Act 61: Sara

"Short Stuff?"

"Listening," Lindsey exclaims from the living room.

"Are you up to date with your homework?"

"Yup."

"I was thinking we could give the new board game we bought a try, what do you say?"

"Good idea!" she smiles and joins me in the kitchen. "Can I help with anything?"

"You can cut the tomatoes in small pieces."

Lindsey and I are alone for the week since Cath is away at a seminar. In times like these I realize how lucky it is that we both share common interest. Things go easy, and I couldn't be happier about it.

"…in the end they went with the first one, all that drama for nothing. I don't get people sometimes, I swear."

"Join the club," I chortle.

There's a pause and I can feel her bracing herself. "Corey is having a 'non-birthday' party on Thursday, it'd be something small, there'd be only about twenty of us, and it'd be until 1 a.m.. I've been offered to sleep over even… can I go?"

I look at my watch and make a quick estimation. "Your mom should be on a break for the day, why don't you give her a call and ask?" I offer with a grin.

She blinks at me slowly then replies flatly. "Sure."

She finishes with the tomatoes then retreats in her bedroom. She only emerges an hour later for dinner. I notice immediately that her mood has shifted. She doesn't say a word and just keeps pushing her food in her plate, those two facts give me an inkling of how her conversation with Cath went. I probe nonetheless, thinking that talking about it might do her some good.

"What did your mom say about the party?"

"I can't go," she shrugs.

I take a deep breath and choose my next words carefully. "I know it sucks and being upset about it is understandable but look at it this way it's during a school night and… we never met Corey or her parents so letting you sleep over can't happen," I reason calmly. "I'm sure it'll be a great party, but trust me there will be others."

"Yeah," she mutters. "I'm not really hungry, may I leave the table?"

I silently berate myself for most likely making things worse. I decide against antagonizing her, she's upset and I didn't get through to her, but I know that eventually it'll pass. "Sure."

I end my dinner not long after, take care of the leftovers then since our board game evening is obviously compromised I decide to get comfortable in on the couch with a book.

I'm ten chapters in when Lindsey exists her bedroom and joins me in the living room. She sits on the coffee table so she's facing me, I mark my page and put my book aside to give her my full attention.

"I'm not upset about not going to the party," she confesses after a long silence. "I'm upset because I had to call Mom for permission."

"Linds…" I sigh. "You're very mature for your age, still whether you like it or not you're not old enough to take decisions like…"

"No," she cuts me off. "You didn't… you misunderstood me."

I frown. She looks away, apparently trying to find her words. "I shouldn't have had to call her in the first place because I asked you."

I'm not sure I like the implication of her statement. I'm about to say something but she makes a hand gesture to silently ask me to give her a moment to order her thoughts. In times like these it feels much like our places were reverse, I'm the teenager and she's the adult trying to get through to me.

"Alright…" she finally figured out how to get her point across. "Do you know why Mom said I couldn't go?"

I shake my head, the only contact I've had so far today with Cath were a few messages this morning.

"She said no for the exact reasons you gave me to justify her decision, which makes the whole thing even more ridiculous because I'm fairly certain you two haven't spoken about it yet," she adds the last part as if she was talking to herself.

She must register my stare of confusion because she lets out an exasperated breath. "Every time I ask you permission for something, you never even think about it you just tell me to ask Mom."

I admit that I always do but that's only because I don't want to overstep any boundaries.

"When you do that…It's like you couldn't be bothered with me and I hate it. It makes me feel like I didn't matter enough to you or that you just don't care enough."

I wince at her admission. I've always be aware of my inadequacy when it comes to interact with younger people, especially with kids. Linds has been beyond great in this regard because she'd either cut me some slack as long as I'm trying or like right now, patiently spelling things out whenever I fail to understand the obvious.

I'm not completely inept. It's more about being afraid to do wrong, to hurt without meaning to, to create any form of trauma because of poor decisions. I know firsthand how what we live during the formative years can carry on a long way into adulthood. The last thing I want is to be responsible for screwing up a young mind just because I'm not careful enough.

I do understand where she's coming from though.

"I get that some of the things I ask will require for you and Mom to discuss about it, but…" she pauses. "For goodness' sake I wasn't asking you if I could build a meth lab in the garage, just if I could go to some party, it's a simple enough thing that I shouldn't have to call Mom for permission."

She lets her words sink in.

"I know how to use the phone Sara, believe it or not. If I want to ask her something I'll call her without your incentive. When I ask you, it's not because I think you'll always say yes, but because I respect you and your authority. Whether I like your decision or not, I'll respect it because I know there's a good reason behind it. I won't call Mom behind your back to have her opinion and go over your head. Not that it'd make a real difference anyway since we've established that you guys are on the same wavelength when it comes to me," she points out.

There's a long pause. "I'm happy that you're here for the good stuff, but I also need you for the bad ones and the rough ones. Yes, that means I might be upset about it at times, but that'll pass because I'm a teen, moody is my middle name."

I chuckle at her wit. She turns serious again. "You're the closest I have to a second parent in case you haven't realized. My dad wasn't that close and he was my dad," she shrugs.

All the oxygen stored in my lungs is expelled at once so much I'm overwhelmed at her words. It takes me a few seconds to recover.

"I hear you and I'm sorry for hurting your feeling," I swallow down my emotions. "I promise I'll do better from now on if you promise to always let me know when I do wrong."

I've learnt a lot from the past minutes and I can guess that she has been feeling that way for a long time, today was just the one time too many that made her implode.

She extends her hand, I meet it with mine and we naturally do our special handshake. "I promise, I promise, I promise," we say in unison, beaming afterward.

"You're still up for that board game?" she asks.

"Sure."

"Cool, let me get it," she nods and starts to go to her room.

"Short stuff?" I call her back and wait for her to face me again.

"It's a hard, concrete, immutable 'no' for the meth lab, forever, for this life and all the next ones."

"Oh man… no fun," she feigns a pout then rolls her eyes. She takes another step toward her room but abruptly stops to turn to me again. "The lab is a no, but where are we on the tattoo?" she asks with a hint of hope.

This time I laugh. "Cute, nice try, but no."

"I'll charge again for that, just so you know," she comes back. Once more she starts moving toward her room.

I'm surprised when she comes back to my side and embraces me. I'm reminded of that fierce hug she gave me after her talent show a long time ago. "I love you too," she says softly.

It's the first time she say those words to me, nothing could have prepared me for the blooming sensation in my chest or the tidal wave of love I feel in return. My voice lost to the deluge of emotions I answer the only way I can by holding her tightly to me and kissing her crown. She squeezes me tighter so I know she heard my silent response loud and clear.

She pulls back after a few seconds, grinning. I give her a trembling smile, and quickly wipe away the rogue tear rolling down my cheek. She doesn't say anything and just goes to her room to retrieve the game.

Every time I think I couldn't be happier, Cath or Linds prove me wrong, I'll never complain about that.

xxxxx xxxxx

I exit Nancy's garage ten minutes after entering it. I go over the sink to wash my hands, Nancy finishes what she was saying to Cath before turning to me.

"What's the verdict?"

"It's nothing big, you just need to change the seal from the drain plug. It's better to change it every time you drain the oil."

"Okay."

"I took note of your model, I'll get you a new one tomorrow if you want."

"That'd be great, thanks."

"Sure, no problem," I grin.

"Sar?" Cath calls me. "Can you pick up the wild bunch on Wednesday and look after them for the evening?" she asks referring to Linds and her cousins.

"Sure," I grin. Go next to her to look over the piece of paper on Nancy's counter summing up who's in charge of the kids on a given day for the next two weeks. As a trio with Nancy we work like a fine-oiled machine.

"Nance, I'm going to the theatre with Linds on Friday, can I take the boys along? I'll feed them as well."

"Friday's okay for me."

"Good that's settled."

We make sure that the planning is convenient for each of us then Cath and I get on our way out.

I have a second of hesitation but then can't help myself. "Wait a sec," I tell Cath then position myself in the middle of the living room. "Good spot," I mutter to myself.

"Sar… what are you…"

"I told you so," I start chanting and dancing appropriately. "I was so right, hoorah, hoorah, who's the best, say my name!" I put a hand behind my ear waiting for an answer. None comes but that only amuses me more. "I know you're here Dum-dum so don't leave me hanging," I speak out loud to apparently no one.

Catherine is looking at me like I had lost my mind, but the blush Nancy is trying (and miserably failing) to conceal lets me know I'm right.

"From the top," I announce and moves with even more enthusiasm. "I told you so, I was so right, hoorah, hoorah, who's the best, say my name!"

This time after ten seconds I finally have my response. "Sara…" Sidney mutters with resignation as he exits Nancy's bedroom.

Cath's eyes almost pop out of her skull while Nancy's face take a shade to make a tomato jealous. I, for my part, am beaming. "Kiss me I'm awesome!" I singsong clapping my hands frantically.

I turn to Nancy. "You know that almost paranormal connexion people say twins have? Totally real," I explain and her eyes widen in horror. "I always know where he is, I can feel it," I add seriously with a wink.

Catherine is still struggling to find her voice, but I decide to cut our siblings some slack as this made up for a lot of teasing Cath and I had both received from them.

"Alright, we're leaving so you two can get back to discussing literature," I wiggle my eyebrows, my brother gives me a 'you're dead' stare which only serves to broaden my shit-eating grin.

I grab Cath's hand and guide her to the door. "You kids be good," I wink at Nancy who hasn't stopped blushing. "Love you, Dum-dum," I blow a kiss at Sidney.

Cath only waves, apparently still speechless. As soon as we're in the car a boisterous laugh escapes my throat.

"Did that just happen?" Cath asks still flabbergasted.

"Yup."

She, too, had noticed that something was potentially happening between our siblings so it didn't really come as a surprise. I do know why she was speechless though.

"You owe me twenty bucks," I extend my hand.

With Cath and Linds, we have regular dinners at Nancy's, Sidney being in Vegas often because of work, he was a natural addition to those. About a month after I had my talk with Sid, after one of those dinners, Cath picked up on the facts a) Sid was Nancy's new pen pal and b) they had gotten closer.

Maybe it's because we know our respective sibling or maybe it's because are trained to pay attention to details, in any case it seemed obvious to us that something deeper than friendship was burgeoning between Sid and Nancy even though those two didn't seem to be aware of it at the time.

We were on an agreement on the matter, that is to say we wouldn't meddle and let things follow their course. We were both fine with the idea of them hypothetically getting together, whether or not they'd give it a shot was entirely up to them.

We did place a bet on it, both confident on the fact that it would eventually happen. I gave it six month, Cath seven. It's not that Sid and Nancy are dense but rather that they both have been dealt rough hands in their past relationships, plus add to that their personalities it's only natural that they'd take time before being cognizant of their own feelings beyond the friendship borders, and a little more time to know if they were ready to take that leap.

I won, not by much mind you since we're five days shy of the seven months mark, still, I won.

"I still can't believe it," Catherine muses. "I have a question, were you serious about the connexion with Sid?"

I sing the theme tune from the twilight zone. "Cath, come on," I mock her gently.

"Then how did you…?"

"I saw his shoes in the foyer," I explain. "The look on Nancy's face was priceless though."

This time Cath joins me in my hilarity "Please, don't tell her. I'm going to enjoy teasing her so much," she wipes a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Now, now, don't think I'm going to forget that I won. Give me those twenty," I remind her once we calmed down.

"How about this, double or nothing on who made the move?" she offers, reluctant to accept her loss.

"You're on, I bet on Nancy."

She seems surprised. "You're not siding with Sid?"

"Hell no!" I chuckle. "Not on that one."

"Fine, I bet on him then. So much for loyalty," she teases me.

"Oh trust me, I know I'm right," I boast and she just sticks her tongue at me in response.

xxxxx xxxxx

"Dessert in fifteen minutes," Cath informs Sid and I, she give me a brief hug and a peck on the lips before getting back inside.

After busting them last week we invited Nancy and Sidney for a dinner home. We didn't tease them much, but overall it was like any other dinners before only they had arrived together holding hands.

I observe Sid and can't help grinning at his happy expression. I reach out and pinch his cheek. "Look at you, all stupidly happy."

"Shut up," he mumbles but his annoyed stare is ruined by the grin he hasn't been able to wipe off all evening.

I kiss his temple to silently affirm that I'm only teasing. I fake slugging him and he moves away immediately "Nuh-huh!" he sticks his tongue at me.

I chuckles and keep staring at him, he looks back at me bashfully. "She's…" he's at loss for words but his expression says it all.

He grabs one of my hands and put it over his chest. I exhale sharply in amazement because can feel his heart hammering strongly against his sternum, almost as if it was trying to break out from his ribcage.

"That's me thinking about her…" he elaborates. "It feels great, and scary, and amazing and…" he shrugs unable to finish, I know exactly what he means though.

"Welcome to the club," I declare, beaming. He frowns so I add. "To the happy people club."

He laughs with a nod. I hook my arm around his neck, give him a gentle noogie which he barely fights. "Come on they're waiting for us."

As soon as we get close to them Nancy and Cath stop talking. Sid and I glance at each other, we don't know what they were talking about but by the blush spreading over Nancy's cheeks and her avoiding gaze, I'm ready to bet Sid was the topic. Cath's 'been caught with my hand in the cookies jar' look confirms my suspicions.

We share the dessert and keep talking well into the night. The moment is simply perfect, familiar and completely new.

"They look good together," Cath says when we are getting ready for bed.

"They do," I agree. "Do I want to know what you two were talking about when we were in the backyard?"

Cath sighs with a shake of her head. She snuggles up to me. "Let's just say… I owe you forty bucks."

I need a few seconds to understand what she's talking about, and burst out laughing when I do. "Told you!"

"Stop gloating," she swats my shoulder lightly.

Funny how surprising life can be. Who would have thought that Cath and I would be so great together, that it would somehow lead our siblings to cross path and finding one another. Sure it's early to speculate, their relationship is still at its burgeoning stage after all. I think everything will be alright though, if only because I'm certain the way they look at one another is a perfect mirror of the way I look at Cath.

I can only hope and fight every day to ensure that things stay as good as they are now and just get even better.

Life is good.

At last.