Way Down I'll Go

And Gazed, but Little Thought

"Wait a minute...." 

Jaime's eyes narrowed accusingly. 

"You told me you weren't going to marry her."

"We're not getting married, Jaime. We're just...well..."

The boys stared at him across the table in rapt silence, their oatmeal untouched and cold.

"...together? Dating? I...I don't really know what we are, exactly. Just that we had a conversation last night, and we're going to try things out. Together."

Again, there was total silence around the table.

"That literally makes NO sense," Sam finally said.

"Shut up, Sam! It does, too!" Drew glared.

"Jo! He said "shut up" again."

"Boys." 

They quieted. 

"I just wanted to give you guys a heads up, that's all. And to make sure there weren't any objections...?"

There were none.

Jo thought back to the night before, but still didn't know what had come over him. Months of reminding himself that he wasn't good enough had flown out the window in the span of a few minutes. Now in the clear light of day, he was already filled with regret. What had he been thinking?

A knock sounded at the door, pulling him from his doubts. He stood to answer it, Johnny balanced on his hip. Sofia stood on the other side, a sheepish smile on her face.

"Sorry to bother you, Jo, but the faucet is leaking again."

"No worries," he said, passing off the baby to Drew and grabbing the few tools he owned.

He followed Sofia up the flight of stairs to her apartment, noticing that the handle of her door was hanging awry. That would also need fixing.

"Thank you so much, Jo. I don't mean to be a pest, it just makes the water bill so high when it drips all day like that."

"It's no problem," he smiled, and got to work.

"How are the boys?"

"They're good. Getting a little anxious for summer."

Sofia laughed. 

"Aren't we all. I think Antonio is going to go crazy if he has to stay inside much longer."

At the sound of his name, Sofia's 4-year-old son bounced out of the bedroom and careened into her with a hug, then took off running back to his hiding spot.

"You see what I mean," she laughed. "He'll do better when we move somewhere warmer."

Jo removed his head from under the sink.

"You're moving?"

Sofia's smile slipped from her face and she hesitated.

"Nevada. My brother lives there." 

She paused. 

"I can't keep living like this." 

Her eyes rested on the hole in the plaster wall, left there after the last scuffle. Jo needed to fix that as well.

"When?"

Her eyes found his and filled with fear. 

"As soon as I can save enough for bus tickets." 

She looked down at her hands. 

"He keeps such a close eye on our money..."

"Why didn't you ask?"