"So how do you like living in the neighborhood so far?" Maura prodded Natalie as they gathered in the school hallway.
"So far so good," Natalie replied with a shrug. "It's only been a few days."
"Good morning, Daddy. Are those your famous pancakes I smell?"
"Good morning and you bet they are," Blaine replied cheerfully.
As Blaine served the pancakes, he looked up at his daughter, expecting to see brown-haired, green-eyed Brooke. Instead, sitting in front of him was a girl with black hair, brown eyes, and Reese's smile. It was Natalie. She was sitting at the table, as naturally as if she had sat there every morning of her life.
"I see Simon and Reese are moving in today," Lawrence remarked to Shayna as he walked into his house after work and ran into her in the hallway just outside his home office.
"Are the moving trucks still out there?" she asked, turning to look out through the glass of the front door. "They started moving in this afternoon. I was hoping they would be finished by this early this evening."
"Did you get all of the paperwork completed?"
"Yes, it's all settled. Vanessa offered to put together a group to welcome them to the neighborhood. They're going to stop by sometime tomorrow."
"Sounds good," Lawrence replied. When Shayna didn't respond, but instead seemed engrossed in thought, he asked, "Is there anything else?"
They stood silently for a moment, Blaine obviously not sure where to begin.
"Maybe we should talk somewhere in private," Reese suggested.
"Maura was just showing me around the neighborhood," Natalie said. "Is it okay if we walk around for awhile? I'll meet you at the new house."
"That would be good," Reese said, sounding slightly relieved.
"Hi. I got a message to come to the office," Natalie said to the receptionist as she walked into the main office after her last period class.
