Chapter 4 – Everyday People (aka We Gotta Live Together) by Sly Stone

"Sweetie, I promise I'll be there when your plane arrives." She could hear the tremble in her oldest daughter's voice. How Olivia wished that she could be there with her, holding her tight. One of the hardest things she had ever had to do was to call Ava and tell her that her father had died. "I love you and I'll see you soon."

Hanging up the phone, she rubbed her temples in a vain attempt the get rid of a headache caused by too much alcohol and a night spent in the drunk tank. How did I let things get that far? She thought, and not for the first time. Damn, Natalia, are you ever coming back? I don't know how much longer I can keep it together. Her thoughts were interrupted by a light rap on the door. She opened the door only to be brought up short by the person standing on the other side.

"Oh… Rafe."

"Yeah, I know… what am I doin' here?" He asked as she motioned him inside.

She watched him nervously shove his hands in his front pockets and stare down at the floor. "Look, I'm not good at this… apologizing stuff. But... uh I'm sorry that I went off on you at the wedding. It wasn't the time, ya know?"

Her raised eyebrow made him quickly amend his statement. "I mean not that there's really a good time to… uh… treat somebody like that. I was still kinda upset about stuff and …"

"You took it out on me."

Nodding his head, he replied, "Yeah. I did. I mean I'm still trying to sort stuff out about you and… my Ma." The last part was hard for him to say but, after what she had done for him the other night at the bar, well he supposed it was the least that he could do. "That's one of the reasons why I'm here. You said when I was ready to talk…"

"And I meant that… but right now isn't a good time." Olivia said, as she once again picked up the cordless phone. "I've got to find someone to watch Emma while I go to the airport to pick up Ava."

"Snap… I forgot. She's coming in for Jeffery's memorial. He was a good guy. Stood up for me an everythin' even after what I did."

"He knew that was an accident, Rafe. You were hurting because of your dad."

"I'm glad I gotta chance to tell him thanks. And if I don't see Ava, will you tell her I said I'm sorry and, you know, if she wants to talk or something." He shrugged before looking back down.

"She'll appreciate that. Look, I'm sorry that I'm not able to talk right now but, as I've said, I've got to find someone to watch Emma before I can leave, so…

"I'll do it."

"Are you sure? You know she can be a handful." And that was putting it mildly. Although she loved her daughter, Olivia had to admit that sometimes she found the child tough to deal with, unlike Natalia, who seemed to always have the patience needed.

"Yeah, it's the least I could do after you helped Daisy, and me, out the other night. In fact—"

"Uh, no need to thank me."

"But..." he tried again.

She cut him off with a wave of her hand. "No, really, let's not talk about it." The last thing Olivia wanted to do was to remember how she had almost cracked when she had saw a dark haired woman, similar in height and build, enter the bar and how, for a second, she had thought it was Natalia. Although thinking back, she should have known that her love wouldn't have worn such a tight dress. Natalia Rivera wore her sexuality understated but, make no mistake, it was there. Shaking her head slightly, she thought about the poor woman she had scared. No wonder the woman ran out the back door. She would have, too, if a half drunk wild-eyed woman had coming screaming after her.

Sensing that she was uncomfortable, Rafe didn't press the issue. Luckily for both of them, Emma chose that moment to burst into the room.

"Rafe!" Hearing his name screamed, he quickly turned around, only to almost be knocked down by Emma running into him. "You're here. Is Natalia with you?"

"Hey, Em. Nah, she's not back yet," he replied, as he dropped down to his hunches so that he'd be eye level with her. "She's sort of on a grownup time out."

Tilting her head to the right a bit, the little girl asked, "Was she bad?"

Laughing lightly he answered, "No. Grownups sometimes just need to go off by themselves and think about things. That's all. But she'll be back soon."

Before she could ask another question like how soon was soon, he asked his own. "So, munchkin, want to spend some time with your big bro while your mom goes and picks up your sister?"

Olivia had been watching the exchange, wondering how Emma would react to having Rafe stay with her, but any doubts were quickly squashed as her daughter started to jump up and down. "Cool! Can we watch the new Hannah Montana movie?"

"Uh… maybe later. How about first we watch that movie about the pre-historic squirrel?" Rafe asked with a pleading look.

"Okay. But next time I get to pick. No questions asked, right?" Olivia tried not to laugh. Yes, she was definitely her daughter, making deals already at the ripe old age of nine.

Bending to plant a kiss on her daughter's head, Olivia said, "You two work it out." Pausing at the door she looked back, "Thanks. I should be back in about 2 hours."

Once her Mom was gone, Emma was all business. "Come one, Rafe. Let's watch the movie. Can we order room service?" She asked hopefully.

"Hey Em, can I ask you something?" Rafe asked as he sat on the bed.

"Sure."

"Why did you do that presentation that you did for Family Day? The one that you showed me before."

"This one?" She asked as she reached over and pulled it out of the desk drawer. At his nod she sat next to him and opened it.

"Well, our teacher told us to write about our families and why they were special. So, uh, I was gonna write about mommy and daddy, but daddy wasn't here. Then, I tried talking to grandfather, who just kept on saying that family was important, but he really didn't make much sense about why." Emma said.

"Yeah, I know what ya mean; I've had to talk to the old man a time or two myself, and he can be confusing."

She smiled and nodded her head before continuing, "Anyway, the next morning I was eating my breakfast in the kitchen and Natalia was making my lunch. Mommy told Natalia that she had already sent you your medicine so Natalia didn't have to worry about it."

"Okay..."

"Well, silly, that's what a Mommy and Daddy do; take care of the kids and stuff. Only it was my Mommy and your Mommy. So..."

"I get it... two Mommies." And he had to admit; it made perfect sense.

"Yep. And that made my family special, 'cause most kids have a Mommy and a Daddy."

"Well... yeah, there are a lot of kids that have a two parents, but some have one or maybe not any. Families come in all shapes and sizes."

"Uh huh, I know. Derek has only a Mommy and she says that he can't play with me anymore."

He could tell by the look on her face that she was upset. He wasn't quite sure if he should ask any more questions but then again maybe it would help if she could talk about it with someone closer to her age.

"Yo, why did she say that?"

"Cause she thinks that our family is weird. Mommy says it's just cause she's prej-- prej-u---"

"Prejudice?"

"Yep, that's the word. I think it means that she doesn't like people that are sorta different from her."

Nodding his head, he agreed. "Yeah, Em you're gonna find that there are lots of people like that in the world. See, they can't understand things, like someone who's skin is a different color, or maybe talks differently. It makes them scared and they run away from that person." She was listening very intently, so he went on. "It doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with being different. I mean everybody is unique. Take me, for instance; I can't help it that I'm so good looking."

"In your dreams." She laughed.

"Hey, the girls like it." He tickled her ribs. "Seriously, Em, don't let people like Derek's mom stop you from being the person you're meant to be or be ashamed of your family, okay?"

"Okay. Can we watch the movie now?" He knew that she was getting bored, but he needed to ask her one more thing.

"Sure, but can I ask you one more question?"

Sighing, she agreed. "When you showed me this before, you said that people knew that they loved each other and stuff. Why did you say that?"

"Cause, they're BFFs, silly."

"BFFs? I guess I'm not up on the lingo, cause I don't know what that means."

"Boys." She said as she rolled her eyes. "You don't know anything. BFF means Best Friends Forever." And with that, she pushed aside the presentation book and walked over to the TV and turned it on, leaving her brother alone with his thoughts.