Stranger

Lin

           

I was worried about Nora.  Since she'd spoken to her mother on the phone, she'd been even more reclusive than usual, and that was really saying something.  As soon as she finished dinner, she was off to her room.  When she was around the rest of us, most of the time she had her earbuds in.  The only person that seemed to be able to pull her out of her shell was Sebastian.  He didn't really understand her standoff-ishness, so he was constantly asking her to play with him.  She played along and sometimes seemed to be enjoying herself.  A couple times, he'd even crawled into her lap while she read him stories.  He'd gotten the closest to her physically than any of us.

She'd been with us for two weeks now.  I could tell she was very comfortable with who she was, unlike a lot of kids her age.  She knew what she liked, and wasn't swayed by other people's opinions.  The kid could definitely put up an argument, which even Vanessa the lawyer admitted.

"But I don't have to correct my test," she argued with me one evening when I questioned her over a D+ she'd received on a science test.  "It's optional."

"But if you're given the opportunity to pull up your grade, you need to take it," I told her.  Her science teacher was offering half credit for any problems they went back and corrected.

"I just don't feel like it," she said.

"Come on," I said, putting her test on the kitchen table.  "Vanessa's a scientist.  I'm sure if you asked her, she'd help you."

"No thanks," she said again, taking out her phone, preparing to put in her earbuds.

"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you," I found I needed to be firmer.  "Correct these mistakes."

"And if I don't?" She challenged me.

"No skateboard," I told her, crossing my arms, knowing it was a good way to get to her.

"Why do you gotta be like that?" She asked, tossing her phone on the table.

"I want you to succeed," I told her. "I'll go see if Vanessa's free."

Reluctantly, she sat at the table and began leafing through her science test.  I found Vanessa in the master bedroom, taking notes on a case, sitting on the bed.

"Hey, V?" I asked.

"Yeah?" She asked, not taking her eyes off what she was doing.

"Nora got a D+ on her science test and her teacher is allowing her to correct her answers," I told her.  "Do you think you could help her?"

"What, you can't do middle school science?" She teased me.

"I can, but I thought, with you being the scientist and all, you might do a better job," I explained.  She laughed and put her work aside right away.

"I'll see what I can do," she said as she stood up.  She walked over to me and I stopped her for a kiss.

"Thank you," I told her, giving her bottom a pat.

She and Nora spent the next 45 minutes going through her test answer by answer.  Vanessa was good at explaining the concepts, far better than I could do.  Nora was nodding in understanding as she corrected her answers.  Since V was busy, I took the lead putting the boys to bed.

"Alright, who do you want to read your bedtimes stories?" I asked Sebastian, fresh from his bath and in his PJ's.  "Me or mommy?"

"Nora!" He said decisively, causing Nora to look up in confusion.

"Nora?" I asked.  "Okay.  Nora is that okay with you?"

"Sure," she shrugged and followed Sebastian to his bedroom.  I peeked in a couple times as I walked by, multitasking.  Sebastian was cuddled into her side, her left arm wrapped around him as she held the book.  As I walked by a third time, Sebastian saw me.

"Daddy!  Come read!" He requested.  I could never turn him down.  I pushed the door open and joined them on the bed.  It was a bit of a tight squeeze.  I was surprised that Nora didn't get up and leave.  She decided to stay and listen to the story.

I opened the last book, and realized Nora was sitting against me, the sides of our bodies touching.  This was the longest we'd had physical contact.  I began reading and did my silly voices as usual.  Sebastian cackled with laughter and Nora chuckled a little bit too.  I'd never made her laugh before and it felt good.  As I finished the book, Sebastian requested another one.

"Alright, one more, but this is it," I told him, enjoying the fact that Nora had joined us.  This book wasn't such a silly one, so they just listened quietly.  I was very surprised when I felt Nora rest her head against my shoulder about halfway through the book.  As I closed the book, I reached over and gently mussed the top of her head.

"Alright, Sebastian," I said, scooting myself towards the end of the bed.  "Time for sleep."

Nora got up as well and we turned on the night light for him on the way out.  Nora followed me out to the kitchen, where I was headed to get a snack.  She hung back, leaning against the bar as she watched me.

"Ummm...Lin?" She began as I got out two glasses from the cabinet. 

"Yep?" I started pouring milk into both glasses, then went to the pantry to get four Oreos.  I set two of them on the counter in front of her.

"Do you think..." she began.  "My mom said I could come visit her.  I was thinking of maybe going."

I dipped my first Oreo into the milk and took a bite.  "If that's what you want to do, I'll take you, of course.  You seem a little hesitant though."

She sighed and dipped her own cookie.  "I just don't know if I want to see her like that.  She sounded terrible on the phone.  She's probably detoxing."

I nodded in understanding at her dilemma.  "Do you think you'd feel better if you saw her?  I mean, you haven't seen her in two weeks."

"I don't miss her that much," she admitted to me.  "Most of the time, we only crossed paths a few times a week."

"Well," I said, crunching the remainder of my first cookie in my mouth.  "Don't do it for her sake.  You're the child and she's the adult.  She has to deal with the consequences of her actions."

She sighed, thinking about it.  "I'll think about it more," she told me as we both dipped our second cookies into our milk.

"Let me know what you decide," I told her.  "I'll look on the website for visiting hours."

After we'd finished our cookies, we both chugged our milk and let out a satisfied, "Ahhh!"

Thank you, Oreo, for bringing us a little closer.