Rise Up

Lin

I laid next to Sebastian in bed, rubbing his back as he cried.  He had woken up after a nightmare and missed Talie.

"Why won't she come hoooome?" he cried, his little body heaving with sobs.

"She'll be back, buddy," I told him gently.  "Take some deep breaths."

My son struggled to compose himself.  He wasn't the only one missing Talie.  I wasn't crying about it, but the house felt odd without her.  I missed her music playing, her jokes, her silly dancing.  It made me feel a little selfish, missing her.  She wasn't our family, but I had become very attached to her.  Teaching class every day with her chair empty was just sad.

I continued to rub Sebastian's back and he slowly began to calm down.  Finally, he fell back asleep.  I kissed his head, then covered him back up.  I climbed back into bed next to V and she stirred.

"Nightmare?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said.  "And he misses Talie.  He's not the only one."

Vanessa turned over and rubbed her hand up and down my chest.  "She was never our kid," she reminded me.  "We always knew we'd have to say goodbye eventually."

"I know, but it still sucks," I said, rubbing my eyes.  V kissed my cheek and rested her head on my shoulder.  I sighed as I tried to settle in again.  Eventually I managed to fall asleep.

___

The next day was Saturday so I decided to FaceTime Talie mid-morning.  Sebastian sat on my lap as we excitedly waited for her to answer.  Moments later, her smiling face was on the screen.

"Talie!!" Sebastian practically screamed.

"Hi, Sebastian!" she greeted.  "Hi Lin!"

"Hello!" I told her.  "It's good to see your face."

"Yours too!" she said.  I could see that she was out somewhere, with lots of trees and grass around.

"Are you out somewhere?"

"Yeah, I'm at Hyde Park," she said, moving her phone to show us her surroundings.  "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"It is," I agreed, as Sebastian played with his lip.  As her phone made its way back around, I caught glimpse of another girl, about Talie's age.  "Who's this?"

"This is my future step-sister, Alice!" she said, and Alice waved at us.

"Are you two hitting it off?" I asked, resting my hand on Sebastian's slightly protruding belly.

"Yeah, we're getting along really well," she said.  "I went to school with her yesterday.  I wore a uniform and everything."

"Oh cool," I said.  "Did you like it?"

"Yeah it was neat," I said.  "I miss Hunter though.  Naomi hasn't been falling asleep in class has she?"

I laughed.  "That only happened one time.  Give her a break."

"Whatever," she laughed.  "Sebastian, have you been playing with your superheroes?"

"Yeah," he said.  "Daddy played with me."

"Awesome," Talie said.  "I miss playing with you."

"Me too," he said.  We chatted for a few more minutes, but I didn't want to keep her from having fun with Alice.  It was great that she had already made a friend in her new future step-sister.  We signed off and I tossed my phone to the side.  I wrapped both arms around Sebastian and kissed the top of his head.

"How about we go to the park?" I suggested.

"Yeah!" he agreed, jumping off my lap to get his shoes.  I found Cisco and found his little tennis shoes.  Soon, I had both boys bundled up and we left Vanessa to have to have some much-deserved alone time.

I played with the boys for an hour, pushing them on the swings, chasing them, and just being silly.  By the time we finished, I was exhausted.  We stopped for ice cream on the way home, even though it was kind of chilly.  Most of Cisco's ended up on his face and clothes, but that's the way it went with toddlers.  Sebastian fared slightly better.

When we arrived home, Vanessa was reclined on the sofa reading a book.  Sebastian hopped up and laid on her, cuddling for a good ten minutes.  I changed Cisco and gave his face a good wipe-down.  When I came back to the living room I laid back on the recliner with my son laying on my chest.  I sighed and stared off into space.

"What's the matter?" Vanessa asked me.

"He misses Talie," Sebastian answered for me.  "And I do too."

Vanessa smirked.  "Well, I miss her three.  But we need to be happy for Talie.  She's with her dad and she's exploring London."

I kept telling Sebastian she'd be coming home, but I wasn't so sure of it.  She seemed really happy when I called her earlier.  She'd even gone to school with Alice and had seemingly enjoyed it.  It was a very real possibility that she'd decide to stay.  I couldn't be selfish about it.  This was her life.

When I was still a bit blah that night as we climbed into bed, Vanessa stared at me in amazement.  "Miranda, I've never seen you this bummed.  We need to snap you out of this."

I smirked a little.  "Sorry," I told her.  "I didn't realize I'd miss her this much."

She kissed me gently, studying my face.  "We should have a date night tomorrow," she suggested.  "We can ask your parents to watch the boys."

I looked at her and gave a small smile.  "That sounds great."

The next evening, my parents came around about 6:00.  They were always thrilled to be asked to babysit.  With Talie around, they hadn't been asked as often as usual.  We kissed the boys goodnight and then we left for a night out on the town.  Vanessa had made a reservation at my favorite restaurant.

As we ate, she told me about an idea she had.  "You know, we could go visit her," she suggested.

I'd thought about that myself.  "That might be a little intrusive," I said.  "She's there to be with her dad and her new family.  I don't want us to butt in."

"Maybe not right away," she added.  "If she decides to stay, maybe we could go."

I sighed.  "I wonder how long she'll stay," I said.  "I mean, until she has to decide.  She can't do school by email with Hunter forever.  There are hundreds of kids who want her spot."

"That's true," Vanessa agreed.  "Well, whatever she decides, we need to support her."

I turned onto my side, propping up on my elbow.  "You wouldn't mind, would you?  If she stayed with us through high school?"

"Of course not," V said.  "I love having her around.  She's like a daughter to us."

I nodded and looked at her beautiful, dark eyes.  "Girls are a lot different than boys," I said.  "They're fun in a different way.  Maybe we should try again."

Vanessa smirked as I let my fingers trail up and down her forearm.  "Cisco's still in diapers.  He's barely done breast feeding."

"Maybe not right away," I said.  "But I'd love to have a daughter.  I'd spoil her rotten."

Vanessa laughed.  "She'd be a daddy's girl for sure," she said.  "I'm definitely not opposed to the idea, but it'd be nice if the boys were a little older."

I nodded in agreement and gently rubbed her chin with my thumb, then leaned in to kiss her.  "I love you."

She smiled and ran fingers through my hair.  "I love you too, Lin."