A/N - I'm so sorry it's been so long! I'm hoping to be more frequent with updates soon.
Chapter Six
Lena had her head stuck out Carmen's car window, letting the wind gust past her. She shut her eyes and felt the freest she had since Kostos had shown up.
Carmen shouted something from within the car. Lena pulled her head back in and rolled the window up, feeling alive and euphoric.
"What'd you say?" she asked, breathless. She pushed her hair out of her eyes, nearly laughing for pure joy.
"I said you look like a dog," Carmen said with a chuckle.
Lena rolled her eyes, but she was too good-natured not to laugh along. "Don't you know how to ruin a good mood, Carma!"
"Nope, she wouldn't know how if she tried," a masculine voice said affectionately from the back seat. The owner of the voice leaned forward to rest his chin on the back of Carmen's seat so that he could better join in the conversation.
"As weird as this may sound, I think you might be a little biased, Win," Carmen joked, smiling at him in the rearview mirror.
Win had come along with them, ironically, because of Lena. Win was headed home to visit his family in a week, and Carmen had been planning to spend the week with him. However, Lena had wanted to leave to visit Carmen's father as soon as they could, so Carmen, Lena and Win had piled into Carma's car early this morning.
"Here's our exit!" Carmen announced theatrically. Lena immediately looked out the window, memorizing each detail, so relieved that she had finally made it here. Now that they'd arrived, it felt like she could stop worrying that Kostos would pop up out of nowhere.
They pulled up in front of the kind of house Lena would never have thought Paul would pick for himself. But, then, she reminded herself, this was Lydia and Al's house. Not Paul's. They knocked on the newly painted door, then waited practically long enough that they could've driven back home to Bethesda.
"I told my dad I was coming," Carmen said in a small voice. "He said he'd be here."
Lena put a comforting arm around Carma before she could start blaming Bad Carmen for wanting Al to be there. Because the loyal, understanding part of Lena was indignant that he hadn't come to be with his own daughter. Unfortunately, the rational, sympathetic part of Lena was inconvenient enough to excuse Al by being sure that something had come up.
They all sat silently on the porch for awhile, waiting for someone to come. Win sat behind Carmen on the steps, gently scratching her back as she sat, head slumped into her hands, trying to hide her disappointment and embarrassment. And Lena sat alone on the swing, gently swaying, watching the two. Now it was time for Jealous Lena to make an appearance (how had she thought Carma was nuts for separating herself into two personalities? Lena had at least six!), wishing that she could have someone to make her feel like everything was okay. Her mind drifted back to previous summers, where Kostos had been that person. Now she was fleeing from the same person with whom she had felt fully secure and loved.
All that thought did was make Lena feel more alone.
She could feel tears pricking her eyes, she wanted someone to say something to break this awful silence, to make her think of something else and make her forget, but the only sounds were the leaves moving in the breeze and the scritch of Win's nails against Carma's shirt.
Lena was just beginning to realize that she couldn't hold back her tears any longer, when the most wonderful thing anyone had ever done happened. A car pulled into the driveway, Paul stepped out, went past all three of them into the house, came back with three glasses of lemonade, passed them out, and sat unassumingly next to Lena. All without a word, Paul had fixed everything. Someone was here to see Carma, someone was here for Lena.
"Where's my dad?" Carmen asked immediately once she'd closed her hands around the glass of lemonade.
Paul sipped his own drink, unhurriedly, before answering. "I don't know. I thought I was going to be the last one home."
Though not satisfied completely, Carmen did immediately become more cheerful, chattering away. Lena studied Win's face. He looked - not jealous, that wasn't a Win sort of emotion - but he looked wistful. Wanting to be able to waltz in and put a smile on Carmen's face instead of sitting silently with her for an hour offering what comfort he could and still getting no response. Lena's heart went out to him, she wanted to pull him aside and tell him how much Carmen cared, how much his little gestures meant to her. But the only person who could really tell him that was Carma herself.
"Paul, this is Win," Carmen said, and Lena heaved a sigh of relief that at least she was bringing Win into the conversation.
"You volunteer at the hospital?" Paul asked, looking pained at being forced to hold a conversation. Lena smiled, she knew that at least with Carmen, he wasn't required to talk often.
Fortunately, Win and Carmen were as open as Paul and Lena were quiet. Win started off on stories about the kids he'd met in the hospital playroom, which soon had Carmen laughing easily, Paul and Lena more cautiously.
Lydia was the next to drive up, Krista in tow.
"What on earth!" Lydia bustled up to the porch. "Paul, I know it's nice out, but could you at least have let them bring their bags in? Come on in, everyone, so nice to meet you." She continued chattering as she smiled and beckoned them inside her immaculate house.
When Lena found herself alone with Carma in the room they were sharing, she found herself overwhelmed with her first time meeting Lydia. She was nice enough, but she seemed so anxious to please. Lena preferred people who were completely comfortable being themselves, mainly because people like that made Lena okay with being herself with them. People like Kostos...
"Stop thinking about him, Lenny," Carmen said sharply. Lena laughed, liking the knowledge that Carma could know what she was thinking with just a look. "You're here to get away from him, so that's what we're going to do."
Dinner started out on a bad note. The moment Carmen sat down and saw her father, she asked him where he'd been.
"Something came up, Carmen," he said apologetically. Carmen glared.
"Well?" she demanded. "What came up?"
"Work stuff, honey," he said evasively. Carmen raised her eyebrows. "I'm sorry, I wish I could have been here to meet you." He reached out and lay his hand on top of hers.
Carma pulled her own hand away, and Lena gave her a pleading look. Now was not the time for an argument about this. Carmen sighed. "It's all right, Dad."
Bee reclined next to Tibby, watching Eric, Billy, and Brian trying to teach Nicky and Katherine how to play soccer. Eric and Billy weren't playing as well as they could - Bee suspected that this was as much for Brian's benefit as for Tibby's siblings'.
Katherine shrieked as Billy, who was on the opposite team, gently kicked a ball towards her. She tottered forward and grabbed the ball just as it was about to pass her and go into the tiny goal Bridget had dragged out of her garage, from when she'd just been learning to play. Eric swept Katherine up and jogged in a victory circle, her perched on his shoulders and screaming at the top of her tiny voice the whole time.
This whole thing was mainly for Tibby's benefit. Bee noticed that Tibby looked more relaxed than she had since her mother had gone missing - they all hoped Alice would be found or get in touch soon, but in the meantime, all responsibility had fallen on Tibby's shoulders.
"Tibby, we're winning!" Nicky shouted, launching himself into his sister's arms. Bridget smiled. Not too long ago, Tibby would have responded with just enough to get him to leave her alone. Instead, she spoke to her brother with her birthing-coach persona - more enthusiasm than she could possibly have felt.
"That's great, Nicky! You guys are such pros!" she cried.
"Will you tell Mommy when she comes home?"
Tibby waited until he had run back into the game to let her face crumple. Bee sat, wanting to hit something. Why did the people Tibby loved have to leave her? Why could no one see that Tibby needed them to stick around?
She felt a surge of anger towards Alice, for leaving Tibby the way she had. Alice should be the one here, cheering her kids on, making a presence in Tibby's life. But no, the one doing that was Brian. And thank God for him, he didn't have to do any of these things, yet he did them routinely. And he recognized what a gift he'd received, being given Tibby's trust - most people didn't comprehend the value of that present. Alice evidently hadn't.
"What am I supposed to tell him?" Tibby wanted to know, dragging Bridget out of her thoughts. Her shoulders were squared now, her face carefully controlled. "How do I tell him she might not come back?"
"She's coming back, Tibby," Bee said firmly. "She took her clothes and car, she didn't get kidnapped. She's going to come home."
"She'd better," Tibby said grimly. "We can't stay at Brian's all the time, he doesn't want Nicky and Katherine around when his parents are drunk. And being at home is awful, too, with Dad walking around like a ghost and that detective he hired in and out."
"Bring them to my house," Bee said generously.
Tibby gave her a Look. "Beezy, you know your house is full."
"None of them are staying overnight," Bee pointed out. "Except Greta, and that's only sometimes."
"Bee, you'd give away your last spare foot of space if it meant you could help someone out." Tibby sighed.
"Tib, we have the guest room," Bee pleaded. A person had to know just how to get around Tibby in order to not make her feel like a burden. And once Bee set her mind to helping somebody, she was unstoppable. A soccer day was not enough, not if Tibby's brother and sister needed a place to stay. Younger kids had always held a sort of a fascination for Bee, they were so energetic, much closer to Bee's own personality than quiet Perry. "Please?"
Tibby sighed again. "Fine."
Bee grinned and rushed onto the field to play a spontaneous defense.
A/N: I'm hoping to get the next chapter up soon... I actually have something in mind for that one (what a shock!), so stay tuned :-)