This is my one chance, to take back, no regrets.

[Natasha Ainsworth]

"I'm biased," Seraphim stated softly, between bites of flounder. "I prefer Marvel, and Gross-o boy sounds like he'd be a DC character. Also, as an official Spiderman fangirl, mostly from my brother's influence, I have to say that Spiderman is better. And I think it'd be a lot easier to get a Spiderman costume. But that's just my opinion," she explained, nodding.

"And also, burping is a nasty power to have."

[Leigh O'Conner]

Leigh nodded triumphantly, over her final bite of green-bean. She was a quick eater, generally. She had to be, with Michael around. "And think, Stevie, you already have all the Spiderman toys."

"Spiderman," he nodded. "Besides, 'No capes!'" He added, with a passable impression from the Incredibles film, which he had adored. "Mom, can I go now? Gotta be Spiderman!"

Bella glanced at his empty plate, and then looked at him. "What do we say?"

"Please!" He cheered gratefully, picked up his plate and put it on the counter, as he'd been taught, before tearing out to his room to go and, presumably, be Spiderman for a while.

[Natasha Ainsworth]

"You never let me dress up after dinner," Seraphim replied casually, giving Leigh a mock pout, as she finished up with her flounder, and moved onto the potatoes. Her eating was quite the opposite of Leigh's; slow, steady, refined, all of the proper utensils. Each piece of food eaten in a group. First her beans, then the flounder, and now the potatoes. Growing up with her siblings had also effected her habits. Tatum at nothing, and Rath was easy enough to stab with a fork. Sera could stand to be leisurely.

"Actually, in retrospect, I don't think we even really dressed up when we were kids. Outside of juvenile diabetes day."

[Leigh O'Conner]

"Well, let's see," Leigh answered, and began ticking items off on the tips of her fingers, "Monday nights we were girl scouts, Monday and Tuesday afternoons, and Saturday nights, we were ballerinas, Wednesday and Fridays were were gymnasts. Tuesday and Thursday nights, and Saturday mornings, we were soccer players.

"And that's just when we were little. Now, I've also got cute barista, babysitting-the-kids outfits, and track, too. That's all the dressing up I can handle, personally."

[Seraphim Donnelly-Rousseau]

Seraphim scowled at her through a mouthful of potatoes, rolling her eyes as Leigh listed off their many childhood activities. Once she had properly chewed and swallowed, she lifted her own hand, and began to tick off other things. "You forgot the stuff we didn't stick with. Just to name a few, there was also jazz, and tap, and that dance which I can't quite recall that really hurt our feet, swimming, and plus we tried guitar lessons, when we were jealous of my brother and sister. We also played basketball for a short period of time, and I was a cheerleader for a record shattering three weeks during ninth grade," she explained, quite firmly, still scowling at Leigh.

"But our childhood aside, and cute barista aside, those aren't real costumes. I mean dressing up for fun, not organized activities. You never let me dress up as Spiderman. Although I think Rath went as him once, for the dreaded holiday."

[Leigh O'Conner]

"I thought all of the varieties of dance went without saying within the 'ballerina' category," she answered with a grin. "I forgot about basketball, though. Good times. And I never said anything, but I was so sad when you quit cheerleading. You worked that skirt. Seriously. If you feel like dressing up, you can always wear that," Leigh teased. "As opposed to a superhero that will inevitable lead to me thinking of my three-year-old brother. Or Rath. Besides, we played dress up when we were really little...or I think we did, anyway. We should do that again. Mom, do you still have any of your crazy college drama-stuff?"

Bella blinked momentarily, having been out of the conversation, it was a bit of a surprise to be drawn in again. She was thinking, in fact, of Michael again, worrying. She smiled at the question. She had at first, been an education major with a focus on theatre, wanting to teach drama to kids, before changing to primary-school education. She had boxes of costumes and fake jewelry that she'd been allowed to keep. "Actually, I do. They're all up in the attic, if you're brave enough to go find them."

"There you go!" Leigh noted cheerfully towards Sera. "We're brave...aren't we?"

[Seraphim Donnelly-Rousseau]

"Then you should have said 'dancers', because 'ballerina' only implies ballet to me," Seraphim replied casually, with a little grin of her own. "And basketball was really brief, I wasn't tall enough, and you wouldn't play without me, you big baby. Now I almost think you like playing sports without me, you get so excited over track, any chance to escape my nagging, right?" she suggested, nudging her leg under the table once again. "Seriously though, you liked that cheerleading uniform? I think I still have it in my closet somewhere. Mom and dad paid for it, and they were actually mildly angry when I quit, since it was just after they paid for it. So it's around somewhere. I should have known you'd be upset when I quit, you were apparently hard gay for me a lot longer than I even considered, as we've already come to realize today," she teased back.

She snorted a bit of laughter at the thought of superheroes leading to thoughts of their brothers, but nodded in agreement. Perhaps there would be better things to dress up as. She glanced toward Bella when Leigh asked about the drama-stuff, which she only remembered vaguely. She was pretty sure they had explored the attic once with Michael when they had been in elementary grades, and as she recalled, it had scared the pants off of her. But she was also pretty sure they had found said crazy college drama-stuff during that trip, too.

"We're.. we're brave-ish," Sera replied, turning to give Leigh a slight smile. "I'm braver than I was the last time you made me go up there? I think we'll live. You'll just climb up first, and I'll follow, and if anything gets you, I'll jump back down and call the police. Or mom."

[Leigh O'Conner]

"Meh, dancers, dancing, specifics aside," Leigh waved one hand imperiously. "And we have already discussed the years and years of my raging gayness for you, Seraphim Madeline Donnelly-Rousseau, and if you keep talking about the length of said gayness, I will do mean and unspeakable things to you. They will involve listening to me sing old country songs. Like by Conway Twitty and stuff.

"Or I'll join rugby, like Tasha wants. And you'd never see me again for all the time off I'll have," the blonde stuck out her tongue.

"And that's why you're my hero!" Leigh added as Sera described her reactions to the attic. "That's also why you don't get to be Spiderman, you know. Spiderman isn't supposed to jump back down and call the police when Mary Jane is in danger. Or mom."

[Seraphim Donnelly-Rousseau]

"You know, I actually don't mind country music. But I guess you could think of more unspeakable tortures to perform on me. You're using my full name, so you're obviously very serious about all of this," Sera shot back, smirking over at the blonde. She had finished with her potatoes finally, and was now just finishing up with her glass of root beer, raising it to her lips between the playful bickering with her girlfriend.

At the mention of joining rugby, Seraphim choked a little, quickly putting the glass down. "Oh no, you're not joining that! People get killed in that, rugby is a ridiculous sport! Ridiculous, violent, and time consuming, and if you end up on crutches, I can't promise that I'll carry you down the stairs at school. You do realize you have to go up four flights just to get to biology, right?"

The mention of the attic seemed to snap her out of her over-protective rant, as she giggled just a bit at the Spiderman joke. "Come on, seriously? You're no Mary Jane Watson, darling. You're not even a redhead, for one. And also, Spiderman wouldn't jump, he'd like.. web sling, and swing down and call the police. Or mom."

[Leigh O'Conner]

"I wouldn't join rugby, really. I promise. Even if I was gonna join another sport, which I'm not.

"As for not being Miss Watson, I'd say I'd dye my hair, but there are about thirty-thousand too many redheads as it is," Leigh replied. "And I believe that my issue with you being Spiderman was more your leaving, rather then the specifics of said leaving. But I'm pretty sure that Michael took the serial killer from the attic when he left, so we should be safe in any case. Lemme throw our dishes in the kitchen, and we'll go find out, 'kay?" The blonde stood and held out her hand to accept Sera's dishes on top of her own.

[Seraphim Donnelly-Rousseau]

"Well, good. I really don't think I much fancy the idea of you rolling around in the mud with Brody Rogers, even if Natasha is on the team, too," Seraphim muttered.

"And we do have quite a pandemic of gingers, don't we? Not that my siblings are helping very much," she added, as she lifted up her dishes and gently placed them on top of Leigh's. She pushed her chair back, standing up, and stretching her arms slightly. She felt stuffed, and it was quite nice. "Sounds good, though. We'll check it out, I won't be Spiderman, and Michael can keep the serial killer. Who, I'm quite serious, I'm pretty sure I saw back then. I know I saw something up there. Your attic is evil."

[Leigh O'Conner]

"No arguments there," Leigh called from the kitchen, having missed the mud-rolling comment due to her distance, and having depositing the dishes into the sink and rinsing them quickly before returning from the kitchen to lean on the back of the chair she'd previously been sitting in. "And I'm thinking, if he keeps the serial killer, he can always just set it on Kelly."

"Leigh Jacklyn!" Bella said, scandalized.

"Don't middle name me," Leigh responded. "You never liked her anyway, and you told me so right after Michael started dating her. You didn't like her then, and you don't like her now, and you know that if you had the chance you'd slap her right across the face. At least. And no one blames you."

Bella frowned, feeling a little guilty, before standing and unbuckling Bethany and hefting her up. "Still, it's not nice to say."

"She doesn't deserve nice," Leigh answered, looking at the wall on the opposite side of the room. "Let's go get lost in the attic, Sera," she said shortly, unwilling to listen to her mother's opinion on treating everybody with kindness. Not if it had to do with someone who'd hurt her brother so badly.

[Seraphim Donnelly-Rousseau]

As soon as the subject had turned to Kelly, Seraphim had been fairly certain that it was going to be turn nasty within a few moments. She had been correct, and she found herself wincing a little at the exchange between mother and daughter, which she quite pointedly stayed out of completely. When Leigh more or less stormed out of the room, she nodded slightly, glancing back toward Bella for just a second. "It was really good, thanks mom," she managed quickly, before hurrying off, to follow Leigh out of the kitchen, and back toward upstairs.

Catching up, just as the blonde was reaching the bottom step, Seraphim reached out and gently grasped her by the arm, giving her a little tug back. "Hey, hold it. Don't get pissed at your mom, okay? She's just trying to.. well, you know, be Switzerland. Or something. She doesn't get to hate her like we do," the brunette said simply, keeping her voice low.

[Leigh O'Conner]

"You're welcome," Bella answered softly, and watched the brunette follow her daughter upstairs, before walking into the kitchen to do the dishes, placing Bethany in her bouncy-chair.

"Just let it, Sera," Leigh said flatly, not bothering to try to reclaim her arm, staring up the stairs. "She didn't -- Michael called me after everything. I'm the one who had to listen to my brother crying on the phone. Crying," she spat out, finally looking at Sera. "Michael doesn't fucking cry. And you know what, I love my mom, you know I do. But she was trying to defend that bitch before she even heard the full situation. And even now that she knows everything, she still doesn't say anything. Doesn't even apologize for sticking up for Kelly against Michael.

"I'm optimistic, just like Dad is, but I'm not stupid. And I refuse to think or say anything about Kelly that could possibly be misconstrued as a compliment. I hate her, Sera, and you know what, Mom should to. You know, since it was her fucking son whose heart was broken and all.

"Can we please just go get the boxes from the attic?" Leigh said sadly, deflating from her anger as quickly as it had come.

[Seraphim Donnelly-Rousseau]

Seraphim hadn't quite been expecting the outburst that she received, but she listened to it with a solemn expression. She wasn't big on the idea of being snapped at, particularly when she hadn't done anything wrong, and had it been anyone else, she probably would have been snapping back in just a matter of seconds. But, given that it wasn't just anyone, she just listened, waiting for the blonde to get it all out, and finish with her upset at the situation.

She was a little lost for words, a rarity for her, when Leigh finally did finish. She had expected to be angry, with the way Leigh had gone off on her and failed to let her get a word in edgewise, but she found the anger just wasn't there, much like her words. Exhaling heavily, she stepped up to stand beside the other girl, releasing her arm from her grasp, and wrapping her arms around her instead. It wasn't perfect, with Leigh being taller, but she didn't know what else to do, given the situation.

"I know," she said quietly, although she wasn't sure she did. In many ways, she was did, but it wasn't the same as what Leigh felt, no matter how close she herself had been with Michael. If it had been Rath, she wouldn't have expected Leigh to understand fully either. All they could do was sympathize, really.