She’s been building up a castle in LA.

She’s been building up a castle in LA. by pinklipstiiick featuring bottega veneta boots

"So there's this guy I want to set you up with..." Mila's voice trailed off from the kitchen, my eyes instantly flicking over to where Gabriel was too into his video game to notice what his aunt had said. I didn't date. Okay, I tried dating a few times over the past few years... but it was hard. I wasn't the one night stand kind of girl and most guys split the second they heard I had a five year old son at home. But the few good ones? They never made it far enough to the point where I thought that things were getting serious enough to introduce them to Gabe. My expectations were through the roof since I had another life to put before my own now. I'd pretty much embraced the fact that I'd be alone for the rest of my life... hopefully my son won't leave the minute he turns 18. "Are you listening?"

I stood up and walked into the kitchen, watching my sister make a sandwich for Gabe since he told her that his tummy was empty. I swear, it was his new favorite line and killed me a little each time since he was so adorable. "I don't have time to date," I said seriously.

"You only have Gabe every other week. What do you do when he's with Ben?" She shot me one of her no nonsense glances, the kind she had perfected and it made her look so much like our mother. "And don't tell me you do something boring like read and relax."

I kept my mouth closed and quirked an eyebrow since she knew damn well that was what I did in my free time. I wasn't sure when I'd become so boring... but I was.

"As I was saying," She grinned and grabbed the mustard before I grabbed the bottle from her hand quickly, catching her off guard.

"He hates mustard," I explained and she let out a small sigh, grabbing for the lettuce instead as I set the bottle of mustard back down on the counter.

"He's one of Braden's friends. Tall, dark, handsome," She winked while I kept staring at her blankly. Her boyfriend? He was exactly the type of man I'd never let near my son. I loved my sister, but her taste in men was awful. She had a knack for bad boys just like our mother had. Once in every rare blue moon you could change a bad boy, but most of the time my sister struck out. I'd never tell her that to her face though.

"You do realize that we have a different type, right?" I lifted an eyebrow, wondering what exactly my type might be. The comparisons between my ex and the most recent guys I had been out with were very little; smart and handsome. While Ben modeled, the other guys were more along the lines of professional businessmen. Lawyers, a guy who did taxes for a living that Mila had set me up with, and the worst yet? A gynecologist. I knew from the minute I heard what he did for a living that we wouldn't be getting past a first date... And I was right.

"It's not like I'm going out with him." She grinned, "You will be. He is different from Braden."

"Thank god," I mumbled under my breath before realizing I'd actually just said it out loud. Don't get me wrong, Braden was hot... but looks only got you so far and to my knowledge? It was all the guy really had going for him.

"What?" She narrowed her eyes at me.

"Nothing." I sighed and shook my head, "I would rather not Mil."

"Come on!"She whined and even added a pout, "Please."

I rolled my eyes, "Can we talk about you instead?"

"What is there to talk about?"

"Where's Braden tonight?" I asked and glanced around the counter which was a lot cleaner than how I'd left my own this morning. "Do you have any chips?"

She nodded to the pantry, "He's working, but I told him that you and Gabe were over tonight, so he's not coming." I
I walked over to the pantry and grabbed a big bag, Mil popping one in her mouth the second I was within reaching distance. "Are you going to miss him?" I snatched the food up in my hands and walked out of the kitchen as my sister followed behind me.

"I can do without him Cam." She grinned, "We don't spend every night together."

"Sure," I smirked as I sat down on the couch and handed Gabe the plate while she sat on the other side of him.

He set the video game controller with a big grin, "Thank you Maman."

Mil pouted, "I made you that sandwich!"

He grinned back at his aunt, "Thank you Aunt Mila." He nuzzled into her side a little as he bit into the sandwich. I swear, it was impossible not to love this kid.

"You're welcome handsome."

"Guess what Aunt Mila," He said with a mouth full, covering his mouth with a hand as I shot him a look. "Sorry maman. Better?" He asked and pulled his hand away, his mouth now empty.

"Much," I said and let a small laugh, eating a chip.

"What were you going to say before your mom rudely interrupted you?" Mil smirked at him and messed up his hair with her hand.

"Hey!" I shot my sister a look and she grinned back innocently, adding a small shrug.

"Stop it you two!" Gabe exclaimed, with a mouth full of food might I add. "We're going to Disneyland! Maman and papa are taking me!!"

Her mouth widened in mock surprise before she grinned back at him, "Guess what squirt, I'm going too!"

His look of shock matched hers, only genuine, "Really?!"

"Really really," She smiled. "It sounds like someones excited..."

"I am! But so is maman..." He trailed off and leaned closer to her, attempting to lower his voice but it was still loud. "Don't tell anyone this, but she's afraid of rides... I'm going to hold her hand when we go on them."

"That was our secret silly boy," I turned towards him and tickled his side, a few chips falling off his plate.

"Oops," He shrugged and grinned at me. Before I could say anything, he had them back on his plate while eating one. Me and Mil both wrinkled our noses at him as he chewed and swallowed, "Uncle Noah said theres a one minute rule."

"One minute huh? He's silly," I replied, reminding myself to talk to my brother about this later. To Gabe, a minute could seem like an eternity and I didn't want him picking food up from off the ground.

"Are you sure he didn't tell you ten seconds?" Mil asked with an eyebrow raised.

Gabe pursed his lips together deep in thought, shaking his head a second later, "Pretty sure he said a minute!"

"Well I'm going to have to talk to him," I said as I pushed back Gabe's hair.

"You know Maman, Uncle Noah and me would always go to Disneyland with Pépé and Mémé." Mil grinned, "And she was always to scared to go on the roller coasters so I took Noah."

"Well now she has me to go with so there's no reason for her not to ride," He grinned.

"Very true," She smiled back at him.

"Who's hand are you going to hold when we go on rides?" He asked curiously, taking another bite of his sandwich.

"My boyfriend's hand."

I gave my sister a look before being able to catch myself, not saying a word as I averted my eyes. It was no secret that I didn't like Braden, but I never got on her case about it. This was the girl I looked up to my entire life, but she still made mistakes. Maybe she'd date a few losers, I just hoped one day she'd pick a good guy... god only knew she deserved it.

Gabe wrinkled his nose, "You have a boyfriend?" She nodded, as he leaned in and whispered, "Do you guys kiss?"

"Sometimes yes."

"Ew!" He exclaimed, shaking his head, "That's how you get cooties."

My sister grinned, "Well when you're as old as me and Maman, you get a shot so you don't get cooties, even if you kiss a lot."

"Really?" He raised his brows turning to me as I nodded, scared for the day my little boy wanted to kiss other little girls.

"But you have to be at least 18! Doctors won't give it to you before," I told him.

"Oh," He pouted.

Mil smirked at his expression, "Is there somebody you want to kiss?"

He started blushing and I started worrying. It was much too soon to have the birds and the bees talk, right? Plus I always figured I'd leave that for Ben since I couldn't bring myself to showing my son how to use a condom. "No!" He interjected quickly and shook his head, "No, just Maman."

She pouted while I let out the breath I had been holding, "What about me?"

"And you of course, and my Mémé's! And Aunt Chloe, but that's it. That's the only girls I want to kiss!"

She grinned, "I believe you."

He turned to me and wrinkled his nose, looking as if he were studying me. "Maman, why do you kiss no boys?"

Wow. I honestly never thought the day my son would ask about my love life would come so soon. "Because I have you," I said and kissed the top of his head, noticing my sister roll her eyes as she watched.

Gabe rolled his eyes too, but a smile played on his lips. He took his last bite of the sandwich and picked the controller back up, ignoring us as he turned the game on and got lost in it. It was like we were invisible.

"Are you done?" Mil asked, waiting for an answer and getting nothing in return.

I stared at him for a moment, "Gabe?"

He nodded his head, "I'm done, thank you."

"At least he has manners," Mil said and stood up, taking his plate and bringing it into the kitchen.

I left the chips on the table and followed her, "Doesn't Braden say please and thank you?" I bit my lip to hide the grin on my lips, pretty sure the guy didn't let those phrases along with "I'm sorry" into his vocabulary. My sister narrowed her eyes on me, "What?!"

"Braden's a grown man," She said flatly and walked over to the sink, setting the plate in it. I grinned at the way she left it for later, letting her dishes accumulate before actually doing them. It said a lot about the way we grew up... and I needed to start working on that before it became a habit Gabe caught on to.

"Maybe we should take mom to his club for mothers day..." I trailed off, forcing a straight face. "Are there cage dancers? Do the girls wear nipple tassels?"

"It's not that kind of club," She rolled her eyes again.

"Well there goes that idea," I faked a pout, leaning into the counter and setting my chin on my palm.

"Can you please stop that?" She told her, crossing her arms over my chest.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm acting like the older sister. Braden is trash," I said simply, feeling bad but it had to be said. "He doesn't appreciate you like a guy should."

"Now you sound like Dad. From the second I could remember, he always told me no man is ever going to good enough for me."

"That's because you're his baby. You were his first born that changed his whole perspective on life. Except that's where you have a problem! You have bad boy syndrome Mil."

"Bad boy syndrome?" She raised an eyebrow.

"You date these loser guys and expect them to change. You can do better Mil," I told her. "Unlike Dad, I do believe you can find a guy that will be good enough."

She swallowed and looked uncomfortable, "Braden is a good guy! He gets nervous around everybody. He's too scared to show you guys how he really is."

I rolled my eyes, "If you say so."

"Can we just not talk about it? I'd just really like us all to be civil to each other when we go to Disneyland."

I nodded, "I will do that for you, not for him."

"Thank you."

"Maman! I'm thirsty!!" Gabe yelled over the game.

"And what do you say?" I asked, waiting for his response.

"Please can I have some water."

"Yes you may." I grinned as I grabbed him a bottle of water, "All I want is to see my big sister happy and I know you say he treats you right, sometimes it's hard to tell."

She narrowed her eyes at me, "What do you mean?"

"Well, when you're feeling something… everybody is feeling it." I grinned at her, "You project your feelings better than anyone I know."

"Thanks. Way to make me sound like a bitch," She smirked, taking what I had said in the wrong way. Sometimes I had a bad way with words.

"Not in a bad way. Just I know when you're feeling down."

She shrugged, "I'm fine. I swear. So I was thinking for Mother's day. We can go to brunch at Mom's favorite restaurant and then just go back to their house and relax there. Very low key."

"Sounds perfect. I'll have Gabe," I said while walking the bottle into the living room and setting it down in front of him. He smiled at me, giving me a quiet thank you by kissing my cheek.

"That's fine," Mil shrugged as I walked back into the kitchen, drying my hands off by rubbing them together. "I'll make reservations. What's Ben doing for mothers day?"

"I'm sure Chloe has something fabulous planned for Ava," I smirked, the Lindsell's always coming off as a picture perfect family, of course no one was actually perfect in reality. Plus Ava and Corey's whole love story... it kind of gave me hope since sometimes, I felt like I'd be forever alone. If they could end up together and my parents could have their happy ending? There was literally hope for everyone.

"Good point," She smiled back at me. "Why aren't you at the brunch right now?"

"Didn't feel like it," I lied. Four years later and I still hated the idea of being in the same room as my ex and one of his dates. I wasn't hung up on Ben and I encouraged him to find happiness however that may be, but still, it sucked. It wasn't the moving on part because I had moved on. I'd been with guys since him, I've tried dating... I don't know. Maybe one day my insecurities would eat me alive.

She shot me a glance that told me she knew I was lying. Much like my sister, my face gave me away every time. If I was tired?  I looked like I hadn't slept in days. If I was happy, I looked like I just won the lottery. "Really?"

"Doesn't my big sister want to spend some time with little old me?" I faked a pout and she grinned.

"Actually! I just got a ton of free clothes from Nasty Gal and I want you to wear some for your interview," She left the room before I could say anything. Now nothing was wrong with the way I dressed. I was up on trends, wore designer everything.. but her and Chloe? They wanted to slut up everything I wore. If a skirt was to my knees? They wanted to take it in so it'd show off more thigh. Half the time I wanted to remind them that I had a five year old I had to take around the city, to school, out to dinner, running chores... I got enough bad looks as it was since I looked like a teenager half the time and people were so damn judgmental. "Alright, you might need to go commando in this..."

"Oh dear god."