This is an idea that has been bouncing around in my head since watching Season 7. Written in honour of Johanna-002. Happy early birthday!

It was dark outside. The black sky camouflaged by the city lights gave the illusion of it being much later than only six-thirty, which wasn't doing anything to help Gloria Mendoza's energy levels. Stifling a yawn as she rang through the last of her customers, Gloria was eager to close and head upstairs for what she prayed would be some semblance of a relaxing night. Her head was still pounding from the harsh words exchanged only that morning at breakfast. The cold air that blew in every single time the store door was opened reminded her continually that winter was arriving, months had passed, and things still weren't getting any better. It couldn't go on like this much longer.

"Gloria!"

'Don't rise to it. Don't answer.' Gloria's hand clenched tightly around a roll of quarters that she had just finished counting up. She tossed it into her deposit bag and kept her head diverted down at the cash drawer as she listened to the sound of shuffling footsteps getting closer and an over exaggerated, exasperating, sigh.

"Mom," she gave in.

"That's better…" Gloria automatically raised her head to meet her daughter's eye. Ceci was a beautiful girl, with long legs and a slim waist. At five feet, seven, she towered over her mother. With long wavy black hair, and enormous wide-set hazel eyes, she could have been a model. The arms crossed definitely across her chest and the lips plumped up in a pout, did not do anything to disguise her beauty. Nor did the ratty jeans and faded t-shirt she insisted on wearing, rather than take Gloria up on her offer to do some shopping.

"Can I leave now?"

"Did you finish unpacking the boxes in the back like I'd asked you to?" The groan uttered from her daughter told her that she hadn't, so what had she been doing in the storage room for the better part of an hour?

"Come on, I'll help you," Gloria said pleasantly, resolving not to get angry. She zipped closed her deposit bag and then bent to place it into the safe located under the counter. Reaching around her neck for the keys she wore on a chain, Gloria walked around to the door. She turned over the open/closed sign and turned her key in the lock to close it.

"Tia, will be by soon with the babies."

"Great!" Ceci said sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she lagged behind as they walked back to the storage room.

There were cartons of boxes all over the floor, when Gloria needed them stacked neatly on the shelves. Shipments came in every Friday and it was a job she had assigned Ceci to complete after school, to give the girl a chance to earn some spending money and because she had hoped working together would help bring them closer. It hadn't. And now it seemed like Ceci had just taken complete advantage. It was hard not to be angry.

"Do you wanna fire me?" Ceci asked with a shrug of indifference.

Gloria took a deep breath. "Do you want to be fired?"

"From being your daughter? Yes," Ceci said shortly.

"Doesn't work that way, chiqua," Gloria said, using everything within her to keep her tone neutral. "Now start putting these boxes away with me or you won't like what happens next."

Ceci looked for a moment like she would have liked to argue. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before she slowly started to do as she was asked. With much grumbling and noise of protestation, she began to put the boxes where they were supposed to go. Gloria resisted the temptation to ask if she had been having a nap back here. More that likely she had been texting away on her new cell phone, which had been a welcome gift Gloria had given both of her girls on the ride home from the airport. It was for her own peace of mind, as much as it was to try and make them happy, but she had still hoped that it would have convinced them there would be perks to moving to New York City.

"So, I was thinking we could watch a movie tonight?" Gloria suggested casually. "Maybe order some takeout for dinner once I get the boys to bed?"

"I'm going out with Nicky tonight," Ceci said tightly.

"You never asked me if you could," Gloria reminded her, shoving a box onto the shelf with a bit more force than was necessary. "Cecilia, how many times do I need to tell you that you must ask my permission before you go anywhere? Especially at night! And I know Nicky's mother would agree."

"Red's not her mom," Ceci shot back.

"Is that how Nicky feels?" Gloria asked.

"Do you care how she feels?" Ceci retorted. "Do you even care how I feel?"

"Baby, of course I do…"

"Don't call me that!" Ceci snapped. "And obviously you don't care or you wouldn't have made me come live with you. How many times do I have to tell you that I don't want to be here? And neither does Elena!"

"You're sixteen, you're still a child," Gloria replied. "You don't have all the answers here, even when you think you do."

"When you were sixteen, you had a child," Ceci countered.

"Yes, and it was really hard," Gloria said. "And I made a lot of mistakes with it. Do you think I ever intended to make my own daughter hate me? It kills me the way things are between us. That's why I'm fighting tooth and nail to fix it!"

Ceci looked uncomfortable but didn't respond. She silently finished putting all of the boxes away, working faster now to get it done. When the floor was clear and everything was as it should be, she turned back to look at her mother.

"Mom, can I please go spend the night with Nicky?" she asked politely.

"Will you be home by curfew?" Gloria asked, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice. She found that she couldn't look at her daughter right now. She didn't want Ceci to see the tears threatening to fall.

"Actually, I was hoping I could just sleep over," Ceci replied.

"If it's alright with Galina, then it's alright with me," Gloria said tiredly. "I'll be checking in with her, and you can call me if you need anything or if you want me to come and get you…"

She knew there was no chance of that happening. Ceci avoided spending time with Gloria as much as she could. She stayed late after school, spent hours at the library, and once she had begun growing closer to Gloria's friend's foster daughter, she started asking to sleepover there almost every weekend. Red had offered to start saying no to the girls' requests, but Gloria didn't see a point in antagonizing Ceci more than she had to. She had forced her unwilling daughters to get on a plane from Puerto Rico and move to be with her, but she couldn't make them like it. She couldn't even get them to like her.

XXX

"Rough day?" Lourdes, Gloria's aunt, sounded strangely sympathetic when Gloria walked upstairs to the apartment above the store a few minutes later.

Gloria nodded but didn't elaborate. As soon as her shoes were kicked off, she sprinted across the living room and took the bundled baby from her aunt's arms. Benny gurgled and wrapped his pudgy little arms around her neck. His fingernails stabbed into her skin, but she didn't care, she just inhaled the scent of him. Benny was always happy to see her after a long day of work.

"Mami!" Gloria's strained face brightened when her three-year-old son Julio raced out of the bedroom and wrapped his arms around her leg.

"I missed you," Gloria leaned down to kiss his thick mane of hair.

"I want you to pick me up," Julio informed her, looking up at her with loving eyes.

Though she was already holding his brother, Gloria shifted Benny onto her right hip and used one arm and her thigh to briefly pick up both of her sons. "I've got two boys," she told them, kissing both of their cheeks as they giggled. She walked with difficulty over to the sofa and dropped Julio on to it.

"Where's Elena?" she asked.

"In her bedroom," Lourdes replied, moistening her lips. "I think she was doing her homework."

"Oh, well that's good, I suppose," Gloria said lightly, bouncing Benny on her hip. Elena spent nearly all her time in the bedroom she shared with her big sister, with the door closed tightly. She had to be coaxed out of there for meals or anytime Gloria made an attempt to do something with her. While she was never exactly rude, she was very wary of Gloria. Almost as if she were a stranger, which Gloria refused to consider herself. It may have been five years since they had been together, but they had always been on her mind and she had called them every single week.

"Gloria, I know you're not going to like to hear this but…"

"Stop," Gloria held up a hand, as she sank down on the sofa next to her son. She leaned back into the cushions and stood Benny up on her lap. "Tia, the last thing I need right now is any criticism from you."

"I'm not criticizing you, Gloria," Lourdes replied. "I am worried about you. How long is this going to go on?"

"I'm their mother," Gloria replied, bouncing Benny closer so she could kiss his cherub cheeks. "It never stops."

"Is Ceci not coming home again tonight?" Lourdes asked.

"She's sleeping over at Galina's," Gloria replied, landing a kiss on Benny's button nose next. Julio snuggled closely against her hip and rested his head against her shoulder. "I told her that she could."

"And what does Galina think about all of this?" asked Lourdes.

"She supports me 100 percent," Gloria said, picking up the television remote so that she could turn on a cartoon for Julio. "Which is something that you could try, you know?"

"I'm just wondering if you making them stay here is doing more harm to your relationship that good," Lourdes pressed. "They miss their abuela. Elena asked me if they were going to go back to see her for Christmas. Maybe you'd have a better chance of reaching them if you let them move back with her and just found a way to visit more?"

"I'm their mother, and they belong with me," Gloria said tightly. "Don't ever suggest that to me again. They aren't going anywhere."

Lourdes huffed but did not broach the subject. Gloria turned Benny around on her lap and sat him down, bouncing her knees to play horsie. He giggled with glee and Gloria found herself smiling in spite of the hurt in her heart. She could remember doing the same thing to both of her girls. Sleeping with them snuggled up beside her every night from the time they were born, until she had left to seek out a better life for them. They had been so close. How could she make them see that she loved them as much as she always had? She loved them so much that it hurt, and if she needed to, she would devote the rest of her life to proving it.