It was time for the monthly phone call to her mother, Cecelia Gracie.

She was dying to put it off for a week, at least until JC left. However, she knew that would be impossible. If she was even a few hours late with the phone call, her mother would inevitably call, demanding to know what was so important that Malinda didn’t call her. And no excuse was good enough. She could be laid up in the hospital, under anesthesia for a leg amputation, and Cecelia would still expect her to call on time. In Malinda’s opinion, JC’s presence was enough of an excuse to skip a call, but if she told her mother about him, she’d either want to meet him or dive into a tirade about getting involved with a musician, and there was no way Malinda was going to let any of that happen.

Hearing a stirring noise from the living room, Malinda sat up in bed. She listened for a moment to determine whether or not JC was waking up or simply changing positions. After a moment, everything was silent again, and Malinda dropped back against the pillow. The notion of sleep was so far away now that she was full of apprehension about the monthly maternal chat. It was not, and never had been, a day she looked forward to on any level.

Her estranged relationship with her parents was another indirect result of dating Jake Pawlak. Up until then, the Gracie family was just like any “average” American family; Working parents with one scholar athlete daughter. After Malinda and Jake began dating, he isolated her from her parents as well as from her friends. When she found herself pregnant, her mother snapped back into loving mother mode and helped her through it. Her father, on the other hand, wasn’t happy about the situation at all. During Malinda’s pregnancy, he ranged from hating Jake for defiling his little girl, to blaming Malinda for letting it happen, to blaming Cecelia for letting it happen and for not punishing Malinda appropriately. Shortly after Laurel was born, Malinda’s parents separated, finalizing their divorce around the time Laurel was five. Malinda never spoke to or heard from him again.

During the separation, the relationship between Malinda and Cecelia went from bad to worse, as Cecelia started to displace the culpability on Malinda for the separation and impending divorce. Within days after Malinda’s high school graduation, she took three-year-old Laurel and found a cheap apartment with Gina. They shared that apartment for a little over a year before Malinda managed to find a place more conducive for raising a child and Gina found a better place, period.

Cecelia did not approve of her only daughter just walking away from her with her only granddaughter, and insisted on constant visitation. Malinda didn’t object, as this provided free baby-sitting. She merely suffered through the constant criticism. However, by the time the divorce was final, Cecelia and Malinda’s relationship deteriorated even further, and Malinda put her foot down. Laurel was in school, and Malinda had little need for free baby-sitting. She notified her mother in no uncertain terms that she wanted nothing to with her if she was going to continue to be this way, and if she wanted any contact with either Laurel or herself she would agree to a monthly phone call and she could visit every few months. Taken aback, Cecelia agreed to the treaty.

For almost a year, the arrangement worked perfectly. On the first Sunday of every month, Malinda would call her mother, tell her how she was doing and what Laurel was up to, pass the phone to Laurel, and walk away. They wouldn’t speak again until four weeks later. Conversations were civil and polite, visits were civil and polite, and for a while, it looked like this would put Malinda and Cecelia’s relationship back to the way it had been years ago.

Then Cecelia started the criticizing again. By now, Laurel was far more talkative on the phone, and whatever information Cecelia wanted about Malinda’s personal life she could get from Laurel. When Malinda and Curtis were going on those first few dates, Laurel spilled to Cecelia, who proceeded to pressure Malinda into settling down with someone who would make a good father toward Laurel, as being a single mother was no way to raise a child. Then she found out what Curtis did for a living and her attitude spun completely around.

“Don’t you know how likely sports stars are to abuse their spouses and children?” Cecelia had said. “The only thing half of them are after is a quick fling and then they’re gone. And you dare to bring him around my granddaughter?”

“To begin with, Curtis is as far from abusive as one can get. Second, we’re not dating anyway. Third, I decide who I bring around my daughter, not you.”

Then Malinda met Mary Donnelly and Tyler Price, and collectively they eventually got together the money to open The Page-turner. Cecelia voiced her opinion on that as well, specifically targeting Tyler, as she’d been doing since Malinda met him.

“You’re going into business with a gay? Are you out of your mind? And what is a seven-year-old girl doing knowing the word gay and what it means? I thought I told you to stop bringing all these strange people around Laurel.”

Soon after that was when Curtis introduced Malinda to Rhett. Even though they turned out to just be best friends, the first few months looked like it could have been the beginning of a great romance. Things never progressed any further than some kissing, but because they became such good friends so fast, Rhett was already spending the night on the living room couch occasionally. When Cecelia found out about that, she inevitably threw in her two cents and then some.

“What is this guy doing spending the night? What did I tell you about athletes? They take out their frustrations on whomever’s around,” she had asked, before bringing up Malinda’s painful past. “Haven’t you had enough of your boyfriends hitting you?”

At that point, Malinda lost it. She stopped talking to Cecelia; she would just dial the number and hand the phone to Laurel. She instructed Laurel not to answer any questions Cecelia asked about her personal life other than “How is your mother doing?” Things carried on that way for six months before Cecelia called Malinda herself, demanding that she stop being so childish. Malinda fired back, commanding Cecelia to stop being so controlling and neurotic.

“Just because you live someplace else, you’re still my daughter and I still have the right to tell you when I think you’re doing something wrong.”

“That’s where you’re mistaken. As I recall, your favorite line when I was a kid was ‘As long as you’re living under my roof, you follow my rules.’ Well, guess what? I’m not living under your roof anymore. I follow my own rules now. I’m a grown woman with a child of my own, who, I might add is doing just as well in school as I did. I’m smart enough to know what people I can trust around my daughter, and I’m not running around dating just anyone who comes along. And I’m not going to just marry someone so that Laurel has a dad. As I’ve already said, I’m doing a fine job by myself, and Rhett steps in to fill the gap when he can.”

That should have set everything straight, but it instead gave Cecelia more ammunition. “What are you trying to do, confuse the poor girl? And since when did you become such an expert on trusting people? Need I remind you how Laurel got here in the first place?”

Malinda slammed down the phone and refused to answer when Cecelia called back four times over the next half hour. She immediately went out and invested in a Caller ID box, which allowed her to ignore Cecelia’s phone calls for the next few months. It wasn’t until Cecelia showed up at the house one day without any warning that the monthly phone calls were re-instated. To this day, only two more of those blow-outs occurred, with Malinda declining to speak to Cecelia and just passing the phone to Laurel.

Now Malinda stared at the ceiling, knowing one of those calls would be taking place in about two hours. And there was no way out of it without starting a new war. It was probably time to tell her about JC anyway, since it was getting pretty serious. If it were completely up to her, she’d never tell Cecelia about JC at all, but she had Laurel to consider. And since JC was becoming a pretty important part of Laurel’s life, she supposed Cecelia should be informed. She wondered how long she could go without telling her exactly what JC’s occupation was. She supposed she could scale it down a bit. Songwriter? Malinda shook her head at the thought. Some of Cecelia’s beliefs must have rubbed off on her, because songwriter just sounded like ‘out-of-work poet’. She dared not say musician, as that would start a rant for sure. ‘Dancer’ was sure to elicit comments about homosexuality. ‘Producer’ was about the best thing she could come up with. Nice and vague, she could already formulate the answers to questions Cecelia would ask; ‘Yes, it’s a steady job,’ and ‘Yes, he makes good money.’

Another rustling noise from the living room caught Malinda’s attention. This time, JC was awake. Malinda swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, stretching, only to be hit by that weird light-headed feeling, as she did every morning after stretching as soon as she stood up. She fought her hair into a sloppy bun and shuffled to the living room. JC was sitting up on the couch with his head back, staring upwards. Malinda sat at the end of the couch, putting her legs across his lap. He put his hand on her knee and squeezed affectionately.

“Good morning,” he mumbled.

“Did you sleep well?” she asked.

“You ask that every day, you realize that, right?”

“I’m waiting for the day you tell me the truth,” she said. “I’ve slept on this couch before. It sucks.”

“I’ve slept on much worse. Don’t forget the atrocious amount of time I’ve spent on tour buses, where my bed was basically a slab of wood with a two-inch mattress on top.”

“The couch isn’t much different.”

“You sound as though you’re trying to convince me to sleep someplace else.”

Malinda smiled, then changed the subject abruptly, “I have to call my mother today.”

“Don’t sound so excited.”

“You don’t understand how torturous of a conversation this can be. There are times when I’d rather gouge out my own eyeball than talk to her.”

“It can’t be that bad.”

“No, it’s worse. You’re lucky enough to have a wonderful relationship with your parents. I heard you on the phone with your mom yesterday. My mother and I haven’t been like that since I was thirteen.”

“I’m sure one day things will be better between you again.”

“Whatever,” Malinda’s attention was grabbed by movement out of the corner of her eye. Laurel was half stumbling her way into the kitchen. When she re-emerged, she joined Malinda and JC in the living room, a cup of pudding in her hand.

“Good morning,” JC told her, receiving a grunt in return.

“Ready to call your grandmother?” Malinda asked.

Laurel groaned. “No,” she said pointedly.

Malinda frowned. Laurel never had a problem talking to Cecelia. “No? Since when?”

“She’s annoying, and she never knows what she’s talking about.”

Malinda looked at JC, slightly alarmed. He excused himself and gathered up some clothes, heading into the bathroom to take a shower.

“Sweetie, what… what do you mean she’s annoying? I thought you liked talking to her.”

“She butts in and has all these stupid opinions on things, when she doesn’t even know what she’s talking about.”

“Like what? What did she say to you?”

“I told her about JC, okay? I was telling her about LA and she wanted to know what we were doing there – it just kind of slipped out – and she started to talk about what a horrible person he was and she wouldn’t even listen to anything I said, it was like she was talking to herself.”

“Oh no,” Malinda moaned.

“Then I tried to tell her about Joey, and Brianna, and then she asked if Joey and Kelly were married, and I couldn’t lie to her, so I told her no, and then she started flipping out about that.”

Malinda put her head in her hands.

“Then she wanted to talk to you again but I told her you were outside, and I told her if she yelled at you about anything I would never talk to her again,” Laurel looked up at Malinda sheepishly. “She called twice this month and I told her you weren’t home.”

Despite the situation, Malinda had to smile behind her hands. At least Laurel was learning from an early age not to take Cecelia’s crap. Unfortunately, now Malinda would have to deal with said crap. At least the hard part was done.

“Well, I’ll give you credit,” she told Laurel. “Now I don’t have to tell her about JC.”

The younger girl smiled. “Hopefully she got all her complaining out of her system by now.”

“It’s a good thing to hope for, but I doubt it.”

“I’m sorry,” Laurel said, seeing the look on Malinda’s face.

“Oh, kiddo, you didn’t do anything,” she put an arm around her daughter’s shoulders. They sat there in silence for a minute before Malinda had an idea. She went to the liquor cabinet and pulled out the Watermelon Pucker. She got a glass and filled it with ice, pouring and drinking a full glass of the Pucker straight before returning to the couch. “In about forty-five minutes I’ll be ready to call.”

Laurel laughed. “Momma, it’s only ten-thirty.”

“You’ll understand one day. In fact, you’re probably already starting to get it,” Malinda told her, pulling the lever on the side of the seat to put her feet up and recline. “I’ll have another glass later, and maybe have one handy to drink during the call.”

Half an hour later, Malinda’s eyes were starting to feel strained and her feet felt hot; the first stages of her getting tipsy. She had another glass of Pucker – raspberry this time – and waited ten minutes before picking up the phone. As she dialed, she told JC and Laurel, “Go someplace. I don’t care where, just get out of here.”

“But – “ JC started to object but was met with a sharp glare. Laurel looked relieved and had already taken Malinda’s car keys from the hook and handed them to JC. They were just closing the door behind them when Cecelia picked up her end of the line.

“I’m surprised you weren’t sitting on top of the phone, waiting to answer it on the first ring,” was the first thing out of Malinda’s mouth.

“Well, it’s nice to hear from you too.”

“Cut to the chase, Ma. I hear you have some things you want to say to me.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Bullshit,” Malinda hissed. “Laurel told me that she told you about JC, and that in true Cecelia Gracie fashion, you immediately launched into a rant about his character, despite the fact that you don’t even know him.”

“I don’t need to know him; I know who he is now. I could pick up any magazine in the checkout line and find out all about him.”

“Find out what? His birthday? What color his toothbrush is? Boxers or briefs? By the way, I know that answer personally, and I can tell you that not all the magazines get it right. You’re not gonna get any dirty scoop on him, Ma.”

“Of course you’re going to think that.”

“Because it’s true!”

Cecelia heaved a condescending sigh. “You’ll never learn to leave the rose-colored lenses at home, will you? You can’t just ignore everyone’s faults.”

“I see his faults. I see them. I’m well aware of these things, as he is of mine.”

“He’s a celebrity. You’ll never get to see him.”

“I’m well aware of the fact that his job will prevent us from seeing each other as often as we’d like. I know this. But it’s been four months now and we’re figuring out how to work around that. He’s a good guy – a great guy – and I don’t need you bitching in my daughter’s ear about him. She adores him, he adores her, and you know nothing about the situation.”

“Don’t take that tone with me, Malinda Leigh Gracie.”

“Ooh, the full name. What am I, five?”

“You‘re certainly acting like it!”

“What would you rather have me do? Sit here quietly and let you run your mouth when you have no idea what you’re talking about?”

“Do you need me to go over your track record again? Let’s see, your first boyfriend was an abusive rapist, then you fall in with a fag, have these flings with sports starts – “

“Flings! We weren’t even dating! And stop calling Tyler a fag! I hate that word!”

“And now a musician. Not even a real musician, he’s in a boyband.”

“He is a real musician. He’s the one that wrote half the songs on their last two CD’s. And there’s no need to say musician like it’s a bad thing.”

“Oh, so he writes the songs, even better. Just one more thing to add to his pick-up line when he travels from town to town, bedding groupies. And you’re just one of them.”

“What is the matter with you? Does it make you that mad to know that I’m doing fine without you, that I haven’t failed?”

“Doing fine? You live in an apartment the size of a dollhouse, you’re not married, you’re hooking up with all these shady characters –”

“Ma, stop it! For starters, this apartment is the perfect size for the two of us. Yes, some day I’d like to have my own house, but for now, this is fine. I’m in no rush to get married. You and Dad are living proof that that’s not all it’s cracked up to be –”

“Now wait just a minute –”

“No, you wait. For a woman as young as I am with a daughter as old as Laurel is, it’s damn near impossible to meet a decent guy. Most of them don’t want the added responsibility that comes along with Laurel, and they run for their lives. With Curtis it wasn’t a problem, but we’re better off as friends. Same with Rhett, and he’s almost like a father to Laurel anyway. And JC… well, you said it yourself, he goes from city to city, and could have his choice of any woman in the country. But he picked me. Me and Laurel.”

“And you said yourself, it’s been four months. Four months is nothing. By this time next week, it could all be over.”

“I’m not disagreeing with you on that. Any relationship takes that chance. But in his world, four months is a very long time. People in his world get married after four months. And he bought Laurel a puppy, did she tell you that? That screams long-term if you ask me.”

“As a matter of fact, she did tell me that. She also told me that it stays out in California. What makes you so certain that he’s keeping it and taking care of it?”

“Are you joking right now? Do you have some sort of conspiracy theory going on in your head? If you must know, he does still have the dog. Right now his neighbor and friend Madison is taking care of it. We called her and the dog barked over the phone.”

“And why isn’t he taking care of it himself?”

“Uh, because we can’t have pets in the apartment.”

“What?”

“Because he’s here, Ma. Remember how I said we find ways to work around the long-distance thing. It’s called visiting. Because this is not just some random fling and we’re taking steps to ensure that it works out.”

“He’s there now? When do I meet him?”

Malinda didn’t answer verbally, only blinked in silence for a moment before erupting into uproarious, hysterical laughter. She laughed so hard she had to put the phone down and tears coursed their way down her cheeks. She blamed the alcohol for making her composure so hard to regain, but then again, what Cecelia said was really funny.

“What is so funny? Malinda? Malinda!” Cecelia’s voice came out of the receiver, lying on the seat next to Malinda. “What are you laughing at? What is so damn funny?”

Finally Malinda was able to pick up the phone, stray giggles still escaping. “Do you think – honestly – that I’m gonna let you – after all the shit you said today and whatever you said to Laurel last time, do you really think I’m going to let you meet him? Ever?”

“Well, I am your mother, I think I have a right to know who he is.”

“You gave up that right when you criticized him before you knew anything about him. What do you really know about him Ma? His name? What he does for a living? You probably don’t even know his full name, or how to pronounce it. It’ll be a cold day in hell before you meet JC. The closest you’re gonna get is if you see him on TV. I haven’t even decided if I would invite you to our wedding.”

“Oh, now there’s a wedding? I thought you weren’t running to the altar?” the sarcasm leaked from the seams of Cecelia’s voice.

“I’m making a point!”

“Well,” Cecelia huffed. “Aren’t we snippy today? Where’s Laurel?”

“She doesn’t want to talk to you,” Malinda told her brusquely.

“I’d like to hear that from her mouth, thank you very much.”

“I’m afraid that’s impossible, as she’s not here.”

“What do you mean she’s not there? She knew you were calling today, didn’t she? Where is she?”

“I repeat, she doesn’t want to talk to you. This morning she told me about your last chat, and how you’ve called and she told you I wasn’t home. And she said she didn’t want to talk to you today. So she went out with JC.”

“Don’t think you can keep her from me. You’ve tried this before.”

“No, Ma, you did this. You pissed her off. And if there’s one thing we both inherited from you, it’s our ability to hold a grudge. She doesn’t want to talk to you, and I don’t know when she’ll change her mind. Trust me, after what she told me, I had no desire to talk to you either. I’ve been drinking just to gear up for this conversation.”

“Now you’re drinking on a Sunday morning? It’s not even noon and you’re drunk?”

“I’m not drunk. And I only did it to talk to you. Stop twisting my words around. I had two glasses of flavored schnapps, it’s not like I wake up every morning and walk around drinking from a vodka bottle,” Malinda walked to the front window, where she looked out and saw JC and Laurel sitting on the hood of her Bravada, talking. JC looked up and met her eye. She gave him a wave and a smile before making a shooing gesture. He laughed and said something to Laurel. She looked up and waved before she scurried into the vehicle. Malinda turned her attention back to Cecelia.

“And to sit there and drink in front of an eleven-year-old. What kind of message is that to send; that it’s an okay thing to do if you’re about to do something difficult.”

“No, I said it’s okay if she has to talk to you. Difficult is a thousand piece puzzle of a Picasso, which I highly recommend she do sober.”

“So not only do you condone drinking, you discourage her from talking to me?”

“Why can’t you accept the fact that Laurel made up her own mind about this? She didn’t want to talk to you. And because I knew I didn’t have her as a buffer, I had a few drinks to make you easier to deal with.”

“So now when you have to face things alone you need to have a few drinks?”

A sound escaped Malinda’s lips; a combination of a giggle and a nasally grunt. “You should be happy I had those few drinks, or else I’d be a lot angrier right now.”

“Child, you are talking crazy right now.”

“Right, well, I’m gonna go now. You said what you wanted to say, I said what you needed to hear, Laurel’s not saying anything because she doesn’t want to talk to you, so I guess this conversation is finished.”

“Since when do you decide when the conversation is over?”

“Did you have something else you wanted to add?” Malinda asked, adding, “Something valuable?”

“And who decides what’s valuable? You?”

“You bet. And so, since I’m taking that as your admission that you do not, in fact, have anything else to say, I’m hanging up now. Talk to you in twenty-eight days. Bye!” Malinda clicked the ‘off’ button and placed the phone on the end table, cursing out loud. She went into the bathroom, turning on the faucet in the bathtub. She sat on the edge for a minute, waiting for the water to heat up. After a second, she opened the cabinet under the sink to retrieve her vanilla-scented bubble bath, pouring at least three times more than was really necessary into the tub. She pulled off her t-shirt and lowered herself in. Closing her eyes, she leaned back against the tiles.

Sometime later, Malinda was awakened by the sound of the door slamming. JC and Laurel were returning from their excursion.

“Momma?”

“I’m in the bathtub.”

“Oh. We’re back.”

“So I noticed.”

The door opened slowly and JC stepped into the room. He knelt next to the tub, leaning his elbows on the edge. “So how’d it go?”

“If we’re in the same room together anytime soon, call the police immediately. I might kill her.”

“That’s a little harsh.”

“She’s a little harsh.”

Repeating what he’d said earlier, JC said, “It can’t be that bad.”

“Oh no? I’ve been censured for everything from being involved with athletes and celebrities to the way I tie my shoes. She’s insulted Rhett, Curtis, Tyler, and now you, none of which she’s ever met or knows anything about.”

“Then why don’t you have her meet everyone?”

“Are you kidding? She’d make off-hand comments about athletes and aggression in front of Rhett and Curtis, she’d take one look at Tyler and try to sound like she was in tune with the culture and talk about Matthew Shepard. And you. Ha! She actually asked me today when she’s gonna meet you.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I laughed my ass off.”

“Why?”

“There is no way in hell I’m going to let her meet you. At least not for a very long time.”

“Did you ever think that if maybe she met everyone, she’d be able to form better opinions of them? Maybe she feels like you’re hiding them, like you’re ashamed. Like what she’s saying is right and you know it, so you won’t let her meet them.”

“I’ve already explained to her that Rhett and Curtis aren’t alcoholic, wife-beating, steroid pumping meatheads; how Tyler isn’t some sleazy, cross-dressing, AIDS carrier; and how you’re not an over-sexed man-whore banging ever girl who breathes in your direction.”

“You can explain it all you want. Maybe she needs to see it for herself.”

“Why are you taking her side?” Malinda whined.

“I’m not taking anyone’s side, baby,” JC said, reaching for the towel hanging next to the tub. “I’m just trying to give you another perspective.” He urged Malinda to her feet, wrapping the giant towel around her and holding her for a minute before pulling the plug on the bathwater.

“I’m so mad at her for upsetting Laurel. I’m used to her rants, all her bitching. But to say it to Laurel, to tear you apart in front of Laurel,” Malinda let out a frustrated snarl. “That’s like me telling you about what an asshole Joe is.”

“Joe’s not an asshole."

“That’s my point.”

JC squeezed Malinda and kissed her temple. “Then you have to show her the truth. She can’t disapprove of someone once she sees how great they are. And how much you and Laurel care about them.” He gave her one last kiss, a soft peck on the lips, before leaving her to dry off and get dressed. He joined Laurel in the living room, where she was aimlessly flicking through the channels on the television.

“She had another fight with Grandma, didn’t she?” Laurel asked.

“Yeah.”

“She said really mean things about you. She always says mean things about Momma’s friends.”

“Your mom’s more upset that she said those things to you than the fact that she said them at all. She doesn’t want you and your grandmother to have the same problems that they have.”

“Well if she wasn’t so mean about everything...” Laurel trailed off. “Is your mom mean?”

JC looked thoughtful. “When she has to be. She’s fair, I guess you could say.”

“I’ll be happy when she’s my grandma.”

“ ‘When’?”

“Well…you know. If it ever happens, you and Momma.”

JC smiled and put an arm around Laurel. She snuggled up against him. They both looked up when Malinda came into the room, looking pensive. She brooded over something for a few minutes before taking a deep breath.

“She knows you’re here,” she said to JC. “She’s made surprise visits before; I don’t know what would stop her this time.”

“So we just don’t answer,” Laurel said.

“And then what, sit here and be absolutely still until she goes away?”

“Then we go somewhere. Let’s go out for lunch.”

Malinda nodded. “Good thinking. Let me call everyone and see who else wants to go.”

A little more than an hour later, Malinda, JC, Gina, Laurel, and Alicia Parker were gathered around a table at Chinatown Buffet. It was a family-run restaurant that Malinda and Gina had been going to for years. They’d gone to high school with the owner’s son, who was soon to be the owner himself. He always stopped to talk to the women when they came in, and alerted them with a wink when a fresh batch of food was about to be put out.

“I will never forget the day she got into that brawl with the big girl,” Gina started telling JC another story about Malinda in high school, this one from her soccer says.

“The big girl?” JC repeated.

“Oh God. The beast?” Malinda said.

“Yes. The very first thing I remember thinking was, ‘Oh my God, she’s going to die, and I’m gonna have to fight her mom for custody of Laurel.’ I really was scared; I didn’t think you could take her.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“Hey, she was huge! She’d been knocking around the smaller girls the whole game. She played defense, she was pushing around the…the…”

“The strikers,” Malinda supplied.

“Right, the strikers. Now, Mindy played defense too, so there was really no reason for her and this girl to be anywhere near each other. So then this chick knocks down this really little girl – hit her so hard she actually flew a few feet before she hit the ground. Mindy loved that girl, she was like her little sister, so she was all fired up, you could see it from the bleachers. The next time our team pushed forward, Mindy went right up to her – usually defense stays back at midfield – and she kind of like, snuck up on her. So the girl turns around and goes to push her, but Mindy’s not going down. The two of them just stood there for a minute, facing off, you know?”

“Now mind you, there’s a play going on across the field,” Malinda added.

“And the girl tried to push Mindy again, but she just shoves her to the ground. Not your average soccer push, but like, a hockey check.”

“Soccer’s very passive-aggressive,” Malinda laughed.

“And the refs didn’t even notice, ‘cause they’re watching the ball and stuff. But you just hear the crowd go nuts. Their side is booing and shouting for a foul, our side is just cheering and screaming. Then she tried to get Mindy a few more times, but every time she tried to take her out she ended up in the grass.”

JC laughed. As verbally aggressive as Malinda was, he couldn’t picture her as a bully, and he told her so.

“Oh, don’t let this calm exterior fool you. After Jake, I had a lot of anger, and I took it out on the soccer field. My mother didn’t want me to play anymore, so I convinced her that I had enrolled in some Mommy & Me type playgroup and that’s where we went every afternoon. The late games, the ones against the schools that were like two hours away, I just didn’t go to.”

“How’d you get around that?” JC asked.

“Are you kidding? My coach loved me. She’d be playing with Laurel on the sidelines while screaming out drills for us to run. Gina’s mom used to watch Laurel during school, and since Gina had a car, she’d go home and get Laurel, then bring her back to practice or a game and wait for me to get out,” Malinda smiled at Gina. “G always had my back.”

“Aw shit girl,” Gina wiped at her eye. “Stop that.”

“What about the time I ran on the field during the game?” Laurel asked.

“Oh God, you mean the time I thought I would die of embarrassment?” Malinda asked.

“The time I thought your mom would kill me for not watching you like a hawk?” Gina threw in.

Laurel laughed. “Yeah, that time.”

“I can’t wait to hear this one,” Alicia cracked.

Malinda looked around the table and smiled. Surrounded by people who loved her without critiquing her every move, she was content. She gazed at JC, enjoying his being in her world, loving the way he so easily fit in, the way he got along with her best friend, and her daughter’s best friend; loving him. Just below the edge of the table and out of sight, she let her hand rest in the crook of JC’s elbow. He put his own free hand on top of hers, never breaking concentration from Gina’s story. Malinda looked back to see Laurel staring at her, a huge grin on her face. They smiled at each other, sharing the same thought; the family they’d always dreamed of having was falling into place.