NICK
“So,how was the surprise birthday party?” Dr. Lavine asked as he settled back into his chair.
“It was good.” Which he would know if he’d come. Jada told me that she’d sent him an invitation. “It wasn’t actually a surprise, though. Bella overheard people talking about it at Alex and Sadie’s wedding and told me about it. She wanted to know if she could come.”
Dr. Lavine grinned. “Was Naomi able to make it?”
“No, she was too tired.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Yeah, I really wished she could be there, but last week we celebrated at home.”
“You did?”
I nodded. “Yeah, and not just my birthday. Bella asked me the week before last if Noami would be here for the holidays. I told her I didn’t think so and she asked if we could celebrate early. So, we celebrated everyone’s birthday on Thursday night. We had Christmas on Monday. Thanksgiving on Tuesday. Halloween on Wednesday. Birthdays Thursday. And Friday we had Easter. I wanted to give Bella those memories.”
“Mmm,” Dr. Lavine made the non-committal noise that told me he wasn’t buying what I was selling.
I was telling the truth. At least part of it. It had started out for Bella, but it ended up doing so much for me. Callie, Lola, and Skye had all come over for the occasion, and it felt like a real family Christmas, which was all I’d ever wanted as a kid. I’d changed the screensaver on my phone to the photo of us all around the tree.
“And how are things going in your personal life? You mentioned last time we talked that you thought you might be having a midlife crisis because you’re not interested in women the same way you had been.”
Dr. Lavine and I hadn’t spoken about Skye in my last session. I’d purposefully avoided any mention of her. She’d been living with me at the time, and for some reason, I felt protective of her. I was tempted to not say anything about her now, but I knew that I had to.
Last night, dropping Skye off at her apartment felt wrong. I’d gone home and laid in bed staring at the ceiling all night with a hollow feeling in my chest. I couldn’t shake it. Nothing felt right without her.
“Skye, Callie, and Lola moved out,” I blurted out.
Dr. Lavine looked down at his notes. “Skye, Callie, and Lola?”
Shit.I hadn’t even told him that they were living with me. Or who Callie and Lola even were.
“Skye is the hospice nurse I told you about. The one who doesn’t date. Callie is her daughter; she’s fifteen; and Lola is her mom.”
“And they were living with you?”
“Yes. She had to evacuate from her building due to structural issues.”
“And she asked to stay with you?”
“No,” I quickly clarified. “No, she didn’t want to. I sort of had to talk her into it.”
He didn’t say anything, just waited for me to continue.
“Anyway, they were there for about six weeks, but they moved home two weeks ago.”
I stopped, waiting to hear what he thought about the living arrangements but all I got was crickets.
“Anyway, it was amazing having them there,” I continued. “Callie and Bella are like sisters. Lola and Naomi are best friends and Skye and I…” I wasn’t sure how to explain what we were. “We got close. And last night, after my party, I asked her to move back in.”
His eyes widened. “You did?”
Dr. Lavine rarely had any visible reaction to anything. I was sure after being in practice for forty years, not much shocked him. But that news clearly took him by surprise.
“Yes.” Talking about Skye made me feel like I wanted to crawl out of my skin. It made me anxious and uncomfortable. But that was probably more reason that I should.
“Why did you ask her to move back in?”
