~S~
"I really appreciate you going with us." Lark was sitting in the drivers seat, one hand on the wheel and one hand holding a cup of coffee from the bakery that we had stopped at on our way through Santa Monica.
She had been in California for less than a day, and their plane already was set to leave late that evening, so we were cramming everything into the small amount of time we had together... I was dreading their departure, I really was.
It had been a month since Ruth had come to stay with us and it went by so fast- in the blink of an eye, actually. I just couldn't believe that it was already time for her go back home... I wanted those couple of weeks back.
But of course, even though I was sad to see them go, I was happy to learn that Lark had found a very trustworthy lady to be Ruth's nanny. Apparently, she was in her 60's, she'd recently retired from teaching elementary school in the city, and had a couple of grown kids and her own grandchildren, which made me feel a little better, even though I was kind of jealous...
I was so upset about them leaving, I was on the verge of hanging up the shawls and moving out East to be with them, so I could spend my days with Ruthie... I wanted to be able to watch her grow up, and I feared, with them living so far away, I'd miss out on so much.
Spoiler... I really didn't.
"Of course, honey." I gave her a soft smile, pulling my eyes away from the busy freeway traffic to stare at her.
She had always been beautiful, but that afternoon was different... She looked more grown up than she did when she had left a couple of weeks earlier.
"You're the best." Lark chuckled, tired eyes meeting mine for a brief moment before she turned to face the road once more.
"I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to spend a little extra time with my sweet girls." I added as I glanced over my shoulder to see Ruth in the backseat, fast asleep already.
She had been talking away in her car seat for the first part of the ride, but within just a few minutes, silence settled and her long lashes began to flutter as she ventured through her dreamland... I already knew that I was going to miss her so much.
She was the best thing in life and watching them leave for New York was going to break my heart and of course, it did.
"Your dad does know that I'm coming, right?" I asked a couple of minutes later, after we'd listened to the radio for a second and my mind began to reel.
Honestly, I was a little reluctant to go over to Lindsey's for dinner when she first asked me that morning... I hadn't seen him in a few days, not since he had left that note on my counter and neither of us had reached out either.
It always took a lot for us to open up to each other like that, so I wasn't really shocked by the silence that came after our conversation... Not surprised, but a little annoyed.
I wanted it to be different- I always did, and when it wasn't, I was let down.
You would have thought, by then, that I had gotten used to it. It would have made life a lot easier if I had, that's for sure.
"Dad was the first to suggest that you come." She told me, which caused me to crease a brow softly.
For a long time, when they first got together and even a couple of years after Eleanor was born, Lindsey didn't even want Natalie to be in the same room as me. So, I couldn't believe he was inviting me to dinner, at his house, with his family on a random Friday night when we weren't working...
