Lisa nods as I speak. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to move back to California and be closer to your family?”
I shake my head. “I can’t live with them. I love my parents and my sister, but we don’t get along well under the same roof. And they just don’t understand about Austin’s needs. They think I’m too soft on him, that if I just force him to play with other kids or eat his vegetables that he’ll ‘come right’.” I put air quotes around the phrase my mom uses every time we talk about Austin’s autism.
Lisa grimaces. “Okay, yeah, that doesn’t sound healthy.” She drains her wine glass and pours herself another drink. “Do you think Sam will stay if you tell him you can’t go to India?”
“I don’t know.” I mull over the question for a minute. “But is it fair to ask him to stay for me? As you said, we’ve only known each other for a few months. Isn’t that just as bad as him asking me to move?”
“I don’t think so,” Lisa says. “He’s already here, and he doesn’t have a child who could be adversely affected by staying. It’s not a big thing to ask him to stick around to date you for a while. It’s not like he has a job and an apartment waiting for him in New Delhi or something… Does he?”
“No. He said something about going to help out people who really need it. Not sure what means. Frankly, I don’t think he’d really thought any of it through. I’m kinda wondering if he was just freaking out after Munchkin died. Grief can make people say strange things…”
“Yeah, that’s the truth,” Lisa acknowledges, and we sit in silence for a minute, sipping our wine. She’s given me a lot to think about, and some of it doesn’t sit easy with me.
I start to wonder if I’m overreacting to this whole situation. The conversation with Sam came from a bad emotional place, and maybe I’ve been too harsh. It’s just that I’m so protective about my little ‘family unit’ – me and Austin against the world. Sam’s destabilized things, that’s for sure, but do I really need to be so hard-assed about it?
Should I be giving us a chance?
