“You don’t seem shocked that he never told me.”
“You guys barely know each other, and guys are different from us,” she says. “They don’t share their secrets so soon.”
“Soon? We’ve been sharing a bed and a house for almost a month, Eva.”
“A month is a short time,” she says. “And sharing a bed is fun but it doesn’t mean real intimacy. That’s just the physical side of it.”
“Maybe so, but a child is a big deal. It’s one of the first things you tell someone about yourself.”
“My advice is to listen to the whole story before jumping to conclusions,” Eva says. “You don’t need to tell a new lover your whole life history. It should be uncomplicated fun at the beginning. The rest of the garbage can come later.”
I giggle at her choice of words but she’s right on one thing. Relationships come with a lot of baggage and I for one am not ready to deal with Logan’s baggage.
It turns out to be a good day with an influx of new inquiries for people interested in our classes. We’re also getting a lot of traffic from the daycare next door. It’s a relief to have our services needed and our business taking off the way it is.
Lexi texts me and we agree to go to Mom’s together.
Chapter 17
Vanessa
Lexi picks me up at half-past twelve.
“Hey, sis,” she says and I lean across the gear shift to give her a kiss on the cheek.
“How are the babies?” I ask her even though I’d seen them when I dropped off Ivy this morning.
“Good, energetic as always,” Lexi says and starts chuckling. “Luna realized today that Ivy is a girl just like her.” We laugh as she regales me with tales of the morning shenanigans with the children.
“Why was Mom being so mysterious on the phone yesterday?” I ask Lexi.
She glances at me. “This doesn’t remind you of anything from the past?”
I shake my head.
“She has a new man. What else could it be?” Lexi says, misery coating her voice.
My spirits dampen further. When Mom has a new man, chaos follows. She goes back to drinking and before you know it, she’s off traveling with him, to this art show and that concert and always in another state. It’s exhausting and mentally draining. Now that I have Ivy, I don’t know how I will cope with Mom’s issues.
The last time she left, she returned home broken, like a doll that needed to be patched back together. Lexi and I had taken her to another rehab. I’d visited her as much as I could which was once or twice a week. When she got out of rehab, I’d stayed with her, encouraging her when the going got tough. It had taken a lot of sacrifice on my part and I’m not sure I can do it again. Ivy comes first in my life now and Mom’s problems are always self-inflicted.
“I hate this,” I say with feeling. “I’m tired of nursing her back to health.” I don’t need to explain further. Lexi knows exactly what I mean.
“It’s a wonder we turned out sane,” Lexi says.
“It’s thanks to you, Lexi. You were a mother even back then.” I reach out to squeeze her free hand.
“You were easy to mother,” she says and brings the car to a stop in front of our old childhood home. She kills the engine but instead of opening the door, she turns to me.
“If this is what we think it is, Mom will have to sort herself out this time. She needs to grow up now. Seriously. She can’t keep doing this to us.”
“I agree. We have children and they need us. Mom is an adult and it’s time she acted like one,” I say.
We stare at each other in perfect agreement, just like we’ve always done. A soft expression comes over Lexi’s features.
“I’m sorry, Vanessa, I shouldn’t have tried to force you to see things my way. Ace made me see that you’re an adult now. I can’t keep treating you like my little sister.”
“I like it when you treat me like your little sister, except it comes between us,” I tell her.
“I know and I’m sorry. I could be wrong about Logan, and I hope that I am. Either way, I shouldn’t tell you who to be with and who not to,” she says.
I swallow hard and smile. Lexi is so right but there is no way I’m going to tell her that. It’s humiliating enough to find out that your lover has a child from another woman over the phone.
“Nothing can come between us again, Vanessa,” she says, tears filling her eyes. “We’ve been close from the beginning, and I don’t want that the change.”
Emotions come over me too and I wipe away tears. “Me too. I love you so much, Lexi.”