You Are My Sunshine

Chapter 9

Over the next few days, life settled into a steady rhythm as Gabby merged into the household and Fallon, split between school and home, started to feel like she was living in two different worlds.

School continued to be a nightmare. When Fallon wasn't begging her teacher to hold off calling her mother about that Algebra quiz, she was keeping her head down in her other classes, dodging Liv, who just couldn't seem to give up, and crashing into that sophomore guy. He was beginning to worry her. It seemed everywhere she turned, there he was: in the cafeteria, Science class, in the halls. The poor kid was probably black-and-blue all over now. The troublesome thing was, he never seemed to mind now when Fallon repeatedly bulldozed into him. Actually the last time Fallon had mumbled her apology he had said "Oh, that's okay," and smiled at her warmly- a little too warmly. Not a good sign: the last thing Fallon needed was a guy in her life.

Gabby was the only bright spot in her world. Secretly Fallon began to dread the day when her cousin would have to leave, although she never would have admitted it. She even stopped keeping track on her calendar. She couldn't explain it- how earlier that week she would have willingly strangled her cousin, and now she couldn't imagine how she was going to manage without her.

It might have been because Fallon was finally getting her sleep. Bedtimes had become much easier, as Fallon started waking up automatically to throw a pillow at Gabby when she started snoring. She became so adept at this that she could sit up, locate her throw pillow, and hurl it across the room to her cousin while still remaining half-asleep. The little girl still hadn't figured out why she always woke up with one of Fallon's pillows by her head.

Or maybe it was because Fallon grew used to the noise that seemed to surround Gabby wherever she went. She became able to tune out most of Gabby's chatter when it got too annoying and even began to find a certain aptitude for following it that surprised her. She also regularly listened to the little girl's practice sessions on the piano, sometimes openly, sometimes under the guise of reading a book on the living room couch. She noted with approval that Gabby was gradually improving on her sonatina. Now that the little girl was remembering to play the F sharps, the song was beginning to sound quite pleasant. However Fallon never actually ventured to play herself, despite her grudging and renewed interest in the instrument.

The real reason was that Fallon had been starving herself for company, and Gabby was fulfilling that need. She stuck to her older cousin like glue, asking her a million questions and lighting up the room with her energy and zest for life. Gabby had something that Fallon didn't, and she was sharing it.

On Friday the news came that Chris and Nina had finalized the adoption of their little Chinese baby. That afternoon pictures came via email of dark-haired, almond- eyed, six-month-old Isabella Marie Anderson, and Gabby was beside herself with delight.

"Oh my gosh, look at her, she's just soo cute! Look at her little bitty hands and those chubby little cheeks and I can't believe how tiny she is!" Gabby bounced up and down on Angela's swivel chair at the computer, too excited to realize that she had unconsciously said the forbidden phrase again.

"You'd think she had never seen a baby before," remarked Fallon, looking at the screen over Gabby's shoulder.

"Ah, but this one is special, because she is Gabby's baby," Angela corrected her from behind Gabby's other shoulder. "How does it feel being a big sister, sweetie?"

Gabby sighed blissfully, never once taking her eyes off the tiny pink bundle on the screen. "It feels like a million bucks," she said.

On Saturday while Angela was out shopping and Gabby was at the kitchen table doing her math homework, (simple multiplication problems that Fallon envied) Fallon made a resolution. Gabby had done something for her- she couldn't figure out what, but lately Fallon had had this nagging feeling that she owed the little girl something in return. Figuring out what to do wasn't hard: Fallon knew just the thing. It was actually doing it that would require courage. She would have to face the past- and her closet.