A Dance of Life

41

My dad greets me crying and spouting French, holding me close as if scared I was going to disappear. I let him go on for a few minutes but my arm starts to get tired so I pull away.

"Dad, I'm fine now, I swear," I smile at him. "I just- It was too much, but I guess it needed to happen for me to fully come to terms with it. If I didn't scare you into coming here and scare the heck out of my best friend, I probably wouldn't have admitted I had a real problem. I have a real problem," I correct with a shrug.

"I just don't like talking about it," I sigh as we move away from the front door to the couch.

"I understand," he replies, squeezing my hand.

"I- I don't think you do," I tell him under my breath. "Thinking about something I saw that day, or a smell, or even seeing a dirty shoe, can put me into a dark space but talking about it... talking about it kinda puts me right back there, walking that street all over again."

I bite my lip and shake my head, "I know I need to talk about it; ignoring it won't help, but I don't want to."

"I wish I could help you, Anné," my dad grunts. "I wish I could take all your pain and lay them on my shoulders."

Cast your cares upon Him, for He cares.

I shrug and lower my head, "I'm going to be fine. I know I will papa because you and mama taught me to be strong and not give up. I'm going to get better."

"Hey, sorry to interrupt," Diana says, walking to us. "But, Nathan said I should call you guys cause dinner is ready."

We nod at her and my dad stands up, then he helps me up, and we head to the kitchen together. Nathan made a pasta and alfredo sauce, without cheese, and had already dished everyone's plate out. He hands a medium-sized portion to me and I take a seat beside Lucas and set the plate down.

"I really missed you, little dude," I tell Lucas, pulling him into a side hug.

"It's been three days," he frowns. "I didn't even get a chance to practice sleeping alone."

We all laugh and I ruffle his curls. "If you really really want to, I can have that arranged," I tease.

He taps his chin, seemingly in deep thought. "Would Nathan stay with me?"

"No, but you can stay with me," my dad reassures him. "I got an Airbnb for a month. You can have your own room or we can share, whatever you want."

Instead of answering, Lucas furrows his brows at my dad. "What's an 'Airbnb'?"

"It's basically renting someone's house," D informs him, her mouth full of pasta.

"Renting," he says, chewing on the word. "Like borrowing?"

"Yup, kinda like that except you have to pay," I nod. "Now eat your food so you can go to sleep, I'm sure you're tired."

"Not really," he mutters but digs in any way.

"So are we celebrating your birthday tomorrow?" Diana asks, taking her now empty plate to the sink.

I glance at Pat and she gives me a lopsided smile, pasta sticking out of her mouth. "Uh, no. My birthday has been postponed until sometime next month. Pat and I decided that I'd celebrate it along with my baby shower." I consider adding 'slash gender reveal' but decide to keep it as an inside joke.

"Oh my gosh, you're having a baby shower?!" Diana gasps, spinning around to face me. "I've always wanted to but never had the chance to go to one of those. Last year, a girl in my class got pregnant and I hoped she'd have a shower; movies make them look so fun, but she ended up dropping out."