Work Text:
“You have no idea how much of a relief it is going back to feeding only two teenagers instead of six,” Camila said to Eda over the video connection. “It’s great to have them visit, of course, but there’s only so much I can do with rice and beans and veggies - they’re growing kids, they need more protein.”
Eda made a commiserating noise in the direction of her scroll. “You know Luz can only digest like half of the things we normally eat here?”
“She mentioned it. I’ll send along some more freezer stuff the next time she heads back for a rebuilding weekend. Oh, and she said something about a gift-giving holiday coming up?”
“What, Titan’s-Boon Moon? She doesn’t need to worry about that. You guys are as strapped as we are. Have her grab a box of cookies or draw us pictures or something.”
“But it is a holiday?” Camila checked.
“Yeah, kids give presents to their parents.”
“Like Mother’s or Father’s Day?”
“We definitely don’t have those. Are there other days for other kinds of parents?”
“No, sorry, it’s basically just those two over here. I’m sure people are making up their own traditions for nonbinary parents, but there’s nothing really big yet.”
Eda snorted. “Weird. Okay, yeah, we just have the one for everybody. It’s not a big deal if she doesn’t have something fancy, though.”
“Well, I’ll let her know, but you know how stubborn she is.”
“Huh, can’t imagine where she picked that up from,” Eda said drily.
“Hush, you.” Camila laughed.
“¿Mija, que haces? Eda said not to worry about big presents.”
“You said I can do whatever I want with my babysitting money,” Luz objected, sticking the bulky packages behind her back. “I want to put it towards groceries and presents for people.”
“Ugh, you need to stop growing up so fast,” Camila groaned and squished her daughter. “You’re as sweet as your dad. Oh, Mrs. Watanabe called asking the name of the book you read to the kids last week. They keep bugging her about it and she wants to buy a copy.”
“Ehhheheheheh…”
Camila sighed. “Did you make the story up on the fly, or is it a book from Amity’s library? You know what, I’ll just tell her it’s out of print.”
“Probably for the best,” Luz admitted. “I’ll try to copy the words out for her.”
“That would be good. Those three run her ragged.” Camila eyed the packages. “So, what did you get them?”
“It’s a surprise,” Luz scolded.
“Mmhm?”
“...I’ll get pictures.”
“Thanks,” Camila kissed the top of her head. “I like seeing what’s going on with your other family too.”
“Mama, it’s-”
“I know, I know. I’m not mad about it. The whole idea of raising you is that you’ll grow up and find a life and a family bigger than just me.”
“Okay,” Luz sniffed and buried her face in Camila’s shirt. She stroked Luz’s back.
“It was pretty good when it was just us,” Camila murmured. “We did a pretty good job-”
“You did!” Luz muttered.
“But this is good too. We’re gonna spread that love around, huh? Vee and Hunter and Eda and King and Raine can be family too, and we’re not going to lose each other or Manny by building a bigger family.”
“I knooow.”
“I know you do, but it doesn’t hurt to remind ourselves once in a while,” Camila said.
“You’re the actual best.” Luz hugged her tight.
Eda sighed elaborately when Luz came through the portal with a giant bag over her shoulder and a pile of plastic containers tucked under her chin.
“Nobody listens to me,” she complained. “No respect for authority.”
“Fight the man,” Luz said, sticking out her tongue. “Can you take some of the food? Vee got excited about a curry recipe book and there’s like three weeks of dinners here.”
“Ugh, fine, I guess.” Eda popped the lid off the top container and sniffed. “Ooh, spicy.”
“Yep. The ingredient list is in my bag just in case anyone else wants to try anything.”
Eda relieved her of some of the containers and led the way back toward the Owl House.
"Okay!" Luz said, perching on a stool after the food had been stored in the freezer box, "Presents!"
"Fiiiiine," Eda said. "Hand it over, kid."
Eda ripped open the paper and pulled out a hooded sweatshirt with rainbow lightning bolts printed on it. "Hah! Nice." She pulled it over her head and held out the hem to admire. "Bringin' the painbow."
Raine accepted the other package carefully and cut the ribbon with a quick hum. Slitting open one end, they shook out their own hoodie, grinning at it. The hood had large ears and a little nose sewn onto the top and there were little wings flapping limply from the back. "It's a bat," they said, laughing. "Like you have your cat-ear hooded shirt."
"Yeah," Luz said sheepishly.
"This is great, thank you." They set their glasses aside for a moment and pulled it on, flipping the hood up so the ears showed.
"Aaugh," Eda said, smooshing her own face. "Luz, you're weaponizing them. They can't be more cute. This is terrible."
Raine rolled their eyes and kissed her. "You'll survive."
Luz beamed.
(And then she took some pictures for her mom.)