Chapter Two
Teresa sat nervously at the kitchen table with Alex as they watched Bobby and Madison.
Madison steadily stirred the sauce with a wooden spoon as her father had instructed, while he dumped the pasta into a colander.
"She's beautiful," Teresa said, quietly.
Alex responded with a small smile. "Best thing I ever did."
"We were trying again…I really wanted a girl…" Teresa said with a soft sniffle and blinking back tears.
Alex looked down at the table and a few long seconds later was thankful when Bobby placed a dish of eggplant parmesan in the center of the table. He gave her a small and slightly tense smile, while Madison placed plates in front of them.
Madison sat between her parents as they ate in awkward silence, leaving the magnified sounds of shifting chairs and clinking silverware as the only conversation. She carefully watched the three adults around her, noticing her father discretely keeping an eye on her mother and Teresa avoiding looking at her father.
"Daddy?"
"What baby?" Bobby asked, glancing toward her.
"I thought we were going to look through grandma's books before you went back to work," Madison said.
Bobby scratched the back of his neck and glanced from Teresa, who had finally turned her attention to him, and then to Alex.
"Uh…we'll still go through them," he said and then turned back to his plate.
"Are we going to keep all of them?"
"I-I don't know…at least the ones I don't already have," Bobby said, his tone soft, but willing her to drop the subject.
Madison quietly huffed as she again looked at the adults around her. Alex remained quiet as she picked at her food and when Madison glanced at Teresa she saw something in the woman's eyes that reminded her of her father's at her grandmother's funeral. She watched Teresa for a long minute before the woman looked up at her.
"Are you sad?" Madison asked.
"What?" Teresa asked, startled.
"Mad…" Alex quietly scolded.
"What? Dr. Patel said it's good to talk when you're sad," Madison argued.
Bobby turned toward her and said, "We-we know, but…it's not polite to ask someone you don't know very well personal questions."
Madison scrunched her face and replied, "But momma said that's what you do all the time."
Bobby glanced at Alex, who hid her smile with her hand, and gave her a half amused, half annoyed smile, while both caught the soft snort that Teresa had let out.
Alex ran her hand over Madison's hair and through a soft laugh said, "That's different."
"Why?"
"Alex, it's okay," Teresa said, sitting forward. "I…I am sad, sweetie."
"I'm sorry," Madison said. "I'm sad that my grandma died."
Teresa looked over at Alex, silently asking if it was her mother, but Alex replied with a small shake of her head.
Teresa met Bobby's eyes and said quietly, "I'm sorry."
Bobby nodded with a small thankful smile and understood that she wasn't just apologizing for his loss, but for her inability to believe that he and Alex's marriage was in fact real.
"Me too," he said softly.
They all went back to their plates, but each felt a little more comfortable.
"This was great," Teresa said, gesturing to the food with her fork.
"I told you he was better than me," Alex said.
"At least you're better than Joe was…remember that time he tried to make you dinner for your anniversary," Teresa said and then abruptly regretted the mention as she looked from Alex to Bobby. "I—"
"It's okay," Bobby said holding up his hand.
"Who's Joe?" Madison asked.
Alex sighed and met Bobby's eyes. They had never discussed telling Madison about Alex's first husband and she never would if it made Bobby uncomfortable.
"I'll tell you some other time, okay?" Alex said tucking a curl behind Madison's ear.
"Okay," Madison said, but Alex and Bobby didn't miss her disappointment.
They quietly finished eating and Bobby started to clean off the table.
"Let me help," Teresa said as she rose from the table and began to gather her and Alex's plate. "It's the least I can do."
Bobby held up his hand and shook his head.
"I got it…relax," Bobby said, taking the plates from her and then turned toward the sink.
Teresa sat back down and watched Alex play with Madison's hair.
"Why don't you go get ready for your bath…I'll be there in a minute," Alex said.
Madison nodded and then smiled at Teresa as she hoped off her chair and rounded the table.
"Good night if you're not here when I'm done," Madison said.
"Good night, sweetie," Teresa said. "It was very nice to meet you."
"You too," Madison said.
Alex watched Madison head back to her bedroom and then glanced over at Bobby as he loaded the dish washer.
"Wow, he cooks and he cleans," Teresa said, trying for a light tone. "I'm not even sure Kevin knew we had a dishwasher…"
Alex smiled. "With Joe it was always the laundry…sometimes I think he purposely screwed up so I'd do it…I don't know how many blouses he ruined."
"He was like Kevin…his mom did everything for him up until he left the house…"
"Sometimes even after…" Alex said with a small laugh and turned her eyes back to Bobby.
He was leaning against the counter and rubbing his hands together, while he watched them with soft, thoughtful eyes. She knew he was trying to look comfortable, effectively hiding his insecurities from Teresa, but Alex knew better.
"Momma! I'm ready!"
Alex stood and then said, "You're welcome to stay for awhile…I'll just be twenty minutes or so."
Teresa gave her a thankful nod and then Alex disappeared down the hall, leaving Teresa to give Bobby a tense smile.
"You're mother must have raised you right," Teresa said.
Bobby glanced down at the floor and tried to smile.
"Sh-she tried," Bobby said.
He strolled back to the table and sat across from her. She leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms over her chest. He looked down at the table while her eyes surveyed the apartment.
"Did you want anything to drink…coffee…anything?" Bobby asked.
Teresa shook her head. "I'm fine thanks. Dinner really was great…"
Bobby smiled and nodded, lacing his fingers together and staring back down at the table. Teresa hugged her shoulders and crossed her leg, lightly letting her foot from side to side.
"How long you been on the force?" Teresa asked.
Bobby shifted in his chair as he looked up at her, preferring uncomfortable silence to forced chit-chat.
"Uh…I guess going on about thirteen years," Bobby said.
Teresa nodded and then looked down at the table. Bobby occasionally stole glances at her and every now and then she met his eyes, while wearing a forced, thin smile.
He slowly rose from the table.
"I-if you're okay…I'm going to go take care of some things," Bobby said.
"Oh don't let me keep you…or maybe I should go," she said preparing to rise from the table.
Bobby held up his hand and she stilled.
"I think Alex would like to talk to you more," Bobby said. "S-so, please…stay. Just let me know if you need anything."
He watched her nod and once he was satisfied that she was somewhat comfortable, walked to the small nook in the living room that served as a mini office. He busied himself with bills that weren't near due.
In the bathroom, Alex knelt beside the tub and massaged shampoo into Madison's chestnut locks, while Madison tailed a floating bubble with her finger.
"Will you tell me who Joe is?" Madison asked.
She half sighed and half snorted at her insistence. Just like Bobby: never forgets anything.
"He's someone I knew a long time ago," Alex said. "Let's rinse."
Madison held her nose between her fingers and squeezed her eyes shut just before Alex gently dunked her head under the water.
Several seconds later Madison came up with a gasp of air and wiped the water from her eyes.
"Did you know him when you were friends with Teresa?"
Alex nodded, but didn't explain, as she began to comb conditioner through Madison's hair. Madison watched her mother from the corner of her eye and began tapping her foot against the side of the tub. Alex recognized it as one of the nervous ticks she got from Bobby, but didn't know what to say to ease her little mind.
"Was he mean?" Madison asked.
"What?" Alex asked, ceasing to comb her hair. "No. Why did you ask that?"
Madison shrugged. "You won't tell me about him…daddy never tells me about his dad…grandma told me once he was mean and that's why daddy won't talk about him…"
Alex sighed and ran a hand over Madison's wet head.
"Grandma, probably shouldn't have told you that," Alex said, urging Madison to again dunk her head.
Madison came back up and asked, "You're sure he wasn't mean?"
"Yes, baby, I'm sure…Joe wasn't mean…but it's complicated," Alex said. "I know you want to know…but for now I need you to let it go." She saw Madison begin to protest. "I'm not saying no…just not right now, okay? Please."
Madison sighed and nodded. "Okay…"
Alex nodded and snatched a towel off the rack. She held the towel up and Madison climbed out of the tub and into the towel, wrapping her arms around her mother's neck. Alex wrapped her arms and the towel around Madison and held her, slightly rocking from side to side.