“We’ll be four adults against two kids,” Mom adds. “Plus, we’ll avoid the layover.”
“Yeah,” Rachel sighs, defeated. “A single two-hour flight is definitely better than a four-hour layover…”
My chest swells with relief. Seems like she’s coming around to the idea.
All I want is for her to be happy.
“Well, that’s settled, then,” Mom says with a happy smile.
Next to her, Dad has nearly cleaned out his entire plate already, having said hardly anything.
“Oh, Karan, I almost forgot to tell you!” Mom bites her fork, swallows, and points her utensil to the twins. “I’m taking the boys to the movie theater next Sunday.”
“Uh, no,” Rachel immediately pipes up, her tone stiffer than how she usually speaks to my parents. “We’ve got plans that day. We’re visiting a friend in Estrie.”
She turns to look at me, looking for support.
Oh, yeah, I’d almost forgotten we’re going to visit Tania and Nolan in Roxton Falls that day.
“Yeah, sorry, Mom.”
Mom chuckles without humour. “Well, then, why don’t you go visit them on Saturday instead? I haven’t taken them to the movies in ages.”
“We can’t Saturday,” Rachel replies.
A hint of confusion blooms. What’s happening on Saturday?
“Actually, if you took the kids on Saturday, it would work out great, so I’ve got no problem on that day,” Rachel adds.
“Ugh… I guess I’m going to have to move stuff around on my schedule… but maybe I can make it work. You guys are always so busy!”
My brows furrow as I turn to Rachel. I’m almost scared to ask. Rachel already thinks I’m not present enough. If I start forgetting important events on top of it, I’m in trouble. “Sorry, what are we doing Saturday again?”
Rachel’s sheepish look is not what I expected. “I was about to tell you later tonight…”
So I didn’t forget anything.
Relief washes over me.
“Well, you can tell me now.” I smile encouragingly.
Rachel’s gaze darts around the room with a nervous energy before returning to me. “We’re moving my sister in the guest room.”
My eyes widen and my mouth goes dry, the shock hitting me like a bolt of lightning. The table goes quiet. Even the boys settle down at the bomb Rachel just dropped.
“Wait… what?”
I can’t help the shocked tone of my voice. Maybe I’m misunderstanding, or I heard wrong. Maybe Océane is only coming over to spend the weekend. Or Rachel said something else entirely, and my overloaded brain fed me back mush.
Rachel’s eyes go soft as she gives me an apologetic look. “Like I said, I was going to talk to you about this later… but something happened today.”
“What happened to the poor dear?” Mom pipes up with a hand on her chest.
Mom has only met Océane a couple of times, and helped us out when Rachel got her out of their childhood home, but that didn’t stop her from developing a sweet spot for her.
Rachel looks down. “She got hurt. She’s struggling to care for herself. I… She can’t be left on her own anymore.”
“Oh, that poor child…” Mom covers her mouth.
