Dear Darling

67

Theresa

I didn't know if I'd ever see the day that Josephine would be happy again. Truly happy. I knew that she would be able to move on, that we all would, from the loss of April. I knew that she would be able to pick up the pieces just like David and I had to as well, and hopefully we would be able to do it together, but I didn't know if I would see her healing grow into anything more than that.

I had hoped that she would find someone or something to light up her life, and I was glad to see that maybe she had.

Seeing her with Dylan, it was like she was a totally different person. They seemed to move in sync; when one was separate from the other, they unconsciously gravitated together. They had come back down from Jo's room about twenty minutes ago, knowing that David would be home soon.

The minute I saw their cherry-tinted lips, I knew that things might not have been exactly PG up in that room; but nevertheless, I didn't say anything. I knew what it was like to be young and in love, and if my eldest daughter was lucky enough to experience that at least once in her life, well I wasn't going to stop her from having that.

I was getting dinner ready; I had decided on spaghetti tonight. As I stood in front of the stove, stirring the pasta in its pot, I smiled at the memory of my first love.

Thomas Levinson. I was sixteen when we had met; he was a year older. I remember thinking that the sun and the moon revolved around him and our love. We used to run around town, causing trouble and finding new ways to try and take on the world. I was a kid then, and I thought that the two of us would be together forever. Now that I was older, I knew that it had been nothing more than a crush; as most loves are. The love I had for Thomas Levinson was nothing compared to what I had with David Brown.

And I could see that Jo and Dylan had nothing like the love Thomas Levinson and I had.

The two of them were in the living room; I could hear the television going, the voices of actor personalities sounding through to the kitchen.

David had texted a few minutes ago, saying he'd be home soon, and I was slightly anxious for his reaction to meeting Dylan. I knew that my husband was not as opposed to the idea of his daughter having a boyfriend as he pretended to be, but Dylan's arrival was severely unexpected.

I didn't know why he was here, and I wasn't sure if Jo would tell me, but I had a feeling. Call it a mother's intuition if you'd like, but I somehow knew that not everything was okay. I had learned long ago that Jo dealt with things in her own way, and now that she was eighteen, she could deal with her problems relatively by herself; but I hoped that she might come to me or her father.

I moved to the sink, looking out the window for David's car. I saw it turn onto the end of the street, coming closer to our home, and I called out to Jo.

"Dad's home!"

The chatter from the tv stopped. I heard the two young people in my living room whisper to each other for a moment, before the two of them came into view.

They both looked nervous; Dylan had an expression of fearful anxiety, and I immediately felt there was more going on in his head than just the nerves from meeting David. Jo looked calmer than Dylan, but I couldn't help but notice the way she kept glancing to him.

Jo smiled at me before leaving Dylan and I alone as she left the house. I looked out the window and saw her run out to meet her dad at the car.

"Don't be nervous," I told Dylan, switching off the burner on the stove. "David might pretend to be hard on you, but both of us are completely supporting you and Jo."