Sebastian had been crushed when I told him Talie wouldn't be coming home for a couple months.  He cried for a good fifteen minutes as I tried to distract him with his favorite stuff.  Trains.  Ice cream.  Stories.  I gave him a bowl of chocolate ice cream with syrup and he cried as he ate.  It was kind of adorable.

I was sad too, but I think this was the best thing for Talie.  She needed her father.  I'd been glad to step in to help her, but if she could be with her dad then she needed to be.  I was proud of how brave she was being, moving to another country, and I told her. 

Vanessa was a little sad as well.  We'd all grown close to Talie and definitely missed her.  Slowly, the rest of the school year passed and it was finally summer break.  The kids didn't realize the teachers were probably just as relieved, if not more, than the students to have a break.

Summers were amazing.  I got to be with the boys all the time.  We did all sorts of things together.  The park, museums, the zoo.  I felt that I was able to make up for my lack of quality time with them during the school year over the summer.

It was a bit odd timing, but Talie's school finished up at the beginning of August.  Their school year was different over there.  As Talie was finishing her school year, I was about to start mine.  I tried to work ahead in anticipation of her visit, so I could spend as much time with her as possible.  I helped Sebastian made a paper chain countdown, like the kind we made at Christmas, to count down the days until Talie came back.

Finally, we got to the last ring.

"Talie's coming today!!" Sebastian screamed as he ran into the living room in his pajamas.  I was laying on the couch, watching a video on my computer.  I grinned and set it aside.  Sebastian jumped onto me and wrapped his arms around my neck.

"She is!" I said, hugging him tight, then tickling him.  "She's gonna be surprised how much you've grown?"

"Uh-huh," he said, sitting up on my chest.  "I've been eating my vegables."

"Vegetables," I gently corrected him.  "Yes you have.  And now Cisco's starting to walk."

"She's gonna be so surprised!!" he said, hopping off me.  Sebastian decided he needed to make Talie a coming-home picture.  He sat down at his little table and got to work with his crayons.  He asked me how to spell Talie and I patiently spelled it out for him.  When he was finished, he proudly showed me and I praised him. 

Talie's plane was set to arrive around 4:00 in the afternoon.  I didn't want her to have to lug her luggage around and mess with the subway or a bus, so I took the boys to go pick her up.  Sebastian brought his drawing with him.  We waited patiently at the arrival gate, and soon we saw her walking along, her backpack over her shoulder.

"Talie!!!" Sebastian screamed.  Talie looked towards the noise and broke into a smile.  Sebastian let go of my hand and ran for her.  She beamed and knelt down as he crashed into her arms.  She kissed him all over his face and then picked him up. He gave her the paper he'd made and she praised him. I caught up with my son, carrying Cisco in my arms.

"Hey, kiddo," I greeted her, opening up my free arm for a hug.  I kissed her head and took a good look at her.  She'd gotten a bit taller and she'd dyed the tips of her hair blue.

"Lin!" she hugged me tightly after she'd put Sebastian down.  "I missed you so much!"

"Me too," I said.  I handed over Cisco and he gurgled.  Talie fussed over how big he'd gotten.  I told her to set him down so he could show off his walking.  She gushed at him and he smiled and laughed.  Finally, we made our way down to baggage claim.  Talie pointed out her suitcase as it came by and I grabbed it.  I managed to carry Cisco and wheel out her suitcase.  I hailed us a cab and soon we were on our way home.

We'd basically left Talie's room alone, only going in to clean it every once in a while.  She looked around as she walked in, looking happy to be back.

"Why don't you sit down and relax," I suggested.  "Want anything to eat?  Drink?"

"Any soda?" she asked.  We'd gotten some in just for her.  I grabbed a Coke from the fridge and handed it to her, then wheeled her case back to her bedroom.  Sebastian was practically attached to her at the hip all day.  He showed her a couple new toys he'd gotten recently, and tons of artwork he'd made at preschool.  Talie patiently listened and held him in her lap a lot of the day.

When Vanessa got home, it was another round of hugs.  She commented on how grown up Talie was looking, which I could tell Talie loved.  Teenage girls always wanted to look older than they were.  Talie of course requested pizza for dinner, so we went out.  She was fighting the yawns as we ate.

When we got home, it was time to put the boys to bed.  Talie ended up going at the same time.  When V and I headed back around 10:00, I opened her door to look in on her.  I smiled when I saw her curled up, fast asleep.  It was so nice to have her back again.  She'd be here for six weeks.  When she went back, it would almost be time for her dad's wedding.

The next couple days, we visited Talie's favorite places in New York.  Restaurants, cafes, museums, parks.  Sebastian was her shadow the whole time.  She spent the night at her friend Naomi's and caught up on all the school gossip.

After the boys had been put to bed one night, I collapsed on the couch next to Talie.  Her thumbs were flying on her phone.  Typical teenager.

"You're gonna get arthritis in your thumbs," I told her and she snorted.  She finished up her message and then put her phone away in her hoodie pouch.

"So...are you ready for the new school year?" she asked me.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I said, rubbing at my temple.  "They're giving me three classes of freshman English.  It's gonna kill me."

She rolled her eyes.  "Freshmen."

"Exactly," I said.  "I do have one class of seniors, which'll be good.  How are you feeling about your school?"

"I like it," she said.  "It's challenging, like at Hunter.  But now I have to worry about this thing called O-Levels."

"What's that?"

"It's this crazy high-stakes test you take when you're 16.  It determines what kind of college you get into."

"Kind of like the SAT's?" I asked.

"I guess.  But there's way more subjects.  You choose what you want to take and you get a 1 through a 9 for a score.  A 9's the best."

"Interesting," I said.  "Do you think you'll go to college over there?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead yet," she told me.  It was still three years away for her.  I'm sure her school would look great on her applications in America if she chose that path.  She was a smart kid and would go places.

"Sebastian starts kindergarten next year," I told her.  V and I were kind of dreading it.  We didn't want him to grow up so fast.

"Is he gonna go to Hunter?"

"Probably," I told her.  "He has to do an interview to get in.  How do you interview a five year old?"

"He'll just provide a monologue," she reasoned.  "You and V both went there so I'm sure he'll get in.  Plus you teach there now."

"Yeah, he's pretty sharp," I agreed, then changed the subject.  "Hey, I was thinking about bringing the family to visit at Fall Break.  Do you think that'd be okay?"

Her face lit up, which made my day.  "That'd be great!  I could show you all around London!"

"The boys have never been, so I'm sure they'd love it," I said.  "I'll talk to your dad and see when a good time would be.  We could stay for a week or so."

We talked a while about things we could do while we were there.  She'd lived there a few months now and was starting to get the hang of things, including the Underground.  It was always nice to visit somewhere and have a tour guide who knew the layout.

That night, V and I talked about plans.  She hadn't been to London since she was much younger and neither had I.  I called Diego the next day and we made plans for us to visit in October.  It was nice to have a solid date to look forward to.  We booked the tickets.

Talie's visit was going way too fast.  Before we knew it, it was the night before she was scheduled to fly back.  The boys were put to bed and the three of us hung out in the living room.  Talie cuddled up next to me, resting her head on my shoulder.

"I'm gonna miss you," I told her, turning to kiss her head.

"I'll miss you too," she said.  "Maybe you should move to London."

I laughed and V chuckled a little.  I liked to travel a bit, but I couldn't imagine living anywhere else but New York City.  This was my home.  And another reason why I admired Talie for bravely moving there.

We stayed up later than usual so we could squeeze out every minute together.  I wouldn't see her again for months.  Her plane left at 7 a.m., so she needed to leave the house by about 5:30.  I reluctantly went to her room to wake her up around 4:45.  She groaned and started getting ready.

There was a pit in my stomach as she wandered around, getting reading and packing up the last of her things.  I would take her to the airport.  She went to Sebastian's bedroom and woke him up to say goodbye.  He was too sleepy to really realize what was going on.  Talie had said a thorough goodbye to him the night before, as well as Cisco.  Vanessa wandered out in her pj's and robe to hug her goodbye.  I hailed us a cab and we were off to the airport.

When we arrived and got out, Talie teared up, causing me to as well.

"Don't tell the other kids I cried," I told her as I hugged her tight.  She laughed a little as she hugged me back.

"They already know you're a softie," she said.

After a nice long hug I pulled back and looked at her, trying to commit it to memory.  I kissed her forehead and and told her she better go.  She wheeled her suitcase in, then waved from the door.  I watched Talie disappear inside and already missed her terribly.