Blended Family

Lin

Clarita texted me and asked if I could meet for lunch one day.  I figured it was about Joey.  We rarely got together otherwise.  We were civil with each other, but we weren't friends.  I texted back a meeting place and it was set for the next day.

I arrived first and got us a booth and started looking over the menu.  I saw her walk in a few minutes later in a tailored pantsuit and jacket.  She was always dressed to the nines.  I stood up and gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"You look great," I complimented her as she sat down opposite me.

"Thanks, you too," she said.  "Thanks for meeting me."

"Of course," I told her, glancing over the menu. 

We made small talk as we decided on our lunch and waited to put in our order.  After the waitress wrote everything down, I waited for her to bring up whatever it was.

"So..." she began, adjusting the silverware on the table.  "I wanted to talk to you because I've started dating again."

That wasn't what I was expecting, but Clarita was a beautiful woman.  I was glad to hear she was finally making time to start dating again.

"Oh," I said.  "Congrats."

"Thanks," she said, looking down for a moment.  "I've already talked to Joey about it, but Lin...I'm dating a woman."

That certainly wasn't what I was expecting.  For some reason I felt a bit of a blow to my manhood.  She was gay but she had married me?  Had a child with me?

"Oh," I said, dumbly, fiddling with my napkin.  "Right on."

She chuckled a little and I smiled uneasily.  "What?"

"It's nothing you did," she told me.

"I know that," I told her.  "I'm just...surprised you're just now discovering it."

"Well I think I've known deep down all along," she went on.  "I'm sorry I got you caught up in it."

"Hey, we loved each other and it felt right at the time," I assured her.  "Things happen.  I'm at peace with the divorce."

"I just wanted to make sure you're on board with this," she told me.  "Not that you really have any say, but I'd like us to be united for Joey's sake."

"Of course," I told her, picking up a tortilla chip from the basket the waitress had just set down.  "Does she seem okay with it?"

She nodded and got chip as well.  "She seemed a bit thrown off.  Like you.  But I think she's good with it."

"Great," I told her.  "Then this shouldn't be a problem."

"How's it going with the kids?" she asked me.

"Okay," I told her.  "Jack doesn't understand any of it, but Alex misses her mom a lot especially.  She gets kind of tearful, especially at bedtime."

She nodded and dipped another chip in the salsa.  "How's coparenting with Pippa?"

"Great," I told her, and meant it.  Now that we were under the same roof things were way easier.  A little more uncomfortable sometimes, but overall better.  She didn't say anything and I finally looked at her and she had an amused look on her face.  "What?"

"Are you together?" she asked me.  Even though we'd been divorced for six years, she could still read me like a book and I couldn't lie to her.

"Not exactly," I told her.  "We kissed for the first time the other day."

"Ohhhhhh," she said knowingly.  "Is it going somewhere?"

"Maybe," I said, then took a drink.  "The kids don't know anything so don't mention it to Joey."