Best of Women

Pippa

           

I was at the gym with the three younger kids.  Eva had been told to take it easy, but she didn't really know what that meant.  The first couple practices, she walked on her ankle gingerly, but after that she was pretty much full force.  The coach urged her to go slow, but Eva was stubborn.  I was worried about her reinjuring herself.

When practiced ended, the girls went to the locker room to put on their track suits over their leos.  When they came out, we headed out the door together and the girls talked about practice.

"Eva, how's your ankle feeling?" I asked her.

"Fine," she said.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

She shot me a look, puzzled.  "Yeah.  Why?"

"You've gotta remember to take it easy," I reminded her.

"I am," she said.  "It feels fine."

"It's not as strong as you might think," I told her as we walked down the stairs to the subway.  "Don't push it.  You don't want to reinjure yourself."

"I'm fine," she said firmly, obviously not happy that I was reminding her of this.  I decided to drop it but would mention it to Lin later.  The kids didn't always seem to listen to me.  I wasn't their mother after all.

I started dinner as the kids showered and relaxed a bit.  Carmen was here again.  It was sweet to see how attentive Sebastian was to her.  He gave her a foot massage as they relaxed on the couch together.  Lin moseyed in close to 7:00 after a long day of recording.

He greeted me and gave me a kiss on the cheek as I finished off dinner.  He disappeared down the hall to change into some comfier clothes.  I thought he looked sexiest like this – relaxed and at home.  He chatted with Sebastian and Carmen, asking how she was feeling.  Seeing Lin as a father made me love him even more.  He was so sweet and caring with them all.  You could tell he cared for Carmen, too, because Sebastian did.

He joined me in the kitchen a few minutes later, squeezing my hip.

"How'd your day go?" he asked me softly.

"Fine," I said, turning off the stove.  "How'd your session go?"

He went into an explanation of the recording session.  I longed to be in the studio again.  I loved working on The Code, but I also missed singing.  I wasn't happy if I wasn't able to sing.

We all sat around the kitchen table a few minutes later – a full table with four kids plus Carmen.  After dinner, she went back to her friend's house and I could tell it was paining Sebastian to be away from her so much.  He was concerned about how she was doing and wanted to be there for her.  Lin had done a good job with that one.

Lin and I climbed into bed that night and I decided to bring up Eva.

"You might need to talk to Eva about taking it easy," I told him as he laid on our sides facing each other.

"She's not taking it easy?"

I shook my head.  "She did the first couple days, but she's going full force now.  I talked to her today but she seemed to dismiss it."

His hand rubbed at my hip as he thought.  "Hmmm.  I'll talk to her in the morning.  How do you think Carmen's doing?"

"She seems good," I said.  "Apart from the morning sickness.  That should pass, though, from what I hear."

I'd never been pregnant, of course, but I was hoping to someday.  His hand cupped my cheek and he stroked with his thumb.

"You'd make a great mom," he told me softly.  "You're great with the kids."