Chapter Text
Isha has a secret.
Well, it’s not her secret, it’s her mom and dad’s, but they told her the secret this morning and so now it’s their secret, and she hates it. It really isn’t fair how they could tell her such a big thing and not expect her to tell everyone immediately. Because she wants to. Really really bad. She hates that they told her that she has to wait until they give the code word at dinner.
Sitting in the backseat of her dad’s car, she feels like she’s about to burst as they drive to Pop’s house for family dinner. Her parents are talking in the front seat, holding hands and giggling and being all mushy gushy, and she huffs, kicking the back of her dad’s seat to get his attention.
“Yeah, kiddo?” He asks, looking at her through the rear view mirror. Her mom turns around so she can see her, lifting an eyebrow.
“ Can I tell Aunt Vi when I get there? She keeps good secrets.” She bargains, trying to strike a deal. Her mom laughs and shakes her head.
“No, Isha. We’re going to tell everyone at the same time, I don’t think Vi would be able to keep this secret. You’ll just have to be patient.” She says, and Isha slumps in her booster seat.
“ Pleaseeeee?” She begs, sticking her lip out in a pout.
“It’ll be an hour tops, kid. It won’t kill you to wait that long.” Her dad says, and she huffs, crossing her arms over her chest and turning to stare out of the window.
This is so not fair.
Ekko loves his wife more than just about anything in the world. He’s loved Powder for just about his whole life, before he even really understood what love was.
But damn does she drive him nuts sometimes.
“Okay, so you’re going to distract Vi when we get in there, and I’ll pull Princess Cupcake aside for the interrogation.” She schemes as they get closer to The Last Drop, a mischievous look on her face. She might as well be rubbing her hands together like an evil genius for how conniving she looks. She’s been talking nonstop for days about what she’s going to do when she meets Vi’s new girlfriend- interrupted only by complaining about everyone else meeting her first. It’s all he’s heard about since he got home from his work trip Friday night, and he’s ready to meet the girl just so they can all move on. Of course he’s excited to meet her, it isn’t every day that Vi brings someone around to meet them (or really, something that’s ever happened) but Powder’s gotten close to obsession about it.
The way he sees it, he already knows everything he needs to know about her. Isha had told him as soon as he had walked through the door Friday night all about how Vi’s new girlfriend- who she kept calling Cupcake- had stood up for her against her godawful principal. He wasn’t exactly thrilled when Isha told him that she was suspended for three days, and she wasn’t happy when he sat her down with Powder and they all had a long talk about hitting ( again) but in the end, she had gone right back to gushing about how cool Caitlyn was. He had to agree with her based on everything he was told, and he was excited to meet her.
Still, he wasn’t exactly on board with his wife’s plans to grill her.
“Not gonna happen, babe. Don’t want Vi to murder me.” He says, shaking his head, and Powder groans, wilting in her seat. He has to bite back a laugh, because it’s almost an exact reenactment of how Isha had pouted only minutes before when Powder had denied her of what she wanted.
The apple truly never falls far from the tree.
“But then who’s going to give her the third degree? Someone’s got to make sure her intentions are pure.” She argues, crossing her arms over her chest. “I only need a diversion for a few minutes, just long enough to sus this chick out.”
“I think your sister is more than capable of handling herself, Pow. Caitlyn seems cool, we just need to be chill about this.” He says as he pulls the car into a parking spot outside of The Last Drop.
It’s a tall order and he knows it, because Powder has never been chill about anything, ever.
“ I’ll help!” Isha signs, practically jumping over the center console after unbuckling herself.
“Absolutely not, missy.” Powder says, shaking her head and pointing an accusatory finger at her. “I’m not leaving you alone with your aunt for even a second. You’ll spill the beans before the beans are ready to be spilled.”
Isha groans, climbing over the console to throw herself into Powder’s lap, signing please please please over and over again. Ekko bites back his laugh and rolls his eyes as Powder wraps Isha into a big hug, kissing all over her face until their daughter is giggling instead of pouting. He catches her eye over Isha’s head and shoots her a wink, and she blows a kiss his way.
God, he is so in love with her it kills him sometimes.
“Come on, you two.” He says, throwing his car door open. “Let’s go get this party started.“
Powder has two objectives for family dinner.
Objective one: keep Isha from telling their secret before its time (Ekko had tried to convince her to tell Isha at the same time as everyone else, but she had begged and pleaded with him until he agreed to tell her first.)
Objective two: get Vi’s girlfriend alone for questioning.
Neither task would be easy, and she would likely fail at one in order to achieve the other, but she is nothing if not stubbornly persistent in getting what she wants.
The Last Drop isn’t busy when they walk in- it never is on Sunday nights unless there’s a big game on or something- and she waves at Chuck behind the bar as they walk straight through to the back and up the staircase to Vander’s apartment.
“Your favorite child has arrived!” She calls as they walk through his front door, and Isha darts around her, making a beeline for Mylo and Claggor (and the candy they had promised her, the spoiled little shit.)
Vander looks up from the cutting board on the counter, eyebrows furrowed as he looks around. “I didn’t know Vi had come in.”
Powder scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Damn, dad. That’s cold, real cold.”
Vander snorts, setting his knife down to pull her into a hug. “I love all of my children equally, no favorites here. Unless we’re talking about my favorite grandchild, then it’s Isha by a mile.”
“That’s cause she’s the only grandchild.” Claggor argues, pulling a king sized candy bar out of his pocket and handing it to Isha. Ekko reaches over her head and swipes it before she has the chance to take it, setting it up high on a bookshelf where she can’t reach it.
“Sorry kid, you know the rule. Gotta eat real food first.” He says as she pouts up at him, even though she’s well aware of their rules. She huffs but doesn’t argue, and instead grabs Claggor and Mylo by the wrist and drags them over to her toy chest in the corner of the living room. Powder snorts as she starts pulling out dolls and action figures out of the box, assigning roles to her uncles and their dolls. She’s been big on directing every little detail when playing lately, telling them exactly what she wants to happen then giggling like a madwoman while it gets acted out. Most of the time it lands somewhere between telenovela levels of drama and WWE-esque fights, but regardless it’s always incredibly entertaining. Powder catches Ekko’s eye across the room and discreetly signs, “ Keep an eye on her?”
He nods and gives her a thumbs up, joining their little circle on the ground. Satisfied that Isha isn’t going to be able to blab, Powder turns and hops up on the kitchen counter beside Vander’s cutting board.
“What’s for dinner?” She asks, glancing around the kitchen. There’s something heating in a pot on the stove and she smells fragrant spices from the oven, but she can’t tell what they are from where she’s sitting.
“Tacos, I figured it was a safe bet with Caitlyn coming. Everyone likes tacos. They should be here soon.” He answers, going back to chopping avocados on the board. Powder hums, studying the chips in her nail polish, trying to come off as casual.
“So, what's the scoop on her?” She asks, and Vander gives her a warning look.
“Be nice, Powder.”
She huffs and throws her hands up innocently. “Can a girl not ask a question? I can’t be a bitch to her after what she did for Isha, but I gotta make sure this chick is legit. I don’t want any crazies or secret felons around my kid.”
Vander lifts an eyebrow at her. “Your sister’s a felon.”
Powder rolls her eyes. “That’s why I said secret felon, Dad. Keep up.”
Vander sighs, shaking his head. “I only got to speak with her for a few minutes, but she seems nice and your sister obviously likes her very much. As long as Vi is happy and treated well, that’s enough for me. That’s all I want for any of you.”
Powder blows a raspberry at him. What a diplomatic answer. “Boring, come on, I need dirt.”
“I don’t think there is any, kiddo.” He says with a shrug, and any retort she has is cut off by the door opening. She springs off the counter, only to be disappointed when Benzo walks in, a big smile on his face.
“Where’s the best girl there ever was?” He asks, and Powder raises her hand to wave.
“Right here, Benzo!”
He barks out a laugh as Isha jumps up from where she’s playing, running across the room to her grandfather. If Vander was bad about spoiling her, Benzo was even worse. Isha had practically free reign over his pawn shop, and so long as something wasn’t stupidly valuable, she usually got to keep whatever she wanted. Powder could only imagine how bad for business it was.
Her playroom was absolutely loaded with shit they didn’t need but couldn’t deny her. It was becoming a problem, and Powder was not looking forward to the day they broke the news that her playroom would be repurposed. It might lead to a mutiny, but she loves those, so she figures it’ll be alright.
“Did you see Vi in the parking lot?” She asks as Benzo picks Isha up into a tight hug, swinging her legs side to side while she giggles. He shakes his head.
“No, but I figure they’ll be here soon. I can’t wait to meet the girl who’s getting Vi to settle down a little bit.” He says, giving Isha a loud smacking kiss on the cheek before setting her down.
Powder huffs, impatience boiling within her. Seriously, did Vi just have to be the last one to show up on debatably the most important family dinner so far in their lives?
“Alright, well I gotta pee. Someone sound the alarm if Vi and Princess Piltie show up.” She says, and Isha gives her a salute in understanding before she ducks down the hallway, already unbuttoning her jeans, that have gotten way more snug recently than she cares to admit.
“You know you didn’t have to bring anything.” Vi tells her as they get out of Vi’s car in front of The Last Drop. Caitlyn scoffs and reaches into the back for the charcuterie board she put together (the only thing she trusts herself to not fuck up spectacularly).
“There is absolutely no chance that I would show up empty handed, Violet. My mother would sense it from across town and use her echolocation for impoliteness to track me down and give me an earful about it.” She says flatly, bumping the car door closed with her hip. Vi snorts and rolls her eyes.
“I’ll take it as a win that I talked you out of bringing wine to pair with it.” She says, rounding the car to take her free hand and lead her inside the bar. It looks the exact same inside as it had two days prior, and Vi hardly spares it a glance as she let herself through the employees only door in the back and up the set of stairs that led to the second floor.
The door is unlocked- something Caitlyn is quickly realizing is commonplace within Vi’s family, and she follows behind Vi as they enter the cozy apartment that Vi grew up in.
“Look who it is!” A heavyset man exclaims when they walk in. He’s older, probably around the same age as Vander, with round ruddy cheeks and a small pair of glasses perched on his nose.
“Hey Benzo,” Vi greets him with a warm smile before nodding towards her. “This is my girlfriend Caitlyn. Cait, this is Benzo. He’s one of my dad’s best friends and Ekko’s dad.”
“Nice to meet you.” She says with a smile, holding out her free hand for him to shake. He scoffs at it and goes right in for a hug, and thankfully Vi is quick enough to take the charcuterie board before it’s knocked out of her hands. She laughs and hugs him back, giving him a polite enough squeeze before he lets go and takes a step backwards.
“You’ve been the talk of the town all weekend, Miss Caitlyn. It’s not everyday that Vi brings a girl around for us to meet.” He says, shooting Vi a playful wink.
“Or ever!” Mylo chimes in from where he’s sitting on the floor in the living room with a princess crown on his head. Claggor is next to him with his hair pulled into two pigtails, complete with fuzzy pompoms clipped into them. He also has an absolutely horrible black eye from the day before, and Caitlyn winces when she sees it. Vi, on the other hand, doesn’t even bother looking over, just holds her middle finger up in his general direction, which makes Isha giggle from where she’s standing behind Benzo. Vi glances down at her and points.
“Don’t repeat that, Ish.” She says, and Isha makes a cross over her heart before wrapping her arms around Vi’s leg in a hug.
Caitlyn smiles watching them, once again melting at how sweet Vi is with her niece. Even after only an hour or so of being around her on Friday it isn’t surprising that Isha would instantly attach herself to Vi’s side the second they got through the door. What is surprising is when Isha lets go of Vi to wrap her arm around Caitlyn’s legs.
“Oh, hello there Isha.” she says dumbly, looking down at the child that’s hugging her with wide eyes. Isha grins up at her and waves.
“ Hi cupcake” She signs, and Caitlyn has to bite back a sigh. She has to accept that she is well and truly stuck with a nickname based on her bloody arse.
She’s going to kill Vi for that one day.
“You must be the girlfriend.”
Caitlyn looks up as Isha lets go of her to skip back over to the carpet, finding a tall man with white dreads standing in front of her with his hands in his pockets.
“I’m the girlfriend.” She confirms with a nod, holding her hand out to him. “I’m assuming your Ekko?”
He chuckles and nods, taking her hand. “That’s me. In case no one’s said it yet, I want to thank you for what you did at the school on Friday. It’s been an uphill battle trying to get them to take the bullying seriously, so we seriously owe you one.”
Caitlyn shakes her head. “It was nothing. I just name dropped my own mother and gave that wretched woman my business card.”
Ekko shrugs. “Still, it means a lot. Powder might try and be a hardass with you, but you sticking up for Isha won her over. Just don’t treat Vi like shit and you won’t have any issues. Those two have been through a helluva lot, so she’s really protective.”
Caitlyn lifts an eyebrow at him. “You have nothing to worry about, I’m not going anywhere so long as Vi wants me around. Say, where is Powder?”
Ekko snorts and nods towards the hallway. “Literally went to the bathroom about thirty seconds before you walked in the door. She’s going to be so mad-“
“You traitor!” A loud, raspy voice interrupts, and Caitlyn looks over Ekko’s shoulder to see a blur of blue hair and an obnoxiously neon pink sweater come barreling down the hallway. Her eyes are blazing, but thankfully not at her. Oh no, they’re focused on Ekko. “My own husband, betraying me! I can’t believe you would make it so I’m the last person to meet her!”
“Oh Jesus, here we go.” Ekko mutters, exasperated, but looking shockingly unsurprised by his wife’s tirade.
“Technically, you met me through FaceTime on Friday. That puts you second behind Isha, if that counts for anything.” Caitlyn adds as Powder comes to a stop beside them, earning a scoff from Powder.
“Doesn’t work like that, toots.” She says, setting her hands on her hips and turning back to Ekko, poking him in the chest with her pointer finger. “You’re sleeping on the couch tonight, Mister.”
Ekko lifts an eyebrow at her, unimpressed. “No I’m not.”
Thankfully, Vi steps in before Powder can keep going, pulling her sister into a hug. “Hey PowPow.”
Caitlyn watches Powder’s animosity fade before her very eyes as the woman wraps her in a hug, squeezing Vi tight. “Thanks for picking Isha up on Friday. You’re on babysitting duty while she has OSS.”
Vi laughs and jostles Powder lightly. “I’m down for a sleepover, just tell me what day you need me to watch her and it’s done. Just know that I’m sending her home with a six pack of redbull and a puppy.”
Ekko shoots her a withering look. “No gifts with caffeine or heartbeats, you know the rules.”
Vi shrugs and lets go of Powder. “Too bad rules don’t exist at my house. It’s like Vegas. What happens at Aunt Vi’s, stays at Aunt Vi’s.”
“Cool, so the puppy will stay with you too.” Ekko counters, and Vi laughs, knocking him lightly in the arm before turning back to her sister.
“Powder, I want you to officially meet Caitlyn.” She says, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her in close. Caitlyn giggles and leans into Vi’s side, extending a hand outward to Powder.
“It’s nice to finally meet you face to face.” She says, and Powder purses her lips together, studying her carefully.
“What are your intentions with my sister, Caitlyn Marie Kirraman?”
“That’s not my middle name.” She says flatly. “And my intentions are to make your sister happy for as long as she lets me.”
Powder’s eyes narrow at her, but she keeps her spine straight and her gaze focused. She’s handled sharks in the courtroom and her mother’s suffocating expectations, she’s incredibly hard to intimidate. She appreciates Powder’s protectiveness, but she isn’t going to let her get under her skin.
Ekko is the one to end the stand off, wrapping his arms around Powder’s waist and pulling her back into a hug. “Alright, that’s enough. We like her, Pow. She put Bitch Magee in her place, remember?”
Powder just hums, and from the kitchen, Vander clears his throat.
“If you’re done over there, dinner’s ready.” He calls from the little kitchen, which is separated from the rest of the living room only by a breakfast bar that's lined with way too many barstools. She can almost picture how it would have been with all of them growing up there, smooshed together and bumping elbows as they ate.
“Come on, Cupcake. Let’s eat.” Vi says, squeezing her hip once before guiding her into the kitchen.
“I want it to be known,” Powder says as all of them shuffle towards the kitchen where the countertops have a full spread of taco ingredients laid out across them. “That I feel left out not knowing what the nickname is for.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Vi says, grabbing a paper plate as they slowly work their way around, building their tacos. Isha saddles up beside Powder and taps her to get her attention before signing something up at her mom. Caitlyn can only assume that she’s giving her the same reasoning that Vi had the other day.
Powder snorts and lifts an eyebrow. “Because you're sweet? What part?”
There’s a chorus of exasperated- and disgusted- “ Powder!” at the double entendre, and Powder cackles.
Thankfully, the subject gets dropped and they manage to make their plates without any incident, and Caitlyn is in the middle of loading her tacos with avocado and pico de gallo when Powder clears her throat.
“So, any felony or misdemeanor charges on your record we should know about?” She asks casually, and Caitlyn accidentally dumps a spoonful of pico on her hand.
“Excuse me?” She asks, eyebrows furrowing together.
“Powder,” Vi hisses. “what the fuck kind of question is that?”
Powder shrugs innocently, sprinkling cilantro on her tacos. “I think it's a fair question, there’s only room for one aggravated assault charge in this family and you’ve claimed it for yourself, sis.” Powder pauses, looking up at Caitlyn with a raised eyebrow. “Ah shit, I hope you already knew about that.”
Caitlyn hums, nodding once. “Well aware, Powder.”
The subject of Vi’s past had come up on their second date. While Caitlyn did appreciate Vi’s honesty, in truth she hadn’t really cared. Vi had been dealt an extremely shitty hand in life, and Caitlyn wasn’t going to let one bad decision she had made as a teenager turn her away. If anything, she wanted to track down the absolute idiot of a public defender who had been assigned to Vi’s case and ask her a few questions. She only wanted to talk. Just to share a few choice words.
“The sentence was bullshit, by the way. Any decent lawyer would have tried harder to argue self defense, get her charges reduced.” She adds lightly, wiping the pico off of her hand and continuing on while Vi snorts.
“Kind of hard to argue self-defense when I hit the guy over his back with a broken chair leg.” Vi shrugs, nudging her tacos to the edge of her plate to make room for rice and beans.
Caitlyn just sighs and shakes her head. She’s heard the story and looked up the case records- Violet was jumped while walking home from school. Sure, she had gotten a bit overzealous when she used a broken chair to beat the assailant until he went unconscious, but he had gone after Powder first. Vi was just trying to defend her sister. Still, she doesn’t want to debate in front of Vi’s whole family, so instead she bumps her hip against Vi’s. “Anyways, no I do not have any prior charges, Powder.”
Powder blinks at her. Once, twice, then she goes back to building her tacos like she didn’t just ask if she was a criminal.
She spares a glance at Vi, who is looking at her sheepishly, her paper plate almost buckling under the weight of all of the food that's stacked on it.
“Sorry.” She whispers, and Caitlyn shakes her head.
“It’s fine, she’s just looking out for you, even if it's a bit unconventional.”
Vi smiles weakly at her and leans in, stealing a kiss from her before swiping two beers from the fridge and nodding towards the living room where everyone has claimed their chairs or a spot on the floor.
“Hope you don’t mind using your lap as a table, Cupcake.”
Isha’s got a plan.
A really, really, really good plan.
Here mom and dad said that she wasn’t allowed to share their secret until they said the code word, but it isn’t technically telling someone if they can’t understand her. And she just has to tell her secret or else she thinks she’s going to explode.
She giggles to herself and glances over her shoulder, checking to see if her mom and dad were watching. Everyone had already finished eating and now they were all standing around talking like they did every Sunday. Mama was talking to Pops and Uncle Claggor, while Dad was in the middle of showing Aunt Vi and Uncle Mylo something on his phone.
Perfect.
Isha bites on her cheek to keep herself quiet and tiptoes over to Miss Caitlyn, trying to not look suspicious. Miss Caitlyn doesn’t see her coming, too busy looking at pictures on the wall of Aunt Vi and Mama from when they were small. Isha taps on her arm to get her attention, and when Miss Caitlyn turns around, Isha giggles.
This is it. She thinks to herself, waving the tall, tall woman down closer to her level. Miss Caitlyn looks at her like she’s confused but squats down in front of her.
“Is everything alright?” She asks, and Isha nods, taking a deep breath before signing her secret to Miss Caitlyn. She keeps the signs small so that no one else can see them, and glances over her shoulder once she’s done to make sure that she hasn’t been caught. When the coast is all clear, she turns back to Miss Caitlyn with a big smile.
And she has no idea what I just said. Isha thinks triumphantly, giggling to herself.
But when Miss Caitlyn’s eyes go really wide and her mouth drops open, her eyes darting over her shoulder to look at Mama, Isha’s stomach dips to her toes.
“Isha,” She says slowly, turning her attention back to Isha. “I’m not sure that’s something you were supposed to tell me, is it?”
“ You understand me?” She asks, suddenly feeling all panicky and anxious, a big lump tightening in her throat. Miss Caitlyn’s eyebrows pull together.
“I don’t know what you just said, but I did a little bit of research on basic signs after I met you on Friday, so I think I understand the first part.”
“ Please don’t tell Aunt Vi. Mama’s going to be so mad at me. I ruined the surprise.” Isha signs, hands shaking as she does.
“Wait, slow down. Please don’t get upset,” Miss Caitlyn says, reaching into her pocket to pull out her phone. She opens it up, and Isha sees a mushy gushy photo of Aunt Vi and Miss Caitlyn as the background. It would make her laugh and tease her aunt if she wasn’t feeling like she might have a panic attack, and she hasn’t had one of those in a long, long time. Not since she was first adopted. Miss Caitlyn opens an app and passes the phone to her. “Here.”
Isha’s hands shake as they take the phone, and she sees that its her text to speech app. It’s the basic version, not like she has on her tablet with all the custom words that her mom and dad had put in, but it’s good enough for her to put in a simple sentence.
“Please don’t tell.” She puts in the phone, and Miss Caitlyn nods.
“I won’t tell a soul. Not even Vi.” She promises, and that makes her feel a little bit better.
“Won’t tell what?” Her mom asks, and Isha nearly jumps out of her skin, whirling around quickly to see her mom standing behind them with her hands on her hips. Isha swallows nervously, looking anywhere but at her mom.
“ I told Caitlyn the secret because I didn’t think she’d understand but I didn’t know that she knows sign so she knows the secret now.” Isha confesses, biting down on her cheek once she’s done, nervously looking up. Her mom doesn’t look mad, instead she looks a little confused, her eyebrows smushed together as she look at Miss Caitlyn.
“Vi’s teaching you sign?” She asks, and Miss Caitlyn shakes her head.
“Not yet, though she said she would. I started learning a few signs last night just to get a head start. The first lesson was family signs.” She explains. “I promise I won’t tell anyone, not even your sister. Isha didn’t know that I knew.”
Mama hums, her eyebrows lifting. “You know, you’re alright, sister kisser.”
Isha giggles, and Miss Caitlyn frowns. “I don’t think that sounds the way you want it to sound.”
Mama shrugs before turning her attention back to Isha. “Don’t think you’re off the hook, kiddo. You’re going to be having a talk with dad and me later.”
Isha frowns, shoulders drooping. Yeah, she should have expected that.
So much for her great plan.
“What was all that about? Powder giving you a hard time again?” Vi asks when Caitlyn joins her on the couch. She hadn’t missed the little interaction between Cait, Powder, and Isha, and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t curious.
“No, just chatting.” She says, scooting in so they’re pressed hip to hip. “Powder’s harmless. I think it’s really endearing, actually. She just wants you to be happy.”
Vi smiles, squeezing Cait’s knee gently as her heart turns to mush. “I am.”
Caitlyn returns her smile, and then the moment is broken by a gagging sound, and Vi turns her head to see Mylo pretending to stick two fingers down his throat.
“Are you two going to be this gross all the time?” He asks with a scoff as he drops himself onto the floor, narrowing his eyes at the two of them.
“Don’t be mad because you’re still single.” Vi shoots at him, throwing an arm over Caitlyn’s shoulders to pull her in close.
Mylo rolls his eyes. “I could get a girlfriend if I wanted to, maybe I just don't like being tied down.”
“That sounds like something someone who can’t keep a girlfriend would say.“ Powder cackles as she and Ekko plop down next to Mylo, taking a sip from the metal cup that’s been hers since they were kids.
“Shut up.” Mylo grumbles, swiping the cup from her hand and taking a long pull from it. He crinkles his nose, smacking his lips together. He shoots Powder a curious look. “Is this just Isha drink?”
“Give that back.” Powder snaps, snatching the cup from his hand.
“Never known you to be boring at family dinner, Pow. Usually you’ve got enough vodka in there to kill a horse.” Mylo says, reaching for the bottle of liquor on the coffee table. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you sis.”
“ No!” Powder and Ekko shout at the same time, hands flying to cover the top of the glass before he can pour any alcohol in it.
Everyone stops what they’re doing at their outburst, looking at them with a mix of worry and confusion.
“Powder,” Vi says slowly. “Everything okay?”
Her sister just sighs, turning to Ekko to trade a look with him. He smiles and nods, and then Powder looks at Isha. “Alright kiddo, Operation Parasite is a go.”
Isha squeals, giggling like a madwoman as she reaches for the hem of her sweater, wrestling it over her head and revealing the shirt underneath.
It’s a homemade one, covered in graffiti in Ekko’s style with doodles that were obviously done by Powder with it. The thing Vi immediately notices is the writing on it, big bright neon words- Big Sister.
Vi can’t help it, she starts crying as soon as the words register, blubbering like an idiot as she looks at her sister. “Are you fucking joking?”
“Not even a little bit,” Powder says with the widest smile she’s ever seen reaching into her back pocket to pull out a stack of black and white photographs- sonograms. “I’m knocked up.”
Once she’s confirmed it, the room goes absolutely nuts. Mylo and Claggor dogpile Ekko while Vander and Benzo pull Powder from the floor to wrap her in a hug. Vander’s crying harder than she’s ever seen him cry, tears flowing freely down his cheeks as he presses a kiss to the top of her head. Vi can’t stop crying herself, joy like she’s never known soaring in her chest. Holy shit, she thought. I’m going to be an aunt again.
Caitlyn rubs her back gently before wrapping her arms around her. “Congratulations, darling.” She whispers, pressing a kiss to her temple.
She laughs through her tears, wiping at her eyes before standing from her spot and crossing the room to pull her sister in a hug.
“I should have known something was off when you didn’t go wild with the charcuterie that Cait brought. You fucking love cold cuts.” She says, squeezing her tight. Powder groans, squeezing her back.
“It was physically painful having to watch you assholes eat prosciutto without me. It’s your job to deliver a truckload of deli meat to the hospital the minute I get this parasite out of me.” She says with a whine, and Vi laughs again.
“You got it sis, I’ll load you up with all the shit you can’t eat.”
“I guess now I can officially say congratulations.” Caitlyn says from beside her, and Vi pulls away from the hug to look at her curiously.
“How the fuck did you already know?” She asks, and both Caitlyn and Powder laugh.
“Isha couldn’t stand not being able to tell anyone and thought she could pull a fast one by telling Caitlyn in sign. Turns out your girlfriend did some learning on her own time, so she figured it out.” Powder explains.
Caitlyn quickly adds, “To be fair, she only told me a few minutes ago. Thank god I didn’t have to keep the secret for long, it would have been torture if you hadn’t been planning to announce tonight.”
Vi is struck dumb at the confession, more than a little gobsmacked that Caitlyn had started teaching herself sign without needing any sort of push.
Three little words almost tumble from her mouth, and she has to swallow them back. It’s way too soon to be throwing those around, but Jesus, she’s never been more sure about something in her life. She’s so in love with Caitlyn that it physically hurts, and everything that’s happened since Friday afternoon has only cemented that in her mind.
First, she didn’t bat an eye before standing up for Isha at the school, making sure that the principal took them seriously for once and making sure they wouldn’t have to shell out money for a new tablet.
Second, she handled Mylo and Claggor like a champ. Sure, it was embarrassing as hell for them to walk in when they were about to have sex, but Caitlyn let it roll off of her shoulders so quickly it was impressive, and welcomed them in with open arms. She didn’t balk at the teasing, going with the flow without missing a beat.
Third, Caitlyn didn’t let Powder’s invasiveness bother her. Vi knew that her family was intense, her sister more so than anyone. She had some issues with being possessive about Vi, and who could blame her after the childhood they had? And yet, Caitlyn had rolled with every punch Powder threw her way, answering even the most asinine questions with ease.
And lastly, she had taken it upon herself to start learning sign just so she could talk to her niece more easily. It showed her adaptability, her desire to communicate with every last member of her family.
Yeah, it was true that Vi usually didn’t introduce people to her family, and Cait meeting them wasn’t what she had planned at all, but in the end, she was glad she had. Because she’s sure it would’ve taken her much, much longer to realize just how head over heels she was if she hadn’t.
She was glad that out of all the girls that had come and gone, Caitlyn was the first one that had met her family.
And she was going to everything in her power to make sure Caitlyn was the last.
Powder hums softly to herself as she walks through the parking lot to their car at the end of the night, her pinky linked with Ekko’s. His other arm is full, holding Isha to his chest, her head lolling on his shoulder. They hadn’t realized it was getting late, not when everyone was so wrapped up in the excitement of their announcement. She felt like she had shared her entire medical history, not just the brief recap of the two doctor’s visits she’d had over the last fourteen weeks. She really hadn’t meant to wait as long as they did to tell everyone, but she had enjoyed keeping it her and Ekko’s little secret.
It wasn’t until they realized that Isha wasn’t in the living room anymore and went searching for her, finding her curled up asleep on Vander’s bed, that they realized it was way past her bedtime.
Now they walk in a peaceful silence, gingerly sliding Isha into her car seat without waking her up, trading small smiles as she snores softly once she’s buckled in and settled.
“Tonight went really good.” Ekko says once they’re on the road, reaching across the center console to take her hand, squeezing it gently. She smiles when he starts twisting her engagement ring back and forth idly, a little habit he’s had since the day he put it there.
“It did.” She agrees, lifting their hands so she can press a kiss to the back of his. “I’m just glad Mylo didn’t say anything gross.”
Ekko chuckles, shaking his head. “Thank god for that.” He pauses when she yawns, resting her head on her shoulder. “You feeling alright?”
Powders hums. She feel good, if not overly full from how many tacos she shoved in her mouth. She’s learned that if she doesn’t feel sick, she needs to take advantage of that and eat as much as she can. “Just tired, who knew growing your kid would be so exhausting?”
“Well good thing you’re taking tomorrow off to stay with Isha, that means you can sleep in as long as you want.” Ekko says with a laugh, squeezing her hand once more before putting it back on the wheel.
“So, what’d you think of Caitlyn?” He asks after another minute of quiet passes.
“I like her.” Powder confesses without hesitating. “Did you know that she started teaching herself sign? And she has the text to speech app on her phone?”
Ekko’s eyebrows lift. “Shit, really? She must be serious about sticking around.”
Powder nods. She had gone into the night with two goals, and she had failed at both. Isha had told someone (and would be getting a talking to about that later, even though Powder would be lying if she said she wasn’t impressed with the loophole) and she hadn’t been able to get Caitlyn alone to talk to her. In the end, neither really mattered. Caitlyn only knew that she was pregnant for about three minutes before they told the rest of her family, and Powder had learned everything she needed to know about her sister’s girlfriend without even needing to say a word.
Caitlyn cares . It’s as simple as that. She cares about people, she cares about Isha, and she cares a hell of a lot for Vi.
Powder loves her sister more than just about anyone else on the planet other than Ekko and her children (Jesus, children rather than child is still something that she’s still getting use to) and all she’s ever wanted was for Vi to stop being so damn selfless and making sure everyone else has their shit together and do something that makes her happy. So if the Piltie makes her sister smile the way she did tonight, then Powder’s cool with it. No need for inquisitions or interrogations.
That is, unless she breaks Vi’s heart.
Then she’s going to kill her.