Blair's parents were approaching them and he was soon greeted by both of them. Plastering a smile onto his face, he nodded. "It's great to see you too, Miranda. It was strange not seeing you all too. Very strange." He said, embracing the slightly older woman before giving her husband a firm handshake. He'd always been on good terms with Blair's family. Of course, they'd been like a second family to him long before he and Blair had started dating, but that was besides the point.

He let out a soft laugh when Mrs. Plessinger started telling Chris about how he and Blair had met. He'd given his friend the initial run-down of it all prior to coming here, but he hadn't given him all of the details. And clearly Blair hadn't told her parents about how things had ended between the two of them either. He didn't know if that was a good sign or a bad sign. "Yeah, I don't know if that's good or bad." He said, letting out a soft sigh. Before he could say anything else though, he heard a little voice. "Are you a friend of my mommy's?" Looking over, he saw the little girl Emma and Blair had been with before they'd gone inside. Emma had told him about her daughter when they'd spoken on the phone a few weeks ago, and it was so beyond obvious that she was a Plessinger girl. "You could say that. I went to school with your mommy and Aunt Blair. You're Alana, right?" He asked, crouching down so he was at her level. When the blonde nodded, he smiled. "I'm Sebastian, and this is my friend Chris."

@ frank castle.
Blair sighed at her sister's words and nodded, "I know." She stated before she moved away from the window and started to walk out of the door. When Emma spoke about Sebastian's friend, Blair let a huge grin slip onto her face and she nudged her sister in the ribs, "Oh really?" She asked curiously as they walked down the stairs. Of course, Blair knew who Sebastian's friend was. She might not have spoken with Sebastian since the break up, but it wasn't like Arizona was off the grid. They had movie theaters. They had internet, which meant they had blogs and entertainment websites. Blair knew all about how things had turned out for Sebastian and that his friend he brought to the party was Chris Evans, aka Captain America, and that Sebastian played Captain's best friend Bucky in the movies. She wouldn't lie and say she hadn't seen the movies, and of course she saw him when she saw Gossip Girl. It was weird seeing him on things that she watched on TV and in movie theaters. To her, he was still just Sebastian, the dorky kid she fell in love with years ago and thought about every day, despite being in a committed relationship.

When Blair and Emma got outside, Blair’s eyes instantly found Sebastian with Alana, “She’s definitely got the Plessinger social butterfly gene.” Blair said with a laugh as she walked with her sister over to her niece. She could see that Alana was already taken by Sebastian and Chris, “Making new friends over here, squirt?” She asked her niece with a smile. Her niece looked up at her and smiled before nodding enthusiastically. Blair grinned before she looked between Sebastian and Chris. She held her hand out to Chris, “Blair. This is my sister Emma, and you’ve already met Alana, my niece.” She introduced, “Nice to meet you, Blair.” Chris replied before he turned to Emma. Blair turned to Sebastian and couldn’t stop the smile from creeping onto her face, “Hey.” She said. Just like that all awkwardness was gone. Blair pulled him into a tight hug, “It’s good to see you.” “Auntie Blair! He said he went to school with mommy and you!” Alana exclaimed with a smile. Blair smiled and nodded, “He did. Of course he and I are older than mommy, but Sebastian is my oldest friend. In school we were best friends, kind of like you and Ella.” Blair explained, watching as Alana’s face lit up, “Is he still your best friend?” She asked curiously. Blair raised an eyebrow before looking at Sebastian, “Of course he is. He will always be my best friend.” She explained before Alana cheered and then went to Emma, leaving Blair and Sebastian alone.

--

Chris was about to reply to Sebastian when he heard a little voice come from next to them, and he looked down to see the little girl from earlier. He squatted down with Sebastian while Seb talked with her, introducing himself and Chris, “It’s nice to meet you, Alana. That’s a very pretty name.” He said to her with a smile on his face. He looked up when he heard another voice speak to Alana. Chris glanced over at Sebastian to see his friend’s reaction at Blair joining the conversation along with her sister. Chris watched as Blair spoke with her niece before turning to him and introducing herself along with Emma. Chris shook her hand, “Nice to meet you, Blair.” He said and then turned to her sister and smiled, sticking out his hand to her, “Chris.” He stated, though having just been introduced by Blair, “She’s a cute kid.” He stated with a grin.

Now that she was closer, Chris could really take in her features. She was beautiful, and he could clearly see that she and Blair were sisters, “She looks just like you. Minus the blonde hair.” He joked. He looked over to see Alana chatting with Blair and Sebastian before she took off and came over to Emma and him, “Mommy!! Chris said that I have a pretty name!” She told her mom as she tugged on her hand. Chris smiled down at Alana, causing her to giggle and smile back at him. Chris was definitely taken by the girl, and he probably be would even if he didn’t love kids as much as he did, “That’s right. Pretty name to fit a pretty girl.” He replied back her, not able to wipe the smile off his face, “How old is she?” He asked, turning his attention back to Emma.

"Don't get any ideas." Emma said, shooting her sister a point look as they descended the stairs. She might have just admitted that she found Sebastian's friend attracted, but she didn't want Blair to think that she was going to act on it or anything like that. Her sole focus had been Alana ever since she was born. She knew that she needed to think about herself too sometimes, and she and Blair had had that discussion time and time again, but she wasn't rushing into anything. She was happy with how her life was right now, if that was how it stayed she'd be perfectly content. Sure, it would be nice to have someone in her life, and even for Alana to have a father figure considering how much of a deadbeat her actual father was, but if it was going to happen it would happen on its own. That's how Emma saw it anyway.

"Oh yeah, there's no arguing about that." She said with a laugh when she saw that Alana had already managed to get the attention of both men. She smiled when her sister introduced her to Sebastian's friend and turned her attention to him, though she would have loved to have seen the exchange between her sister and Sebastian. "Emma." She said with smile, shaking his hand. "And thank you. I get that a lot" She added with a slight laugh when he told her that Alana was cute and that they looked a lot alike, though her attention shifted to her daughter when she spoke and tugged on her hand. "That was very nice of him to say, wasn't it? What do you say?" She asked her daughter, raising an eyebrow. "Thank you!!" She let out a quiet laugh at her daughter's exclamation before looking back to Chris when he spoke again. "She just turned five in May." She told him with a smile.

---

Sebastian could see that Chris was quickly taken by the little girl. He knew that his friend was really good with kids, that much was obvious from all of the press tours and premieres and everything else. Before he could say anything else to the little blonde, he heard an all too familiar voice. His initial reaction was to tense up, but when he stood and looked at her, and saw the smile on her face, he relaxed a little bit. He watched the exchange between Blair and her niece, and listened to the introductions between Chris and Emma before her attention was on him. "Hey." He replied, a smile of his own forming. He was beyond relieved when she pulled him into a tight hug and hugged her back just as tightly. "It's good to see you too." He said before Alana's little voice could be heard once more.

Pulling back, he looked down to the little blonde and watched as she animatedly told her aunt what he'd just told her before. She really was a cute kid, and he could definitely see the resemblance between both Plessinger girls. The only difference was the blonde hair which he assumed came from the father. Sebastian didn't know if Blair's words were meant solely to humor her niece or not, but something told him that there weren't really nearly as many hard feelings as he'd thought there'd be. He chuckled slightly when Alana cheered before making her way over to where Emma was now talking to Chris before he focused his attention back on Blair. "She looks a lot like you and Emma." He told her with a smile. "How have you been?"

@ frank castle.
Blair had to ignore the part of her that wanted to frown when Sebastian pulled away from the hug. She smiled when he spoke about Alana looking like her and Emma, “She looks way more like Emma than like me, but she’s got some of me in there I can tell.” She replied before she nodded slightly at his question, “Good. I’ve been good. I still live in Arizona. I don’t get out of there much. Only to California every so often for random Disneyland trips with my friends. I work at a radio station there. I also waitress at a diner down the street from my house. How about you? I mean I know how good you’ve been doing, I’m not stupid, but other than being a famous actor, how have you been?” She asked curiously.

It actually felt really good to talk to Sebastian again, Blair wasn’t going to deny that. He had been her best friend for most of her life, there was no way that she could just stop talking to him and feel okay about it. She thought back briefly to the last time they spoke to each other, the night that they had broken up. Of course it wasn’t the last time that Blair had saw Sebastian. He had shown up at the airport the day that she left for college, only having been a week after the two had ended things, but she was already through security and heading towards the plane when he had called out for her. She turned around but didn’t go back to him. She couldn’t. She knew that she would have changed her mind if she had. She would have given up her dream for Sebastian, she would have given up everything for him, but she couldn’t, so she didn’t.

--

Chris smiled at Alana when she told him thank you before he turned back to Emma, “Wow. Five. She’s got a lot of energy for a five year old. I think it’s great. Kids with energy is the best thing.” He said with a smile. He just loved kids in general, but he loved when a kid could tire him out and then still want to continue to play afterwards, “My nephews are the same exact way.” He explained with a smile on his face. His nephews were part of the reason why he loved kids so much. Of course they were both family, but that didn’t change his mind about kids.

“So, Emma, so do you live around here, or did you also move like Blair?” Chris asked curiously. He wanted to get to know Emma the best that he could. He knew that he would get along really well with her because she seemed just like him, plus she wasn’t bad looking either so that also made him want to talk with her more. He was beginning to want to thank Sebastian more and more for bringing him to this this party and making Chris stay with him until Blair had left and Sebastian could finally be normal again instead of the nervous wreck he seemed to be before she had arrived.

(sorry Chris's is short, I just felt very sick all of a sudden and I wanted to get something out before I go throw up)

"You're telling me." Emma said, punctuating her words with a slight laugh. She knew how much angry Alana had, but she didn't mind it. She kept her going even when things got tough. "How old are your nephews?" She asked curiously. She could tell that he really liked kids. Some people saw the energy that some kids had as a negative, but that definitely wasn't Chris at all. He saw it as a good thing, and Emma liked that a lot.

"I still live here with my parents actually." She told him. "I moved out when I went off to college, but then I found out I was pregnant with Alana five years ago, and living on my own suddenly got a lot more difficult." She'd managed for a while, but she didn't have a steady job, and she was working less and less the closer she got to her due date. Maybe a month or so before Alana was born her parents finally suggested that she just moved back in with them, and she hadn't left since.

---

"She certainly isn't afraid of new faces. Kind of reminds me a lot of someone else I know." Sebastian joked, a slight grin tugging at the corners of his lips. The moment Alana had approached him and Chris he immediately thought of Blair. When he first moved to the United States, he had a tough time making friends. No one wanted to be friends with the weird foreign kid with the accent. Blair was the exception. She'd approached him one day during lunch when he was sitting alone, and that kind of kickstarted their friendship.

"That's good, I'm glad things worked out for you." He said before shrugging his shoulders in response to her question. "I've been doing pretty well, I guess. I'm living in Manhattan now, and I'm there whenever I'm not off somewhere filming. And when I'm not filming I just try to find other things to keep myself busy. Usually catch up with friends, keep up with my workout regiment at the gym so my trainer doesn't kill me." He chuckled slightly.

@ frank castle.
Blair let out a small laugh at his words before she nodded, “Yeah she’s definitely got a bit of my social personality in there, but of course maybe it’s just something about the Plessinger gene that automatically makes us want to make friends with Romanian people.” She teased. Blair would never forget the day she first met Sebastian. He was sitting by himself at lunch, and Blair hated to see people sit by themselves, plus she loved talking to people. Once she sat down, she chatted Sebastian’s ear off until lunch was over, and the rest was history.

Blair never thought about him as different because of his accent. Some people thought it was weird that he had one, but Blair thought it was cool and always made him say things to her in Romanian. As they started to get older, he was the only person that Blair could actually keep quiet around. Just because she loved to listen to him talk. She smiled at his words and nodded, “Thanks.” She stated before he spoke again and she laughed, “Well at least you keep up with yours. It’s been a while since I was able to get to the gym.” She replied. Usually she went with Jax, but he had been going right after work lately, so she hadn’t been able to make it.

--

Chris smiled at Emma’s words before she asked about his nephews, “Oh God, I can’t even keep track anymore. Let’s just say they’re in the like one to six range of ages. I might be wrong. Oh, gosh I need to get home again soon to see them.” He thought aloud with a laugh. He, of course, actually knew the ages of his nephews, but he just wanted to see if he could get a laugh out of Emma. He looked over slightly to see that thing were going well with Blair and Sebastian, and that was a really good sign.

Chris nodded at her words, “Yeah I understand that might be hard.” He said before he smiled and looked to see Alana with her grandparents, “Well at least she gets to see her grandparents every day.” Chris stated with a smile. The little girl seemed like she was a lot of fun. Chris just loved kids altogether, so he was probably biased, but he didn’t doubt that he was also right.

Emma let out a quiet laugh in response to his words. "There's a huge difference between one and six." She pointed out, though she could tell that he was joking. She could tell that he was really close with his nephews just based off of how he was talking about them and the expression on his face. She was really good at reading people, and the way his eyes lit up when he spoke of his nephews made it rather clear just how much he cared about them. Which also meant he knew how old his nephews were. Most definitely.

"Yeah, though you should have heard her before. They were gone maybe two hours at most when they went to get my sister from the airport, but she made it seem like it had been years since she last saw them. She's definitely one for dramatics." She let out another laugh, shaking her head slightly. Alana was fairly well-behaved, but Emma sometimes wondered if she ever would have been able to do any of this without the support of her parents. She didn't know how some single mothers did it without any family support. Raising a kid wasn't easy, no matter how some super moms made it look.

---

"Pulling the Romanian card already? Next you'll be pulling out the vampire one." Sebastian joked, chuckling slightly. That had been the running joke between the two of them when they were first friends. People used to tease him and ask him if he was a vampire because of his accent and where he was from, but he and Blair had managed to turn it into a joke. Even so, for a while though comments from other people still bothered him. Blair helped him through it all though, and he was pretty sure their friendship was stronger because of that.

"I kind of don't really have a choice. The Marvel execs wanted me bigger to play Bucky. I love the character, so I'm not going to screw things up." He said, punctuating his words with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "I do sneak some pizza every once and a while though, but that's between the two of us, okay, Plessinger?" He asked, a mock stern expression on his face as he looked over at her, though it soon dissolved and his signature grin returned.

@ frank castle.
Blair laughed at his words before she shook her head, “I never used the vampire one that much, though. Always the Romanian one.” She replied. She remembered the first time she had caught someone calling Sebastian a vampire because he was Romanian, and she was not very happy. Blair always knew how much it affected him when people made fun of him because he was from another country. She hated seeing people make fun of him, so she turned everything they said into a joke so Sebastian could laugh about it instead of getting upset about it.

Blair laughed once more before she nodded, “Your secret is safe with me. Cross my heart.” She stated and crossed an X over her heart before she grinned at him. It was crazy that they were able to just pick right up where they left off almost even after not having seen each other for many years, “You play a really good Bucky, by the way.” She admitted. Cameron had made her watch all the Captain America with him one weekend during one of their traditional movie series weekends. Once she saw Sebastian, she instantly knew it was him; he stilled looked the same as the last time she had saw him. Blair never told Cameron that she knew Sebastian, and she never knew why, but she just never did.

--

Chris laughed and nodded, “It really is.” He said and let out another chuckle. It was obvious that he was kidding and was sure that Emma probably knew that he was joking. He couldn’t believe how quickly that he and Emma seemed to get along with having just met and everything. He took a chance to glance over at Sebastian and Blair again, a small smile breaking out seeing the two laughing and acting like they hadn’t just seen each other for the first time in years.

“Sometimes that’s okay, though. When it is things like that, it’s definitely okay.” He said, “Dramatics are also normal in kids her age as well.” He added with a laugh. Chris could already tell that Alana was a great kid and she was clearly a lot like her mother. He could also tell that Emma seemed like a great mother. The whole Plessinger family just seemed like great people, and he was really glad he got to meet them because Sebastian had brought him along.

Emma could tell that he was joking. It was clear that he really cared about his nephews, so she was pretty certain that he knew how old they were. She could tell that she and Chris were kind of hitting it off, and she was sure that her sister was going to comment on it later that day. Although, maybe she'd luck out and her sister wouldn't notice since it was pretty clear that she was slightly distracted by Sebastian. She was glad that things seemed to be going smoothly between them despite how rocky they had left things a while back.

"I couldn't agree more. I'm glad that she's close with them." She smiled. She was glad that Alana was able to know her grandparents. She knew there were some kids who didn't have any grandparents or lived far away from them and didn't get to see them often at all. It was nice having a support system while she raised her too. "They are, and she's certainly a little drama queen when she wants to be." She laughed.

---

"Yea, I guess you really didn't. That was more so everyone else." Sebastian said, running a hand through his hair. Whenever she pulled the vampire card, it was normally because they were making fun of everyone else at their school who used to think that he was a vampire when they were kids. It sounded even more ridiculous now than it had back then, and it had seemed ridiculous then too.

He chuckled when she crossed her hands over her heart when she promised not to tell Don that he snuck pizza sometimes. Honestly, it wasn't really sometimes. It was pretty damn often. Pizza was one thing that he couldn't just give up. It was one of his favorite foods. He smiled when she said that he played a good Bucky. "Thank you, I put a lot of work into all of my roles, research as much as I can, but that's definitely one of my favorites I've had. Though the fact that I signed a nine movie contract does kind of scare me sometimes."

@ peter parker.
Blair couldn't help but smile at his words, "Nine movies is nothing!" She said with a wave of her hand, "People love you as Bucky, and they're going to love seeing you in upcoming movies." She replied and smiled at him. It was different talking to him about something like this. He was a big movie star now, "You're living in New York now right? I thought I saw somewhere you were there." She questioned. She hadn't spoken to him since she had left for Arizona State, but she had kept up with what he was doing once she had started watching the Marvel movies he was in. Blair had always thought about reaching out to him, but figured they ended so roughly that he wouldn't ever want to hear from her, "I'm not going to lie, Seb, I am really surprised you're here."

---

Chris smiled at her words, "I could definitely see why. Some people don't get to see their grandparents once a month let alone every day, so I'm sure that she's thankful that she's so close to them, and I'm sure your parents are thankful as well." Chris said with a smile as he turned back toward Emma. He could definitely see that Alana was almost Emma's spitting image, and he was sure that a lot of people told her the same thing, "Well drama queens are definitely big at that age." He joked with a smile.

Emma nodded. "Exactly! I'm glad that she has an amazing support system all the time." She said with a smile. She knew that a lot of people looked down on her because of what she was. A single mother, almost thirty, and still living with her parents. But she tried not to let that bother her, because right now this was the best situation for her daughter, and she appreciated everything that her parents had done for her and Alana. "I think we're all very lucky to have such a great kid in our lives." She laughed at his later words. "You're telling me. I witness these dramatics on the daily."

---

Sebastian let out a soft chuckle at her words. "Oh yeah, it's totally not a big deal at all." He said. He still couldn't believe that he'd signed on for nine movies, and sometimes it was a bit intimidating to think about. He nodded in response to her later words. "Yeah, I've been there for a few years now." He told her. "Was the most logical place for me to go after Rutgers, and a few of the jobs I got were filmed in Manhattan, so it worked out." Of course, now he spent a lot of time down in Atlanta when he wasn't home. A lot of the projects he worked on were filmed there for one reason or another. "I was honestly kind of surprised when Emma called me a few weeks ago."

@ peter parker.
Blair listened as Sebastian spoke about his living situation. She nodded in agreement. New York did seem like it was the most logical place for him to be except for maybe LA, but even Blair couldn't see Sebastian ever living in LA for a long period of time. When he spoke about Emma calling him, she nodded, "I didn't even know you were coming until I got in my parent's car. Nobody said a word to me about it. Not that I'm upset about it. I'm actually really glad you decided to come." Rocky break up or not, Sebastian was still Blair's friend, and he always would be. He had been her best friend for the most crucial years of her life, and she would never be able to just drop him.

---

Chris grinned at her words and chuckled lightly, "Maybe one day she might be a theater kid or something. Put those dramatics to the test." He joked. Chris could definitely tell how much Emma really loved her daughter, and he definitely could already see that she was a really great mom despite the fact that he had only met her a few minutes ago, "Would it be too awkward for me to ask about Alana's father?" Chris asked curiously. Normally he didn't pry into details like that, but he really wanted to see if Emma was single or not.

"I guess anything's possible." Emma said, punctuating her words with a quiet laugh and a shrug of her shoulders. She honestly could see that happening, even if Chris was joking about it. "She's been into drawing and coloring lately though, ever since art class became a thing at school." The fridge was covered in Alana's creations, and she'd even set a few aside to give to Blair, so Emma knew her sister would be going home with a stack of different illustrations and coloring book pages. "It's not awkward, people ask all the time." She told him. "He's not in the picture. He and I dated in college, and were pretty serious, but nowhere near settling down or anything. Well, he wasn't at least. He had this whole plan of how he wanted his life to pan out, and when I found out I was pregnant, that wasn't part of his plan at the time."

---

New York had always felt like home to Sebastian. Maybe it was because he'd always lived in such a close proximity to the city, or maybe it was the fact that he couldn't see himself living somewhere where it was sunny and 70 degrees a majority of the days in the year, but New York had always made him feel at home and it still did to this day. "Emma didn't tell you?" He asked curiously. "She made it seem like you knew that she was inviting me. Like I said, I was surprised to receive the invite, it's been a while, but I figured we used to be so close...and I hadn't seen you or anyone else in your family in so long..."

@ peter parker.
Blair shook her head at his question, "I think my mom wanted it to be a surprise or something, so she made Emma not tell me." Blair explained. When he continued talking, Blair smiled at him, "Always the sweet one." She said with a grin. Blair wouldn't admit it aloud, but she had really missed Sebastian over the years, "Do you want to get a drink? Inside?" She asked curiously, "I'm so thirsty. I didn't really drink anything on the plane ride because I didn't want to have to use the plane's bathroom." She said with a small laugh.

---

Chris smiled at her words before she mentioned how Alana was getting into art, "I'm sure she's just as good at that as well." He replied. When she spoke about Alana's father, he wouldn't lie in saying he wasn't a little bit excited that Emma was pretty much single, "That's a shitty thing to do, I'm sorry." Chris spoke with a sad smile. No kid should ever be left without a parent, "He'll regret it one day." He added with a small nod. There's no way a father wouldn't want to be in his child's life.