"You'll be home alone until tomorrow afternoon," I told Shadow as I poured him a larger helping of food than I usually did. "This has to last you until then, so don't eat it all today."
The cat meowed at me and wove in between my legs as he watched me. He immediately went for the bowl and started eating once I moved away. Ella had bought him a water bowl that would fill itself up once it got low because he was either too clumsy or an asshole who constantly spilled his regular water bowl everywhere. Now I didn't have to worry that he would be out of water while I was gone.
The last two months had been busy with buying a new house and getting it ready. The realtor had called it a turnkey, but nothing was ever completely ready for me. I had a safe installed within a hidden panel in my walk-in closet for the big stuff like cash, extra weapons, fake IDs, and other valuables. I also had a smaller gun safe installed in the hall closet between the living room and kitchen that would allow me to secure my guns and knife when I got home. Stella was getting bigger, and I wanted something that was more difficult to get into than just a regular lock box.
I double checked her new bedroom, which had been designed by the decorator. The walls were a pale gray, the furniture white, and the curtains, toy storage containers, and decorations on the walls were a combination of light pink and teal. I had bought her a few toys and books so that she would have things to do while she was here. My mother had gone on a shopping spree one day and showed up at the house with clothes for her to keep there so that she wouldn't have to bring a suitcase when she visited.
Stella had been counting down the days for over a month and when we had talked the night before she had been so excited for me to come that she started crying. Even though I wasn't as demonstrative, I was just as excited as her. Talking to her over the phone just wasn't the same as being with her in person. Tank drove me to the Newark airport to catch my flight. I always flew private for work and usually did the same if I was heading out for the rare personal reason, but I had a hard time justifying the price tag on a roundtrip private flight. My accountant would be crying in a corner if I spent $30,000 every two weeks to go visit my daughter. He already told me every chance he got that I was paying too much in child support.
"Tell Katie that if she ever comes to Trenton she can stay at my house," Tank said as I grabbed my bag to leave his car. "I've thought about her a lot since I visited."
"I'm not your secretary. Tell her yourself," I told him. "I'll text you the number."
Stephanie and I had been on better terms since our first talk in June, but we still danced around the topic of our relationship and living in the same area. Even though I had just bought the house in Trenton, I would have packed up and moved to Indiana without thought if she asked. But she hadn't, and as much as I wanted to tell her I didn't need her permission to live there I wanted to respect her need for some distance between us.
There were no direct flights from Newark to Fort Wayne, so I had to take a connecting flight from Detroit. The Fort Wayne airport wasn't big, and it didn't take me long to get outside where Stephanie and Stella were waiting for me. Stephanie had been cleared to start driving again a couple of weeks earlier and had bought herself a used car. When I pushed her on why she didn't get something newer and offered to send her more money she told me that she was nervous about driving and didn't know that she would be doing much of it for a while.
"Daddy!" Stella shrieked when she saw me. She ran up to me and I set down my bag so that I could pick her up. I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt that good.
"I've missed you so much," I told her and kissed the top of her head. I put her down and picked up my bag to head over to Stephanie. She was leaning against the car wearing denim shorts and a blue t-shirt that brought out her eyes. I could tell she was stronger as she walked to the back door to open it for Stella. She wasn't using a cane anymore but still had a slight limp and moved more slowly than she used to.
"How are you doing?" I asked her after we had gotten Stella into the car and she had pulled away from the pickup lane.
"I'm doing pretty good," she said. "I'm being released from all my therapies this week. And I go to the doctor in a couple of days to figure out when I might be able to go back to work."
"That's great," I said. "I knew you could get through this."
"Well, not all the way through it," she said, her eyes steadfast on the road. "The therapists have told me that this is likely most of my pre-accident functioning that I'll ever get back. They figure that I'm about 90% back to where I used to be."
I didn't ask any more questions once we got back on the road. I could sense her nerves as she drove, her hands gripping the wheel so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. She was constantly checking her mirrors and hesitated at every stop light. I couldn't blame her, but I hoped she would eventually relax a little more. She was making me nervous just sitting next to her and I didn't think it was healthy to harbor that much anxiety every time you had to do something.
Thankfully the airport was close to her house, so we pulled into her driveway within ten minutes. Stella hadn't said anything on the ride home but had been counting to ten repeatedly. Katie had confided in me that Stella had been struggling with a significant amount of anxiety all summer. The first time Stephanie put her in the car to drive her somewhere Stella had cried the entire time because she was afraid of another accident and losing her mother for months again. Katie had gone out with them a couple of times so that she could sit in back with Stella and help her keep calm. It looked like counting to ten was a coping mechanism that worked for her. I was sure that didn't help Stephanie's driving anxiety, but they were both resilient and I trusted they would get through it.
"I have a surprise for you," I told Stella once we had gotten inside. I hadn't told her about the house I'd bought. I had taken pictures of every room for her to see so that she knew what to expect when she got there. Her eyes widened and she jumped up and down.
"What is it? What is it?"
I pulled out my iPad so that she would be able to see the pictures better. "I bought a house in Trenton so that you can have your own bedroom when you stay with me and a yard to play in," I said, bringing up the first picture of the outside of the house.
"Really?" Stephanie asked, hurrying over sit with us so she could see the pictures. "It's nice. Where is it?"
"Hamilton Township," I told her. "It's in one of the newer subdivisions."
The three of us sat on the couch and looked through the pictures together. Stella loved every room and declared every one of them so pretty. She got excited to see her own room and talked about how much she loved the colors and the bed and stuff I had bought. I took the opportunity to glance at Stephanie while we were all huddled around my iPad. She seemed genuinely interested in the house.
"It's all one level so there are no stairs to worry about," I mentioned. "In case you ever want to visit. Or move in."
Stephanie looked up at me but said nothing. Once we were done looking at pictures, Stella wanted to go outside to blow bubbles. We sat on chairs on the deck and watched her run around the yard trying to pop them.
"Why did you buy that house?" Stephanie asked.
"Because Stella needs a bedroom and a yard."
"You had a perfectly nice apartment at Rangeman that could have been adapted to have an extra bedroom and there's a nice park a block away," she replied. "Did you buy that house thinking you would get me to come back?"
"I bought a house because I wanted a living space separate from work," I told her. "You were the one saying that you didn't believe I could leave work alone in the evening. I have only worked one evening in the past three months, and that was on the fourth of July because we're always busy with calls. I figured there would be less temptation to fall back into those habits if I moved away from the office. And it really isn't the space for a little girl to live in."
Stephanie didn't seem to know how to respond to that. "Then why mention that there aren't any stairs?"
"Because I kept you in mind when I was looking for the house I wanted. In case you ever change your mind, I want you to be able to get around the house easily. It also has walk-in showers in the master bedroom and one of the other bathrooms."
"And what if I never visit that house?"
I winced internally. Was she intentionally trying to hurt me or was this just the bluntness that had become a normal part of her personality since the accident? "It's still a great house for Stella and me."
Stephanie didn't ask about the house anymore after that.
"Daddy, are we going to Abuela's house?" Stella asked as we drove north on the turnpike.
"No, we are going to your Tía Celia's house. She's my older sister," I replied.
We had been in Trenton for a couple of days and had been spending most of our time at home. She had loved her bedroom and had been perfectly content to play with Shadow and her toys. Today we were spending the day with my parents and siblings at Celia's house. The unspoken reason was my birthday the next day, but since my family knew I hated celebrating my birthday the spoken reason was for them to visit with Stella.
Celia didn't live in Newark, but in the nearby suburb of Kearny. She and Andres had a nice home in a nice neighborhood where they had worked hard to raise their children and be good people. She had an actual backyard and since it was nice it would allow the children space to run and play without breaking anything.
I hadn't been sure how well Stella would handle my large, loud family, but she was running around screaming with her cousins and being told off for it in no time. Silvia's daughter Ana Maria loved her and was constantly taking her by the hand and giving her advice like some old country abuela.
After lunch I sat in the sunroom with Celia, Sofia, Emilio, Silvia and our mother to watch the younger kids play outside. The teenagers were hunkered down in the basement playing video games or lost in their phones. My brothers-in-law and father were out front talking to neighbors and Emilio's wife had already left because she had to help her mother out with something.
"Stella is wonderful," Sofia commented as she watched her laughing hysterically while Ana Maria spun her around on the tire swing. "She's so sweet and smart."
"Yeah, she's a pretty great kid," I said. "Life is a lot better with her in it."
"It could have been this way the last three years if her bitch of a mother had actually told you about her when she was born," Silvia commented. She had been drinking more than anyone else and it was making her mouthy. She was always mouthy, but it had a meaner edge to it today. Everyone had spent the day ignoring her jabs.
"Don't talk about Stephanie like that," I warned her. I wasn't going to ignore slights on the mother of my child.
"Why not? I mean, shouldn't someone be cussing her ass out for what she did to you and the kid?" she asked. "You can't stop tripping over yourself to make her happy long enough to say shit to her."
"Silvia, don't," Celia said, putting a hand on Silvia's arm, which was shaken off.
"No, I'm serious. Why can't you step up and be a fucking man?" she shot at me. "That bitch kept your kid from you for three fucking years. Then you go out there when she gets in a car wreck, turn your whole fucking life upside-down to raise the little girl, and the thanks you get is to fuck off after she's better and you don't get to see your kid unless the Queen gives her fucking blessing. You're so fucking pathetic."
"Oh shit," Celia mumbled.
"That's enough," I told her. "She's the mother of my child. I'm not going to sit here and let you talk about her life that. What happened in the past and what is going on now is none of your business."
"And what do you mean he's pathetic?" Emilio asked. "He's like the definition of a badass."
Silvia rolled her eyes so hard I thought they might get stuck that way. "Oh, please. That's such a bunch of bullshit. He tries to act like he doesn't care about anyone and doesn't need anyone, but the minute anyone shows him a little bit of attention, he's all over it like an orphaned puppy. Remember when he was kid? No one liked him, but the first time anyone actually spoke to him he followed them around, joined their fucking gang, and stole a frigging car. All his friends are the guys he was stuck with in his Army unit. He thinks because they had to talk to him that it means they're his friends on the outside too."
"Silvia, really, you need to stop," Sofia practically begged. She hated any sort of conflict. "I think I'm going to go check on the older kids," she said and nearly ran out of the room. No one really paid attention to her.
"And don't get me started on Stephanie," Silvia continued, not paying attention to anyone. "That bitch flirted with him one time and he was so far up her pussy he was sharing her with some other guy just because he needed someone to love him. Remember when he brought her around when they were together? Always sitting so close, he always had a hand on her leg, or on her back or was holding her hand. It made me want to puke."
I had a temper that I had kept buried deep my entire life. It had been put away in one of the many compartments in my head, long before I knew what compartmentalization was. In my recent efforts to deal with my shit and allow myself to feel things, I had noticed my temper coming out. I'd yelled at a couple of employees for being idiots. I had told Tank off one day for a comment he made. I had found myself needing to go to the gym more often to run off frustration or to beat the hell out of the heavy bag. And now my sister was pushing buttons that everyone knew to leave alone.
"That's called affection, Silvia. I know you have no idea what that means since the one way you ever let a man get near you is when he shoves his dick in you," I shot back. Silvia threw her wine glass as my head, and I ducked to avoid it.
"Carlos!" my mother scolded. "Don't talk to your sister that way!"
"Fuck you, Carlos," Silvia spat. "You're just mad because I'm pointing out how pussy whipped you are by Stephanie and that doesn't fit with you being this macho badass you want people to think you are."
"No, I'm pissed off that you're being so nasty about Stephanie," I replied. "I don't give a damn what you think about me, but I'm not going to let you sit here and talk like that about her when Stella is fifteen away. Besides, I don't think you have any room to talk about being a mother when you've fucked up all of your kids so much that they don't want to be with you."
Silvia simultaneously kicked off her shoes and took off her big hoop earrings, which was the universal signal that a Latina was about to beat your ass. She stood surprisingly quickly given how drunk she was and came lunging at me. I stood up in enough time to grab her, turn her around, and pin her arms against behind her.
"Let her go, Carlos!" my mother yelled. She stood up and rushed towards us.
"She threw a wine glass at me and then came over here to start hitting me, but I'm being the bad guy here by restraining her so she can't scratch my eyes out?" I asked my mother.
"You're bigger and stronger than her. You'll hurt her."
"Mom, I've restrained plenty of drunken idiots in my time and I haven't hurt them unless I wanted to. Besides, why are you going to sit there and listen to her talk about Stephanie like that but then jump my ass for telling her off?" I shook my head in disgust, feeling the anger and resentment from my childhood bubbling to the surface. I let go of Silvia and she spun around to face me but didn't do anything.
"You're always so afraid she's going to take off again and not talk to you for years that you walk on eggshells around her and let her say and do whatever the fuck she wants," I snapped. I then turned to look Silvia right in the eye. "And I don't know why they want you around so much because you're such a heinous bitch to everyone you meet."
Silvia spit in my face and that was the last straw. I had never punched a woman and I knew if I stayed there much longer, I was going to break that streak. I walked out of the sunroom and out to the backyard.
"Stella, baby, it's time to go home," I said, grabbing her backpack and picking up the toys she had pulled out.
"I don't wanna go yet," she whined.
"I know, but it's time."
I took her by the hand and left the backyard through the gate rather than walk back through the house and past my family. I wasn't interested in talking to any of them at the moment.
I felt their eyes on me as I loaded Stella into the car, but I didn't look back as I climbed in and drove away.
My mother tried to call me before I'd even made it out of the neighborhood, but I ignored the call. Next was Celia, then my father. I put my phone on airplane mode after that.
"I had fun today, Daddy," Stella said brightly. She could probably tell I was in a bad mood and was trying to cheer me up.
"I'm glad you did," I told her. "It's fun to have cousins."
We made small talk all the way back to Trenton. I stopped at a small, family-owned ice cream shop in Trenton before we went home in an effort to make up for our hasty departure from Celia's house. Any sadness on Stella's part appeared to be washed away by a chocolate ice cream with sprinkles. I skipped on the ice cream because I felt physically ill. I hadn't fought with one of my siblings like that ever in my life. We had bickered some as kids, but I had always backed down or hidden to avoid them. But the part of the situation that bothered me most was my mother sitting there saying nothing until I spoke up for myself and Stephanie. What happened to the woman that stood up for me to Helen Plum back in Fort Wayne? Maybe I had been naïve, but I felt like my relationship with my mother had been better since we had gone to Indiana and spent those early days taking care of Stella together. But I'd been wrong. When it came down to it, she would throw me under any and every bus to prevent Silvia from walking out of her life again.
I didn't turn my phone back on until I had gotten Stella settled with a movie at home. As soon as I switched off airplane mode my phone buzzed with voicemails and text messages. There was one message from Stephanie, one from Tank, and five from different members of my family. I listened to Stephanie's first. She had just called to see how our visit was going with my family and asked me to call her back once we got home. Tank had called to say one of the patrol cars had been in an accident, but that no one was injured. Someone had run a red light and hit the back of the car, rendering it undriveable for the time being. I didn't bother with my family's messages. I knew what they would say, and I wasn't interested.
"Hey, are you back home already?" Stephanie asked when I called her.
"Yeah, we left early," I said. "How was your day?"
"It was really good," she replied. "I went to the doctor today and got cleared to go back to work part-time. I'm only allowed to work twenty hours a week for the next couple of months and then I have to go back to the office again."
"Your doctor works on Saturdays?"
"Yeah, she takes off Mondays because she knows there are people who have a hard time being seen during the work week. After I got out of there, I called my boss's cell phone to see if the hospital would even let me come back like that. He said they would definitely do that because everyone has been splitting my job up anyway, so it would be a big help to them." I could tell how happy she was about the idea of being able to go back to work and I wanted to be happy for her. But all I could think about was the fight with my family.
"I'm happy for you," I lied. "I know you've been waiting for this."
"Thanks," she replied, sounding surprised. I must be putting on a good act. "I'll start back up on Tuesday. They need to get the paperwork stuff done on Monday. So why did you leave Celia's house early? Was Stella not having fun?"
"No, she loved it there," I said. "I don't really want to talk about it." I didn't want to ruin her good day with that story.
"Okay," she said. "The doctor gave me some ADHD medication to help me focus better when I'm at work. I can't keep track of things very well since the accident and I get distracted really easily, so we'll see if this helps."
We talked for a few more minutes before I switched the call to Facetime on my iPad and handed it to Stella. I listened while she told Stephanie about her day and scrolled through the fifteen unread text messages on my phone. Most of them were from my mother asking me to call her, telling me that I just need to ignore Silvia because we all know how she can be. One was from Celia telling me that she thought I did good putting Silvia in her place and that I had been right about our mother not saying anything because she's intimidated by her. Emilio had texted to ask to say I should probably go get tested for every disease under the sun after Silvia spit in my face. My father's text had asked me to call him, but to text him first so he could be away from my mother when we talked. I didn't respond to any of them and leaned my head back on the couch while Stella talked to Stephanie about our planned trip to Point Pleasant the next day. I took a few minutes to do some deep breathing so that I could stop thinking about what happened at Celia's and put my attention back on Stella. I only had three more days with her until I was taking her back home. I didn't want them ruined.
Stella loved Point Pleasant and played so hard that she fell asleep as I carried her back to the car. She had looked so much like Stephanie in those moments that it hurt. I had taken pictures and sent them to her, wishing she was there with us.
I called Helen Plum on the way home from the beach and asked if she would be free the next day to see Stella. Stephanie had asked if I would take Stella to see her mother but didn't want to speak to her directly. Helen had made numerous attempts to talk to Stephanie while she had been in rehab and since coming home, but her calls and texts had gone unanswered. Helen had been excited to hear from me and we made plans to her to come to the house for lunch the next day. I told Stella about this when she woke up. She wasn't nearly as excited to see Helen as she had been to see my mother. I wondered if she still remembered Helen's blow up at the house back in November.
The visit with Helen went well enough, though Stella tended to hover near me rather than to sit with her grandmother. Helen had asked about Stephanie's condition and if I thought she would ever talk to her again. I told her I wasn't sure, because it was better than telling her that I was focused on my own relationship with her and didn't give a rat's ass if she ever spoke to her mother again. I remembered how Helen had treated her over the years and after the recent conflict with my own mother I wasn't feeling enthusiastic about reunions.
Stella and I flew back to Indiana on Wednesday afternoon, landing in Fort Wayne shortly after three. Stephanie's work schedule had her working from ten in the morning until two-thirty in the afternoon Monday through Friday, which meant she had come straight from work to the airport. I knew as soon as I saw her that getting back into the work routine was difficult. She was wearing black pants and a red short-sleeved shirt and the first thing I noticed was how much worse her limp was than it had been before we had left. She also seemed to be struggling with her coordination at getting Stella buckled into her car seat but managed it before I offered to help.
"Can you drive back?" she asked. "I'm so tired and it scared me just to drive here from work."
"Sure," I said, taking the keys from her. "Are you having a hard time at work?"
She waved away my concern. "No, I'm glad to be back. I just forgot how much there was to do and how much walking there was. I'm just not used it yet."
Stephanie fell asleep in her seat by the time I got out of the airport parking lot. Stella was babbling on about the plane ride, but Stephanie wasn't hearing a word of it. I was grateful that Stella took the bus to and from school each day. It worried me to think about Stephanie being this exhausted at the end of her workday and having to drive home.
"Stephanie, wake up," I said, touching her gently on the shoulder once we had pulled into her garage. She startled awake, clearly not realizing she had fallen asleep.
"Oh man, I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I didn't realize I was so tired."
"I have to say it scares me to think of you driving home being this exhausted after work," I told her quietly so Stella couldn't hear us. "You may need to take a taxi or an Uber to work until this gets better."
Stephanie nodded. "I did that yesterday because I wasn't sure how I'd feel. I only drove today because I had to pick you guys up."
I got Stella inside and settled while Stephanie went to her room to change clothes and take a nap. She didn't get up again until six, when I had started preparing dinner.
"Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to sleep so long."
"Don't worry about it," I said. "You needed it."
"I'll get used to it," she said. I wasn't sure if she was trying to convince me or herself.
We spent the rest of the evening talking about Stella's time in New Jersey and just relaxing in Stephanie's living room. She was still tired, but in good spirits. I offered to help with Stella's bath and bedtime routine, but Stephanie insisted she was fine to do it. I hovered nearby and watched. Her dexterity in her left arm wasn't good and she kept dropping things or her arm would simply fall of its own accord. More than once, Stella complained that she had shampoo in her eyes. Bedtime was a little easier because there wasn't as much to do.
"You need to relax," I told Stephanie when she came out of Stella's room. "You don't have to put so much pressure on yourself to do everything at once. Take it easy or you won't be able to get out of bed in the morning."
"I'm fine," she said, a little shortly. "I'll be fine. You don't have to take care of me."
"I didn't say that. I'm just asking you to take care of yourself a little better."
Stephanie's bad mood didn't improve, so I went into the office to get the pull-out bed ready and debated if I should stay through the rest of the week to help her out. I wasn't going to ask her that tonight with the mood she was in, but she might be more open to the idea in the morning.
"You don't need to stay," Stephanie responded when I presented the idea to her over breakfast. "You've got plenty to do back in Trenton. It'll be okay. If I feel like I need help I'll call Katie."
"Why bother Katie when her father is already here and willing to help? I don't recall Katie being involved with her conception, so we shouldn't be expecting her to act as a third parent."
I knew without a doubt that Katie would do anything for Stephanie and Stella. She had proven that over the last four years. But now that I was in the picture, I didn't want her to feel obligated to keep doing so much. She had her own life, and I knew she often put things on hold or canceled plans to help with Stella. I saw a flash of guilt cross Stephanie's face.
"You're right," she admitted after a couple of minutes. "I'm so used to depending on her for things, but it isn't fair. I think I'll be okay, but if it makes you feel better to stay then I won't kick you out."
That was as close as she could get to admitting she needed my help, and I would take it without argument. I called the airline and got my flight changed to Sunday morning. That would let Stephanie have Saturday to rest up if she needed to and I could take care of whatever she needed done before I left. I drove Stephanie to work later that morning so I could keep the car. I needed more clothes, so I spent an hour shopping at a nearby mall. I decided to keep the clothes at Stephanie's in case I ended up staying extra days again in the future. Stephanie had also needed to go to the grocery store but given how tired she was after work I volunteered to do it for her. She had made a list that morning. I picked up everything on it and had it put away at the house before it was time to pick her up from work.
She was limping again as she walked out to the car. I had parked as close as possible to the doors she had used to go into work that morning, but it still felt like she was taking a long time to get to the car. I could tell she was tired, but it seemed like maybe she wasn't as exhausted as the day before.
"How was it?"
"A little better today," she said. "My boss noticed how hard it was on me to do all that walking, so he helped me figure out a better way to handle my schedule so I can walk less."
She still took a nap when she got home, but only for an hour. Maybe she was going to adjust better to working than I expected. I offered to cook dinner again, but she insisted on cooking.
"It all goes in the Instant Pot, so it really isn't hard," she said as I helped her chop vegetables and chicken breast. "It almost doesn't count as cooking."
The bus dropped Stella off at five-thirty and she came bursting in full of energy. She was happy to find me still at the house and to learn that I wasn't leaving until Sunday.
"I love Daddy being here with us," she said as we sat down to dinner a while later. Stephanie didn't say anything, but I felt her glance in my direction.
"I'm here to help you guys get used to Mommy being back at work," I said. "It won't be like this all the time. I don't want you to get your hopes up."
Stella's bottom lip stuck out. "But I like it."
"I know you do. I like it too."
The rest of the week was uneventful as Stephanie built up her stamina for work and doing her normal routine with Stella. I tried not to intervene too much but did things that would help without getting in the way. Katie had stopped by a couple of times while I had been there, but she hadn't stayed long. She had a date on Friday night and had talked animatedly about how nice it was to go out for the first time in months. I could tell from the look on Stephanie's face that she hadn't realized how much she had been depending on Katie and was feeling guilty. We went out for breakfast on Sunday morning before I went to the airport. Naturally, I went for the healthiest option I could find on IHOP's menu while Stephanie and Stella each had chocolate chip pancakes.
"Thanks for staying over," Stephanie said as we ate. "It really helped."
"Anytime," I said. "You know that, right? If you need help, you can call me and I'll be out here. It doesn't mean I think you're incapable of taking care of things. I know you're used to doing things on your own, but you've been through a lot this last year. Accepting help isn't admitting defeat."
"You sound like my therapist," she said, watching Stella stuff pancake into her mouth. "But that's just it. I don't think I was doing as much of it on my own as I liked to think I was. It wasn't until you said something Thursday that I realized how much I had depended on Katie even before the accident. I was treating her like she was another one of Stella's parents. I feel bad. I've been using her."
I reached over and squeezed her hand. "Don't beat yourself up. You were doing the best you could. But now that I'm involved you can change it. Katie doesn't seem like the type of person who would do something she didn't want to do. I'm sure if she felt like she was being used she would have told you or just said no when you asked her to do something."
Stephanie shrugged. "Maybe. But I'll never be able to repay her for everything she has done for us over the years."
"She's your friend. She knows you have her back when she needs it."
"But she never needs help. She has her shit together," Stephanie said, grimacing as she realized her slip up.
"Mommy! That's a bad word," Stella scolded, and I tried not to laugh.
"Sorry," Stephanie said sheepishly. "Mommy made a mistake."
"I think you give Katie a lot," I told her. "I've gotten the feeling that she lives a pretty lonely life and if she didn't have you guys, she wouldn't be as happy as she is."
"I hope you're right."
We said our goodbyes at the car rather than inside the airport because Stella was crying. I gave her a hug, reminded her that I would be back in two weeks, and that I would talk to her Facetime that evening. I got her back in her seat and shut the door so I could say goodbye to Stephanie.
"I'm proud of you," I told her. "You're working hard to get your life back and I know how much it means to you. I'm here for whatever you need."
A tear fell down her cheek and she wrapped her arms around me. I felt my body instantly relax as I hugged her. I had forgotten how amazing it felt to hold her.
"Thank you," she whispered in my ear. She pulled away and wiped her eyes. "You didn't ask me once over the last few days to come back to Trenton."
I shrugged. "I know that asking you won't change your mind. You know that door is open if you ever want to walk through it."
She nodded and gave my hand a squeeze. "Have a safe flight home."
I waved goodbye and waited until the car was out of sight before I went into the airport. Something had changed between us in the last few days. I couldn't exactly figure out what it was, but it felt like a step in the right direction. I got checked in for my flight and got back to reading a book on my iPad, feeling lighter than I had in years.
A/N: I absolutely love the vast spectrum of opinions on Stephanie. It's probably my favorite part of this whole thing. But for those of you always asking why Stephanie does this stuff, we get to sit in on some of her therapy sessions in the next chapter.