Page 118 of Falling in Love with Two

“Fair point. What’s on your mind?”

“It’s about Leah,” I begin.

“What about her? Is the baby okay?”

“She and the baby are fine. Well, physically anyway. I wanted to talk to you about her upcoming birthday. Leah is turning thirty, and I want to do something special.”

“What do you have in mind?” She asks.

“I’m not exactly sure. I have some ideas, but I’m not entirely sure how to execute them. I really want to do something big, though. She’s going through some shit right now.”

“Of course, she is. She’s pregnant.”

I shake my head. “It’s more than that.”

“Oh? Like what?” She asks.

I wonder whether or not I should tell her. I’m not sure Leah would want other people to know. But what I do know is that my mom is comparable to a vault, and I could use her advice as to how to help.

“Leah and her mom have a…complicated history. They haven’t talked in years, and Leah wanted to go make amends. It didn’t end well. Her mom pretty much disowned her and told her what a disappointment she was. She took it really hard.”

She leans her elbows on the bar. “Well, yeah. I think anyone would take that pretty hard. Her mom sounds like an asshole.”

“You have no idea. I listen to her and try to make her feel better, but this is all kinds of uncharted waters for me. Do you know how hard it is, knowing I grew up with two parents who gave me all the unconditional love they could?”

She rolls her eyes at my sarcasm, but it still gets her to laugh. “You poor, poor thing. I’ll be sure to start treating you with apathy and contempt.”

“Please don’t. At least not until you help me with my problem.”

“I know this probably isn’t the answer you want to hear, but you don’t need to do anything to try to fix this. You just need to be there for her.”

“I really want to go over and tell her mom how worthless I think she is,” I say.

“And who exactly do you think that is going to help? Do you think it’ll magically make their relationship better?”

I reply “It would make me feel way better.”

“But?”

I groan. “It wouldn’t do anything to help Leah.

“Atta boy.”

“You know, I grew up in a house with five women. All of you instilled in me the notion of just listening to problems without trying to fix them. But it doesn’t make it easier to do nothing.”

“I know, sweetheart. But it’s not about what’s easier for you. It’s about what will make Leah’s life easier.”

“Does it ever get annoying always being right?” I ask.

“Not even a little bit.”

I smile. “Do you have any other pearls for wisdom besides do nothing?”

“Hey, I didn’t say to do nothing. I said to be there for her. Take it from someone who has been through something similar. When your dad and I got together, I had more baggage than you could carry on a luggage cart. He didn’t try to fix me or pressure me into anything. He just was there to make me laugh and keep my mind off the bad shit.”

“And that worked?”

“Well, we’ve been married damn near forty years and have five kids together…so, I’ll let you know.”

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