Ironically as I return to my seat, DaniLeigh's "Easy" plays overhead.

Taking a moment, I close my eyes.

This is anything, but. . . 

"Everything alright?" Nadia asks, as if she's coming back for seconds.

"Yeah, Aria. You and my dad. You good?" Nala chimes in.

"Oh, we're fine girls. Peachy keen. Things are going as smooth as a baby's bottom."

"I always hated that saying." Nadia tucks her hair behind her ear. "It sounds like something a perv would say. You know?" She asks looking sarcastically at Nala.

"Ya, that baby's booty, man! Can't stop thinking about it. It's so smooth, like, like this situation." Nala places an invisible gun to her temple and pulls the trigger.

Nadia laughs wickedly. "Who says that?"

"It's an idiom," I deadpan.

"A wha?" Nadia snickers.

"A colloquialism?" I lower my head waiting for her to get it.

"Uh." Nala tries to think of a comeback.

"A saying. It's just something people say. OK?"

"OK! Alright. We get it." Nadia holds her hands up.

They're gaslighting you.

Manipulative little shits!

"Scoot over?" Phoenix asks, sliding into the booth. He looks at everyone at the table. "Everybody alright?"

The girls and I glance at each other.

"We're fine. Good actually. Right? Girls?"

"Oh yeah," Nadia pipes up.

"We're awesome, Dad. Aria's just . . ."

"Peachy. Right?" I chime in.

"Oh, yeah. Great." Nala sells it well.

Phoenix smiles. "See? A little alone time will do the trick every time. Sometimes you just got to leave people to their own devices."

Pursing my lips to keep from spilling what really went down, I pat his thigh.

"I love this. Went better than I imagined. With you all getting along, it just makes everything go much smoother." Phoenix stretches his arm along the back of the seat, caressing my shoulder.

Nadia snorts. "There's that word again."

Nala giggles at Nadia's observation.

"What word?" Phoenix asks.

"Huh?" Nadia replies.

"Hmm?" Nala echoes.

"Anyhow." Phoenix waves them off. "I'm glad you're all getting along because there's something else we need to tell you."

Nala's breath hitches. Nadia grabs the edge of her seat.

Phoenix grabs my hand under the table. He looks at me and smiles.

Out the corner of my eye, Nadia pretends to gag while Nala laughs silently. Phoenix turns to them, they instantly wipe their faces blank.

These girls!

"I want you two to know, this isn't something we planned, but we're here now."

"Dad, we get that you and Aria like each other," Nadia speaks out of turn.

"That's not what I'm talking about, Nad. Ari and I are . . ." Phoenix gulps. "We're having a baby." He lets the girls sit with that thought.

They're completely silent. As if they hadn't heard him.

Nala blinks. "Wait a minute."

"What he say?" Nadia asks Nala.

In unison, they face Phoenix. "What you say?"

Phoenix smiles. "Aria and I are having a baby."

My heart is fluttering so fast, I can barely catch my breath.

"A what?" Nadia's eyes look as if they're about to pop out.

"A baby? As in, a baby?" Nala asks, dumbfounded.

"As in a kid?"

"As in a little brother or sister?" Nala's jaw drops.

"Does Mom know?" Nadia is charged up. "Dad! You don't even know this woman! How can you do something like this? Like who does that?"

"You guys just met. This is the first time we're even hearing of her!"

"Hey! Hey. Hey." Phoenix puts his hands up to signal time out. "I know what it looks like."

"What does Mom think?"

"You just forgot you had a family, already?"

"No, girls. Listen—"

"Is that why you sent us away?"

Both girls start talking at the same time while Phoenix tries to calm them down.

Staring at them struggle through this bombshell makes me almost regret telling them. A tinge of guilt bites at the back of my throat. "Excuse me." I get up. "Be right back," I tell them before rushing off to the restroom. Too much chaos. Too much noise. I need to clear my mind.

***

Returning to the table, I find everyone staring off into space.

Gridlocked?

"We're . . . pretty much at a standstill . . ." Phoenix rubs his forehead. "Let's get out of here." He grabs his key fob and cell phone off the table.

The girls follow, both their heads down. I snag one more sip of my Mexican hot chocolate and leave it on the table. The ride home is completely silent and totally uncomfortable.

"I'll call you later." Phoenix's hoarse voice hints at feelings of defeat. His eyes house the saddest look I've ever seen on a man.

Goddamn it! They're breaking his heart!

Tears began swelling in my eyes, blurring his gorgeous face. I look away searching for something to say, anything to comfort him. No words find me. I submit to the heaviness weighing us all down and lean over to kiss him on the cheek.

Girl! You better think twice! Don't want to stir the hive with your PDA, Ari.

I halt and lean back, letting out a loud sigh. Caressing his hand, I whisper to him, "Hey, win or lose, we always win. Cause we're in this together. Don't forget that." I quickly wipe away a tear and turn towards the back seat. "Hey girls, today was . . . challenging. And . . . you know . . ." I gulp, trying to swallow tears. "Challenges can be . . . fun. So, in a way, today was fun. Kinda? Sorta? You know?" It comes out much higher than I intended. 

Nadia and Nala exchange glances. 

Try as I might to hide, my running nose causes me to sniffle. "But regardless, I enjoyed meeting you both, finally." I cock a half smile. "Your dad, he loves you two so much. Talks about you all the time. I can I see why. You're both so strong and opiniated and you know who you are. And that's a gift. Especially at this young age. So, I for one, applaud you for being you. But just know, this is hard on everyone involved. Your mom, your dad, you two, the baby and yes, me." An exasperated sigh escapes me. "I just hope that one day, we can be cool. You know. One day, we can be friends and have fun. More fun. Not like today. But you know." I wave it off. "Anyway, Enjoy the rest of your winter break."

Both girls stare at me with those innocent-looking wide eyes, saying nothing, as if they're turning my words over in their mind.

Phoenix nods. "Thanks. See you, later."

I smile warmly at Phoenix. "See you later, girls."

"Bye."

"Bye, Aria." Nala's tone is much less harsh than it was earlier.

I walk to the front door and unlock it. Phoenix drives off. Locking the door behind me, I leave my coat, hat, gloves and boots at the door, on the floor without another thought and go to the bathroom to run a nice bath.

The least you could do after a day like today.

The original factory tone on my phone goes off.

Phoenix!

I rush off to my handbag to get it.

What have those girls done, now?

"Hello?"

"Hi, um, is this Aria Davenport?"

"Yes? May I ask who's calling."

"I'm your uncle, on um your father's side. You reached out to me online?"

"Oh!" I rub my forehead trying to place him. "Oh! My uncle? Um, so you're Tristan's brother?" I tuck a curl behind my ear and nestle into the couch.

"I am! You know you may not remember me, but I saw you a few times as kid. By the time he had you, I had already moved across country. I live in Nevada now."

"Oh. Wow. So, we've met?"

"When you were too young to remember. Cute as a button. Every time I saw you, you had this My Little Pony purse filled with these little toys. You gave me a little pony one time. Still got it." He laughs. "What I can do your for, Aria?"

"For me?"

"Uh, yeah. Remember? Online?"

"Oh, yeah. I don't know where my head is at. I'm looking for my father. Do you have a phone number, address, anything?"

"I do, actually. One sec." He presses a few buttons on the phone.

I pull the phone away to save my ear drums.

"Here we go. Your dad still lives in Milwaukee. As restless as he is, you'd think he be in a whole other country by now. Your dad is the consummate rolling stone, I tell ya." He chuckles.

"Yeah, I've heard."

"Got a pen?" he asks.

"Would you mind texting it to me, so it's in my phone?"

"Sure thing. I'll send it now."

"Thank you. This means a lot."

"No problem, you're family. I got you. Let me know if my knucklehead brother gives you grief. He may be the oldest, but you'd swear it was the other way around. Take care of yourself, Aria. And stay in touch."

"Now that we've connected, I'll definitely stay in touch, Unc."

He laughs.

"What?"

"Love the nickname."

I smile.

"Talk to you later, Kid."

"Ha! Later, Unc."

************************************