𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘 4𝐓𝐇 2004. Also known as the day Francesca Lilou Dubois & Caleb Sage Dubois were born. It was actually a peaceful day at first, Gabriel and Amelie celebrating the independence of America with extended family. Up until around 1:30, where Amelie started to feel a very tight sensation in her lower abdomen. She ignored it for a little while but after her water ended up breaking, Gabriel had drove them to the hospital. they spent the next 9 hours in a hospital room, welcoming their twins into the world shortly after. 11:12 & 11:22 were the times in which the twins were brought into the world.

If you asked Francesca how many times she heard this story, she wouldn't be able to tell you an exact number. Her parents retold it every time they could, making sure to keep in that their twins were a miracle and may not have made it. Francesca hadn't believed them at first, not thinking it was even possible that she might have died before even getting to live for 20 minutes, but it was in fact true. Francesca was a lot smaller than Caleb and Caleb was a lot more ill than Francesca. Caleb had what is called nuchal cord, in which the umbilical cord is wrapped around the babies neck. Luckily, the doctor who was delivering was able to get the cord untangled before it caused any long
term damage. Francesca was smaller than most babies and had a heart defect at birth, but they did a surgery once she had enough strength and was old enough to fix it.

While Francesca was sent home shortly after her surgery, Caleb ended up having to stay. The doctors had noticed how his oxygen levels were and decided to keep him until they got higher. Amelie had been terrified. With her kids both being sickly at such a young age, you never knew what could happen. That's why she was always so cautious over them, she couldn't lose her twins. Within a few short months, the twins had finally been home together. The Dubois family had finally formed, but it would never be the same either. Francesca knew that, she knew that from the moment her father hit her for the first time. She knew that from the moment her dad broke her arm because she wanted to go to a friends house. She knew that her family was falling apart and nothing would keep it together. Maybe that's why she enjoyed spending her birthday in cousins. Her father wouldn't be there and she could actually enjoy it. Although those plans changed when a certain blonde decided to go and create drama.

Francesca was still pissed at Cora, but she wasn't going to let that ruin her day. She wasn't going to allow someone who wouldn't really exist without her to ruin her day. Her brothers day. Their day. Francesca chose to ignore the girl the entire morning, well up until Breakfast at least. As Francesca entered the kitchen, she collided with someone shorter than her, knocking them to the ground. A yelp left the blonde as she collided with the floor, feeling her back hurting from the impact. She pushed herself up and reached over to Frans hand, which she was holding out for Cora to grab.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention," Fran apologized as she helped Cora up from the floor

"It's fine," Cora muttered out as she pushed past Fran and headed down the hallway to the stairs

Fran chose to ignore the girls actions as she walked over to the dining room table. Her mom didn't return from the fishers that evening, causing her mood to be damped slightly, but she couldn't be that mad. Amelie only saw Susannah a few times each year, so Fran understood her wanting to spend the night over there. But it did hurt knowing she wouldn't be there to make her a birthday breakfast like she did for all the other people in the squad. Pushing her feelings aside, Fran took a seat at the table and waited for her brother to come downstairs. After the party a few nights ago, she had hardly seen the boy. She knew he had been over at the fishers the next morning celebrating belly's birthday with everyone but other than that, she didn't know where he was.

"Well well if it isn't the birthday girl," a chipper voice sounded from the living room, causing Fran to glance over toward Hazel, who was wearing a peach orange pajama set

"Hi hazy," Fran smiled slightly as she pushed herself up and walked over to the them, wrapping an arm around their shoulder before wrapping them in a tight hug

"I- where's your mom?" Hazel found themself asking, wondering why Amelie Dubois wasn't in the kitchen making breakfast

"Over st the fishers, Susannah wasn't feeling well and ever since the cancer scare last year, she's been very cautious of it," Francesca answered as she let go of Hazel and walked over to the table, taking a seat again

"I'm going to make breakfast," Hazel said sternly, not allowing anyone to tell them no

"Hazy-" Francesca tried to say but was cut off by Hazel,"No, I'm making breakfast and you're not going to stop me,"

Francesca let her mouth hang open for a few seconds before snapping it shut and watching Hazel make breakfast. She wanted to help but she also just felt like watching, seeing Hazel happy in a kitchen always brought a smile to her face. Hazel being happy could always bring a smile to someone's face. That was until it couldn't anymore

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After Hazel made the group breakfast, everyone sat down and enjoyed it. They had made a Buffet style breakfast, with pancakes, waffles, and if you don't want those, their is oatmeal. They also made eggs, toast, sausage, bacon, veggie and turkey sausage, as well as fruit. Everyone ended up enjoying it, and eating a few servings, knowing they would be very busy that day with it being July 4th. After everyone ate; everyone circled around the living room and gave the twins their gifts. Hazel handed the twins their gifts first, handing Francesca a medium sized gift bag, and Caleb a small wrapped box.

"Thank you so much, Hazy" Francesca thanked as she opened the back to see the scream franchise movies box set.

"Yeah, of course, do you like it Caleb?" Hazel turned their gaze to the boy who stared in aww at his gift

"Yeah, I really really like it, thank you so much," Caleb smiled brightly as she reached forward and wrapped Hazel in a tight hug, already wearing the homemade blue and white friendship necklace with a surfboard pendant in the middle.

Next was the fox twins, who handed Francesca a large package with a small package as well as a small box. They handed Caleb a medium sized box as well as a medium sized gift bag. Fran opened the package and gasped in amazement. Inside sat a scream movie posted of the og cast as well as a lilac purple friendship bracelet. Fran squealed and practically jumped into Adi's arms, glad the girl knew exactly what she wanted for her birthday. Caleb practically did the same for his new container of surfboard wax and a set of friendship bracelets with the twins names on them, all 4 twins having the same bracelet in different colors. Theo ended up giving Fran a sky blue and lilac purple necklace with her name in white beads. He gave Caleb a hat with his name engraved on it. The twins thanked them before placing the gifts aside and moving on to the other gifts.

The rest of the group gave the twins small gifts, like perfume and cologne. Felix said he forgot but Caleb didn't believe him. He knew him enough to know he would never forget the twins birthday. Not knowing that July 4th was Caleb's favorite day of the year, other than Christmas and Halloween. He wouldn't ruin Caleb's favorite day, he couldn't physically hurt the boy he loved by doing that. Cora said the same and Caleb could truly careless. He was still mad at her, not liking that she could hurt him that way. The boy was now jobless and although he was now okay mentally, he couldn't help but still feel a tight pressure in his chest every time he inhaled when thinking about it.

"Okay, we'll now that gifts are open, let's start getting ready for the fourth, we're going over to the fishers in an hour and a half, don't be late," Amelie told the group, just coming back downstairs after changing and getting ready herself. Spending the night in the floor next to Susannah fisher didn't exactly go all that well.

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As the group met outside at the fishers, everyone kept their eyes on the groups outfits. Fran was wearing a dark blue floral dress with white, blue, and black air Jordans, paired with the jewelry she got for her birthday and her diamond earrings. She had her hair in a down curled style with 2 braids starting at the top and being braiding down the side into a hanging strand of hair. The only makeup she wore was mascara and lip gloss, adding glitter to her hair and red, white, and blue dots from under her eye to the top of her other eye. Caleb wore a blue open shirt with white shorts and Air Force ones. He wore the new jewelry he got as well. Cora didn't exactly want to go, but she did, and chose to wear a white knitted crop top with Jean shorts, paired with a pair of white converse. She had her hair in a down style with braids. She also added a few friendship bracelets, a gold necklace, a light amount of makeup, and glitter to her hair.

Hazel decided to wear a red checkered crop top with a pair of Jean shorts, their hair in puff pigtails. They paired their outfit with white vans and no makeup or jewelry. They did decide to add glitter to their hair though. Felix had decided to wear blue,white, and black striped top with blue shorts and red converse. He didn't wear any jewelry, but he did put a little bit of face paint on, having red and white streaks on his cheeks. Adi wasn't a bit fan of the holiday but decided to go and wear an orange sweater too with a pair of dark blue jeans, paring it with her combat boots, and putting her hair in a slicked back bun with some of her hair hanging down. She wore all the jewelry she had and very little makeup. At first Adi didn't want to wear any glitter or face paint, but after a little while, Fran was able to convince her to wear red and white dots. Theo on the other hand wore a green basketball top with cream colored shorts and green air Jordan's. He didn't worry about his hair and just decided to go with how it looked. He didn't wear any jewelry, face paint, or glitter, not wanting to deal with the aftermath.

Matt was really excited for the party, already knowing what they were going to wear. Xe wore a red button down top, that hung open, with a pair of white shorts and white vans. He decided to wear a gold necklace and had some glitter in his hair, using the glitter as a way to hide his messy curled mess of hair. Rosilvia had decided to wear a dark red version of the dress Fran was wearing, pairing it with a pair of air forces and gold necklaces and rings. She decided to put her hair in braided pigtails, making sure to curl the ends . Not thinking her hair looked good enough, she added glitter and she make her eyes pop, she added red,white, and blue dots to her face. Harveen had decided to wear a red gingham crop top and short set with white converse. She put in a simple nose-ring and necklace, wearing no makeup and only having white stars painted under her eyes. The group couldn't understand why everyone was looking at them. It wasn't as if they were that dressed up or anything and everyone had seen them like that before but everyone was staring at them in aww.

Belly stared at Cora in amazement. She knew the girl was naturally gorgeous, she just didn't expect the girl to look that good. It was as if she was staring at a Disney princess, like Cinderella type transformation. Cinderella had always been pretty, but dressing up and being confident always made her look prettier, and that was the best way to describe Cora in that moment. As the group walked in, Cora took full notice of belly and her frown turned into a big bright smile. She quickly walked over to belly and wrapped the girl in a hug, having to force herself to not smash her lips against the gorgeous tan girl who was in front of her. Belly had been wearing a tight red gingham dress with white sandals, wearing her necklaces and rings. She wore very little to no makeup as had her hair down in a straight hairstyle.

"Hi," Belly giggled as she looked up into Cora's shining blue eyes

"Hi, do you want to go down to the beach?" Cora asked, wanting to have a private moment with the brunette haired girl

"I actually have to help Conrad in the kitchen, but you're more than welcome to join us," Belly smiled brightly at the girl, her eyes shining although she didn't know what Cora would say

"Yeah, I would really like that," Cora nodded in agreement, following Belly into the fisher house, noticing immediately how similar it was to the Dubois house. she also took notice of Fran and Conrad giggling and messing around in the kitchen but she chose to ignore it

"What are you guys making?" Belly asked as she took a seat next to Jeremiah, Cora taking a seat next to her

"Pomegranate margaritas with a twist, here try this," Fran smiled brightly as she handed belly the margarita glass

"It tastes just like a slurpee" Belly gasped as she handed the glass off to Cora, who had decided to take a long sip, trying to hide her nervousness

"You have to use the good blender," Conrad informed, not realizing they didn't use the good blender

"Uh I haven't used that thing since the great kool-aid debacle of 2011," Jeremiah said, causing everyone but Cora to laugh

"I remember, the counters were sticky for..." Conrad paused before he could finish his sentence, trying to remember how many summers it had been

"Two summers," Fran filled in, remembering how it would always gross her out

"Yeah, just about," Jeremiah laughed as he leaned forward a bit

"Dad kept his, uh, briefcase in my room for a year, "as a reminder that all mistakes are not reversible," Jeremiah mocked his dad as everyone laughed, including Cora who felt herself already calming down from the alcohol

"Wait, won't he be mad if he finds out?" Belly asked, not wanting the fisher brothers to have to deal with their father again

"Who said he's going to find out?" Both Fran and Conrad said at the same time, giving both belly and Cora a daring look

"He's not coming, so either way he wouldn't find out," Conrad informed, clearly surprising those around him, well all but Jeremiah who had already known

"Adam isn't coming?" Fran asked, wanting to know why all of a sudden the older man didn't want to come

"Something about having a work meeting, something like that," Jeremiah mumbled, looking towards the ground in sadness

Cora pushed up from her seat and walked over to jeremiah, wrapping him in a tight hug from behind. While she didn't know what it was like, she couldn't imagine not having a present father, nor any father for that matter. She didn't know much about the fishers, but from what belly told her, Adam fisher was a lot like Gabriel Dubois, just less of a drunk and not as abusive. Physically that is.

"Yeah," the group cheered as Conrad poured the pomegranate juice into the blender, before allowing Fran to pour the alcohol

"Stop, no stop," Fran giggled as Conrad grabbed her hand and started pouring more alcohol in

"Keep your hands on it," Jeremiah scolded between a laugh, seeing as both Conrad and Fran were jokingly pulling their hands off the blenders lid

"You know what I miss, Laurel putting dad in his place. She would just come in a room and be like "Adam" everyone let out a small laugh at the mocking

"Adam," laurels voice cut in as everyone's eyes widened and they look up at the man who had just entered the kitchen

"You came," Laurels voice sounded almost disappointed, as if she didn't want him there

"Happy fourth" Adam said enthusiastically but no one but Jeremiah returned it. Cora looked disgusted at the sight of the man. Belly grabbed Cora's hand and squeezed it tightly. Conrad went pale and looked as if he was going to throw up. Frans face contorted into something more than anger. Hatred.

"Dad!" Jeremiah exclaimed as he got up and hugged his dad tightly, not noticing the tension in the room

"You came" he added as his dad hugged him back, ignoring everyone else

"Hey guys, hey Connie," Adam looked up at his son, who had his hand in Frans as he tried to keep himself together

"Who's this," Adam pointed right at Cora as he stared at her, Cora couldn't even hide her disgust as she pushed a smile on her face

"Cora, I'm a friend of Frans, she invited all of us to stay with her this summer," Cora explained, disgust very evident in her voice

"That's nice of you Frannie, how's your dad doing? I haven't seen him since we went golfing a few months ago," Adam asked the blonde, not noticing how she flinched at the mention of her dad and the nickname in which she used to love

"He's okay, he actually left earlier this week," Fran quickly informed as she saw Susannah walking in, her face dropping at the lady in front of her

"Where'd everyone go?" Susannah asked as she entered the house, her face dropping at the sight of Adam

"Adam. You managed to get off work," Susannah's tightness and playing with her ring told Cora all she needed to know. If she didn't hate Adam fisher before, she definitely hated him now

"Yeah, I couldn't miss the fourth with my family," Adam said as he took a sip of the margarita that Fran shakily handed to him moments before

"All right, well, let's get back the party," Susannah forced a smile on her face as she talked, seeing how uncomfortable Conrad and Fran were in the situation. She couldn't even imagine what Cora now thought of her and her family. She had grown fond of the girl and hoped her husband, ex-husband, didn't effect that.

"Hey Connie, can I talk to you for a minute," Adam asked as Cora and Fran were about to leave, seeing Jeremiah and belly had already exited

"I'm gonna head to the beach," Conrad mumbled, trying to get himself far away from his dad

"Frannie, can we talk," Adam then asked the girl who was glaring at him

"I'm going to go check on him," Fran said, ignoring Adam and nodding towards Susannah

Cora didn't know what to think but she couldn't help but think she was wrong about the felix and Caleb situation. She couldn't help but think Caleb just needed someone and Felix was the best option.

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AUTHORS NOTE

So this chapter isn't the best and not that much happens but I wanted to post this so I can start writing the second part of the episode and also get it out this weekend or next week.

I actually really love this chapter. The outfits and Cora and belly were everything. Conrad and Fran have my heart, I love them sm. Next chapter we should see all of the couples bonding and so I think that it'll be a great chapter.

Thank you all for reading, I love you all sm

Date: 10/29/22
Word count: 3437
Love y'all, Laine