I Fall Apart

Lin

It was me and the boys for the afternoon, since V took Nora out for some froyo. I made her promise to bring me some back. I wasn't going to miss out on froyo.

Whatever the problem was last night, I was glad Vanessa was around. I figured it was a boy issue, and I was right. When V had climbed into bed afterwards, I asked her what the problem was. Nora hadn't wanted her to spill all the details, so I had to settle that she'd had some 'guy issues'. I didn't exactly want to know all the details either. The important thing was that Nora knew I was here for her. I figured she'd probably confide in Vanessa on this kind of thing.

Maybe it was a little selfish, but I wanted to know what Nora was telling her. All parents worried about their kids, but I'd been especially worried about Nora lately. Between her mother, the photo, and whatever happened last night, she had a lot to deal with. I needed to pry a little more.

"She isn't..."

"No, Lin," she told me, and that relieved me a bit. Nora's mother hadn't set the best example and I didn't want her following in her footsteps. "It's just relationship drama."

"Is it that Aaron kid?" I asked.

"Yes," she told me. "They're done. He wasn't treating her well."

That made me itch, knowing someone hadn't treated Nora well. I felt a protectiveness over her; something I didn't feel quite as much with Sebastian and Francisco. I think all fathers of girls must feel that. We all knew what guys were thinking, and we didn't want our daughters being at the center with that.

Vanessa must have sensed me tense, because she put a hand on my hand. "Don't worry. She respects herself enough not to let guy take advantage of her. You're a good model."

I glanced down at my body. "I'm sexy?"

She laughed and rolled her eyes at me. "Role model, smart ass. She sees the way you treat me, and all women. She knows how she's supposed to be treated."

That made me feel better. I settled onto my back, putting my hands behind my head. I knew Sebastian and Francisco were watching too. They would grow up to be gentlemen, and would know how to treat women right.

The next morning, I randomly got a phone call from Laura's ex, Steve. I hadn't heard from him since after the funeral, and wasn't really expecting to hear from him ever again, honestly. Nora wasn't close to him so we had no reason to have contact.

"Hi Steve. What's up?" I asked as I poured out some crackers for Cisco.

"Lin," he said. "Sorry to bother you."

"That's okay," I assured him, though I was still confused. "How have you been holding up?"

"Well, you know..." he said. He sounded tired and like he might be hung over. "As well as can be expected. Listen, I got a phone call from Laura's sister yesterday."

I wasn't really familiar with Laura's family. She may have mentioned as some point she had a sister, but I don't think they were close.

"Yeah? What did she need?"

He sighed. "She's trying to get hold of Nora."

I felt my heart drop a little bit. If she was anything like Laura, she wasn't a good influence. Still, she was blood.

"Why does she want to get ahold of Nora?"

Another sigh. "Beat me," he said. "She didn't even come to the funeral. She lives in Chicago, but she's in town. I don't know, I think she maybe wants to get to know Nora."

"Have you ever met her?" I asked.

"No," he told me. Steve had only been around a year or so. If Nora hadn't seen the sister in a while, Steve wouldn't have either.