Don Stopped Nina After School One Day And Pulled Her Aside; Away From Her Sister.

Don stopped Nina after school one day and pulled her aside; away from her sister.

"I have a surprise for you.", he told her, and Nina's face lit up at this. She let her mind race with all of the things that it could have possibly been that he wanted to give to her. The fantasies almost seemed endless in those few moments, but she didn't have to wait for long.

"I'm going to ask your Mama to marry me!", he told her, giddy as could be as he pulled out a ring. "It was my mothers. Do you think she will like it? I know it's sudden but I can't stop thinking about it."

Everything started to dim and fade around her as Don tried to explain what he had planned. Dina didn't even really want to hear any of it. He was oblivious to the fact that she was interested in him, and that hurt more than anything else. But, Nina smiled and tried to be enthusiastic about what he was telling her, and that was all she could do. Even if inside she felt like her whole world was falling apart.

"Do you think she'll say yes?", Don asked, showing nervousness as he put the ring back into his pocket, hearing the key turning in the front door that signaled that her mother had also arrived home from work.

"She would be crazy not to.", Nina said, more to herself than to anyone else, as she watched Don embrace her mother and tell her that they had plans for the evening to go out to the same restaurant where they had their first date. It hadn't even been a month yet, and he was already planning to propose. It seemed like a fairytale.

Potential Plot Points, maybe? 🤔

Girl, same. I feel you. Take a breath. 😅

Dina knew that she probably should have said no. If she showed up to Prom, a prom that she had planned almost every single detail of for the past few weeks, with Cassandra Goth on her arm, people would talk. And yet, when Cassie pulled out that corny sign, and was looking up at her with those beautiful eyes of hers, every resolve in her melted away. Dina used to dream about someone doing something this romantic for her; when she was younger and less jaded at the world that they lived in. And while she had never dreamed that the person asking her would be a girl, let alone Cassandra Goth, it didn't seem to matter. It was everything she could have ever wanted, and she didn't want to let that slip away.

"I can't wait to show up as your date.", Dina whispered in her ear, telling herself she would worry about Malcolm and his fury later.

unbaby-ing his face bit by bit

Although Dina had been concerned that her mother would see what was going on with her and Cassie outside of her bedroom window, Katrina had been too focused on Don to worry about anything. And, despite getting a promotion at work, landing an actual teaching position after months of subbing, she didn't feel the need to concern herself with her daughters at this time. She wanted to focus on her new love with Don and what it could mean for her and the future.

That night, Katrina decided to seduce Don Lothario, and they slept together. It seemed effortless to her, and she loved that she could lose herself almost completely in this man and put all her worries away into the back of her mind. They made love the whole night, and Katrina couldn't remember the last time she was this happy.

In the morning, over breakfast, Katrina asked Don to move in with her. She knew that it was sudden, and that it might upset her children when they discovered what was happening, but she found that she honestly couldn't care less. In two months, the girls would be going away to college. In two months, she could start her new life.

"When are you going to tell them?", Don asked, as they had finished their meal. Katrina shrugged her shoulders and replied "They'll figure it out. I'm not concerned.", she said as she moved to grab hold of the plates and move them to the dishwasher. "They'll be gone in two months. As far as I'm concerned, who I allow to live in my home that neither of them pay rent in is none of their business."

it was time for her to truly enjoy her life, and she was tired of letting her daughters control every decision that she made. They could accept what was happening or they could leave. It was their choice.