Best of Women

Lin

Mia was being incredibly sneaky with food.  I'd caught her a couple times sneaking bits of food under her napkin or into her hoodie pocket.  I wanted to talk to her about it, but the girls froze up and got embarrassed if I brought up anything to do with their bodies.  I didn't blame them.  What teenage girl would want to talk to their father about their bodies?

That was one of many reasons I was glad I had Pippa around.  She'd talked to Mia once about it.  A week passed of Mia not eating much.  She was getting tired and going to bed early.  One night, I paid her a visit as she was reading in bed.

"How are you feeling?" I asked her as I sat down on her bed.

"Fine," she said, keeping her eyes on her book.

"You're still not eating enough," I told her.  She huffed like she was tired of hearing about it.

"Daaaad...." she complained.

"If you don't start eating more, I'm taking you to the doctor," I threatened.  "I'm sure you've lost weight."

"I don't need to go to the doctor," she told me.

"I beg to differ," I countered.  "Do you have any energy at all for gymnastics?"

"Yes," she said, shortly.  "I'm fine."

"Are you being honest with yourself?"

"Yes," she said, though I'm sure she was lying.  I dropped it for now but had a feeling I'd be taking her to the doctor very soon.  I kissed her forehead and told her goodnight.

Later on, I went to Sebastian and Carmen's room and found Carmen typing on her laptop.  I wanted to ask her opinion about Mia.

"Have you noticed Mia eating less?" I asked her, closing the door behind me.

"Yes," she said.  "I heard she's concerned about her weight."

"She is," I agreed.  "And I'm starting to get worried because of how much she's training in the summer.  I tried talking to her earlier and she seemed to think I was nagging her.  Would you be able to talk with her at some point?"

"I'd be happy to," Carmen said, smiling.

I thanked her and left her alone.  Rio bounded into the living room, excited because his friend Justin from karate was coming over in a while.  I smiled as he launched himself onto the couch.

"Did you get your room clean?" I asked.

"Yep!" he replied.  Rio was a pretty neat kid anyways and I didn't have to get on him about keeping his room clean.  Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door and Rio rushed to open it.  Both kids were smiling widely as Rio invited them in.  I shook his mom's hand and we chatted for a few minutes.  Justin had a giant tub with him.  Legos.  She'd be back in three hours to pick him up.  Rio and Justin bounded away to his bedroom, already talking about Legos.

When the girls came home with Pippa a while later, Mia was beaming and bouncing off the walls.  Apparently, she'd mastered a new skill today and gotten an extra rotation into her tumbling pass.

She jumped up and down as she told me about it.  "Coach said that should add at least three tenths to my start value!" she reported.

"That's great, sweetheart," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder.  "How about a snack?  Some peanut butter and crackers maybe?"

"No thanks," she said.  Somehow, I could have predicted that. 

"I'll have some!" Eva said.  I got out a plate and scooped some peanut butter onto it.  Eva ate it ravenously.