Our third day of vacation was the first day of summer, but you wouldn’t know it by how cool it was. Murillo family shenanigans began in Wakaba, even further south from Senbamachi. Alessia has been so inspired by this trip and spent a few hours researching its history and looking up activities to do. No one was more shocked yet excited than me. Her whole life, I worried for her, hoping she’d find something that lit her up inside. And now, at the final hour of her teen life, she’s found a passion.
She said there was a river in Wakaba that was a popular swimming spot. Luca agreed swimming sounded like a good idea, so that was where we went. But we arrived in the middle of a terrible thunderstorm and ran to the nearest shelter we could find. It was a lounge. Luca ran inside so fast, he almost knocked over this girl standing near the door. He apologized and made sure she was okay. But the way she was smiling at him, she was more than okay. He seemed to have trouble tearing himself away from her, so I gave him a TINY bit of privacy. I’m nosy, okay? I wanted to hear what my son’s game was like!
But, in all seriousness, I don’t want to hinder or embarrass him, so I joined Alessia on the couch. Imagine my surprise when I discovered Ali was just as nosy as me! This guy casually joined our conversation, but didn’t sit with us. He stood in front of us to get a good look at the tea spilling behind us! It took me a minute to catch on, but his eyes kept drifting behind me, and he was totally smiling and nodding and saying “uh huh” to everything we said. Cheeky plumhead! Naturally, I asked him to give me a play-by-play, tee hee hee. We are an entire mess!
Needless, everyone had forgotten about swimming. It was for the best anyway, as it wasn’t near warm enough for that. Luca’s gatekeeper scolded us for eavesdropping—not that we could hear anything anyway—and said we were pathetic. She might be right, heh. I hope she knows I’ll try to eavesdrop on her first conversation with a stranger too, tee hee.
Ali eventually sat down and let whatever happened behind us happen. When Luca returned to us, I wish we could say we were as cool and collected as he was. We tried to pretend like we were, but anyone could see through our charade.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
Alessia sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. She was so done with us. 😅
“These two were spying on you!”
He shook his head at us. “So, what are we doing next?”
That’s my boy! #unbothered should be his first tattoo. I told them since tomorrow was our last day, and we planned to hit the big slopes, they should have some quality time with their dad before we go home. Our custody arrangement will be nullified when Alessia blows out the candles tomorrow, and they don’t have to spend weekends with Ali anymore. I don’t think they’ll stop visiting him completely, but I think they might see him less. Not because they don’t love him, but they’ll be so wrapped up in their own lives, they won’t make him a priority. That’s just how life goes, and the same will happen with me when they move out.
While they did whatever together, I headed back to our neighborhood to finally take a dip in the hot springs. It was reeeeeeally nice. Kinda weird too, being so scantily clad and warm yet surrounded by snow.
This trip has been interesting. On the one hand, I’m thrilled we’re all together. But on the other, I’m kinda bummed. This whole thing has been one long preview of the life we never got to live. What makes it worse is Ali and I still love each other. And we’re still friends, so hanging out with him is always a good time. It’s only awkward because I do enjoy it and am afraid I may enjoy it too much. I miss us…
But I made my choice. There’s no need to get sucked up in the shoulda, coulda, woulda’s and hurt the man I’m with now. If only I had that insight before.
