Francisco and Victor look down at the eggs cooking on the pan. The boy reaches out towards the food, but is pulled away by his dad before he gets too close. The eggs look cooked, but just in case he keeps it on the flame until Lynn returns.
He whispers into his son's ear, "Time for your lesson. Say 'mama', 'mama'."
Victor babbles to himself, but still isn't resembling the word yet.
Francisco has been coaching him whenever they're alone in hopes of getting him to say his first word. Victor has been babbling to himself for a while, so he's bound to make a word eventually, but Francisco wants to make sure it's a certain word.
He hears footsteps. Francisco tries to look as normal as possible, so that Lynn isn't suspicious, but instead she moves him out of the way and takes the eggs off the flame, "Okay, eggs are still good." She takes Victor from him and tells the boy, "Alright, it's time to eat."
Francisco notices Lynn walk away while leaving the flame on. He wonders if she's planning on cooking something else. However, after she places Victor down in his chair and starts setting the table, he's sure that she forgot, so he turns off the flame and takes a seat for breakfast.
Lynn calls out, "Elena, breakfast!"
Elena quietly walks to the table and takes her seat. She serves some food for herself, not bothering to look at anyone or mutter more than a simple 'Good morning'. She hasn't said much to either adult since last night, and has been expecting her dad to make a big fuss about yesterday, but so far nothing.
She should be thankful, after all, she's dreading the idea of him yelling at her, but the silence feels worse. At any moment, her dad could get upset and deal out some over the top punishment, though she might be a bit luckier and have her mom be the one to deal with it. He's definitely the type to have her mom deal with these sorts of things, and she would much rather talk to her about this than him.
Although, she could be wrong.
Her mom may be able to keep herself more composed, but considering what happened she might not be as calm. It really all depends on how her dad told her. She imagines that he called her and exaggerated what happened, not like he saw anything, but he'll still talk as if he caught her. Then her mom is probably going to talk to her the minute she walks through the front door, or alone in her room.
Just the thought of that conversation is making Elena dread going home. She knows that she is in for another sex talk with her mom, but now it's going to be more serious since she's likely going to reiterate the importance of being safe.
Elena stares down at her pancakes and slowly takes a bite, 'It's going to be fine…it's going to be fine…Mom is definitely going to be much calmer about this than Dad, then again…'
She glances over at her dad. He's currently staring down at his plate eating his breakfast, but the moment he moves his head, Elena turns away from him to prevent them both from making eye contact.
Lynn glances at Francisco, then at Elena, then back to Francisco again. The two have been tense since yesterday, not that she's any help. She's still a little annoyed at Elena running away from her. A part of her wonders where this attitude came from. She figures that after so many years of being so well-behaved, she finally snapped, though that sounds pretty dumb and Francisco thought so too when she told him last night.
Victor repeatedly slams his spoon onto his highchair's tray, telling his mom that he wants more food. She takes the hint and offers him another bite of eggs, but misses his mouth when Lynn's eyes wander towards Elena, who clears her throat.
The boy whines as he watches his breakfast fall to the ground after the spoon goes flying past him.
Lynn Sr. heads back into the kitchen and sighs, happy that the two teens will at least now stop running around now that Lily is with them. Well, they might still run around, but at least there won't be any risk of them putting their hands on one another. Yup, his daughter is too young to be fooling around with some teenage boy.
"Ahem," he hears.
He looks over at Rita, who has her arms crossed and a look on her face that clearly says she does not approve of what her husband did, "Really, Lynn?"
"I know it doesn't look good, but it had to happen," he explains. "You know how LJ is."
"Do you really think that they would have done anything bad while they're in the backyard?"
"We don't know. I mean, did you ever do something crazy with a boy while your dad was close?"
Rita stays quiet. When she was a little older than Lynn, she and the son of her dad's friend did fool around behind the changing room at a pool, but it was only kissing. Regardless, she's not going to tell her husband, it'll confirm his fears and he might go a little crazier whenever their daughters bring home dates.
"How about we have that talk you mentioned earlier? We sit her down privately, and we make sure that she has some information. Does that sound good?"
He groans, "I guess…"
"Lynn, she's going to grow up, but she isn't going to jump some boy because she likes him."
"We don't know that! They were already wrestling in the backyard, how many times have we told the kids that excuse when they've caught us?"
Rita blushes at the memories, "But I'm guessing they actually were wrestling?"
"Well it's not that far off! And heck, LJ lost to him ten ding-dang times."
"Really?" she asks. Rita looks out the window and watches the two teens. Lynn is using the hose to create a light rain over her younger sister's head, while her friend leans against the tree watching the two sisters. She notices her eyes looking over at him. Rita can't ignore it, he is getting her attention.
She takes a deep breath, "Well, she is getting to that age, so we talk to her and set up some ground rules. That way everyone is on the same page."
"Great, I'll go get her."
"Lynn, no!"
Lynn places Victor's bag in the car. It's too tense in the house at the moment. After last night, she does not feel like listening to Francisco's work song for hours on end, while both father and daughter struggle to say more than a few words to one another.
"Nope, you and I are gonna hang out today," she tells her son as she straps him into his seat. "Don't know where, but somewhere. What do you think?"
Victor lets out a little grunt and Lynn knows that she has him on board. The only problem was finding something to do that would kill a lot of hours. They already did something with Lucy yesterday, and as much as she's itching to ask for details about the game, she doesn't need her sister staring at her silently until she leaves. Her parents are another option, but there isn't much to talk about when they see each other multiple times a week.
"We'll find something to do," she assures her son as she buckles up.
As Lynn drives down the road, she tries to weigh her options. Victor is going to need a nap eventually, so it'll have to be a short excursion, and she also doesn't want to spend too much, plus Dutch is being finicky, so they can't stray too far from home.
"We can do this."
Lynn keeps her eyes peeled as she drives around, hoping that blind luck will lead her to something interesting like a street fair or anything that could be remotely interesting to a toddler. However, it seems like Royal Woods has decided to be boring this late Sunday morning.
"The park?" she asks herself as they pass the location. "We were already there yesterday…but I'm sure you won't mind." Lynn groans. "Nevermind," she says as she quickly drifts away from the park. "Besides, those kids were giving you crud. Don't worry, I'll protect you, but you can't go around picking fights with everyone, learned that the hard way."
A warehouse store comes into view and she's wondering if she has it in her to kill an hour. She points at the store and tells Victor, "You know the sample people love it when I go in to see them. Usually at the supermarket they hate when I take all the samples, but if you come around three, the sample people wanna go home, so they'll give me full-sized samples." She looks over at Victor, but he stares at the window, bored. "Yeah, that won't mean much to you until you get more teeth."
Lynn continues to drive around. It's so hard to find something fun to do while still lugging around a toddler. It'd be easy if he was a little older and they could do something cooler, or if she had it in her to leave him with Francisco, but he has his own problems right now.
She hears Victor moving around in his car seat, "Yup, you're much better off being here with me. But that still doesn't solve our problem…"
She drives by the trattoria. It's been a long time since she's had a Sunday chat with Raffaelina and while it won't be super exciting for Victor, he does love exploring new places.
"You in the mood for Italian food?"
Victor doesn't answer, but regardless, Lynn takes it as a yes. She pulls into the parking lot and gets him out of his car seat. Unlike the deli that the family once had, the trattoria does stay open on Sundays, though Lynn isn't sure if the family is actually around. Either way, she'll take the chance and see Raffaelina is around.
Lynn walks inside. Most of the staff seems busy tending to the customers, so rather than interrupt them, she decides to walk into the backroom. It's been a while since she's seen Raffaelina, and she figures that she's more than overdue for a visit.
A staff member notices Lynn walking into the backroom, "Excuse me! You can't go back there."
"It's okay! I know the owners!"
"I don't care. They didn't say anything about guests being able to walk into the backroom."
"Look, let me knock on their door and they'll explain the whole thing."
She approaches Lynn, "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"I'm telling you, it's fine. I know the owners!"
The door opens, revealing Raffaelina, who came downstairs to investigate what all the noise is about. She looks over at her employee arguing with Lynn, "It's nice to see you again. I was wondering when I would see you again."
Lynn walks towards the stairs, "Well you know how hard it is with a kid. Say hi, Vic."
The boy babbles, but doesn't pay too much attention to the older woman.
Raffaelina has her staff member back off while she tends to her unexpected guest. She hasn't seen Lynn since her baby shower, so there's probably going to be a lot to catch up on. The last time they went long without talking, Lynn was a mess. While she's sure that something is on her mind to warrant the visit, it can't be that bad considering the nonchalant way she walked into her home.
She catches up to Lynn upstairs and the two women take a seat in her kitchen.
"How are things?" starts Raffaelina.
"I'm good. You?"
"I'm doing well. Would you like something to drink?"
"Yeah, I'm good with whatever."
Raffaelina walks over to the counter to get them both something to drink. With her back turned, she asks, "What's on your mind?"
Lynn pretends to be offended, "What, I have to have something on my mind to come visit you?"
The older woman places a cup of coffee and a glass of water in front of her guest. Lynn looks up and notices the look on her face, telling her that she knows her better than she thinks.
"I wanted something to do."
"Of course," says Raffaelina as she takes a seat across from her guest. "I'm sorry, I don't have more to offer your little boy." She looks at Victor, "He's such a cute little boy. He looks just like his father."
"Man, you see it too," complains Lynn.
It isn't a bad thing, but after over a year, she figured that someone would see something that he would have gotten from her. Instead, all everyone mentions is how much Victor looks like Francisco. She doesn't disagree, even as a newborn, the two looked alike, but dang it, she wants to see a part of herself in him.
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No…"
Raffaelina can tell what is bothering Lynn, and to play around with her, she jokingly says, "Maybe he'll be stubborn like his mama."
"Hey!"
"If he spends lots of time with you. It might happen," she responds.
Lynn stares up at the dark ceiling lost in her thoughts. School is going to start soon and with each passing day, she wonders what awaits her in high school. It can't be any worse than how she started middle school, but then again, this is the big leagues - tougher competition on the field, harder assignments, even bigger students around her. It's bad enough that she hasn't had much of a growth spurt, but to start school again as a shrimp, it brings back memories of those dumbasses that led her astray back in sixth grade.
'I wonder where those bastards are? I bet if they saw me now they'd think twice before sending me or any other freshman on a wild goose chase. I can't believe I got lost for a whole day back in sixth grade all because of some bum directions. I gotta remember to study that map of the high school, I can't rely on anyone to help me out.'
She takes a deep breath. These thoughts are going to keep her up all night if she lets them run rampant, so to remedy that, she decides to do some light exercises under her covers. A few flutter kicks, maybe a few reverse crunches, and some Russian twists and she should be ready to conk out.
Lynn hears her sister groaning, "Lynn, can you please stop that?"
"Sorry, Luce. Just getting in a late night workout."
"Right…" the younger sister says, unsure if she actually believes her.
Lynn turns towards Lucy, "Why are you still up?"
"I'm afraid if I fall asleep, I'm going to hear Dad talking about…" she shudders, unable to finish that sentence.
It's been hours since Lynn got the talk and no matter what she listens to or reads, all she can think about was what her dad said. Lucy has no idea how Lynn is still so nonchalant about it. Maybe it's because she didn't pay any attention, but with how graphic those photos were, it's a wonder Lynn was able to ignore them.
"Yeah, I get it. It was weird, and Mom still wants me to get another talk."
"Really? Why? I thought Dad covered everything."
Lynn chuckles, "If he did, you wouldn't have seen anything."
"Ha ha," the younger sister says sarcastically. "Do you even want to hear it again?"
Lynn quickly answers, "No. It was enough the first time and Mom might actually notice if I don't pay attention. Besides I got the gist of it, I'll worry about it when I need to worry about it."
She stares up at the ceiling unsure of when that will be. For now, she isn't worrying about liking boys or getting into relationships, she's more concerned with her freshman year of high school.
'Making teams, passing classes, college is right around the corner…but that's still four years away, I'll be fine. If I kick ass on a varsity team, I'll have scouts knocking down our door to get me to play for their school. Yup, no team in America is gonna wanna face me,' she thinks to herself with a confident smile.
Lucy looks over at Lynn, who is starting to exercise again. She's not sure what's on her older sister's mind, but usually she exercises as hard as she does when she wants to avoid something. As far as Lucy is concerned, her older sister doesn't have much to worry about, in fact, she seems excited. All summer, Lynn has mentioned being excited about tryouts, and freshman teams, and tougher competition now that she's entering high school.
Then it hits her.
"Lynn," starts the younger sister, "are you worried about starting high school?"
"What? No," scoffs Lynn. "I'm not worried about something stupid like that."
Lynn is lying and Lucy can see right through it, "If it makes you feel better, Leni, Luna, and Luan are going to be there to help you."
"Right…" says the older sister as she turns around away from her sister's gaze.
Elena looks down at her book. It's been hours since breakfast, and so far her dad hasn't said anything to her or even called her mom. She figured that by doing a silent activity she can hear what he says to her in the event that he does call, but so far, all she hears are power tools going off every few minutes. He could be drowning out the noise to keep her from listening in, but she's sure that he wouldn't do something like that.
She groans.
It's killing her to sit in silence like this, but until her dad decides to talk to her, she's going to have to endure it.
'But what if he doesn't?'
He was definitely upset. No, he's still upset, so he's not going to let this slide. However he's not the type to talk things out, especially if he's not comfortable.
It's almost laughable.
There were times that she wished that he would open up about things, even if they did make him uncomfortable. Now, she doesn't want him to, preferring that he stay quiet so that they can get through this weekend and not have to face one another for the next couple of days.
Maybe she should go home and suffer the consequences there?
At least, after a week, she and her dad won't be as tense with one another.
She groans. She already ran away yesterday. It didn't accomplish anything then, and it's not going to accomplish anything now. All it's going to do is prove that she can't handle having a mature conversation with her dad.
Elena looks down at her phone. There haven't been any new notifications aside from her apps and a message from Noah asking how things are at home. She hasn't bothered to answer, unsure of what to say. She doubts that her dad talked to his dad, so all Noah has to worry about is whether her dad will kill him the next time he comes within fifty feet of her.
He won't literally do it, but the two probably won't be seeing each other on the weekend until her dad says it's okay.
"At least it'll only be two days a week, for some period of time…"
She takes a deep breath. Rather than wait any longer, Elena decides to get up from her bed and walk to the garage.
Lynn heads into the locker room of the ice rink. The first day of school is over, and she can happily say that it was completely uneventful, especially compared to her first day of middle school. There weren't any jerks to mess with her, the teachers seemed as dull as always, lunch was okay, and best of all, there are way more sports teams to tryout for. Today, is ice hockey tryouts, for some odd reason. As soon as she saw the sign-up sheets, Lynn made a list of all the teams she wanted to try out for - football, ice hockey, tennis, cross country, volleyball, swimming, and that's not even counting the sports for the other seasons. However, most of those didn't have tryouts for a few more days, meanwhile ice hockey decided to get a head start on everyone.
"Why are hockey tryouts so early this year?" Lynn hears from one of the girls next to her.
"I know! It's barely the first day of school," another girl responds.
Lynn can't confirm, but she heard a rumor going around that the boys got a new coach and he wants time to bring them up to a level he deems acceptable. Rather than wait around, the girls' coach decided to hold tryouts earlier than normal so that the team has time to get ready come their first game.
If you ask Lynn, she doesn't mind, so long as practice doesn't get in the way of the other sports she wants to try out for.
The girls head onto the ice and notice that the rink is empty. They expected the boys to be here, but instead there's no sight of them.
"Do you think they're doing their tryouts on dry land?" she asks a girl next to her.
No one knows where the boys are, but if it means they get time on the ice, the girls are fine with that. After over two hours, the girls' tryouts come to an end and as they step off the ice, they all hear a booming voice telling the boys to get onto the ice and line up against the boards so that they can go five-on-five against each other. The girls stop to look over at the boys, they are exhausted and ready to fall to the ground. None of them have any idea what they've had to do for their tryouts, but the fact that the girls had the rink for hours sort of tells them something.
Lynn quickly runs ahead of the other girls to change into her street clothes. She wants to go see the rest of the boys' tryouts and see what the coach is putting the boys through. After changing, she runs back into the stands and sees the boys skating back and forth down the length of the center line.
She stares over at them, watching as one of them stops after completing who knows how many laps. They all seem exhausted, waiting for that well-deserved break, but then the coach yells, "Are you planning on staying at the top? Go back down the summit!"
The boys groan, though Lynn is impressed by how much of a hardass the coach is. The boys have already gone through hours at the tryouts, and they're still going after the girls have finished. Lynn can tell that he definitely wants to bring home a few trophies, it sort of makes her wish that the girls' coach was willing to push them the same way. Her tryout seemed fine, but she and the other girls weren't groaning in pain the way the boys are.
Lynn keeps her eyes on one of the players. She watches as Francisco skates back and forth on the ice. She notices the aggressiveness in his stance, the deep breaths he takes during those brief moments before he turns away from her, the intense focus in his eyes. She can tell how badly he wants to make the team. He wants to get stronger with the others that make the team, let out a bit of his wild side, be able to wear the team's jersey over his muscular shoulders as he glides over the ice, the tight grip on his hockey stick, as he slams into his opponents in an effort to take control of the game.
He's plenty strong. She should know after losing ten times in a row against him in the wrestling ring. No matter how much she wanted to win, she couldn't beat him. He bested her, and she didn't mind one bit, not when he was able grab her wrist and turn her around, or when he pushed her back towards the ropes, or even when he pinned her down on the mat. Lynn doesn't notice the slight smile on her face or the blush on her cheeks as she reminisces about that afternoon.
She wonders why she thought about that day all of a sudden, but she reasons with herself that it's because she's acknowledging that he's becoming an athlete worthy of her seal of approval. Lynn nods her head, that's the obvious reason, she convinces herself as goes back to watching the boys finish their tryouts.
As the boys finish their twenty laps, they begin to step off the ice. Lynn has no idea what they went through, but the looks on their faces tells her that it was probably hell. She looks over at the coach, who is watching down on the group of boys skating on the ice.
Lynn waits for Francisco to step off the ice so that she can whistle at him to get his attention. He looks up at her and barely musters a nod. He doesn't want to stop moving, in fear that his legs will lock on him, causing him to fall to the ground.
"What? That's it?!" He hears her say, but he doesn't stop moving. "Fine! See if I'm still here!" she threatens.
He chuckles to himself. He knows that she's going to stick around, so he won't bother responding, insteading opting to slowly step towards the locker room. He has no idea how he's going to get out of his gear with his arms, legs, and every muscle in his body is screaming in pain. The minute he stops moving, Francisco knows that he's going to regret it. He takes a deep breath and moves as quickly as possible, but the pain causes him to stop every few seconds.
"I can do this…just a little more…" he mutters to himself as he barely gets his jersey off. "Now the rest…" he groans at the thought of how much gear he has to change out of.
Out by the ice, Lynn watches for her friend to meet her. She has no idea what is taking him so long, but she's almost tempted to march into the boy's locker room and force him out. Lynn's stomach starts to growl. It's almost dinnertime, so she's going to give him five more minutes before she decides to leave him behind.
Lynn paces back and forth and when she finally sees him, she says, "About damn time! What the hell took you so long?"
He stumbles towards the bleachers, "I'm exhausted, cut me some slack."
Lynn takes a seat next to him, "How were tryouts?"
"Hell," he answers. "I'm pretty sure that some of the guys are gonna quit before we even get told if we made the team."
Lynn playfully elbows him in the ribs, "You're not gonna be one of those guys, are you?"
Francisco holds back a groan. He shakes his head, "Nope, I need a winter sport."
"Well in that case," starts Lynn, before she grabs his leg and starts massaging it.
He's startled by the sudden action, "W-What are you doing?"
"You need to massage your muscles or you're gonna feel it in the morning. Just remember what I'm doing and do it again before you go to sleep."
Francisco can feel his face getting red as he feels Lynn's hands on him, but also from noticing onlookers staring in their direction.
He tries to pull away from her, "I'm fine," he says.
Francisco has no idea what came over her, but he doesn't want anyone to get the wrong idea.
Lynn's phone buzzes. She looks at the message from her dad, letting her know that her mom came to pick her up, twenty minutes ago.
She quickly heads down the bleachers, "Dang it, I have to go. I think my mom's waiting for me outside." Lynn notices that Francisco isn't moving, "Are you coming?"
He shakes his head, "No, I think I'm good. Besides, I'll call my mom or my dad to come pick me up."
"Why wait around? I can ask my mom to give you a ride. It sure beats waiting around by yourself."
"Okay."
"Great," she takes his hand, "Let's go!"
Raffaelina watches Victor as he toddles around the living room. Any time something grabs his eye, he immediately reaches out to touch the item and play with it. She doesn't mind when it comes to some cheap little knick-knack or a book, but it's a whole different story when he grabs an old family photo or a treasured keepsake.
She looks over at his mother, waiting for her to say something to him, instead she's sitting there looking at him. She understands that he's only a child, but he's not too young to learn to keep his hands to himself.
"Are you not going to say something?"
"What? He's just a little kid."
"He needs to learn. He cannot grab whatever he wants. This isn't his home."
Lynn sighs, "You sound like Alicia. She makes a big deal about it too. He's a little kid, let him run around a little."
"He might be better off running outside at the park, not in a living room."
"Well I thought about the park, but we already went yesterday. It's boring to sit around on some bench," she complains as she slouches into her seat.
"The point is for him to get tired, not for you to enjoy yourself."
"It can be both."
Raffaelina stares at Lynn, waiting for her to get up and stop her son. However, she doesn't move, instead, she takes a sip of her coffee. This shouldn't be surprising to her. She's heard a few stories of what it was like for Lynn growing up, and she's deduced that discipline wasn't a large part of her household growing up. She understands that it's hard for parents to maintain control with eleven children, but Lynn doesn't have that excuse, so there's no reason for her to let her son run around in her home.
Victor reaches out for a shiny photo frame. He holds onto it with two hands, admiring the light reflecting towards him. He stares at the frame from all sorts of different angles, but soon he grows bored and drops the item in favor of grabbing something else.
She has enough when she spots Victor reaching for something else on her shelf, "Say something to him."
"Okay, geez."
Lynn tries to take the photo from her son, but he won't let go. She pulls again, but her son stubbornly refuses to let go. She lets go for a second, but Victor tumbles backwards falling onto his bottom. The two women prepare for Victor to start crying, but instead he laughs. Lynn sees her opportunity and tries to take the photo frame from him, but when the boy feels the frame slipping, he grips it, refusing to let go.
She's surprised by her son's strength, but Lynn doesn't let up, "A-Are you serious? Let go, Vic."
"They're stubborn at that age. Your voice has to be firm or he won't do what you say."
She groans, "Fine, you act like he's gonna turn into some little monster."
"You do not need to yell at him, say it again, and if he does not listen, give him a simple consequence."
Lynn isn't sure what she means by that, "Like?"
"Take the photo frame and keep him near you until he learns to stop grabbing things."
Lynn turns to her son, "Vic, put the photo down."
He doesn't listen.
"Try again," says Raffaelina.
With a more stern voice, Lynn repeats herself, and again Victor ignores her.
"Fine, you leave me no choice."
Victor is startled when his mom picks him up. He notices the shiny photo frames getting further and further away from him. He panics at the thought of being separated from his potential playthings and tries his hardest to escape his mom's grasp. He babbles a few syllables between his strained squirming until he finally yells, "Mama!" causing Lynn to stop.
Both women look at him.
A smile forms on Lynn's face. He finally said his first word. She almost can't believe it. She looks over at Raffaelina, "Did he say what I think he said?"
The older woman is confused by her reaction at first, until she realizes what is happening, "Yes, he said mama."
Lynn tightly embraces her son. She can't believe that he finally said his first word, that she was his first word, "I can't believe it. Rookie, you're finally talking."
Victor looks at his mom for a second. He sees the smile on her face, but he has no idea why she stopped or what is making her so happy. Lynn sets him down on her lap and she pulls out her phone to call Francisco. The boy is sure that she's going to let him play with her toy instead, but the device never reaches him, instead she keeps it far from him.
He tries to reach up for the phone, but Lynn moves away from him.
Soon, he feels the other woman's arms on him, moving him further from his mom and the phone. Victor tries to reach for his mom, but the woman refuses to let him go, while his mom plays with the toy.
Lynn puts her phone away, "Well, he isn't picking up. He's probably busy with his project or something."
"What a shame. Though, he might prefer to hear his son talking in person."
"Yeah, you're right." Lynn takes Victor from Raffaelina and sets him down on the floor next to her.
While the women talk, Victor makes another attempt towards the shiny objects that he was so rudely yanked away from.
Raffaelina points to the boy, who is once again running towards the bookshelf. Lynn walks after him, "You got one free cute distraction, now you're sitting next to me for the rest of the day," she tells him as she sets him down on her lap and wraps her arms around him.
Rita quietly reads her book as she waits for Lynn to finish hockey tryouts, unaware of the other girls who are making their way home. In fact, she's so engrossed in her novel that she doesn't realize how much time has passed since she arrived to pick up her daughter.
The rear door opens, startling Rita. Lynn tosses her gear into Vanzilla before hopping into the vehicle, "Hey Mom, can we give Francisco a ride?"
"What?" she asks, before noticing the boy leaning against the van with his gear at his feet. "Sure. Hop in."
Francisco tries to lift his gear, but struggles to get it more than an inch off the ground. Lynn gets fed up with waiting and tosses his gear in for him. She hops in the vehicle and pulls her friend in when he takes too long to get in.
As Rita drives, she hears the two teens talking, "I'm telling you, you're going to need to massage yourself or you're gonna feel it."
He quickly responds, "I'm feeling it now."
"That bad? What'd the coach make you guys do?"
Francisco thinks about the drills her and the other boys did, "Running laps around that lake in the park while carrying these heavy sticks-"
"How much did they weigh?"
"Does it matter?"
"It helps me imagine it."
"I don't know, like ten pounds or something. Anyway, we all had to run the whole length of the lake in less than a minute or we'd have to do it again. Then we ran to the football bleachers, where we had to climb up to the top in about a minute-"
"That doesn't sound so bad."
"…but the upperclassmen try to stop us. And we had to keep doing that until we all succeeded in the same attempt. Then squats using a larger one of those sticks."
"I'm sorta jealous."
Francisco lets out a chuckle, of course she would think it's fun to run around like that, but the rest of the boys, it was torture, pure torture. He's sure that they're gonna reap some sort of benefits from the regiment, but only after they pay a heavy cost.
"You guys get a coach that's gonna push you to win games and that training is gonna make your guys big and strong so that you can mow down your competition," she says with a smile she playfully bumps her shoulder against him.
"You say that now," he starts, "but if you had to actually do it-"
"I'd try to mop the floor with you guys!" she proudly declares.
"Right," he teases. "You'd probably be the fifth freshman to finish," he joked.
Lynn was ready to argue with him until he said that, "Fifth? Are you serious?"
"What, you don't consider that a compliment?"
She playfully bumps her shoulder against him, causing Francisco to groan as his shoulder lands against Vanzilla's window. Lynn chuckles, "That's what you get."
Francisco doesn't appreciate her laughing, so he does the same to her, despite knowing that it won't hurt her as badly as it does to him.
As the two teens chat, Rita occasionally glances up at the teens from the rearview mirror. She notices her daughter smiling a little more and her voice sounds a little different. She can definitely agree that her husband was right that their daughter might like the boy.
Rita pulls up in front of Francisco's house. He thanks her for the ride, then stumbles out of his seat towards his front door. Lynn and Rita watch him struggle to carry his equipment and walk, so Lynn asks her mom to wait while she helps him out.
Rita can't help but notice her daughter and the boy still playfully pushing one another and possibly teasing each other as they walk to the door. She notices Lynn demonstrating something to him as she rubs her arms over her body and figures that she's probably telling him how to alleviate the pain that he's experiencing, then she runs back after saying their goodbyes.
Lynn hops in the front seat and stares out the window as her mom drives away.
Rita glances at her daughter and takes a deep breath. This is going to be a good a time as ever, so she asks, "Remember how I said that if we have a certain conversation it can be just the two of us?"
She doesn't at first, but then she remembers the talk that she and her dad had with her not too long ago. Lynn feels her heart pounding. She has no idea why her mom wants to bring this up now, of course, they're alone, and there's no risk of Dad butting in to try to scare her. Sure, it won't be as frightening of a conversation, but that doesn't mean that Lynn wants to talk about it after the last one was still somewhat fresh in her mind.
"Yeah, but, I think I'm good," she tries to convince her mom. "I still remember what you and Dad said before."
"That's not the sort of conversation I wanted to have. It is, but it's a little different."
Lynn is confused until her mom continues, "Now it's not just limited to anything physical. You're going through an emotional time, it may have been a few years ago, but I still remember what it was like when I was your age. All the thoughts running through my mind. I felt self-conscious, my feelings were so much more intense than before, the peer pressure…then of course, everyone else was going through this, but it didn't feel that way at the time. You think everyone has it together, and that you're behind, so you think you have to catch up, and then you rush into something that you're not ready for-" Rita turns around and notices her daughter is scrolling through her phone not paying attention.
"Lynn, focus. This is important and I want you to hear this."
"Mom, it's fine. I get it," the girl says, despite not being sure what her mom was talking about for the last couple of minutes.
"Well, I still think that we should get it out there. At some point, you're going to start dating, maybe get a boyfriend," Rita adds, unaware of the surprise on her daughter's face, "and maybe you'll feel like you have to do something you're not ready for because of a magazine, or your classmates-"
Lynn interrupts, "Mom, I get it."
However, Rita still keeps talking, "You shouldn't do anything you're not ready for, because in the long run, you're going to have to-"
Lynn sternly interrupts her mom, "It's fine. Can we please not talk about this?!"
Rita stops talking. Clearly, now wasn't the best time, so she'll wait until her daughter is at that stage instead, "Okay…"
Elena quietly opens the door to the garage. She spots her dad looking at the little rocking horse he built Victor and wonders what is going through his mind. She figured that he would have talked to her by now, but after so many hours, she might have to be the one to get this uncomfortable conversation started.
Francisco looks over at his daughter, mutters a quiet, "Hey."
"Hey…"
She wants to get this over with. She wants him to dole out a punishment and have them move on from this, but he isn't saying anything. Heck, he hasn't even looked much in her direction since yesterday.
"Can you pass me that rag next to you?"
Elena is broken away from her thoughts, "What?"
"That rag," says Francisco as he points to it, "Can you pass it to me?"
She looks over at the table and hands him the rag he requested. He barely turns around to grab it from her before doing whatever he plans on doing. Elena stares at him, hoping that he'll turn around, but he doesn't do it.
Rather than wait any longer, she takes a deep breath, "Dad, are you going to say anything about yesterday?"
As he pours the sweet-smelling oil onto the rag, he asks, "What do you want me to say?"
"I-I-I don't know. That you're mad. Don't want me to see Noah. That I was being irresponsible."
"Well it looks like you already know what I was going to say. Why do you want me to say it?"
"Dad! I'm serious. Say something, please!"
Francisco sighs and slowly turns towards his daughter, "I'm upset that Noah was here when you know that he shouldn't have. I'm upset that you acted as though what happened doesn't mean anything. I'm upset that you think that you could disrespect my wife just because you thought you didn't do anything wrong. You're not a little girl Elena, what happened yesterday leads to some real consequences that you're not ready to deal with."
Elena quietly looks in his direction, but avoids eye contact with him. He's not wrong, but it sounds a lot worse when he says it.
Francisco quietly looks at his daughter. He's been telling himself for years how quickly time has been passing, how she isn't the same little girl, how she's growing up and becoming a young woman. However, despite that, she's still his daughter and he still has a job to do as her father.
"You're almost eighteen, you're about to graduate from high school, you're too old to be running away like some little kid just because we raise our voices."
"I know…" she mutters.
"Do you?" he asks, with a slightly raised tone.
He doesn't normally yell at her. In fact, he can't remember the last time that he did raise his voice at her, she's normally so well behaved that this all new to him, them really.
Both of them stand around in an uncomfortable silence.
Francisco takes a deep breath. He takes a seat, as he tries to gather his thoughts. If it were up to him, he'd love to ignore it even if it meant being awkward around one another until it's necessary to talk to one another. However, this isn't something that should be ignored and if he doesn't bother trying to have some sort of conversation with her, then he won't be able to say that he tried his best with her.
"Life's hard enough when you make good choices," he starts, "and right now you're at the age where these choices are gonna impact you for much longer than you think."
"Dad, nothing was going to happen."
He chuckles, "It's easy to say that now, but not when it's happening in the moment. Before you know it, a little kiss turns into making out, then your hands all over each other and-"
Elena interrupts, "Please stop," she says, not wanting to hear this from him.
"No, you have to hear this. I get that it's easy to think that nothing is going to happen, but it can. You don't think about that part, it's all innocent, until it's serious and then the consequences are there for a long time."
"I get it," she groans, "you don't want me to make the same mistake you made."
Francisco looks at her, surprised to hear her say that.
They've never talked about her birth like that, not that it's ever popped up in conversation before. He knows that she probably did the math at some point years ago, or she noticed that she had younger parents than her peers, but he's never heard her talk that way about it.
She can see that he didn't expect to hear her phrase it the way she did, but it's pretty much what he's implying, "Dad, you wouldn't be talking to me like this, if I wasn't about to make the same mistake you and Mom made."
He looks her in the eye and stresses, "You're not a mistake."
Elena stays quiet, unsure of what to say. She's not sure if he's saying that because he doesn't remember what ran through his mind all those years ago or if he always thought that. Regardless, she remains silent.
"Besides, there's a difference between the two of us. I actually have faith that you can do something amazing with yourself…" he says before turning back to the rocking horse.
She looks over at him, wondering why he turned away from her when he said that.
"You never thought that you would do something like that yourself?"
He shakes his head, "Nope, I always figured that I would go through the motions in my life - go to school, get a normal job, get married, have kids, that's it. A nice normal life, that's what I pictured. However, you're a bright girl with the ability to do well at what you want, and I want you to push yourself to excel out there in the world. I get that you want to have fun and enjoy yourself along the way. That's fine, but there's a difference between a situation that you can't control and one you put yourself into. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Elena quietly nods her head, "Yes."
"Good. I want you to remember that in case it ever happens again."
She's surprised by that last comment, "You think that it's going to happen again?"
"It could. I remember being a teenage boy. If a girl I liked let me make out on her bed, I probably am gonna want it to happen again."
"That makes you sound like a hypocrite."
"I wasn't a parent then, I was a teenage boy, and a lot of them think the same way I did then. That's why I want you to think before something like this happens again, especially at your age."
Elena wants to tell him that nothing was going to happen, but it'll just start the whole conversation over, so rather than letting that happen, she asks, "Would you have done something like this at my age?"
"I wasn't dating then."
"Pretend. You and Lynn are dating and something like this happened."
He thinks about it, unsure of what would have happened. He knows that she liked him then, but going as far as Elena and Noah did is a different story. Lynn might be bolder now, but in high school and it being the first time, she might have been more shy and wouldn't have dared to try it, at least that's what he thinks.
"What would your parents have said?"
"I don't know. That's what's making this conversation hard. My parents never talked to me about any of this."
"Really? Not a single thing?"
"I'm almost forty and still waiting," he chuckles. Francisco places his hand out, "By the way, can I see your phone?" Elena hands over her phone and he takes it from her, "You'll get this back in two weeks."
"What?"
"I told you, you had Noah over without an adult present and you disrespected Lynn, so you're going to get a punishment for that. No phone, and you're grounded for two weeks."
"Really?"
"Yes, and I'll be telling your mom too."
Elena groans.
The sound of Dutch sputtering up the driveway gets the two's attention. Lynn quickly jumps out and gets Victor, "Guess what our little rookie did today?" She looks down at the boy, "Show him."
However, Victor stays silent.
"Are you serious?! C'mon, say it, say it, say mama."
Victor looks up at her, then he turns away towards the sweet orange smell that's capturing his attention. He tries to free himself from his mom's grasp, but she refuses to let him go. He's not sure what she wants from him, so he babbles incoherently to himself.
Francisco notices that Lynn isn't going to let their son down, so he decides to put the boy out of his misery, "I believe you."
"But you should hear it," she whines. "C'mon Vic, say it one more time."
Lynn sighs as he quiets down. He's not going to say it.
Elena notices Victor toddling towards the open bottle of orange oil. She quickly scoops him up and offers to take him inside so that he can go play with his toys instead of making a mess in the garage.
Lynn watches as the two head into the house. Francisco goes back to working on his project, though fully aware of his wife staring at him.
"How was today?"
"Good. I'm almost done with the rocking horse."
"And what about Elena?"
He nods his head, "I think it went fine. She's grounded for the next two weeks, I took her phone-"
Francisco notices the look on her face. After Elena's behavior towards her yesterday, he sort of expected her to understand, so he reminds her, "I'm punishing her for her acting out the way she did, and having Noah over when she shouldn't, not for making out with him. I made that clear with her."
"Right…" is all Lynn says, with a playful smile on her face.
"You know, I was thinking about something."
Lynn pushes the rocking horse forward, "This smells sweet."
"Yeah, listen-"
"I bet Vic's gonna love it, sorry, I blew your surprise."
"It's fine. I don't think he even noticed.
"Yeah, you're probably right."
Francisco thinks about what Elena asked and he decides to ask, "Hey, do you think you would have done what Elena did if you were in her shoes? Like if you and I were dating?"
"Maybe. Though I probably would have suggested Vanzilla instead of my room."
"Really?"
"Where else would we get privacy?" she can feel her cheeks burning up a little, "Besides, don't tell me you wouldn't?"
"I would have. Does that make us hypocrites?"
"Hey, we're pretending we're teenagers. We're parents now, we make the rules now."
"I know. I was just asking," says Francisco as he focuses his attention back on his project.
He feels Lynn's arms wrap around him, "So you would have been okay with being with me in the back of Vanzilla, making out, and having our own little fun times?"
A smile forms on his face, "Yeah. But I really wanna know, how far would have let me go?"
She gives him a kiss on the cheek, "That's my secret."
It's at the last possible minute, but I got the chapter out in time for an actual character birthdate. Anyway, it's been so long, and I've missed writing this. Yes, I've got some chapters prewritten, and they need a little polishing, but I wanted to get something out to everyone, especially those that have been so patient with me during these last couple of months
Thank you to everyone for reading this and I'll see you next time