Almost There

- 19 -

Later that evening, Tess stepped out into the back yard carrying a plate of steaks, following the smoky scent of the grill. "Hey, Dad."

"Hi, punkin." Robert looked up. "Thanks for bringing those out for me."

She held the plate up so he could take the steaks with his tongs, one-by-one, and lay them on the hot grill. "No problem. How was work?"

"Ohhh, just another day full of teeth," he replied.

"That sounds scarier than you probably thought it would."

"Well, when you think about them, root canals are pretty scary."

Tess laughed. "You don't have to think about them much to know that root canals are intense."

"Your mom talked to me."

Setting the emptied plate aside, Tess braced herself. "Okay—about which thing?"

Her dad turned toward her, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "Hmm, interesting. About your meeting with your English teacher. So there's another thing?"

Darn it, Tess. "Um, let's talk about the English thing first."

He closed the lid of the grill and set his tongs aside. "I think it's a great idea for you to get a tutor, Tess."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I'm proud of you. I hope it doesn't add too much of a burden to your schedule, but I think if a tutor can help make English a little less stressful, it's a no-brainer. Maybe you'll even learn some tricks and tips that'll help you when you get to college."

"I didn't think of it like that," Tess said. Maybe it was true; she would certainly learn more than she'd be able to on her own. "Thanks, Dad."

Robert gave her an expectant look. "Now what's the other thing?"

Tess grinned, deliberately taking on an awkward tone of voice. "Man, it's hot out here today. Do you want some lemonade? Mom made lemonade."

"Your mother's delicious lemonade cannot distract me. I've been married to her for 20 years and have built up an immunity. You're seeing that Isaac kid again, aren't you?"

"I...yeah. Maybe."

"Mmhmm. I'll bet you have 50 text messages that prove it conclusively."

Isaac had texted Tess while she was doing her homework, and they had settled on a day for their second date. Wrinkling her nose, Tess said, "You're kind of creepy-smart sometimes. We're going out for pizza on Friday."

"I've been your father for your entire life and have learned all of your ways, young lady. You going to introduce him to your mother and me?"

"Uhhh..." Tess winced. "Dad, I think you might scare him away."

"That's kinda the point." Robert kept a straight face for a moment before he cracked a grin. "All right, you can take your time. But hey...can you sneak me home a slice of pizza?"

"And risk Mom's wrath? ...Yes. Yes I will."

"That's my girl. Go on inside and help your mother set the table, punkin. I'll be in as soon as the steaks are done."

As Tess went inside, she reflected on her parents' reactions with a smile. She would have thought that Ms. Keene's request would make them worry, or even worse, upset them. On the contrary, both her mother and her father had responded with optimism to the news. Tess felt lucky that her parents were understanding and supportive. Their positive perspectives helped her see the whole thing as an opportunity. At the end of the day, maybe it wouldn't be so hard to go into this new experience with a positive attitude—everyone around her was uplifting her and encouraging her to see the bright side, and it made a huge difference in how she felt.

After she had set the table, Tess went into the living room, thinking she'd watch something on Netflix until dinner—maybe just part of an episode. She reached for the remote, which sat on the entertainment center, and as she did so, the family photos on the wall caught her eye.

Forgetting the remote for a moment, Tess folded her arms around herself and approached the photos. Near the top of the wall was her parents' wedding picture. It had been taken before her dad had worn glasses; he was in a black tux, smiling ear to ear, looking almost comically young to Tess.

And Clarette looked young, too; her blonde hair had been curled and piled on top of her head, and she wore a fluffy veil and a long gown with a sweetheart neckline. So '90s.

To the left of the wedding photo was Tess's baby picture, and below that, her most recent school photo. On the right was Julia's baby picture and her last school photo—the last one she'd ever have taken, her eighth grade portrait.

Tess reached out and gently straightened Julia's portrait, feeling deeply sad about everything Julia would miss, both the good and the bad. Julia would never stress out over what to wear on her first date. She'd never tote around an SAT guidebook, never need Tess's help with algebra or calculus, never read The Scarlet Letter. She'd never make friends with her locker neighbor, never see another Marvel movie, never drink their mom's amazing lemonade again.

Tess looked at the last of the pictures, the family photo they'd had taken just last year. They were all in a park, all wearing shades of blue. Her mom had been obsessed with coordinated outfits in family pictures. She'd spend weeks trying to get the right clothes together, like the world wouldn't know they were related if they didn't wear the same color.

But they were a family. It was there in their faces, in the way they held themselves around one another: Robert, Clarette, Tess, and Julia, the four of them an inseparable unit. The Morrison family had been made complete the day Julia had been born. The day she'd died, they'd been broken.

They loved each other deeply, but Robert, Clarette, and Tess would never be a complete family again. They couldn't be—not without Jules.