I Fall Apart

Lin

Nora's relationship with Shannon seemed to be a good thing.  She seemed to have her life together and was gainfully employed.  Over the next couple weeks, they FaceTimed about once a week.  She was helping Nora quite a bit with her math homework, which was something I'd never been good at.  Her grade had gone up from a B- to a B+ so I was happy.

Shannon had landed a job in the city, so she and her husband were in the process of finding a place to live.  She asked me for suggestions, so I told her what I knew.  It would be nice if she lived close by to Nora.  Her job was in Manhattan so it would be close by.

Soon, their moving day arrived, and Nora was happy to help them unpack.  The movers did the heavy lifting, but Nora helped take things out of boxes and get settled in.  They ordered pizza and spent the evening watching movies.

Nora wandered home around ten, exhausted.  Shannon's place was just a couple blocks over.  The next day, she and her husband came over to hang out a bit.  His name was James, and he worked in website design.

The adults hung out together, getting to know each other a bit more.  They seemed like genuinely good people, and they'd have a good influence in Nora's life.  They were both good with Sebastian and Francisco.  The boys loved the extra attention.  When evening began to fall, James and I grabbed a beer and sat out on the porch.

"So, Shannon said you guys are trying to adopt?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said.  "Which, we're kind of starting over a bit by moving here."

"I have a friend who adopted," I told him.  "I'll have to give you his email address.  He might be able to offer some advice."

"That'd be great," he told me.  "We might start by fostering.  A lot of adoptions happen that way anyway."

I nodded and took a sip of my beer.  "There's definitely a lot of kids who need a good foster home."

We chatted some more about the city.  I told him the names of a few of my favorite coffee shops where I liked to work.  Around 9, they decided to head home, and we agreed we'd get together again soon.  They'd have us over once they were settled.  Nora hugged them both good night, smiling.

Nora helped me wash up the dishes.  "You seem to get along well with both James and Shannon."

"Yeah, I like them," she said.  "Did you know they're going to adopt a kid?"

"They mentioned that to me," I said, setting a dish in the dishwasher.  "I think they'd make good parents."

"Yeah," she agreed.  "Hopefully they don't have too many problems.  I've heard adopting can be difficult."

"For sure," I said.  "Know anyone who needs to be adopted?"

"Give them Cisco until he's potty trained," she joked, and I laughed.

As the weeks went on, Nora spent more and more time with Shannon.  They were getting incredibly close, fast.  I didn't mind at all - I didn't have to worry about what Nora was doing after school.  Not that she did anything particularly shady, but dads worried.

One night as I was making dinner, Nora sat on a barstool as I cooked.

"Did you know she's been to Europe?" she asked.

"No, I didn't."

"I've always wanted to go to Italy.  She said she could take me over summer break if I keep my grades up."

"That would be cool," I told her, though I wished Shannon had spoken to me first about this.  "You seem to be spending a lot of time with her."

"Yeah, she's really cool," Nora said.  "I wanna be like her."

I smirked as I stirred the rice.  She was like a little kid.  Nora seemed to have new motivation now that Shannon was around.  I had to admit, she was having a really good influence on my kid.  Nora did her homework without being nagged and her grades were improving.

On Saturday morning, Sebastian sat at the table stirring his cereal, looking sad.

"What's wrong, buddy?" I asked as I sat down with my second cup of coffee.

"I miss Nora," he told me.

Nora had stayed overnight at her aunt's again.  It had been happening a lot lately.  She wasn't allowed during school nights, but many weekend nights she ended up in their guest bedroom.

"She'll be back soon, bud," I said, running my hands through his hair.  Like me, he could easily develop a cowlick in the mornings.  After he was done with his breakfast I'd take him to the bathroom and put some water on it.

"She's always at Auntie Shannon's," he complained.

"Well, she hadn't seen her aunt in a really long time.  She missed her," I explained.

"But now I miss her," he pointed out.  I sighed a little, feeling bad for the little guy.

"Are you done with your cereal?" It looked like it was getting soggy.

"Yeah," he said.  I picked up his cereal and washed it down the garbage disposal.

"Go change and then meet me in the bathroom," I told him, and he walked down the hallway to his room.  I picked up my phone and went to my text messages.  I texted Nora that her brother missed her and wanted her home.

Sebastian brushed his teeth and then I worked on his little cowlick.  Nora texted back that they were planning on doing lunch and shopping, so I knew I needed to distract my son.  I suggested we went to the park.  I rounded up Cisco and we headed down there.  It seemed to cheer him up a little bit.  It was pretty sweet how much he adored his older sister.  I thought about what might happen when she left for college.  Sadly, I realized it was only a couple years away. 

Nora finally got home around 4:00 with some new bags.  She set them down at the front door because Sebastian ran to her screaming her name.  She knelt and let him crash into her arms.

"I missed you!" he told her, taking her hand.  "Come play!"

I could always count on Nora to be a good big sister.  She was dragged to the living room where Sebastian had his train set out.  She played along with him for a good hour before she decided she needed to go unpack her overnight bag.

"Vanessa!" she called down the hall.  "Come see what Aunt Shannon bought me!"

Vanessa went down the hallway and music was turned on.  My wife was in there for a good fifteen minutes as they probably talked clothes.  She came out a few minutes later with a concerned look on her face.

"What?" I asked as I worked from my computer.

"Shannon took Nora to some pretty high-end stores today," she told me, sitting down.

"She did?" I asked.

"Yeah," Vanessa crossed her arms.  "I looked at the receipts.  She spent almost $1,000 on Nora today."

I looked up, surprised.  "Seriously?"

"Yeah," she said.  "Lin, that's too much."

"I agree," I told her, closing my laptop.  "Nora mentioned something the other day about Shannon offering to take her to Italy this summer."

"Wow," Vanessa sighed.  "I mean, I feel like we've made a point not to indulge her or the boys.  We have plenty of money but that doesn't mean she needs expensive clothes and trips."

"I agree," I told her.  "I'll try talking to Shannon."

We decided we wouldn't make Nora give the clothing back, but we didn't want any more shopping sprees in the future.  It was okay to spoil her niece a little bit, but Shannon was taking it a bit overboard.