“And you’re feeling okay?”
“Yup.” She stares at me for a minute like she’s trying to catchme in a lie. “Seriously, Mom, I’m great. Even after all the beer last night,” I joke. She narrows her eyes at me, then huffs, knowing I wouldn’t dare. The coffee finishes running, and I fill her mug.
She pats my hand as thanks and then falls into her morning routine of coffee and the paper. Abbi appears in a matching pajama set as I slide the second batch of pancakes into the oven to stay warm. She grabs a mug and some coffee, and I ask her to pour me one too.
“What time is your appointment with Dr.Lee? And aren’t you supposed to stick to tea?” she asks, holding my Black Dog mug hostage.
“It’s not till ten. And I’m fine and allowed to have a little coffee.” I grab my mug from her and pour myself half a cup. Abbi may have gone back to school in the spring, but she occasionally gets like this still, worried over nothing. I don’t want to see her slip back into a version of herself where my health is at the center of her life. I want us all to just enjoy right now.
“Right, right, sorry,” she says. She starts setting the table while I finish the last batch of pancakes and move the bacon to the drip plate.
Dad comes in next, freshly showered, and peels the pages he wants out of Mom’s hands. I set the pancakes in the middle of the table with a flourish.
“Wow, what service.” Dad forks two onto his plate and waves his mug around until I grab the pot and bring it to the table with me. “Hey, don’t you have an appointment soon?” he asks.
“James.” Mom warns him to back off even though she and Abbi have already done exactly the same thing. I can’t help but laugh. Adjusting to our lives not revolving around my appointment schedule could definitely happen faster for me.
“Yes.” I shovel a warm bite into my mouth and sigh in delight. “Damn, I’m good.”
“Well, you could always go work for the Waterses if camp counseling doesn’t suit you,” Dad says.
“I don’t think Maddy would let me in the kitchen,” I admit.
“Not after that hand pie disaster at the town fair two years ago,” Abbi adds.
“It’s not my fault salt and sugar look exactly the same,” I moan.
Mom laughs and takes another bite. “Well, at least you followed this recipe correctly.”
“I’m going to love teaching,” I say, even though I’ve never done it before. “I won’t need another job.”
“What about you, Abbi? Decided about that offer to coach volleyball?” Dad asks.
“Yeah,” Abbi says, blowing on her black coffee. “It’s too last-minute, I have research for that scholarship paper, and Cam and I have our Maine trip in August, so I said no.”
“All right. Be young. Have no responsibilities. But remember your car payment is on you.”
“Dad, I have plenty saved up from theGlobeinternship.”
“Okay, okay,” Dad says, backing off.
I hide my smile from Abbi and Mom, unable to help enjoying Abbi getting reprimanded, and keep eating until my plate is wiped clean.
After we’re all done, Dad starts cleaning up, and I take my iPad to the screened-in porch and log in to my online health chart. As I click on the video link to my appointment with Dr.Lee, I catch a flicker of motion through the bushes between our house and the Tisdales’. I was always jealous that Luke’s parents weren’t the overprotective type. My health issues turned my parents into total helicopters. But Luke has been pretty much perfectly healthy since the surgery. Plus his mom has his two little brothers to run around after—chaos monsters at six and eight the last time I saw them. My screen chimes as Dr.Lee logs in.
“Hi, Sera.”
“Hi, Dr.Lee. How’s your Monday?”
“Good so far, thank you. How are you?”
Mom slips onto the wicker love seat next to me, and Abbi and Dad come around behind. In my camera view, I can only see Dad’s crossed arms, but Abbi leans down so her curls brush my ear. You’d think we all had heart conditions.
“I’m good too. Feeling great, actually.”
“Any of those side effects coming up?”
“Nope.”
