Eyes on You

Pippa

"What about Luna?" I posed, thinking of our 8 year old with the humongous heart. She loved so fully. She'd be heartbroken if her sister moved away.

Lin dropped his head, nodding. The girls had been through so much together. "She would take it hard."

We were both silent, mulling over that thought, when Luna came running back in. "Can we go to the park?" she asked excitedly. I looked at my watch.

"You could have a quick trip before dinner," I said. "Lin, do you wanna take them?"

"Sure," he said. "Go get your shoes."

Luna ran off to her room and returned moments later with her well worn-in tennis shoes. Lin helped Ellie with her shoes and soon they were out the door. I got busy with the dinner when a call came through on my cell phone from Isabel.

"Hi, Isabel," I greeted her warmly as I multi-tasked.

"Hi Pippa," she said back, her voice sounding happy. I wasn't used to hearing this and I loved it.

"I heard you went to school with Brissa the other day," I said. "How was that?"

"Oh, it was good," she replied. "The teachers seem pretty crazy strict though."

"A lot of Catholic schools are like that," I agreed. "Have you been getting along with Brissa?"

"Yeah, actually," Isabel said. "Really well. She's pretty cool. Listen, Pippa - I wanted to ask you something. Something I didn't want to talk to Uncle Lin about."

I wondered if it was female issues. Nothing made Lin more uncomfortable than female issues.

"Sure, what is it?" I asked.

"Promise not to bring it up with Uncle Lin?" she asked hesitantly.

"Of course," I assured her. "You can trust me."

"Well," she paused. "I'm wondering if I should try staying down here a little longer than two weeks. Since I've been back I've realized how much I kind of like it here."

"Lin and I were just talking about that actually," I told her. "We wondered if you'd decide to hang around a bit longer."

"Really?" she sounded relieved. "So you think it's a good idea?"

"I think it could be a good thing," I told her. "You've been struggling a lot here. It might be good just to be away from everything. Away from the Latin Kings. Away from your old school."

"Yeah me too," she said. "Maybe I could start up online school here and stay through the summer."

"Have you talked to your dad about this?" I asked.

"No, not yet," she said. "I'm...I'm worried about Luna. She might not understand."

"Well, it might be hard at first, but she'd join you down there in the summer," I reminded her. "Lin and I would take care of her, so don't worry about that."

Isabel seemed to have almost a motherly instinct with her little sister. For a while, she had basically been in the role of mom for Luna. I could understand her want to protect her.

"Okay," she said quietly. "I've gotta go. We're heading out to eat in a few."

"Sounds good," I told her, making sure to still sound happy. Though there were mixed feelings about her being away, I didn't want her to stress over how Lin and I might react. I wanted to support her in whatever she did.

We hung up and I turned my attention back to dinner. I texted with Lin to make sure they'd be back when it was just about finished. They walked back in just as I was dishing everything out. Lin took Ellie to wash her hands and soon we were all seated around the table.

"Did you have fun at the park?" I asked the girls.

"Uh-huh," Luna said. "How long is Isabel staying with Papi?"

"About two weeks," I told her.

"Can I go down there too?" she asked us hopefully.

"We talked about that, remember?" Lin reminded her gently. "Isabel hasn't visited in years so she needs some time alone with Papi."

She sighed, looking disappointed as she pushed her food around with her fork.

"But she's not alone," she countered. "Carlos and Guadalupe and Brissa are there. It's not fair!"

"You'll go this summer," I reminded her, reaching across to put my hand on hers. She was looking upset, feeling left out. "Why don't we do something special this weekend. Go visit somewhere fun?"

Luna looked up at me, and I could tell that made her a little happier.

"Maybe Coney Island?" I suggested. The weather had been getting better. I could tell that caught her interest.

"Can we get cotton candy?" she asked.

"If you're good," I told her, which was really a given. Luna rarely got in trouble. She perked up a bit after that. After we'd finished dinner, we sent the girls to play while we did the dishes.

"Hopefully Coney Island will take her mind off things," I commented as I rinsed.

"Yeah," Lin agreed. "Good idea. I don't know what we'll do if Isabel decides to stay."

The water had been running so we hadn't heard Luna approach the kitchen.

"She might stay?" she asked, stepping around the corner. The look on her face was heartbreaking. Lin and I looked at each other, sharing the same thought. This was the last thing we needed Luna to overhear.

"Maybe for just a little longer," I quickly side-stepped.

"How much longer?" she asked, her face full of emotion.

"We don't know, but maybe another week or two," I went on.

"And you'll join her in the summer," Lin added. We were both watching her nervously, wondering how she would react.

She narrowed her eyes at us. "You're lying aren't you? She's gonna stay."

I stepped forward but Luna stepped backwards to keep away. "No, sweetheart. We wouldn't lie to you. Isabel's thinking of staying a little longer, but we don't know yet."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded.

"We didn't want to upset you," I said gently, stepping forward again. Luna looked at me with hurt in her eyes, turned and ran down the hallway. Her door slammed moments later. Lin and I both sighed, feeling like idiots.

A/N: Should Isabel...
Stay in PR
Go back to NYC

Should the twins be...
Girls
Boys
Girl and boy