somewhat of a reunion. [legs ; closed]

[Brooke Gaiman]

Today had seen Brooke waking up with a smile on her face after having what she thought was an awesome dream. She’d dreamt that she’d had her daughter with her, introduced the five year old to Will (who HADN’T freaked out, surprisingly) and they’d spent an awesome time at the carnival. Slowly, the smile had disappeared from Brooke’s face as she remembered the letter her mother had sent her. Her daughter was coming to Oasis Hill Academy. Brooke glanced to her right, at the calendar she’d pinned to the wall. A large red circle had been placed around one of the days. As Brooke leaned closer to the calendar, she let out a loud gasp. Her daughter was coming to Oasis Hill Academy today. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten! Lauren (or as Brooke liked to call her – Legs) was the most important person in Brooke’s life, and she’d forgotten the day that she was coming. Brooke slapped her palm to her forehead, before throwing on some clothes. She’d gotten dressed incredibly quickly considering how long it usually took her to get ready. Brooke ran a brush through her long hair several times, clipped a lead to Frisky’s collar and practically flew out of her living quarters.

She was halfway down the corridor before she realised she’d forgotten to close and lock the door. Brooke had come to a stop, torn between rushing up to the Entrance, or going back and locking her quarters up like a responsible adult. Screw responsibility. Brooke whistled to her dog, and rushed down the corridor as fast as she could, taking the stairs as fast as she could without falling and breaking her legs. She rushed down the third floor corridor, all but knocking students out of the way, Frisky running excitedly along behind her, barking loudly. Brooke once again flew down the stairs and reached the second floor. She rushed down the second floor corridor and flew down the stairs to the first floor. She stood in the Entrance, panting slightly as she looked around. Her gaze came across the large portrait of the Amorcya family, and Brooke shuddered. She looked around the Entrance again, and her shoulders drooped. Apparently, she’d rushed around for nothing. Her daughter and mother weren’t even here yet. Brooke sighed, and lowered herself down onto the last step. Frisky walked in a circle for a moment, before lowering herself down to the ground, resting her head on her paws. Brooke leaned her elbows on her knees, resting her chin in her hands as she waited, her eyes fixed on the large iron door.

Brooke felt guilty for not seeing her daughter often enough. She’d had Legs when she was twenty, and at that point, had felt like she couldn’t handle a child. She’d lived with her mother and Legs for a few years until Headmaster Chapman had offered her a job at Oasis Hill Academy. Brooke had then been torn between the choice of going to the school to work, or staying with her mother and daughter. It had been her mother that had convinced her to take the job. Brooke’s mother had assured her that she would take good care of Legs, and that when she felt ready, Legs would be able to come and live with Brooke. For three out of the five years Legs had been alive, she’d been living with her grandmother. Brooke would go back home every holiday to see her daughter, but she’d never felt like it was enough. Then her mother had sent her the letter, stating that she thought Legs needed to be with her. Brooke had known in an instant that it wasn’t her mother’s decision to send Legs to the school. Legs had obviously demanded it. Along with her looks, Legs had also gotten Brooke’s stubbornness. Other than that, Legs looked like a smaller, cuter female version of her father, someone Brooke refused to think about.

Thinking of her daughter’s father got her thinking about Will. Shit. She’d forgotten to tell Will about Legs. Well. That wasn’t really a conversation she was looking forward to having. She could imagine it now. “Oh, by the way, Will. I have a daughter. Wanna have sex?” Yeah. That would go down really well. Brooke sighed as she glanced quickly at her dog before once again fixing her gaze on the large iron doors. Where were they?

[Lauren Elizabeth Gaiman]

Legs was excited. She hadn't seen her mum since the summer break had ended and she didn't like it. She sat on the obnoxiously slow boat. She had just learned that word. Obnoxious. Her grandmother had used it a lot these past couple days. She continued to bounce in her seat, until she felt a soft hand land on her shoulder holding her down. She looked up at her grandmother and smiled brightly. She had cried and begged and refused to do anything her grandparents said until they decided that they should give in to their cutest granddaughter. Well cutest five year old granddaughter, because they still had Danielle. She moved on from bouncing to tapping her foot. She wanted to get to the island already!

When the boat finally docked at the A-word Island, Lauren practically jumped out of her seat, only to be held back by a hand grabbing her hand. She frowned slightly and looked excitedly up at the castle. She was going to be able to see her mum now! In less than a couple minutes! She waited...somewhat patiently as her grandmother slowly got her two bags. She handed the small backpack to Legs and she quickly pulled it onto her back. She pulled her long hair out from being stuck before holding out her hand for her grandma. She was not about to get lost in a big group of people right before she got to see Baggy. No way! She smiled widely and attempted to pull her grandmother along. She seemed so tired for some odd reason. She should hurry up, so she could go back home and take a nap!

As they walked up the white steps to the big door to the entrance hall, Legs straightened her dress and looked up at her grandmother. She smiled widely "Thank you!" She pushed open the big doors with both of her hands and looked around wildly, her hair flying around slightly. As soon as she caught sight of her mum and Frisky, she dropped her grandmothers hand and practically ran toward her mum. She dropped her back pack on the floor letting it make a soft plop. "Baggy!" She tried not to yell, knowing she was in fact in a school and where her mum worked, but it didn't matter, she was to excited.

[Brooke Gaiman]

Brooke sighed, half in frustration, half in anxiety. She was anxious to have her daughter with her, to be able to have the chance to make up for all the times she hadn’t been around. But she was frustrated because, well, it was taking them so damn long to get here. Brooke didn’t remember the boat taking this long any time she’d ever gone on it. Brooke tapped her foot on the floor impatiently, her gaze going from the doors to the large Amorcya family portrait on the wall. Every time she’d look at the portrait, the eyes of the twins would automatically shoot in the opposite direction. It was times like these when Brooke really hated the fact that wizard paintings moved. Who came up with that idea, anyway? She turned her gaze to the portrait again, this time fast enough that the portrait twins didn’t have enough time to look away. She caught them staring straight at her, twin smirks on their faces. Ugh. Those Amorcya twins were so difficult to understand, sometimes, even in painting form. She watched the portrait for a little while longer. As she watched, the portrait version of the twins’ mother fussed with the twins’ hair, while the portrait version of their father looked like he’d rather be elsewhere. The Amorcya family was one odd family.

Finally, Brooke tore her gaze away from the portrait when she heard the doors being opened and a very polite “Thank you!” A smile immediately appeared on Brooke’s face as she saw a very familiar little girl dropping her bag on the floor and running towards her, shouting “Baggy!” Brooke stood up, bent down slightly and stretched her arms out. “Legs!” she said, as the five year old crashed into her. With a smile still stretched across her face, Brooke stood up, holding her daughter over her right hip. With her left hand, Brooke pushed her daughter’s hair out of her face, fussing over her the way every mother would fuss over their own child. Once she’d finished, Brooke turned her gaze to her own mother, who was carrying Lauren’s two bags. Brooke smiled slightly at her mother. “How was the boat ride?” she asked. Her mother smiled and looked at Lauren. “Long and tiring”, she replied, “Lauren was impatient the entire time.” Brooke grinned at her daughter, planting a kiss on her forehead. “That’s my girl.”

Brooke shifted Legs slightly over her hip, reaching behind her with her left hand to pull her wand out of her back pocket. As she did, Brooke earned a very disapproving look from her mother. “Haven’t I taught you anything? You’re going to blast your butt cheeks off one day, and you’ll have nobody to blame but yourself”, she said. Brooke rolled her eyes. “Thank you, mother! Have a safe trip home, now.” Brooke’s mother seemed to take the hint. She kissed Lauren on the forehead, said goodbye to her grandchild, and left. Brooke waved her wand at Lauren’s bags, making them levitate. She flicked her wand again, and the bags went zooming up the stairs. Brooke shoved her wand back into her back pocket, and hugged Lauren tightly. “Gosh, Legs, I’ve missed you so much!” she said.

[Lauren Elizabeth Gaiman]

Lauren let her mum fuss over her hair and whatever else. She nodded proudly at her mum's "That's my girl" comment. She hated the boat ride, but she was glad she was here. She didn't like her grandparents house. It was funny smelling and she hated the rules. No running. No yelling. No having fun.

As soon as her mum stopped messing with her hair, she let her own small hands fix her own mum's hair a little while. Pulling on couple stray hairs softly to place them back where they should be. She nodded and waved a little while her grandmother left, to preoccupied with the fact that she was finally home. Where she should be. She waited till the older lady was really gone before turning back to her mum. "I've missed you too Baggy!" She wrapped her arms around her mum and rested her head on her shoulder.

She lifted her head again and rolled her eyes, a trick she in fact learn from her mother, and pulled Baggy's sleeve back over her shoulder. She patted it slightly before smiling at her. "Do I get to stay here with you for good?" She looked hopefully into her mum's brown eyes "I want to stay here with you." She was tired of being with her grandparents, eating vegetables all the time, and taking naps. She was a whole five years old now! That was a whole hand! She didn't need naps! She didn't need to be reminded to wash her hands. She could do a lot of things old grown ups didn't think she could. She was happy that her mum wasn't an old person. That wouldn't be fun.

Legs loved her mum. Not that she really knew what that meant, but she didn't like it when she couldn't be with her. She always felt so...by herself when she was stuck at her grandparents home. She had already been told that her mum was working and that she had to be good, but she knew her mum wouldn't just expect her to sit in one room all day and do nothing. She wasn't like that. They'd have fun. Or at least Bags would find something for Legs to play with, when she was busy. Right?

[Brooke Gaiman]

“Do I get to stay here with you for good? I want to stay here with you.”

Brooke almost melted when her daughter looked at her hopefully. She couldn’t resist that face. Brooke honestly didn’t think anyone would be able to resist Lauren’s face. It was probably the reason why Headmaster Chapman had let her come to Oasis Hill Academy in the first place. Brooke smiled gently, and nodded. “Yep, you’re here for good. You have to put up with me forever”, she said, a mischievous look on her face. She’d known that Legs hadn’t exactly been happy living with her grandparents. Her mother would owl her every now and then with an update on how Legs was doing. Each letter would pretty much tell Brooke that Legs wasn’t enjoying herself living there with her grandparents. Brooke had dreaded getting letters from her parents, because they would sometimes include a letter from Legs herself, and that letter usually asked why Legs couldn’t live with Brooke. Those letters from Legs usually always made Brooke feel guilty about leaving her daughter with her grandparents while she frolicked around Oasis Hill Academy. Nobody knew about Legs. Nobody except Brooke and Danielle, and Danielle had been sworn to secrecy.

Brooke had never been one to care about her reputation, but she didn’t exactly like sharing her personal life with everyone. That was why nobody knew about Legs. Brooke was dreading the day she’d have to tell Will about it. Well, that day would have to be soon, because Legs was already here and Brooke couldn’t exactly hide her from Will. Especially since Will was over a lot. Brooke frowned slightly as she looked down at her daughter. For a moment, the frown remained on Brooke’s face. Slowly, the frown changed into a mischievous smile as an idea popped into Brooke’s head. “Legs, honey. I think I have a job for you”, Brooke said, grinning at her daughter. Will would probably kill her for this, but that didn’t matter so much at the moment. She would deal with it when the time came.

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