At dinner, the Girardi family was still making an effort to avoid thinking too much about the empty seat at the table. Kevin started the conversation with, "Lilly and I are talking about me getting my own place again." Helen looked up and said, "You know how I feel about that." Kevin replied, "Well, seeing as you're taking time off I'm going to be the breadwinner in the family for a while, so I think you could cut me a little break there."
Helen gave him a hard stare. "Kevin, I realize you're becoming an adult, and you're going to move out sooner or later. Don't think I can't empathize with your situation. I just wish you could consider my feelings a little more before you do it." He came back with, "Well, that's what I'm doing now. If you still feel the same way, I'll hold off on it." Helen quickly deflated. "Oh. Well…thank you."
Joan and Luke could only glance at each other helplessly as things got more uncomfortable. Kevin went on, "Well, how do you feel?" Helen replied, "Lilly and I have been having some interesting conversations lately. Please don't ask me how, but our sessions have gone somewhere I don't quite understand and with everything else going on, your moving out would really be just another weight on my mind at this point." Kevin hesitated, finally saying, "All right. If that's the way you feel, I'll hold off a little more. See? That wasn't so hard."
Helen turned to the other two. "So what's going on with you?" she asked. Joan said, "I'm having some problems in calculus, other than that I'm pretty much okay." Helen replied, "Luke, why don't you help her with that?" Luke rubbed his forehead. "Believe me, I've tried." "It's true, he has," Joan said. "It's like my brain just rebels whenever someone tries to make me understand it."
Helen sighed. "I remember feeling that way about it too. Sorry, I guess there's something genetic there." Joan noted that the dinner had been remarkably histrionic free considering all the things going on. Then the phone rang, and Helen picked up, announcing it was for Luke. After a few seconds he looked shocked, and said, "Oh my god!" Now there was the kind of thing she expected.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaa
Five minutes earlier…
Grace ate her dinner emotionlessly, something that still confounded her father. He couldn't understand how she could act so cavalierly about her mother being in the hospital. In fact, it had become almost a routine and Grace always assumed that things would turn out the same, because they always had.
The phone rang, and her father answered. Then he exploded with emotion, collapsing against the wall with tears streaming down his face. Now Grace was surprised. She knew what had happened, but it still seemed to be happening to someone else. She knew one thing, though. She had to call Luke.