“Do you want to tell Mom?” Dad asks.
“No”
“I don’t know” Viv and I answer at the same time. Viv glances over at me but doesn’t push back the way she did before. Dad’s positive reaction to the news must have given Viv hope.
“What do you think, Dad?” I ask.
“I…” Dad stops to think, “I don’t think you should. Your mother would share the news with Tina, Charlotte, and Dr. Pernia. While she would tell them for all the right reasons, she wouldn’t want to wait until Lillie is ready, and well, I don’t think it’s a good idea for Dr. Pernia to know.” Dr. Pernia is a great doctor, but she is ambitious. Since they are friends, Dr. Pernia might try talking Mom into doing tests and sharing studies, and there is no telling whether or not Mom would hold her ground if we don’t want the information to spread.
“Well, Lillie does want to tell Charlotte. We talked about showing her before Lillie shifts.” I tell Dad.
“That sounds great. If you need my help, I’m here.” Dad smiles at me.
“Is that the only reason, Dad?” Viv asks in a quiet voice.
“What are you so scared of, Love?” Dad asks, readjusting to look more over at Viv, then me.
“Will she still want me around now that my temper is flaring up more?” Viv asks while playing with her hands. Dad sighs as he grabs Viv’s hand, and gently lifts her chin.
“We will never make you leave this house until you are ready. I would not allow it, and your mom would be devastated to know you were scared of such a thing.”
“But she always gets upset with me about my temper, saying that I don’t need to get so angry at stuff. If today was any indicator, it’s only going to get worse,” Viv states.
“I have an idea. How about we wait to tell her for now, and work on keeping our tempers in check first.” I suggest.
“That’s an excellent idea. Viv, how about you look up different ways to help your temper? I will get the notes from your therapy from when you were a kid as well. In the meantime, let’s come up with an excuse so you girls can go run in the backyard again.” We come up with a believable story, even if it is a bit of a stretch. We also look at other needs that have arisen. When we get to our bigger diet, Dad looks over to me.
“How about you keep track of how much you eat, and we’ll see how much we need to adjust.” I agree. We quickly finish coming up with our to-do lists, before it’s time to start dinner.
“So Viv, since you didn’t get to fix lunch, do you want to make dinner?” I look over with a sly smile. She rolls her eyes, shaking her head.
“How does burnt grilled cheese sound?” She retorts.
“I think I’ll just cook instead.” Dad volunteers. Viv and I watch television while Dad makes dinner, and then join him at the table when it’s ready. Viv and I accidentally end up splitting the portion meant to be saved for Mom, so I quickly remake her portion.
“We should also start inviting your friends over more so that I have an excuse to buy more groceries," Dad jokes as he starts working on the dishes. I shrug, as I put the plate in the fridge to avoid eating it again. I sit at the island to start my food journal when I hear my phone ring.
“Hey, Lillie. How are you feeling?” I move over to the couch in the living room.
“Still not good. Mother Charlotte is here with me now.” Lillie answers. “So about what we talked about yesterday… Are you still down?” It takes me a minute to remember.
“Oh, you mean showing Charlotte?” I ask when the memory finally pops into my head.
“Yes. Are you free?”
“We are. Also, my Dad knows and volunteered to help if she freaks out.”
“You already told him?” Lillie sounds surprised. “I thought Viv would be against it for sure.”
“She was. But he caught us fighting out back and Viv ended up changing forms in front of him.” Lillie snorts.
“So, how did he react?”
“Really good, I’m glad he found out. Even though that wasn’t the best way.”
“Just say I told you so and get on with it.” I hear Viv grumble.
“If you don’t like what you hear, stop eavesdropping.” I respond to Viv, before telling Lillie, “Sorry, that was for Viv.”
“It’s ok, and that’s great about how your Dad took the news. Anyway, Mother Tina is going to the store at 9 tomorrow…” We set up a time to talk to Charlotte before saying our goodbyes. I get up and let Dad know the plan before finishing my food journal. As I finish, I decide it has been too long since I’ve written I've written in my journal so I go up to do so while I wait for Mom to come home. I’m just finishing writing down a plan for the morning when Mom’s car pulls into the driveway.
I walk back downstairs and end up greeting her at the same time as Viv.
“Good evening, girls. Have you two made up?” Mom asks. She sounds tired. It must have been an exhausting shift. We nod in response. “Mind telling me what the fight is about?”
“Mostly school drama. There’s a rumor going around about me, and I wasn’t planning to do anything about it.” I tell Mom like we planned earlier. Who knew a rumor started by Shasha would come in handy now.
“Have you talked to the teachers about it?”
“Yes.” I answer.
“Then you’ve done what you needed to do and that settles it. So, no more going to the backyard until they catch the cougar, alright?” Mom says, sitting down on the couch by Dad. I sit on the chair beside the couch.
“Well, I got some good news on that end.” Dad jumps in. “The neighbors called some rangers over. They were able to find and move the cougar, so it should be safe again.”
“Great news. But let’s avoid it for the next couple of days, just to be safe.” Mom says. “We’ll go on a hike at the end of the week if you listen.”
“Sounds good.” I agree, though I doubt we’ll make it that long. “How was your day?”
“It was long.” Mom pauses to yawn. “Did y’all save me dinner?”
“Of course.” Viv says. Mom thanks us before getting up to find it. I yawn as well, ready to head to bed, and can tell Viv and Dad are tired as well. I get up and tell everyone goodnight before heading upstairs.
The next morning, I end up getting up early. I feel restless, like I really want to run. Unfortunately, Dad still wants us to follow Mom’s rules the best we can, and I don’t think I am going to lose control, so instead, I go down and fix breakfast.
Mom comes and grabs some before heading out. I tell her to have a good day and she reminds me to stay out of the forest. Shortly after, Viv comes down and sits at the table while I finish the last of the bacon.
“Just had to wake me up early?” She accuses me as she yawns.
“I don’t see how cooking is waking you up.” I shrug. Viv holds up a piece of bacon.
“Do you expect me to just dream of bacon while you eat it all?” She takes a bite while raising an eyebrow at me. I shake my head before eating my own plate. Dad comes down just as we are plating our second helping and joins us. We each go our separate ways after eating and I go to the living room with my notebook. I look at my plan once again until the phone rings.
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