Us At Best.

A hopeful month had passed and Grace was completely healthy. She'd made the best recovery possible. At first she was scarred, we even had to  consider therapy. But she's strong, she was adamant she wanted to get over the accident, herself.  She had Sam, she had all of us. Their relationship was even more beautiful then I imagined. Sam looked so longingly at her, she was an amazing person. She had come so far in such a short time, and we had become so close. I always feared her judgement of me, when she woke up. That she would hate me, hate Mike. But she didn't, instead she thanked us. Thanked me for watching over her, watching over Sam. She said she heard me, when I spoke to her for all those weeks. She thanked Mike, she said it brought her to a whole new group of people. Me and Mike rebuilt our relationship, her and Sam would forever be stronger. What happened brought her to me, to Mike. They'd grown a relationship similar to Sam and I's. It brought her to Chlo, Tony, Vic, Jaime. A whole new life, a new perspective, for that she thanked us. She loved the guys, she matched all their personalities in little ways. She was wise and lyrical like Vic. She was carefree and funny like Jaime, shy yet sarcastic like Tone, and as for Mikes traits, she loved to party. 
She fell in love with Chlo and Daisy.
Needless to say she was a perfect addition to our 'family'.

I looked down at my engagement ring observantly. The silver metal wrapping itself around my finger sweetly. On the inside of the ring the words '16 forever' were engraved, matching our wrist tattoos. I was still awestruck at the whole idea, marriage was never part of the plan, I never expected that from him, or really thought about it. But the fact he wants to tie himself to me, forever just to show he can commit, just to show he's sorry to prove his love, keeps a smile on my face daily.
 I smiled to myself, going back to brushing my hair. I looked through the mirror to see Mike still sleeping intently. We had moved back into our  apartment now. Grace and Sam had happily returned home to their apartment luckily they were only 20 minutes away. I missed living with Sam a little, we were so close, well we are. I tiptoed over to Mike snuggling into his side. I traced his chest tattoos gently with my forefinger, feeling his chest rise and fall lightly.
"Morning." his sleepy voice smiled,snapping me from my trance.
"Did I wake you?" I asked turning on my stomach to face him.
"No, I like watching you." he said.
"Weird." I teased. Instantly he grabbed me and flipped us over so he was on top of me.
"Weird?" he smirked. I just laughed.
"Take it back." he said. I shook my head in protest, trying not to laugh. He smirked again, and suddenly started tickling me.
"Mike! Stop!" I squealed.
"Take it back!" he laughed.
"Okay! I take, it back!" I surrendered. He smiled triumphantly. I grabbed his face pulling it down to meet my lips, he pulled me close to him   again. Even though it's been a month since we were apart, I still couldn't get enough of being in his arms, his company, as if I was making up for it. 
He pulled the quilt over us, but I objected. Needless to say we were quite a big family, therefore it was hard to all be together all at once. A few of us would see each other at a time, couples would be together, the boys would have commitments. And I went back to work, luckily. And today was the day we'd all be together, and no better way to do it other than a huge Mexican feast with Mama and Papa Fuentes. 
"We can't stay here all day!" I said kneeling up on the bed. He raised his eyebrow at me, I rolled my eyes.
"Come on!" I said starting to get off the bed. But surprise, he pinned me back down kissing me roughly before pulling away quickly.
"I'll get ready now." he smirked.

We pulled into the last empty car space in the driveway. I smiled happily. "You guys ready?" I asked Sam and Grace who were in the backseat, it was their first time coming here so we picked them up. They smiled and nodded. We climbed out and approached the red front door. Mike interlocked his fingers with mine as we waited for the door to open. 
"Mis hijos!" Mama Fuentes exclaimed when the door flew open, her usual tiny frame and short blonde hair supporting her familiar hispanic origin. "Come inside!" she usherd us inside and we gladly obeyed.
"I missed you chica." she said pulling me into a warm hug.
"I missed you too Mama." I breathed.
"And Grace, tan bella!" she said holding Graces pale hands.
"It's nice to finally meet you Mama." she smiled, her famous smile.
"Samuel.." he sighed happily.
"Chica!" I felt a pair of arms hoist me up. I giggled. 
"Hi Papa." I laughed. It was good to finally be back in their company, they were always like my own parents, what my own never were. When the greetings and much awaited reunion with Mama and Papa were over with,  we made our way through the authentic Mexican house into open living/kitchen area, where everyone else was. Mama and Papa went back to cooking, with Jaime watching the food over them. Tony was holding Daisy while Vic and Chlo talked. Daisy squealed in excitement as she saw us enter. 
"Panda!" Jaime exclaimed picking me up. "Hey Hime." I smiled. Sam and Grace knew everyone extremely well,  introductions and small talk weren't apart of the procedure. 
"Hello beautiful!" Grace cooed taking  Daisy gently in her arms. 
I walked over to Tony, wrapping my arms around him, I hadn't got to spent a lot of time with him this past month unlike everyone else.
"I've missed you." he said. We stayed talking, floating from person to person until eventually we formed a kind of circle. 
"Todos los alimentos! Come on!" Mama announced, everyone hungrily rushed to the table. We knew how good her cooking was. Jaime looked like a little kid, which just made everyone laugh. Mama and Papa sat either end of the table, Sam, Grace, Chlo and Tony sat on one side of the table opposite me, Mike, Vic and Jaime. The food width and length of the table was filled with classic Mexican recipes. We shared stories of tour, (given Graces condition and the situation last month the tour was pushed back and they leave in 3 days) Mama and Papa shared their traditional stories of Mike and Vic's childhood. I'm positive I've heard them at least one hundred times but they never fail to amuse me. 
When dinner was finally over Mama gathered all the girls in the living room and the boys headed out on the deck. 
"There's my little chica!" she exclaimed scooping Daisy in her arms, ready for conversation.
"Tell me Pandora, do you and Mike have any plans for the big day yet?" she asked in regards to the wedding. I shook my head. 
"Not yet Mama, with tour coming up we haven't really thought about it." The next hour or so consisted of the girls talking about wedding plans, to be honest I really didn't mind what kind of wedding me and Mike had, I just wanted to be married to him. I was never I girl who planned her wedding her whole life, but I appreciated how excited they all were. "And what about you chica, when will we be getting grandchildren out of you?" Papa Fuentes joked, bursting into the room. 
"Deja de hacer eso! They're much too young!" Mama argued. It brought a smile to everyone's face when Sam and Grace are addressed as real family, they may not be related to us, they may not be blood but they are our family. 
"I'm sorry Papa, you might have to wait a little while longer." she laughed.
People started filling into the room and mingling soon after. I noticed everyone was here now except Mike. I excused myself from the room and slipped outside. I leaned on the patio doorframe and watched my fiancée intently, aimlessly looking out into the distance holding his beer. The cool sunset air was refreshing. He soon noticed me, ushering me over. He pulled me into his lap.
"What're you doing?" he asked.
"I thought it was my turn to watch you." I smirked, he laughed softly.
"What about you? What're doing out here?" I asked caressing his face. 
"Just thinking." he said looking out into the San Diego distance.
"About what?" I whispered curiously.
"Everything. Us, the future." 
"It's pretty amazing isn't it?" I said holding up hand and looking at the ring. "What?" asked.
"Thinking about it, us." I smiled.
"Yeah, but I'm excited." he nodded.
"I am too." I confessed, resting my head on his shoulder closing my eyes.
"Panda?" he whispered.
"Yes?" 
"I've been thinking, a lot. We will have children one day, I know it." I lifted my head, looking him in the eye.
"I thought you didn't want that?" 
"Well, I've been trying to get some perspective. I've been thinking of what we have, and I saw how Tony looks at Daisy. How he looks at Chlo with Daisy. I thought I couldn't do it. And I really didn't know why, but with you.." he trailed off. I could feel the tears in my eyes already as I gently pushed my lips onto his.
"I feel like I could do anything." he finished as he pulled away.