The Science of Growing Apart

9- Rebecca

When I got an invitation to go to dinner at Eleanor's house, I wondered if Casey was behind it. I wasn't sure if he'd accepted my explanation for not wanting to reconnect, so I was nervous. But still, I agreed and dressed up in a nice sweater and jeans, did my hair, and drove to Eleanor's house the next weekend.

I was nervous to see Casey again after our talk during the week, but we'd probably see each other again anyway due to the article, so I decided to just get it over with sooner rather than later. Avoidance was one of my coping mechanisms, I learned that in my years of therapy, so I was working on improving that.

My research on the Silas article was going well, the DNA test that Shiloh and Eleanor took would have results any time now. I still had heaps of work to do before I even began writing the article, but I was just relieved that nothing had fallen apart yet.

I didn't realize when I agreed to dinner that it was going to be a full house, but once Eleanor answered the door and welcomed me inside, Micah and his dad were working on dinner in the kitchen while his mom played with Auden in the living room.

"Casey will be here soon, they're just running a little bit late," Eleanor explained to me. "Such a shame that your dad couldn't make it."

"Yeah, he has his own social life now, but he says hi," I informed her. She did invite my dad but by the time I called to invite him, he already had plans with Diana.

"Do you remember Micah's parents?"

I didn't, but I nodded anyway and waved politely to his mother. "It's nice to see you again."

"I saw your new article on the Kripke site today," Eleanor said as she handed me a small glass of red wine. I didn't like red wine, but also didn't want to be rude, so I took a drink anyway and forced the dry liquid down my throat. I hated that the more you drank, the thirstier you got. It was so bad at its job at being a beverage. "That story was insane."

"I know, I'm just bummed that I only got to cover the court hearing and not the entire case," I responded. "The whole thing was fascinating, but in a really devastating way. I'm hoping that my editor will start giving me more responsibility, but that might be a pipe dream."

"Once you publish this article about Silas, surely she'd have to give you whatever stories you wanted, right?" she wondered optimistically.

I shrugged and said, "That's what I'm hoping. There's a lot of politics at the office though, it's kind of complicated."

"Sounds like Micah's firm. Everything is so political, so much schmoozing and butt kissing, it's crazy," she commented, just as the front door began to open again. I looked through the foyer to see a young woman walking through the door. For a moment, I thought maybe Eleanor invited a friend to dinner as well, until I saw Casey follow her inside.

"It smells so good in here," he said with a wide smile.

"Finally," Eleanor responded. "We were almost going to start without you."

"Cazzy!" Auden squealed enthusiastically before barreling her tiny body toward Casey until he wrapped her in his arms, throwing her into the air before catching the toddler on his hip.

"Hey, kiddo. What'd you make for dinner?" he asked her as we all walked into the dining room.

"Ummm, farts!" she said with a loud giggle.

As Eleanor gently scolded her daughter for using 'potty language' at the dinner table, Micah and his dad joined us through the kitchen archway with a sheet pan of garlic bread and a casserole dish gushing with cheesy lasagna, steaming and begging to be shoved into my mouth.