Just Breathe

Chapter Two

Emilia reclined on the large couch in her dad's trailer on the set of His Dark Materials. She had just sent Ayden a good morning text. England was five hours ahead so he was about to go to work.

It was hard leaving New York, with the nearly three year relationship going so well. She missed him so much and was feeling left out of all the beginning of the school year festivities. His mother was forcing him to go shopping which he hated, while Lia teased him about it considering he was starting his freshman year at Columbia. He had taken a gap year in between graduating, and was gearing up to start the semester. Lia would miss the free time they had had together but Columbia was a train ride away..

Lia had had her meeting with her guidance counselor earlier. She'd signed up for four AP classes as she'd planned. She'd honestly started to get bored in Wales. Visiting the set had lost its luster after a couple times and there wasn't much for a teenager to do here. Loading up on classes would help pass the time.

"Hey I gotta go so I'm not late. Love you."

Lia smiled. "Love you too. Talk to you later!"

They hung up and Lia scrolled through her IG feed. Just the regular bullshit of people trying to make their lives look better than they actually were. She sighed and headed over to her school portal. Her new classes were loading on the browser, along with the syllabi.

It would be a lot but nothing she couldn't handle. Honestly, she couldn't wait for school to start in a week. The door creaked open but no one appeared immediately. Then she noticed the nose of Hester, Lee Scoresby's rodent daemon poking in. She rolled her eyes and sat up.

"Dad!" She complained.

In what could be described as only a rodent-y voice, Lin said. "Your mother requests your assistance with the tiny heathens."

Lia sighed, stood up and walked to the door. She pushed it open to find her dad holding the puppet used during screening, a mischievous look on his face. He then proceeded to have Hester attack her feet.

"Dad, you're so childish," she complained as she stepped out and closed the door.

"That's why you love me," he reminded her as they started walking. "How'd your meeting go?"

"Fine," she said. "I'm all signed up for classes."

"Your mom said you're taking four AP classes?" He asked with a wince.

Lia was tired of them acting like that was too much. Didn't they know she was trying to get into one of the top schools in the country? She couldn't do that with just regular classes, even if she got A+'s.

"I can handle it," she assured him as they neared Vanessa and the twins. Stella seemed to be tormenting her brother with a worm. He squealed as she dangled it near him. Seb hid behind his mother's legs.

Vanessa was looking overwhelmed. "Lia, do you mind taking your brother to go find a drink? I'll handle this monster."

Lia nodded and scooped up her sensitive brother. He very much wore his heart on his sleeve, much like their father. Whereas his twin sister was bold and a bit mischievous, Seb was quiet and sweet; happiest when he was playing with his Legos or PJ Masks action figures.

Lia took him to catering and hooked him up with some milk and crackers to calm him down. Always happy to play extra mom, she took him back to the trailer and they read books quietly before it was time to go.

—-
Later that afternoon, Vanessa and the kids arrived back at their Welsh home. It was nap time for the kids. They always thought they weren't tired but both would almost immediately fall asleep once they lied down in their beds.