The Story of Tonight

Chapter Forty

As a Broadway performer, Lin knew how important sleep was. He would often sing its praises in interviews when asked how he could keep up with his rigorous schedule. He'd bet all of his earnings from Hamilton that the sleep schedule of a Broadway star had nothing on one of a parent of two newborns. It was early afternoon when Lin arrived home from a full morning of press junket, and he only had a few hours before he had to get back to the theatre. Lin had only been back on stage for a couple of nights, and he didn't know how he was going to make it through the end of his run.

Lin and Vanessa were grateful not only to both sets of grandparents, but also to Beatriz who had agreed to stay with the Miranda-Nadal household until they left for London. Once Lin finished with Hamilton, the plan was for Lin to leave in August to get settled and to get into prep mode before filming began. Vanessa and the kids would follow in September to give a few more weeks for any last minute hiccups that would come with moving the families lives' across the pond. Only the beginnings of preparing to leave had begun, and between that, child rearing, and nights on Broadway, the two parents were running on empty.

To say he was excited to get in his bed would be an understatement. He had made the rounds and had found Vanessa taking a nap, and the twins shockingly both sleeping as Beatriz was cooking. When he reached Lia's room, he wasn't shocked to find the fifteen year old laying in her bed with her nose in a book.

He stopped in the doorway, smiling. Although Lin and Vanessa really did get lucky in the kid department when it came to Lia, she had gone above and beyond any expectations they had had. She was amazing with the babies, extremely attentive with Vanessa, and hadn't complained or given any lip about it. He was really damn proud.

"You going to come in or just stare at me?"

Lin smiled. It wouldn't be Lia without a sarcastic comment here and there. "What'cha reading?"

"The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," Lia dog earred the page she was on before she closed the book, "Figured the series will get me in the England zone,"

"Elementary, my dear Watson," Lin recited the phrase of the famous detective in the Cockney accent he had been working on for the movie.

"Work in progress," Lia said with a shrug and a sly smile, as Lin sat on her bed with a laugh.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Lia,"

"I do what I can," Lia replied, "How'd the interviews go?"

"Good. How were things here?"

"Fine. The twins mostly slept, and Beatriz was making pasteles."

"How about mom?"

Lia's eyes shifted away from his, and Lin knew what that meant.  "What's up, mija?"

Lia let out a loud sigh, as she leaned her head against her shoulder. She thought about the right words to say, "She's just sad, dad. I haven't seen her like this before,"

"Did anything happen?"

"She's just sad," Lia shook her head, "Even when she's not crying or she smiles about something, it feels so forced."

"You heard what your abuela said," Lin said, rubbing her knee gently, "Mom's gone through a lot, not only with the birth, but the pregnancy."

"Yeah, I know," Lia brushed off the boilerplate language she felt she was getting. She looked up as she tried to keep the tears from spilling over, "Something's just off."

The normally optimistic man felt pretty lost. He adamantly believed that parenting was the hardest job he would ever have. As drained as he felt keeping up with newborns, taking care of Lia didn't just stop either. No matter how independent she was, she was still a kid who needed reassurance. And trying to reassure his daughter, while simultaneously being concerned for Vanessa, was challenging.