"Daddy!" Zoe squealed excitedly, bouncing up and down and jostling Michelle, though she clearly didn't mind this expression of her daughter's exuberance.
"Zoe! How was Paris?"
"Brilliant. Amazing. Great!" She bounced again and Tony couldn't help but grin. "Did you get my cards?"
"All forty-seven of them. You must've spent a fortune on stamps."
"Just about. So, didya miss me? Mom says she didn't, but I'm pretty sure she was kidding."
Tony saw Michelle smile at this. "I miss you every day," he told Zoe.
She beamed. "You only have two and a half years to go! Less than! That's, like, nothing!"
He laughed. "Yeah, I guess so."
"So guess what!"
"Alright... when you were in Paris you joined the circus and are now secretly a world-famous clown."
"No, not quite." Zoe grinned. "I've decided I wanna go to culinary school. If I get in, that is..."
"Zoe, of course you'll get in."
"Says the guy who's never eaten one bite of my cooking."
"Well, all that will change in two years and five months."
"By which time my culinary future will already have been decided."
"But, I'll get to see you graduate from culinary school."
"I know! It's gonna be so greatÂ… and I should probably let Mom talk now... I guess I'm just not used to having to share anymore! And she still loves you and in a coupla years we'll finally all be like a proper family! It's so exciting!" And with one final bounce Zoe handed the phone to Michelle.
"Hey," Michelle said, glancing at Zoe affectionately.
"Hey, how are you? How's life now that you have a teenage daughter to worry about again?"
"It's good!" She smiled. "Zoe's never really given me that much cause to worry."
Tony saw Zoe nodding in agreement and grinned. "Yeah," he said. "I never
figured she did."