Miranda's POV-
My headphones were in, as I listened to another Miley Cyrus song, Wrecking Ball being my favorite. I respected Miley unlike most people who dislike her now after she changed from Disney Miley to almost-fully-naked-on-a-wrecking-ball Miley. My mother tapped my shoulder and pointed at the open window on the plane. I looked out and saw the Big Ben, she looked happy about seeing it. Coming to London often you get use to it and it looses it's touch after the first couple of times.
This is her first time coming to London so I let her gush on about how beautiful the city looks from up here. Soon enough the pilot came on the speaker welcoming us to London and telling us we will be arriving on time and to put our trays and seats up in the upward position. I took the last gulp of my coke in a plastic cup and threw it in the black trash back that the airplane attendant was holding up when she was walking up and down the aisle.
Once we landed I turned on my phone as I stood up from my seat waiting for people to get off the plane. There was only one message from my dad that said he would be a bit late from picking us up from the airport, and that they can't wait to see us. Us. He meant Vivian and him. I grabbed my bag from the overhead and wheeled it off the plane following behind my mother. I knew she couldn't wait to see him, it has been almost 9 years. They talk over the phone, but usually about me and how I'm doing on school. yet they haven't had a real conversation in what seems like forever.
We walked off the plane and into the terminal. I looked both ways looking for the exit. People were gathered near the terminal waiting to get on the plane we had just got off too, to get to their next location.

We walked out of the airport and looked around for my fathers car, of course my mother had no clue what it looked like so basically it was just me looking. I finally spotted his car driving our way as he honked his horn multiple times. I rolled my eyes and laughed a bit, he was always a bit of a crazy one. He rolled down his window as he slowly approached us.

"Hop in!" He smiled, opening the back of the van. My mother got into the passenger seat after throwing her bag in the back.

"Hi Scott, it's great to see you again!" She smiled as they hugged over the seat. "You too Lydia. It's been far to long. What have you been up too?"

"Oh you know, raising our daughter." She laughed, my father started driving out of the airport. I stayed quiet in the back trying to mind my own business. They continued on a long conversation and it almost seemed normal, like we were a family an actual family. I was starting to believe it too until my father brought up the wicked step mother of the West.

I sunk into my seat at the sound of her name. "Miranda, Vivian can't wait to meet you. She was gonna come but she had last minute wedding details and she thought it would be good if we got caught up alone."

"That's fine." I murmured. More than fine actually.

"Good then, you girls hungry? We could go get something to eat." I looked down at my stomach and heard it growl. I was hungry in fact the only thing I ate today was a bagel for breakfast and a snickers I got on the plane. I was starved. "Yes please." They both laughed at me and they were debating between Italian and Mexican. I said Mexican cause Italian food just doesn't agree with me.

We finally pulled into a Mexican buffet place. I ran in asking for a table for three. When they got in they both were laughing and I was confused. "This is how you raised my daughter? To run in a restaurant?"

"You mean our daughter? Well maybe if you were there she wouldn't of." I was confused most parents fight over stuff like this but they were laughing like I was some kind of a joke. What the hell is going on? I've never been so confused. Actually scratch that yes I have. When they were trying to explaning to me when I was twelve that I was a planned baby to people who weren't married.

The waiter brought us to our table which was a booth in the back of the room. The place smelt of melted cheese on nachos and the smell of salsa danced with in my senses. "So tell me a bit about Vivian." My mother rang, Oh please don't.

"I'll be right back, I'm gonna run to the bathroom." I insisted standing up from my seat.

---

About two hours and a stop at the gas station for gas and a couple of Milky Ways later we had pulled into the driveway of my dad's overly priced house. My parents were laughing about old times back at college and I'm pretty sure they had ruined that experience for me. Once we parked I went to the back of the car and grabbed both of our bags. My father grabbed them from my hands and insisted that he carried them into the house.

I followed in behind him as he opened the door and sat our bags in the mudroom. "Scottie!" A little boy who had blonde hair and blue eyes said as he ran towards my father. He bent down on his knees and picked the boy up who I think was Lucas who I met on Skype last month.

"Hey buddy, where's your mother?"

"Jen's! Nanny Elle is here!" He said in such a happy-peppy tone. He's way to happy for me. "Alright, well this is Miranda, Lucas my daughter." He pointed over at me. He seemed the age of five and what a cute age that is indeed. He held out his hands for me to hold him and I eyed my dad giving him a strange look.

"Go ahead." My father said nodding. I let down my bag and held out my arms for him as he filled them up. I brought him close to my chest as he took his hand and moved a piece of hair behind my ear. He was definatly a cutie. "You're pretty." He giggled.

"Why thank you." I smiled.

I held close to him as my dad brought me and my mother up so our rooms. Even though I knew where mine was, cause it's my personal room out of all eight in the house. Yeah my dad has done well for himself. My mother was across from mine and she excused herself so she could freshen up. "And here's your room, but you knew that." He said opening the room up and putting my bag inside. "-Come on Lucas, let's let Miranda be and we can make some cookies as I pay Nanny Elle." Lucas clapped his hands and he picked him up closing the door behind.

I was a little bit to happy Vivian wasn't here, I couldn't face her just yet. After changing into some sweatpants and a T-Shirt I walked out of my room to find Lucas running up and down the hallways. I laughed, he was a bundle of excitement. I was about to walk downstairs when I noticed a room at the end of the hallway open. I took a peak inside and saw there were a bunch of medal-rock band posters on the wall and the room was a mess of a bunch of black T's. Too old for Lucas anyhow and not likely his type.

I walked downstairs to find my dad mixing some batter. "Want some help?" I asked. He nodded and handed me the bowl as he preheated the oven.

"Hey dad?"

"Ya hun?"

"Who's room is that, at the end of the hallway?" I asked starting to speed up my mixing. He looked back from starting the oven and grabbed the tray from when off the many cabinets in the kitchen.

"That's Harry's. He's a friend of Vivian's. Actually Vivian does charity work and she took Harry in when he turned 18 when he got out of jail to turn him around and getting back on his feet."

A fugitive in the house, well that's a new one. "What exactly did he do?"

"We don't know, he won't say."

"Are you sure that's safe for Lucas?" I reminded him, I mean come on a fie year old with a kid who just got out of jail.

"Completely, he's a great kid. I think you'll like him. He's a smart lad."

"Lad? Wow living in London has definatly gotten to you." I laughed. I put the mix on the tray and threw it in the oven setting the time for twelve minutes. "Just maybe." He agreed laughing with me. We started cleaning up in the kitchen when there was a ring from the house phone. He got to it and answered it as I finished up.

Once I was done I checked the cookies and they had a couple minutes left. He walked back into the room putting the house phone back on the charger. "Vivian won't be back till late tonight, but she says that you two will go out in the morning for breakfast and catch up, and that you have a dress fitting afterwards." Dress? Oh right you wear those things in weddings, don't cha? Hard pass buddy, hard pass.

"Alright." I walked back up stairs. I saw a glimpse of curly brown hair and then heard a loud door slam. And that must be Harry himself. I walked into my room closing the door, or so I thought. Moxie my cat came pouncing into my room wagging her butt back and fourth to side to side. I got her when I was eight but had her at my Dad's since my mother is allergic. "Hey gurl." I smiled picking her up and placing her on my bed.

I missed her she was always such a good cat. She didn't complain much, she just sat on your lap as you petted her soft fur. I picked her up and walked out of the room as I heard the buzzer on the oven go off. Knowing my dad never hears that kind of stuff I went down stairs with Moxie still in my hands. I sat her on the ground and put on an oven mitt opening the oven and taking the cookies out and placing them on the stove.

My dad ran into the kitchen with panic filling his facial expression. "Oh thank god, I thought I had forgotten them."

"Yeah you're welcome." I teased. He walked up behind me as I put the cookies on a cooling tray and nuzzled my hair messing it up. Luckily it was in a ponytail so he couldn't do much. "You're such a funny kid."

"I know."

"I think you got that from my side of the family."

"In your dreams Scott." My mother interrupts walking in the kitchen. I think this is how I dream of my family being. One big happy family, with a mom and dad and then me the child. As the parents argue about stupid things and they all live together in one big house. But my perfect family dreams were ripped from me early in my childhood and I've realized to live in reality and not hope for things that can't happen.

I sat down at the counter and Lucas came up and I sat him on the chair beside me giving him a warm cookie. We sat there and watched the two fight on, on who gave me what genes in the family and of course my mother one cause she has the theory that "the women are always right." and she has told me to live by that rule for as long as I live because men are stupid.

I look over at Lucas as he seems perfectly content. "Hey Lucas, what's Harry like?" I ask. His eyebrows raise and his eyes almost pop out.

"Harry! He's really funny, and he lets me hang out in his room sometimes and listen to this music that sounds like screaming!" he seems so happy about that and I let him go on and on, deeper into the conversation and once we're done we're not even talking about Harry anymore.

Notes