*Eight*

Lina loved family moments like this. It was the first night of summer vacation, following her and Alastair's trip to the mall before meeting Max at work. Max would have worked well into the evening had they let him, but Alastair was eager to get home, bouncing around he was so excited about summer. So finally Max wrapped it up and they headed home to the apartment.

"Daddy, Lina's going to school," Alastair announced excitedly that night over a dinner of take out.

"Oh, is that so?" Max looked to Paulina herself, clearly a little confused by what his son meant.

She chuckled. "I was looking at some college brochures."

"Were you really?" She nodded. "And? Anything pique your interest?"

"A few, yeah."

"That's wonderful!" He paused and cleared his throat before asking his next question. "In or out of state?"

"What do you mean, Daddy?"

"I just mean whether she wants to go to school here or somewhere else."

"You're not leaving us, are you?!" Alastair cried, his head snapping back to look at Lina. Clearly he hadn't realized this might be part of the school deal.

"Oh, no, Buddy, certainly not. In state - I'm thinking it's best if I stayed closer to home," she assured them, both of the Lorenzano boys looking relieved at the fact that she wasn't heading off. "Maybe if I was still a teenager, right out of high school, but that's been and passed now, so yeah, I think close to home is best."

"What do you mean, Lina?" asked Alastair.

"Oh, I just mean I'm not as young as I was then. I'm not a teenager or young adult any longer."

"No, you're old."

"Alastair!" cried Max.

"What? Old like you, Daddy. A grown up adult."

Lina snorted with laughter at the look of mild offense and shock that passed over Max's face when his son called him old. "He does have a point there. You're right, Buddy, we're both grown up adults."

"Well whatever you decide on, we'll support you fully," Max assured her, and by his tone she knew that even if she did decide to go out of state, or abroad even, he would still support that.

But she didn't even let her mind wander to those places, for she knew she wasn't in a situation to go out of state for school, let alone abroad.

She reached out to take his hand and give it a squeeze. "Thank you, that means so much to me. I really appreciate it."

"Of course, mi amor. What courses are you looking into?"

"Mostly general ones, so far. I'm not sure exactly what I want to go into, and I can always narrow down later."

"I'm confused," piped-up Alastair from across the table. He had stopped eating and was staring at them perplexed, his brow furrowed in adorable confusion. "What do you mean what will you take? Don't you have to take everything?"

"Ah, I see what you mean. Yes, when you're in grade school, like you are, you do have to take every subject. History, math, science, English, all that. But, when you graduate and go to university, you get to choose what you would like to take and pursue," Lina explained to him. "Like your dad studied business."

"And now he's a super successful business man!"

"Yes, he is." She looked at Max who was beaming at his son's words describing him. He just lit up whenever he was in Alastair's presence, just like Alastair completely lit up when with Max. It was the sweetest.

"So wait, when I graduate from school, I can take whatever I want to take?" Alastair confirmed.

"Yes you sure can."

"Okay! That means I'll never have to do math again!"

This made both her and Max laugh. "No, you won't." She didn't tell him about taxes, and payments, and other math-related day-to-day life things he would have to do as an adult, but he was right, after graduating from school he wouldn't have to take the subject of math again if he didn't want to.

"Well I'm very excited for you." She and Max reached over to take hands. "'If you can dream it, you can have it' right?"

"Right. Did you just quote yourself again?"

"Yes, yes I did."

She chuckled. "And I mean, I'm just in the research stage now, I haven't made any decisions yet. That's still far away. But I am being conscious about saving, so it's starting to feel very real."

"Lina already said we can do our homework together!" Alastair said. "Right, Lina?"

"That's right, Buddy."

"Well that's very good, you can help each other," said Max.

"That's what I think too, Daddy!"

"Look at that, we're all on the same page," she chuckled.

"If you really want to go somewhere else, we'll support that," Max said later that night after Alastair had gone to bed and he and Lina were getting ready for bed themselves. Lina was already in her pajamas and was sitting up in bed flipping through the college brochures which had been the topic of conversation over dinner.

"Thank you, mi amor, but I wasn't really considering it. I only got information on in-state and close by options."

"I will admit I'm glad, because as much as I would support it, I would miss you terribly." He sat down next to her in bed and kissed her cheek before resting his head on her shoulder and holding her close.

She chuckled and ran her fingers through his longish hair. "I would miss you too, like crazy. But don't you worry, I'm not going anywhere, and certainly not anytime soon."

"Good, because neither am I. Neither are we." He kissed her. "I'm so proud of you for pursuing this. Not everyone would be brave enough to pursue their dreams as you are."

"Thank you, Max. 'All you have to do is want it,' right?"

He chuckled. "Exactly."

"Te amo."

"Te amo, mi amor."

Spanish Translations

Te amo, mi amor - I love you, my love

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)