While Rick had the water flowing into the sink to wash his hands, Dillon leaned in to whisper in his mom’s ear. “You asked if you could do anything. Will you call Lina and invite her to Sunday dinner? And then please don’t tell anyone else anything. I’ll do it that night.”
She nodded. “I can certainly do that.”
***
Lina stared at her email from the DNA company. The results from her test were back, and while it was fun to know that she had a little bit of Pacific Island and South Asian roots along with her mostly Scandinavian background, that wasn’t why she had ordered the test.
What if she had done all this and nobody was out there? Or what if they were and didn’t want to meet? What if she found out things she didn’t want to know? The only information Lina had on her dad was his first name, Derek, and that he didn’t know about her. Almost thirty years had gone by. She didn’t need raising. What was it she wanted from him? Information? Closure? To know he was okay? Finding him was something she had always wished for, but now that it might be an option, she was scared of the unknown. She was scared of getting her hopes up only to have them dashed.
Delaying, she picked up her phone, checking for the latest update from Ashley and Chase. Ashley had gone to the hospital with labor pains a few hours earlier, but didn’t know if they’d admit her. No new text messages. Nothing new on social media either.
Lina texted Paige, knowing she’d be close by and would know what was going on.How is she?
Paige’s answer popped up a minute later.False labor. They sent her home. She’s embarrassed, like she’s supposed to be an expert in labor cues or something. A call from you would cheer her up for sure.
Lina didn’t have to be asked twice. She scrolled to Ashley’s number and called, waiting for her to answer.
“Lina? I was about to call you, except I can’t stop crying, and I really don’t have a reason to cry. Who looks forward to labor?”
“Ash. It’s gonna be okay. Paige told me to call and cheer you up. What would cheer you up?”
Ashley sniffled. “Tell me your drama. What’s the latest with Dillon? Or should I not ask?”
Lina smiled. “You may ask. He came over after you and Paige left and we … worked things out.”
“That’s an awesomely vague answer.” Ashley pressed for more details, oohing and ahhing at the right times.
It gave Lina a chance to reflect on the past few days. She and Dillon’s morning workouts were a lot less productive, but refreshing in a totally different way, now that they ended with toe-curling, sigh-inducing goodbye kisses.
Lina felt utterly giddy, but it was laced with an underlying panic. She was in the heady, first few days of a relationship when everything felt like rainbows and unicorns, but eventually it always fizzled out. Until Brenda had called, gushing with apologies and inviting Lina to every Sunday dinner until the end of time, a small part of her hadn’t quite believed that Dillon would follow through on his promise to fix things.
Lina liked to tease him about his hesitancy, but Lina had a lot of hesitancy of her own. Like she was waiting for him to lose interest. And she couldn’t tell him, because then he would feel obligated to stay with her. Dillon was an obligation kind of guy, after all.
She only shared a fraction of that hesitation with Ashley, knowing now wasn’t a good time for them to dig into Lina’s relationship problems. Ashley had bigger things to worry about.
The conversation turned to the late arrival of Ashley’s little man, who was now three days over his due date.
Ashley sighed. “Tyler has been calling the baby Blimpie for so long sometimes I slip and call him that too.”
“Blimpie?” Lina giggled. “How did he come up with that?”
“Who knows? It’s a character in a comic Tyler draws. Blimpie’s this little gremlin looking thing with fire coming out of his head. But he’s a good guy. Tyler reassures me of it every time he shows me his comics and Blimpie’s blasting people with his fire hands. ‘But he’s a good guy, Ash,’ he says.”
“How is Tyler going to do with a new baby in the house?”
“He’s so excited. They’re all excited, Lina. I’m going to have so many helpers. And it might get overwhelming, but how is that any different than the zoo we’re already running?” Ashley started crying.
“Oh, Ash. Is that a good cry or a sad cry? I can’t tell over the phone.”
“It’s definitely a good cry. But everything makes me cry right now. There’s a commercial they keep playing on the Hallmark channel where this old man shuffles down the hall with a breakfast tray…” Ashley began sniffling again. “It’s so sweet.”
“Who is this sentimental girl, and what have you done with my no-nonsense friend, Ashley?”
Ashley hiccupped and laughed. “She’s on a hormone rush, but she’ll be back soon, I promise.”
“I’ll love you either way.” Before Lina said goodbye, she considered whether to tell Ashley about the DNA results being back, but decided to keep it to herself. She hated keeping so much inside, but it felt necessary. Lina loved Ashley’s strong, opinionated, fierce love, but it wasn’t what Lina needed when it came to something like this.
Paige would be more level-headed about it, and Corrie would be more understanding, but she didn’t call them either. This was something she had to face alone, at least initially. She had so many of her own hopes and dreams riding on this that the thought of adding anyone else’s was overwhelming.
