The grocery person arrived, and I remembered Maira’s ex-love interest owned that company. Whatever happened with them? She was definitely in puppy love, heh. But, life does life things, and now she’s happily married. With a fully stocked fridge, I made fried chicken sliders for dinner after the riding lessons.
Alessia texted me, saying she knows I want to know who she was texting with earlier. She’s exploring something new and will fill me in when she’s comfortable it’s worth sharing. Color me intrigued and extremely excited. I will always wear my protective big brother hat, but I also want Less to find the love she lost. I never thought she’d get to a place where she wanted to settle down and start a family, but clearly she found value in it, regardless of how it turned out. She wants it, and I want her to have it.
Sophia and Desi were so excited about going to school tomorrow. The kid is READY, and I’m as excited for her as I am nervous. I’m not nervous for her because she’s a rockstar and all the kids will love her. I’m just anxious about not having her around anymore. She has been with us every day of her sweet life. She’s never even spent the night anywhere else, and now she’s going out into the world by herself. I’m very conflicted about it. We all brought our excitement upstairs and did bedtime together. Hopefully, she’ll be able to sleep. I don’t think I will.
Me and Sophia went back downstairs to process our new normal. I’d been thinking about my next move for a while now and could not decide which direction I wanted to go. Desi’s interest in yoga deeply inspired me. She seems to be very serious about it, and that makes me want to be the best instructor I can be.
“I’m gonna start teaching again,” I said.
She gasped, and her eyes lit up with glee.
“Really?? That’s wonderful! I’m so glad to hear that. So…any thoughts about the studio?”
“Desi reminded me of why I fell in love with yoga and started teaching in the first place. My goal isn’t to open a studio but to teach as many as I can. If I need to open a studio to do that, fine.”
“Makes sense,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about getting a job, too. Just something part time so I can be home when Desi gets out of school.”
“That would be perfect. I want to be here too, but I know I can’t. I’m glad she’ll have you.”
A memory popped into my head that made me shake my head.
“When my parents divorced, we lived with Dad. He had a 9-5, so we were home alone for a while. I remember being so scared that first day, walking into an empty house. We lived in an okay neighborhood, so I wasn’t concerned about something happening, but I had to grow up a lot faster than I needed to.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m the oldest. Even as a little kid, I was keenly aware that it was my job to protect my sister, and when no adults are around, I’m in charge. Lots of kids have to grow up like that, and there’s nothing wrong with it. But if I can help it, I want Desi to be a kid for as long as possible. I don’t want her to be stressed like we were.”
“She won’t. I’ll make sure of that.”
“Thank you.”
