I Fall Apart

Lin

"How am I supposed to apologize then?" she retorted, ever the smart alek.

"I'll take you myself," I told her, opening the door. She grumbled under her breath as I left, closing the door behind me. I sighed as I went back out to the kitchen. I thought about not letting her go to California with me, but I really thought it was important that she went with me. It was our time together. And maybe we needed it now more than I thought.

That night at dinner, Nora was in a miserable mood but Sebastian babbled on as usual, oblivious to the tension. She poked at her green beans, staring at them with her chin rested on her fist. I wanted to know what she was thinking about.

"And then the teacher said we don't bite our friends," Sebastian continued with his story.

I missed the first part of the story and wondered why his teacher had to remind the kids not to bite each other. Little kid stuff, I'm sure.

"You had an eventful day," Vanessa commented and Sebastian nodded, then took a big gulp of his milk. Dinner finished up uneventfully, and Nora seemed anxious to get back to her room.

"Nora, dishes," I called to her as she rinsed her plate in the sink. She sighed, but knew better than to argue with me when she was already in trouble. We all took our plates to the counter and V and I busied ourselves with bathtime for the boys. By the time we were done, Nora had already holed herself up in her room. I got out my laptop to get a bit of work done. I heard V knock on Nora's door. She was in there for a while.

When she came out about twenty minutes later, she grabbed a wine glass and poured us both a glass. I thanked her as she sat next to me and curled her legs up beside her.

"Nora's worried you won't take her to California," she reported, then took a sip of wine. I sighed and closed my laptop.

"I thought about it," I admitted. "But I want to spend time with her. If she's starting to experiment, maybe she needs my attention now more than ever."

She nodded. "I told her I didn't think you'd cancel it. But, you do realize pot is legal in California?"

I choked on my gulp of wine a little bit, then swallowed. I had forgotten that. "Shit."

Vanessa nodded. "I don't think she'd try to get any now that she's been found out."

I wasn't so sure. Nora was much better now, but she was still a firecracker. "I don't think she has the money anyway."

My desire to work anymore was kind of gone. I finished off my wine and told V I was going to bed. I rinsed out my wine glass and then stopped at Nora's room. She was still looking subdued. I closed the door behind me and sat on her bad.

"You okay?" I checked.

"Fine," she told me, eyes on the book she was reading.

"Listen," I started. "If you still want to go to L.A. with me, you're welcome to come. In fact, I think it would be good for us."

"Good for us?" she asked, looking at me.

"I feel like we haven't gotten a lot of time together lately," I told her. "I've been looking forward to some father daughter time."

She sighed and let her book drop a little. "Yeah. Okay," she said dismissively, but I suspected she liked the idea. Deep down, she was a daddy's girl.

"Good," I said. "Done with your homework?"

"Just doing the reading then going to bed," she told me. I nodded and then kissed her forehead. She smiled just a tiny bit. I don't think her mother was a very affectionate person; at least not from what I'd observed. It had taken her a while to get used to how affectionate my family was.

"Night, sweetheart," I told her.

"Night," she called as I left the room.

When I got to my bedroom, V was already pulling back the covers for us to get in. I quickly brushed my teeth and climbed into bed.

"The L.A. trip is still on," I reported as I laid down.

"Good," Vanessa said as she laid on her side. "That means I'll be stuck with two little boys on my own for three weeks."

I smirked and looked at her. "You're a rock star."

"Go on," she teased. I grinned as I turned onto my side.

"You're beautiful," I kissed her forehead. "And smart as hell," I kissed her right cheek.

I heard her giggle as I peppered her with kisses. "And you're crazy about me," I kissed her neck and then pulled back. She laughed and pushed me.

"You're such a tease," she said, letting her hand rub up and down my chest.

"Please," I told her. "All you have to do is flash those dimples and you've got me."

She smiled, showing said dimples. I spent my life working for those dimples. "Is that right?"

I didn't answer as she leaned down and captured my lips sweetly in hers.