His Heart

Chapter twenty-three: Charlie

Maddie was going out a lot at the minute and I was starting to get suspicious.

"Where are you off to? Again?" I asked.

"The movies with Kelsi." She said.

Here's the thing about my daughter. I can tell when she's lying. She smiled more when she was lying.

"Maddie, where are you going?" I asked. "And who are you going with?"

"The movies." She repeated.

"With who?"

"Kelsi." She said again, and smiled.

"Maddie." I said, folding my arms. "C'mon. You can tell me the truth."

She sighed. "How do you always know when I'm lying?"

"Instinct." I chuckled, not ready to admit the truth. It was cute that she still smiled when she lied. Besides, it meant it was easy to catch her out.

"I'm going with Thomas."

Who the fuck is Thomas?

"Thomas?" I asked.

She looked down.

"He's a friend." Smile.

"You'll have to do better than that." I said, fighting back my own smile.

She sighed.

"He's this guy I've sort of been seeing." She admitted eventually.

"Yeah?"

She nodded.

"For how long?"

She looked down.

"A few weeks." She mumbled.

How did she keep that a secret for weeks? She's a terrible liar.

"Well I'd like to meet him sometime, please." I asked. "Why don't you invite him around?"

"Now?" She squeaked.

"Not now. But sometime soon." I suggested. "You don't surprise someone by inviting them around to meet your parents unexpectedly. That's rude and unnecessarily mean."

As I said it, I thought of the time I had met Jasmine's parents for the first time. Her papá had scared me so much I wanted to rip my hand out of Jasmine's and run. He'd ended up being a great bloke though.

She nodded. "Ok."

I smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Have fun. And make sure he treats you like a princess, ok? Don't settle for anything less."

She smiled back and gave me a hug before disappearing. I watched her go and wondered if she thought she was in love.

All teenagers think they're in love until they meet the one who turns their life upside down. Jasmine said.

Did you know about this?

I had an inkling.

I laughed. A mother's instinct was never wrong. Even now.

"Papá!" Leo skidded to a stop next to me. "Let's make a train track that goes all the way around the living room!"

He pulled me into the living room and I sat next to him, watching him fit track pieces together with that little crinkle in his brow he got when he was concentrating. The same one Maddie and Jasmine had.

I helped him make the track whilst he ran off to find all the trains that were hidden in his room. He came back in with his hands laden with trains, a smile almost breaking his face in two.