"Uhm… I've been kinda hanging out with… Charlie" said Lizzy, biting her lower lip in embarrassment.
"You what?!" asked Ellie.
Lizzy laughed and hid her face beneath her hands.
"As in hanging out, or as in 'hanging out'" said Ellie as she air quoted the last part.
Lizzy smiled in embarrassment.
"Stop! We're just friends," she said, "but we've recently started hanging out more and… I don't know, I guess he's… cute." She put a strand of hair behind her ear.
Both Ellie and Lizzy were on the couch in the living room. Lita and Juan were out with Pete, which meant Ellie and Lizzy had the house to themselves. Lizzy had been on her phone when Ellie had joined her and had started asking questions about her day, trying to use this moment to bond with her eldest daughter.
Lately, Lizzy had started to interact with her more and more, telling her little things about her day here and there, moments which Ellie could not get enough of. She had also noticed Lizzy was actively participating in family activities instead of being shut up in her room all day long. It was like she was finally letting her guard down.
"Oh my god!" Ellie shrieked. "This is so exciting!"
"It's not," Lizzy protested, trying to avoid turning this into a big deal. "We're just friends, okay?" she said, but immediately smiled.
"Wait… I know that smile, you like him!" exclaimed Ellie.
Lizzy covered her face with her hands in a bid to hide her smile.
"You like him!" cried Ellie. "You totally like him!" she reached out to Lizzy and before she could think twice, started tickling her.
Surprisingly, Lizzy started laughing.
"Stop it!" she said in between fits of laughter.
"I knew it! I knew it!" cried Ellie as she teased the teen.
"Stop!" Lizzy mock-protested. "No, stop! It's not funny!" she said as she tried to fight Ellie's hand away. She curled herself up into a ball, trying desperately to escape Ellie's teasing.
"Stop! Mom, stop!"
The tickling and teasing stopped as Ellie took in what Lizzy had just said.
Lizzy's eyes widened as she realized what she had let slip out. She sat up on the couch again.
"I mean… Ellie."
"No, it's okay honey," said Ellie, suddenly speaking very fast. "You can call me whatever you want. I mean, obviously don't be disrespectful or anything, but you can say Ellie or you can say Mom or you can say Elinor, honestly whatever you feel comfortable using is fine with me. I don't want to pressure you into calling me Mom, but also don't feel pressured to call me Ellie, I mean that is my name and you can use that, but also –"
"Okay Mom, stop," said Lizzy as she shot her a knowing smile.
Ellie shut up immediately, a knot quickly forming at the back of her throat.
"Oh god," said Lizzy, picking up on Ellie's reaction. "Please don't freak out."
Ellie brought her hand to her mouth. "I'm not freaking out," she said, her voice almost cracking.
"You're freaking out!" said Lizzy, a worried look on her face.
"I'm not freaking out!" said Ellie with a high-pitched voice.
"Yes, you are!" said Lizzy.
Ellie's voice cracked. "I'm sorry. It's just, it's the first time you've ever called me that."
A knot formed at the back of Lizzy's throat. She didn't know what to say. Seeing how much a simple word meant to Ellie was more emotional than she could've imagined.
Ellie wiped the tears falling from her eyes and looked at Lizzy.
"You know I love you, right?" she asked.
Lizzy nodded.
Ellie closed her eyes for a moment, reached out for Lizzy's hands, and smiled.
The two looked at each other and held each other's hands in silence.
After a few seconds, Lizzy broke the silence.
"I love you too."
At this, Ellie lost it. She enveloped Lizzy into a hug and let the tears drop freely. She couldn't believe what had just happened.
Lizzy let herself be hugged, and before she knew it, she joined Ellie in crying. This was it, what she had craved for as long as she could remember.
This was real.
This was home.
This was love.
As she cried, she felt like a weight was being lifted off her shoulders.
Ellie pulled away and looked at Lizzy. She wiped the tears from her face and then from Lizzy's face. Lizzy let her.
"Well, are you going to tell me all about Charlie then?" she asked.
Lizzy let out a laugh, wiped more tears from her eyes, and replied, "Yeah".