To Be There

chapter thirty-seven | quality time with good stories

James

"Hey, Jay?"

"Yes, El?"

"When can Lia visit us?"

James eats some of his chips from a bag of Ruffles he holds in his hands. He turns to his sister. Elissa sits beside him on the couch munching on some chips too. The siblings sit relaxed in the living room spending their Monday evening together.

"Good question. How about I ask her if she can visit us this week?"

Elissa's eyes brighten at this suggestion. "Really? You can ask?"

James nods. "Sure, I know how much you want her to visit."

"I do! I'd love to see her again."

Since Lia visited the Hales a month ago, Elissa's been asking lately when Lia's going to visit again. The young girl has been hoping to see the person she wants to be friends with. James finds this sweet to see and knows he can't ignore Elissa's request.

He and Lia have discussed it before. But since she's been busy the past few weeks, she hasn't had free time. But now that spring break has started, James thinks maybe now's a good time. They're off from school so there's no wrong in seeing if they can.

"Please let her know if we can still watch our movies together," Elissa sips her Capri Sun drink before looking at James with a "please tell her" look.

James nods showing he'll do it. "Don't worry, promise I will. I doubt she's changed her mind about watching them with you."

Elissa smiles, trusting that her brother will keep his word.

"Thanks, I can't wait to hear what she says."

"Me too." James smiles back.

The two continue to talk away. That relaxing vibe is what James is around this evening. It's him and Elissa spending time together.

It's their usual brother-sister hang-out. For this evening Elissa chose to watch TV for a few hours to spend her day. She and Chase are on spring break too since they're all in the same school district. Elissa loves this free time to do whatever makes her happy. And a way to do this is by relaxing with James. She would with Chase too, but he's napping in his room.

He's taking this chance to catch up on some sleep. I mean James doesn't blame him that's why he and Elissa left their brother to have time to rest for a few hours. Along with that James doesn't mind being at home. Today's been a peaceful day with not much going on so that's nice to see.

"Hey, Jay I know you like being Lia's friend."

James snaps out of his thoughts. His head whirls away from watching Fred and Barney taking care of baby Pebbles. "The Flintstones" plays on the TV. The cartoon's reruns are another one of James's favorites when he was a kid. And since Elissa loves it too they've been enjoying it together.

But now he sees Elissa observe him with a thoughtful look.

"I do like being her friend." James agrees with a knowing smile.

"What do you like about her? I want to learn more about Lia." Elissa asks. She puts her empty bag in her lap. She gives a listening ear to James.

That's sweet of her. James muses as he considers his little sister's actions. Elissa wants to know more about Lia, and the person she can go to is James. When it comes to Lia, he'll be happy to talk about her. It comes easy to him.

"I'd love to tell you more about her," James answers. "Let's see, well Lia's caring. That's one thing about her that's special. She'll make sure to check in with you. It can be big or small, but she'll love to do it."