Page 148 of Skate the Line

Her glassy eyes peek at me. She’s confused, and I hope I’m not overstepping by what I’m about to say.

“My point is that the idea of momcan be different for everyone. It’s not an easy spot to fill.” I swallow. “But I’ll do my best to be whatever you want me to be.”

That seems to calm her.

“Here.”

My forehead furrows. “What?”

She’s staring at the photo of my nana. “I just want you to be here. With me. I don’t want you to leave.”

I glance at the TV and ignore the emotion clogging up my senses.

“I’ll always be here.” I get closer to her. “If I can deal with your grumpy daddy, I don’t think anything will scare me away.”

She giggles with me and hands me back my phone. “He’s not as grumpy with you around.”

I silently argue that she’s wrong, but deep down, I know she isn’t. I pretend like it doesn’t make me happy, because why would it?

I glance at the time. “Hey…do you wanna meet my babushka?”

“Your babushka?” She sits up a little taller. “Your nana? Right now?”

It’s not that late in Washington. She’ll answer, and she’s been dying to meet Ellie.

“Let's call her before the game starts. That way, you can meet my…mom.” I use quotations around the word mom, and she nods excitedly.

My nana answers after the fifth ring, and surprisingly, her face pops onto the screen, unlike last time we tried to video chat.

“Hi, sweetheart. Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”

I smile. “I could say the same. You figured out how to answer and have the camera facing the right way? I’m so proud.”

My nana flicks a light on, showing off more of her tired face. “Well, you’re the one who got me this fancy tablet. It’s a lot easier to use. I appreciated the instructions too.”

“What? I didn’t get you a tablet.”

She puts her hand up to her lips and thinks. “Well, your name was on the note.”

Ellie slinks down beside me and smashes her lips together, like she’s trying not to laugh. She hasn’t even met my nana yet, and it seems like she has some secret with her.

“Do you know something about this?” I ask quietly.

Ellie quickly shakes her head and covers her mouth with her hand. Her eyes give her away, though. She’s clearly amused by something.

“See!” Suddenly, there’s a piece of paper floating in front of the screen. It’s hard to read it with my nana unable to hold it straight. After focusing for a few seconds, I recognize his handwriting. My jaw drops. Did Rhodes send my nana a tablet with instructions on how to video chat?

I blink several times, trying to get over the hump of confusion.

I finally manage to say, “Oh.”

Ellie is bursting at the seams, and it’s hard to be perturbed when she’s so giddy over this entire thing. “Yeah, um...”

“Is there a little person beside you?” Nana tries to look past my screen as if she can physically move the camera herself.

Ellie’s face pops in view as she snuggles up close. “Hi.”

“Oh my goodness. Look at you. She’s as pretty as her father!”

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