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“Mrs. Allen, how are you?” Ace says. He introduces himself and invites her in. I’m stiff as I follow them into the house.
Mom looks around the apartment. She looks as out of place as I felt when I first moved on.
“I’ll be bathing Luna,” Ace says. The unspoken words hang in the air. Call me when you need me.
I nod. “Okay, thanks.”
Mom sits down. “You snagged yourself a rich one,” she says in a loud whisper. “I always knew you were the smart one between you and your sister.”
An avalanche of anger comes over me. “Don’t talk about Vanessa like that,” I hiss. “It’s a wonder she turned out so well after what you did to us.”
Her eyes blaze. “You’re back to that, are you? You think you’re the only one who had problems. I did too! I had two children to take care of and my man had taken off. It was hard for me.”
I stare at her in disbelief. “Mom, you were the adult! It was your job to take care of us, just like it’s my job to take care of Luna.”
Her face immediately softens. “Speaking of my grandchild, I’d like to meet her.”
I stare at her for a moment. She smiles at me as though we had not been shouting at each other just seconds ago.
“I’ll go get her,” I say.
The sound of Luna’s laugh greets me as I walk down the hallway. My soul refills with every step I take closer to Luna and Ace. When I enter her bedroom, I have a genuine smile.
“You’re having fun without me,” I say.
Luna is in her princess pajamas and she smells sweetly clean. She’s bouncing on the bed and Ace is standing protectively at the edge to make sure she doesn’t fall off. Every little girl’s dream dad.
“We were just about to join you,” Ace says, searching my face.
“I’m okay,” I mouth to him.
There’s a lot to be grateful for. Mom is sober and it looks as if she has been for a couple of weeks. Not that I’m holding out hope that she’ll stay that way. But for tonight, I can pretend that she’s a regular mom and try and enjoy the evening.
The rest of the evening is better. After her initial excitement, Mom loses interest in Luna. It shouldn’t matter but it stings. I don’t know why I expected a different outcome. Mom is selfish and she’ll always be.
During dinner, we manage to keep a conversation going, even though my mom’s idea of decent dinner time conversation is definitely not most people’s.
“What do you do?” she asks Ace.
“I’m a firefighter,” Ace says.
“How nice,” she says and then frowns. “How do you afford all this from a firefighter’s paycheck?”
“Mom!” I say, horrified but Ace takes it in his stride and laughs.
“Your father was a firefighter. I know how much they earn,” she says. It’s the first time she’s ever mentioned our father.
“I never knew that,” I say softly. My father was a firefighter! And Luna’s dad is a firefighter. imagine that!
“Which fire department did he work in?” Ace asks and I could kiss him.
“Out of state,” Mom says vaguely. From the look on her face, I know that the topic is closed.
I swallow my disappointment. She has never told us anything about our biological dad and the years have dulled my curiosity. I shove my excitement back down again.
After dinner, I take Mom out to the balcony while Ace takes Luna to bed.
“I suppose you think you’re all grand now that you live in this fancy house,” Mom says, her tone deceivingly friendly.
I inhale deeply. I will not let her rattle me. When she wasn’t drinking, she liked to entertain herself with me. For some reason, I’ve always brought out the worst in her. She used to behave as if she hated me. It seems as if that hasn’t changed.
I ignore her statement. “How long have you been sober?”
“None of your business!” she snaps. That’s another trait she had. If you mentioned her drinking problem, she acted as though it was a secret file in the CIA archives.
“I’m only asking because I want to get ready for the upheaval you’ll cause in our lives when you start drinking again.” My tone is friendly.
Something happens and she drops her haughty attitude “I’m really determined to try this time, Lexi. I want to turn my life around. It’s not too late is it?”
“It’s not too late,” I grudgingly admit.
“I’ve made a mess of things but I’m back and I want to make everything right, starting with your sister’s boyfriend. I don’t like the looks of him. He’s too lazy. Vanessa does everything.”
Silently, I agree with her.
“I have to make her see sense,” she says.
“It might be best to let her get him out of her system,” I suggest.
“You might have helped here and there, but I’m Vanessa’s mom and I know best,” she says, an angry tone in her voice.
