I patted her hand where it lay on my forearm. “Nova’s lucky to have you. And that bastard who left is the stupidest motherfucker around.”
“Easy on the language.”
“She’s in the kitchen.”
“That doesn’t mean she can’t hear us,” Danielle pointed out.
“Then what are we doing in here?” I asked. “I specifically wanted to go somewhere to talk grownup stuff.”
Danielle smiled. “When you’ve got kids, there’s not a lot that escapes their notice.”
“The problem is,” I said, getting back to my conundrum, “that Meara won’t spend the night. She left me hanging again last night. It was great while it lasted, but then she just took off.”
“It’s so funny to see you getting all worked up over a woman,” my sister said.
“Why is it funny?”
“I don’t know.” She threw her hands up. “Maybe because you’re usually so cool and collected. Like you always have everything under control. Meara is something you can’t control, and it pisses you off.”
“You approve of what she’s doing?” I guessed.
“No,” Danielle assured me. “I’m just saying that there’s a logical explanation for how you feel.”
“You’re trying to psychoanalyze me.” I scowled.
Danielle sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t poke fun.”
“No,” I agreed.
“You have to talk to her.”
“And say what?”
“Tell her how you feel. Tell her that you want her to spend the night,” Danielle suggested.
“Don’t you think I’ve tried?” I cursed.
“Try again.”
I looked away. Every time Meara left in the middle of the night, I tried to encourage her to stay. I offered to cook breakfast, I told her that I just wanted to wake up beside her, but nothing worked. I wanted to bitch and moan about the problem, but I could see that Danielle wasn’t going to put up with that. She was right. I had to talk to Meara again, to tell her just how much her decisions affected me.
With that out of the way, we went back into the kitchen to gather up Nova. We all decided to watch a movie together, but that devolved quickly into Danielle and me on our phones and Nova playing fairies on the living room floor.
I stayed for dinner before leaving, feeling like I’d gotten in a full day of family bonding. It was important to have a male influence in Nova’s life. Since Danielle didn’t date and wasn’t remarried, I was the closest thing my niece had to a father. I took that responsibility seriously. I stayed until it was time for bed and Danielle kicked me out.
“She’ll never sleep unless you leave,” my sister said.
I walked out into the driveway, feeling whole and renewed. Meara might be able to survive without me, but there were a few people in the world who viewed me as a necessity. It was nice to reconnect with them on a regular basis.