Later in the week I got another call from the prison, the robo-voice asking if I accepted the charges. I responded affirmatively and walked back to the bedroom so I could have some privacy. Nora's social worker had called me again and had given me the heads up that Laura wanted to talk to me. I closed my door and paced the room, waiting for Laura's voice.

"Lin?" She asked, then coughed.

"Hi Laura," I said, nervous about how this conversation was going to go. "How are you holding up?"

"Not great," she said, her voice sounding tired and gravelly. "I guess you probably heard I got busted for drugs."

"Yeah, I did," I told her and tried not to be judgmental. I didn't pretend to know what her life had been like for the past fourteen years. "Did they tag on an extra charge?"

"Yeah, possession and smuggling," she admitted. "The guard who helped us got fired."

"Probably a good thing," I admitted. "Nora's social worker told me you wanted to talk with me about her?"

"Yeah...." She said as I heard commotion in the background. I imagined prison was never very quiet. "I think I upset her when she visited the other week."

"Yeah, she was upset when we left," I admitted to her. "She was frustrated that you weren't planning on getting clean."

"It's harder than it sounds," she told me.

"Hey, I'm not judging," I told her. "She just misses you and wants you back."

"I never did much for her," she said, and I could sense she was hoping I would correct her. "I was always working all the time."

"Yeah, being a single mother must be hard. How come you never contacted me for child support?"

"I don't know," she muttered. "Too proud, I guess."

"Well, you don't have to worry. She's being well provided for."

"Yeah, I heard you got her into some fancy school?"

"Hunter," I told her. "It's where I went. It's for gifted kids, and I really think Nora is smart. She just hadn't gotten a good education up until now."

"Well I'm sorry if I couldn't pull us out of the slums, Lin, and send her to some fancy school," she spat, which surprised me.

"I'm not saying you did anything wrong," I told her. "She's a good kid."

"Are you getting her to actually behave?" She asked, surprised.

"She's coming around," I told her. "We've butted heads a few times."

"Kid is so stubborn," she mumbled.

"I'll say," I admitted. "Listen, I'm not sure if Nora coming in to see you is the best thing for her. She took it pretty hard last time."

She started to get emotional. "I know," she admitted. "I want to see her so bad, but if she's doing well I don't want to mess it up. Is she really doing okay?"

"Yeah," I told her. "She's doing okay in school and she's made a couple friends."

"Well, good," she told me. "Ummm...let her know if she does decide she wants to visit, she's always welcome."

"I'll tell her that," I said.

"Well, my five minutes is almost up," she said. "I better go."

"Alright, Laura," I said. "Take care of yourself."

She hung up and I tucked my phone back into my pocket. I decided I shouldn't tell Nora I'd spoken with her mother. She'd probably feel bad that she hadn't talked to her as well. I went out to the kitchen where Vanessa was finishing up dinner. I walked up and rubbed her hip as I stood next to her.

"Everything okay?" She asked. I looked over my shoulder and saw that Nora was busy on the floor with Sebastian and Francisco.

"I just got a call from Laura," I told her in a low voice. "She got two extra charges."

"Perfect," she commented. "Is that all she called about?"

"She just wanted to check to see how Nora's doing.

"And what did you tell her?" She turned off the burner and brought the pot of pasta to the sink to drain it.

"I told her she's fine," I leaned back against the counter and crossed my arms. "Not to worry. That's she's being taken care of."

"Good," Vanessa said as she strained the spaghetti. "She doesn't need anything extra to worry about."

"No she's doesn't," I agreed. Prison was stressful enough without having to worry about a child on the outside.

"Are you going to tell Nora you talked to her?"

"No," I said. "She might get upset. And I don't want her visiting her mother either. Laura agreed."

"I think that's good," Vanessa agreed. "Her last visit definitely set her back. Will you set the table please?"

I busied myself getting out the place mats, cutlery and cups as Vanessa began to dish out the dinner. It was spaghetti, so we decided it would definitely be bath night for the boys. There was no hope of them making it out of dinner clean. I cut up Francisco's spaghetti into little pieces and he fisted it into his mouth. Some of it, anyway. Spaghetti sauce was all over his face.

"Manners, Francisco," Nora teased him. Francisco cooed and slapped his hand on his high chair table, happy as could be. Sebastian was only slightly less messy than his younger brother. The conversation was very one-sided as Sebastian filled us all in on every detail of his day at preschool. He loved his preschool and had tons of friends.

"Sebastian, eat your dinner," I told him gently. The kid had a tendency to get distracted during meals and forgetting to eat. There are so many important things to do when you're three. He asked to be excused and had gotten through about half his spaghetti and exactly zero of his peas.

"Not until you eat three spoonfuls of peas," Vanessa told him. Sebastian groaned and rested his chin in his hand. The child was strong-willed. Everyone had finished eating and he was still in his chair, staring at his peas.

"But I don't like peas!" He told us as we cleared the dishes away.

"Vegetables are good for you," Vanessa told him. "You need to eat them to grow up to be strong like daddy."

"Bad example," I joked. I wasn't exactly known for my muscle tone.

Sebastian sat there for a good ten minutes, his head resting against the back of his chair, staring up at the ceiling. Then I observed Nora come kneel beside him. I couldn't hear what she was saying to him, but soon he was giggling. She scooped up a spoonful of peas and did something funny, then gently put it in his mouth. He ate it quickly, then took two more spoonfuls.

"Yayy!!" Nora clapped for him as she unstrapped him from his booster seat. She helped him down and they went off to play together. Apparently, Nora had the magic touch. When Nora took a break I thanked her for helping with Sebastian.

"No problem," she told me.

"He would have sat there for an hour if you hadn't intervened," I told her. "It's happened before."

"He's so stubborn," she commented.

"Sounds like someone else I know," I said, winking at her. I clapped my hands together twice. "Alright! Bath time for everyone under 4 feet tall!"

I picked Sebastian up and carried him like an airplane to the bathroom, where Vanessa had already started running the water. I helped undress my sons and set them in the tub. Then, I scrubbed both boys' faces until all traces of dinner were gone.

Vanessa helped get the boys out of the tub and wrapped up in towels. She took Sebastian and I took Francisco. I scooped his tiny body up and took him to the nursery, where I set him down on the changing table. I continued to rub his body dry with a towel and noticed Nora watching from the doorway.

"You okay, Nora?" I asked as I reached for a nighttime diaper.

"Yeah," she said. "Can you show me how to put on a diaper? I want to help."

I was surprised, but gladly accepted. I showed her how to left his legs up and get the diaper positioned under his bottom, and how to tell which side was front and back. I held the diaper in place as she fastened the tabs snugly.

"That's all there is to it," I said, reaching down into the second drawer to find a onesie. "Want to help put him in his PJ's?"

She nodded and I let her take over, giving her pointers. I thought it was sweet that she wanted to help. She seemed to enjoy getting him ready for bed. I picked him up gently and walked over to the rocking chair. "Do you want to rock him to sleep?"

I could feel Francisco was starting to fade fast, so I knew this would be an easy gig. Nora nodded, so I passed her baby brother to her and she sat down.

"I'll come back in a minute," I told her softly, "So I can put him in his crib."

I passed by a few minutes later and could tell my son was out cold. Nora seemed to be enjoying rocking him, so I let them be for a while longer. After a while, I pushed the door open and Nora began to rearrange him in her arms. I gently took him from her and then transferred him to his crib. I followed Nora out and shut the door behind us.

I put my hand on her shoulder as we moseyed down the hallway. "Do you like being a big sister?"

"Yeah, it's alright," she admitted.

"Well, you're good at it," I told her honestly. "With Sebastian at dinner and Francisco at bedtime, you're gonna start to become the favorite around here."

For the first time since she'd been with us I saw a genuine smile.