Everything Has Changed

III

Patricia is about to close her eyes and sleep when she hears the door squeak. She sits up and sees the twins coming inside the room.

"I can't sleep, Mama." -Pippa says while hugging her favorite teddy bear from David, given to her on her second birthday.

"Me either, Mama." -Dylan says.

Patricia just smiles and pats both sides of the bed telling them to lie down beside her. As they do so, the both of them put an arm around their Mama's waist, hugging her, so she hugs them back, of course. They'd always hug her every time they'd sleep with her. Their Mama's hug just always makes them feel so safe and secure. While she makes them feel safe, she just enjoys the moment. She doesn't want them to grow up too fast -just like all the parents-. "Are you tired?" -she asks the both of them with a very sweet voice. Sometimes she just likes talking to them like they're still a pair of babies. She feels them nod.

"Where's Dad?" -Pippa asks.

"He'll be living in a condominium, sweetheart. You know he can't live with us.." -she replies while letting her fingers travel through her daughter's hair to help her sleep easier.

"Why not?"

"'Cause he's not Mama's boyfriend, silly." -Dylan butts in.

Patricia chuckles.

"But he's been treating us like his own children since forever. Isn't that enough?"

Patricia's wide smile suddenly turns into a small one.

"No it's not." -Dylan tells his sister. "A boy and a girl with no family relationship at all can't live together OR sleep together. David is not Mama's Papa, nor her brother. He's just someone who always goes crazy whenever he sees her because he likes her. Therefore he can't live here with us. Get it?"

Patricia looks at her son with her eyebrows meeting. "Where and when on Earth did you learn all those things, Dylan Patrick Cortez?"

"Are you talking about the no family relationship thing or the David-goes-crazy-for-Mama thing?"

"BOTH."

"About the fact that a boy can't live with a girl if they're not married or boyfriend girlfriend, I learned that in movies."

Patricia shakes her head.

"And about David's feelings for you, he told us about it before. He told us that he has always loved you since college and that he always will."

Patricia stares at him for a moment. "He told you that?"

The both of them nod. "Honestly Mama, I like him. I like him for you and for us." -Pippa says. "I like him for the whole family."

She looks at her not knowing what to say.

"But he's not our Papa." -Dylan says.

"So? You don't even know where our Papa is. Or what he's doing right now. Or if he has ever thought of us in his entire life." -Pippa argues with him. "And meanwhile, here's Daddy Dave, always taking care of us AND Mama, buying us whatever we need or want..."

"But he's not our Papa." -he repeats. "That's the fact and it will always be the fact."

"Is that why you never call him Dad and always call him by his name?" -Patricia finally speaks.

Dylan doesn't say a thing.

Patricia hugs her son tighter and says, "You know honey, sometimes the people you would always look for, never show up. So you would just have to go with the flow and continue with your life without them." -she explains. "Don't you really like Dave for this family?"