Rise Up

Diego

Everything felt right with Talie here. I had a beautiful fiance who was pregnant with my baby. I wondered how long Talie would stay. I hoped it would be permanently, but I also understood her whole life was in New York. She seemed to like Hunter, and she'd loved living with the Mirandas. Almost too much.

I avoided bringing up the subject with her, because I was afraid of what she'd say. She'd been here about a week and a half now. She and Alice were getting along really well and she'd seemed to take a liking to one of Giles's friends, Allie. Was this enough to keep her here with me?

Carol was deep into wedding planning. I frankly didn't care what the wedding was like, as long as it happened. She wanted a small wedding, which I liked. I'd never been one for big crowds. We had about 100 people on the guest list. It was set for June, a couple months from now.

Alice and Talie would be bridesmaids, and Giles would be a groomsman. We knew this would be a big change for the kids and wanted them to be part of it. I felt lucky in terms of step-children. Carol had done a great job raising her two kids after her husband had passed away. They were sweet and well-behaved, and seemed to like me okay.

Towards the end of Talie's second week here, I decided it was time for the conversation. In the evening, I knocked on her door and she told me to come in. I smiled and sat down on her bed.

"Homework?" I asked her, and she nodded. She'd been doing a great job at keeping up with her schoolwork from afar. "Listen, Talie. I think it's time we had a chat about plans. I've loved having you here for these two weeks."

She smiled and nodded, looking down. "I've loved being here. It's like a new family."

"I'm glad you're getting along so well with everyone," I said. "And if you choose to stay, we'd love to have you. We could enroll you at Alice and Giles's school. But, I also know you've spent your whole life in New York City. I'd understand if you wanted to go back."

She sighed, studying her nail beds. "I don't know, Dad," she told me. "I really don't know. I like it here, but I miss New York."

I nodded and waited for her to continue, but she seemed stuck. "You don't have to make a choice right now, but we probably need to decide in the next week or so."

She twisted her lips to the side, looking very indecisive. "How am I supposed to choose?" she asked, finally looking at me.

I patted her knee and sighed. "That's a tough one, kiddo," I acknowledged. "And there's no right or wrong answer. Whatever you choose you'll be well taken care of."

"But I'll miss everyone on the other side of the ocean," she pointed out. I nodded.

"Well, remember that you could live one place during the school year and go to the other for breaks," I reminded her. That seemed like the best solution to me.

"True," she said and sighed heavily. "Dad, why'd you have to come over here in the first place? Things just got more complicated."

I felt badly about that. "I'm sorry, Talie. Like I said, I didn't mean for this to happen. You can't plan to fall in love. Speaking of which, how are things going with Allie?"

She smirked and blushed a little. "Fine," she said. "We've been on a couple dates."

"I like him. He's a nice kid," I told her. I stood up and kissed her head. "Keep thinking about it. Let me know if you want to talk."

I walked back out to the kitchen area, where Carol was updating her spreadsheet she kept about the wedding. It tracked all our decisions and the prices. I told her money wasn't something she needed to worry about, but she'd grown up in a working class home and didn't like wasting money or spending extravagantly.

I lounged around the living room watching TV, giving my opinion on questions Carol asked me about wedding plans. When the wedding took place, she'd be about 7 months pregnant. She was working with the bridal store to figure out how to size her dress. It was stressing her out a little bit, not knowing the correct measurements.

That weekend, we took the girls to go try on bridesmaid dresses, along with Carol's best friend, who was the maid of honor. Carol wanted a light mint green, so we went store to store looking for possibilities. The girls tried on at least a dozen dresses and they were good sports about it. By the end of the afternoon I could tell they were reaching the ends of their ropes. I promised them ice cream if they would go to just one more store.

Carol found the perfect dresses at the last place. The girls' faces lit up as they twirled for us, obviously loving the dresses as well. Alice and Talie giggled as they danced around, being goofy teenagers. I just laughed and rolled my eyes at them. They were quite the pair.

The saleslady took the girls' measurements so they could be properly fitted. Finally, we were done and it was time for ice cream. As we were sitting there, Carol gasped and touched her belly.

"Diego!" she said excitedly. "It moved!"

I reached my hand out and touched her belly. Sure enough, I felt our baby doing a flip. It was the coolest thing ever. I grinned and gave her a kiss. The girls wanted to feel too. Soon, two more hands were on Carol's belly, trying to feel a kick or flutter. The baby was active, so they both to feel it. Their eyes lit up in excitement.

"I hope it's a girl," Alice said. "I've always wanted a little sister."

"Me too," Talie agreed.

"Then Giles and I will be highly outnumbered," I pointed out.

"So?" Talie said, and they both giggled.

I'd be happy whether it was a boy or a girl. I just wanted it to be healthy. Carol and I decided not to find out the sex of the baby. We'd wait until it was born. We'd discussed some names and had a little list that we both liked. We both felt we had to meet the kid first before giving it a name.

Just then, Talie got a FaceTime request from Lin. I saw her face light up as she answered. I looked away for a moment. Did her face look like that when I called her? I'd been so stupid with my communication with her. I didn't call like I should have. I wouldn't be able to blame her for choosing Lin over me.

I tried not to think of it as a competition, but I felt like it was, in part. Who could give her the better home? I'd done a lousy job up until now, admittedly. Now that I was with Carol and had a loving partner, and saw how she was with her own kids, I felt more motivated to be more present. I'd tried to spend the last couple weeks proving to Talie that she'd have a great life here with us.

Alice leaned in and said hello to Lin, Sebastian, and Cisco. They chatted for a good fifteen minutes. Sebastian was a real chatterbox. I knew Talie loved Lin's kids and had been a great help with them. I bet the boys missed her terribly.

Towards the end of the week, I knew I needed to ask Talie about her decision again. Her school had been more than accommodating letting her work over email, but it couldn't last forever. Plus, Lin and Vanessa needed to know our plans. We couldn't leave everyone hanging.

Around 8:00, I took a breath and wandered back to Talie's room. I pushed the door open, bracing myself for new, whether it be good or bad.