Spark Into a Flame

Lin

Joey knew better than to take off without telling me and answering her phone.  Well, she'd told Pippa she'd be back, but didn't say for how long or where she was going.  Then she wouldn't answer her phone.  I was beside myself with worry because that really wasn't like her.  She was normally a very responsible kid.

We'd finally discovered she'd gone to see Elliott.  I'd told her to come straight home.  About an hour later, she walked in looking morose and hurt.  I walked over to her and pulled her into a hug.  I was mad at her, but I could also tell she was hurting.

"You okay?" I asked gently.  She nodded into my shoulder.  "Good," I said, pulling back.  "Don't ever do that again.  Did you talk to Elliott?"

"He doesn't want to see me," she said, tearing up.

"Then you need to respect that," I told her, hands on her arms.  "If you suffocate him, he's going to pull away from you."

"But he wouldn't answer his phone!" she complained.

"Uh-huh," I deadpanned.  "See how that feels?"

She rolled her eyes and started to walk away.  I looked at my watch and saw it was almost dinner time now.  "You have much homework?" I asked her.

"Tons," she grumbled, trudging away to her room.  I knew she'd get it done.  She always did, but I didn't want her up all hours of the night doing it.  Joey holed up for the rest of the night, coming out only for dinner.

___

Joey was taking things hard.  So hard that two of her teachers called me the next week because she'd seemed so upset in class.  I hated to see my kid suffer, but this was all part of life.  Couples had fights and sometimes broke up.  It was a little awkward that it was because of Pippa's son.

Elliott still wanted space and Joey still really wanted to talk to him.  We both tried to urge her to be patient, but that was a very difficult thing for Joey.

One afternoon Alex sat on the couch eating her after school snack and I started going through her backpack like I usually did.  Her teacher kept a take-home folder where all items that needed our attention were put.  I fished it out and opened it, finding a new project we'd need to work on at home.  It was about her family tree.

I glanced over the project, rubbing at my goatee.  This could possibly be a difficult subject.  Her parents had died when she was three.  Unlike her brother, she remembered them.  Once a month they spent the weekend with their grandparents.  We still wanted them to very much be part of their biological family, but also feel like we were their family too.  It was a tough balance to strike.

When her TV show ended I called Alex over.  "Sweetheart, I was just looking at your new assignment," I told her.  "A family tree.  That sounds fun."

"But I don't know which family to put," she told me.  I squatted down so I was eye-level with her.

"Well, you can include everybody if you want," I told her.  "We could make one tree for your real family and one for our family."

"That sounds like a lot of work," she told me, and I laughed at her honesty.

"It would be more work," I acknowledged.  "But I think both families are important."

She nodded, twisting her lips to the side.  I could tell we'd probably have to talk more about this and it was bothering her a bit.

"Why don't you go play for a bit," I patted her butt.  "We'll talk more later."

She ran off for her bedroom, glad not to have to start any homework yet.  She was only in kindergarten, so she didn't get much, but having her sit down and do it was like pulling teeth sometimes.