Rise Up

Lin

Whenever visiting another country, it's nice to have someone who actually lives there to show you around.  Carol and Diego were happy to show us all the sites - London Bridge, the Tower of London, the Eye.  V was huge into history, so she loved every minute of it.  She'd spend all day wandering around, but we had two little boys to consider.  Their attention spans were not the greatest.  Still, we managed to have a good time. 

Talie was full of life and energy.  She'd been living here for a couple months, so she had favorite restaurants and coffee shops to show up.  We went by the kids' school and it looked very British and intimidating.  Talie was a bright girl, though, and I knew it wouldn't let it get to her.  She seemed to like school, other than chemistry.

As we started to wander back to the Rodriguez's, I hung back with Talie, putting my arm around her.

"I'm proud of you," I told her, meaning it.  It took a lot of guts to move to another continent as a teenager.

"Why?" she asked me.

"You took a big risk coming over here," I pointed out.  "It was a scary thing, but you're doing awesome."

"I am?"

"Yeah!" I said, surprised she didn't realize it.  "You're settling in and you seem to get along really well with your new family."

She nodded and bit her lip, smiling.  "I like it here."

"Good," I told her, then kissed her head.  I missed the kid like crazy but I was glad she was so happy.

That night, V helped Talie with her chemistry homework in person.  Alice was taking it as well, so there was a double tutoring session.  Diego and I relaxed with a beer and Carol was relaxing with a book.

It was a school night and we had the boys to put to bed, so we said goodbye a little before 7:00.  The boys were still adjusting to the time change, but they were being troopers about it.  V and I were just about there, but went to bed relatively early, at 9:30.  We laid in bed, facing each other.

"Talie seems to be all settled in," V observed, her dimples on display.

"Yeah," I brushed some hair away from her face.  "She seems happy."

She looked at me and smirked.  "You're such a softie."

"What?" I chuckled as she stroked my face with her palm.

"It's adorable," she said.  "You miss her so much."

"She's a neat kid," I said.  "I hope she moves back someday."

Vanessa kissed me gently.  "Me too."

We settled in and were soon asleep.

_____

The next day, we were woken up early by a cell phone call from Diego.  Carol had gone into early labor at around 5 a.m.  They asked if we could come be with the kids and get them off to school.  We of course agreed.  When we arrived, poor Alice was in tears, worried about her mother.  After a tearful goodbye, Vanessa sat with Alice on the couch, trying to soothe her.

"She's getting the best care she can at the hospital," she assured Alice.  "Everything's going to be fine."

Alice nodded and sniffled a bit.  We asked if they wanted to stay home from school, or just for a couple hours, but they said they'd rather go because they'd just be worrying.  The kids got their uniforms on and we walked them to school.

Sebastian was all energy, so we found a children's museum and let him have at it.  I spent the morning checking my phone at every buzz to hear news from Diego.  So far, there wasn't much.  She was stable and the baby wasn't in danger; just early.