Battle Wounds

twenty.

"Cole, you need to hurry up!" Olivia yelled up the stairs while finishing her outfit with a pair of earrings. Her quick footsteps took her into the kitchen where Harper finished off a cup of coffee. "Please tell me that's not your whole breakfast."

"I had some toast," Harper answered before placing her cup in the sink. She ran some hot water into it before putting it on the dryer rack but could feel Olivia's eyes burning into her back. Sighing, she nodded. "A bite of toast. I'm too nervous to eat."

"So to fix your nerves you chose to go with coffee?" Olivia shook her head, a smile pulling at her lips.

Harper shrugged with a smile of her own. It was a strange way to deal with her anxiety but coffee seemed to have the opposite effect on her. Perhaps it was the rush of caffeine that gave her the energy to deal with her nerves.

"You don't have anything to be nervous about," Olivia said, pouring coffee and creamer into her tumbler. "You'll be okay, I promise."

"No, I know but I just... I don't know. I'll be okay." But the truth was, she was terrified. This was one of the last first days she would ever have. This was her home now and the permanence of it all still scared her. Even though she was happy to have found a family that truly wanted her, all she ever knew was how to be a foster kid. It was as if her identity had been stripped from her and she was blindly searching for herself.

"Of course you'll be okay. Your friends who you've been hanging out with all summer will be there with you. And I'm sure you'll see Lucas at some point during the day." Olivia squeezed her arm reassuringly before stepping out into the hallway. "Cole! I'm not telling you again. You have ten minutes until we leave."

Harper smiled despite Olivia's nervous energy.

"I swear, that kid will give me a nervous breakdown one of these days," Olivia mumbled as she returned to the kitchen. "Are you still getting a ride from Sam?"

"Yeah, she said she'll be here soon."

"Okay, good. First days are always so chaotic around here. Lucas and I have to be at work early for the first couple of days so this really helps us out that Sam's driving you. But we'll be able to take you once the first week of school is over," Olivia explained. A smile pulled at her lips as she studied Harper. "You look so beautiful."

Harper smiled at the compliment though she could feel her face getting warm. "Thanks."

"I thought you said we were leaving." Cole appeared behind them, his backpack slung over one shoulder.

"We are but - wait!" She said, causing him to stop. "I need a first day of school picture!" Olivia waved Cole, who was no-so-subtly rolling his eyes, toward Harper as she got her phone out. "Alright now - Cole, smile. You look like you're going to a funeral."

"I kinda am," he muttered but it was just low enough for only Harper to hear. She bit her lip to keep from laughing.

As Olivia counted down, they put on their best smiles and endured a few seconds while she took 'just one more' picture.

"Perfect! I'll have to see these to Lucas later." Olivia smiled before pocketing her phone. She grabbed her bags off the counter and followed Cole toward the door before stopping short. She turned back to Harper and gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. She frowned at the smudge her lipstick made on her skin and tried to remove it with her thumb. "I'm sorry, my lipstick's all over you now," she said with a laugh, trying but failing to clean the red mark.

Harper laughed. "It's okay. Don't worry about it, mom." As soon as the word left her lips, her eyes widened with realization as did Olivia's.

They stared at each other for a few seconds with Harper panicking internally. She hadn't meant to say that. She had no idea what even came over her to utter that one word. Mom. It was too soon considering the adoption wasn't even finalized. Or maybe there would never come a time for her to say that word again. Maybe Olivia and Lucas just wanted to be called by their names.