Spark Into a Flame

Lin

Much of Sunday, Pippa spent her free time with her eyes glued to her laptop. We'd gotten engaged a couple months ago now and almost immediately she'd thrown herself into planning the wedding. I was not a detail person when it came to events, so I was happy to let her take the lead. As long as she was there, along with our friends and family, the rest of the details seemed unimportant.

Pippa was still pretty high-strung about it. I tried to get her to relax about it, but it seemed impossible. Her drive and commitment was always one of the things that I found attractive in her, but she was taking it to a new level with this.

Jack was down for a nap and Alex was playing quietly on the floor with some Legos. Pippa and I were both on our laptops. She was mumbling to herself, her eyes focused on her screen as she scrolled through something.

"Would you rather serve chicken or turkey?" she asked me.

"Doesn't matter to me," I told her honestly. She huffed and gave me a look.

"Lin," she said. I looked at her and could tell she was annoyed.

"I told you, I don't care about the details," I reminded her. "Whatever you think is fine with me."

"But if I ask you, I really want your opinion," Pippa said.

"Does it matter?" I asked. "Is anyone going to sit at their table and wonder, why did they serve turkey and not chicken?"

"So you think we should have chicken?" she asked.

"Sure," I told her to end the conversation.

"Lin," her tone was more firm.

"Pippa," my tone was just as firm. "I'm tired of having this conversation."

A bedroom door opened, interrupting our little argument. Elliott and Joey emerged, and Joey was a little teary eyed. It was about time for him to head back to school. They held hands as they walked out to the living room. Elliott had his duffle back in his hand and set it on the floor.

"I'm gonna head out," he told us all. I set my laptop aside and gave him a warm hug.

"Stay safe, bud," I told him, giving him a clap on the back.

"Will do," he said as Pippa walked over. She smiled and hugged her son warmly.

"Love you," she said. "And don't forget to go to those extra help sessions for physics."

"I know, Mom," he groaned as they hugged. Joey was trying to keep herself together. I walked over and put my arm around her, kissing her head. Elliott picked up Alex and kissed her all over her face, making her laugh.

"I'm gonna walk to the subway with him," Joey told us. We said one last goodbye and the two teenagers disappeared. Pippa and I both sat down, and I hoped she wouldn't bring up what meat to get again. She went back to her research and I went back to my email for now.

My phone buzzed and I pulled it out, seeing Alex and Joey's grandparents were asking to FaceTime. "Alex," I called to my daughter. "It's Grandma and Grandpa."

She let out a gasp of excitement and dropped her Legos, running over to me. Alex jumped up on my lap as I positioned the phone. I pressed Accept and soon her grandparents were on screen.

"Gramma!" Alex said excitedly. "Grampa!"

"Hi sweetheart," they greeted her, smiling. "How's my favorite granddaughter?"

I had a brief conversation with them and then stood up, setting Alex back on the chair so she could talk to them alone. I went into the kitchen and busied myself unloading the dishwasher and cleaning up a bit. As they talked, the front door opened and Joey walked back in, looking down.