Fic: Kiss the Girl, 3/6
Title: Kiss the Girl
Author: A. Windsor
Pairing/Characters: Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. My one semester of law school could allow me to legalese this a little more, but it also tells me it’s pretty useless. So please don’t sue; it’s not mine, I’m just playing!
Series: Thing!verse
Summary: Lena’s girl-kissing causes drama in the Robbins-Torres household. [March 2032]
Author’s Note: It’s not a great weekend in the Robbins-Torres house. Hope you’re still enjoying. Sorry for any posting confusion. My internet is AWFUL until tonight, but I wanted to get this out. Beta’d by the absolutely wonderful, terribly snarky roughian .
( Part 1) ( Part 2)
***
Arizona wanders into the living room to find “the boys” partaking in a Saturday morning viewing of Teo’s all time favorite movie: Happy Feet. The story of a penguin who just can’t stop dancing rings especially true for the nine-year-old, and when he was younger, he memorized all of the dance steps he could and would routinely reenact them for the family. Even now, he can’t help from getting up and dancing during the movie’s toe-tapping finale, much to his brother’s obvious amusement.
“Hey there, Mumble,” Arizona greets.
“Hey, Momma,” Teo greets back, slumping back on the couch next to Asa as the credits start to roll.
“Did it end differently the 433rd time?”
“Nope,” Asa shakes his head.
“Did Asa still laugh like crazy every time the Spanish-speaking penguins appeared on screen?” she teases.
“Oh yeah,” Teo confirms. He adopts the overblown accent from the movie: “’Man, that guy is so accidentally cool.’”
Asa grins and shrugs.
“It’s a beautiful day outside. Let’s go out and enjoy it,” Arizona suggests, extending her hand to help each of her sons off the couch. “I could really use some fresh air.”
“Where are we going to go?” Asa asks.
“Putt-putt?” Teo suggests.
Arizona’s eyes light with excitement as Asa groans. She leans in conspiratorially to her youngest as her oldest moves to shut off the television.
“You have to ask Asa. He can’t say no to you.”
“Asa, mi hermano favorito, ¿quieres acompañarnos a jugar a putt-putt?” [Asa, my favorite brother. Do you want to come play putt-putt with us?]
Teo makes his chocolate eyes especially wide and infuses his voice with an impressive amount of earnestness. They should sign this boy up for the theater.
“You guys are terrible for my reputation,” Asa sighs in acquiescence, rubbing Teo’s fuzzy head as the younger boy beams.
“If we run into any of your friends, you can act like you really don’t wanna be with us and that your lame family forced you to come along. Deal?” Arizona offers.
Asa looks to wide, eager gazes of both his baby brother and his momma.
“Yeah, okay. But I call blue.”
“Do you think nuestras chicas want to come?” Teo asks.
“Hm. Leni’s grounded, bubba, so she can’t come. Mini-golf is way too fun for grounded people.”
“Maaan. ¿Y Cari?”
“You can ask, but I’m thinking no. She’s been in the play room, trying the beat the next level of some new game.”
“Okay,” Teo sighs. “Too bad Mami’s gotta work.”
“Yeah. But she’ll be home for dinner. Alright. Go check with Caroline, and then let’s get this show on the road.”
***
“Hole-in-one?! Really?” Asa complains as Arizona and Teo celebrate their momma’s feat.
He is getting his butt handed to him by both mother and brother.
“Don’t be a sore loser,” Arizona teases, nudging the son that towers over her.
Teo quickly retrieves his mother’s green golf ball and then tees up with his orange ball for his own shot. He lines his body up perfectly, as she’s taught him, and winds up. Arizona grins as she watches him; no dorky little nine-year-old should have that much grace, but five years of dance lessons have made him surprisingly unawkward for his age.
The ball rolls within a few feet of the hole, swinging wide of the plaster elephant in the middle of the course. Mateo gives a little happy dance before stepping aside for his brother to take his turn.
Asa drops his golf ball into place and takes a deep breath before swinging. The ball bounces off the peeling pink elephant and comes back to his feet. Teo snickers as Arizona shakes her head.
“You’re too impatient, bubba,” she corrects.
“It’s just mini-golf!”
“Then ¿por qué te enojas tanto?” [Why are you getting so mad?] Teo asks innocently, earning a laugh from his mother.
Asa groans and tries again, with much more respectable results. They continue through the back nine, with Asa recovering enough dignity to leave the course with his head held high despite his loss. Most importantly, his mother seems to have released most of the tension that she’s been carrying since Thursday’s incident. The day feels like a victory, until they’re headed towards the parking lot, Teo and Arizona still giggling as they mock a few of Asa’s more ridiculous shots, walking close enough that their hands brush every few steps, heads craned towards each other conspiratorially.
“Does it make you feel better?”
They turn around in confusion, and Asa takes a protective step in front of his momma and hermanito at the venom in the stranger’s tone. He recognizes the older African American woman who was giving them odd looks from two holes behind them for the duration of their game. They’re used to curious or even disapproving stares from outsiders, though, so Asa hadn’t really thought much of it at the time.
“Excuse me, ma’am?” Arizona asks, flashing the biggest smile she can manage.
“Does it make your white guilt feel better to raise those boys? You don’t think they’d be better off with people who can understand them?”
Teo is obviously affected by the woman’s tone, sneaking in even closer to his momma, tucking under her arm and tangling their fingers. On the other hand, it makes Asa beyond angry.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Asa,” Arizona reproaches. “Let it go.”
“It’s none of her business,” Asa shoots back.
“No, it’s not. So we’re going to go.”
“Raising a black baby doesn’t make you a good person,” the woman presses. “What’s a white woman gonna teach little black and hispanic boys about the prejudice they’re gonna face in this world?”
“You seem to be doing a great job of it yourself, ma’am,” Arizona says, faux-sweetly, before she turns to walk back to the car, grabbing Asa’s arm to pull him along.
“It’s not right. They’re never gonna be normal.”
Asa spins around but Arizona’s grip gets almost painfully firm and holds him in place.
“Déjalo. No importa. Por favor. Está el hermanito,” [Leave it. It doesn’t matter. Please. Your little brother’s here,] she orders. Just her switch to Spanish gives him pause; it’s rare that his self-conscious momma breaks into their second lengua maternal [mother tongue].
“Momma...”
“Vamános.”
They get to the car, thankfully un-followed. Asa’s practically shaking with his anger. It’s not the first time things like this have happened. If it’s not the racial make-up of their family people criticize, it’s the sexual orientation of their mothers. It’s not constant, but it happens enough that Asa shouldn’t be surprised. And he’s not: just so very, very mad.
Arizona unlocks the door, and Teo wordlessly climbs into the backseat. She leans down so she can meet his eyes.
“You okay, Tiny Dancer?”
Teo nods.
“You sure? Some people just have different opinions about stuff like this. They don’t understand that--”
“Love makes a family,” Teo finishes for her, their repeated refrain.
Arizona swallows the angry knot in her throat and kisses his forehead, her lips lingering.
“Yeah. Exactly.”
“Don’t cry, Momma. She was wrong. And mean.”
“Cry? Who said I was crying?” Arizona gives a shaky laugh, wiping away the few tears that do escape, their foreheads pressed together. “You know I’m way too tough to cry.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Teo grins back.
“I love you boys so, so, so much,” she whispers fiercely as she pulls away.
“We love you, too, Momma,” Teo pledges, a bit of “duh” in his tone.
“Alright. Let’s get home.”
Arizona slides into the driver’s seat with a sideways glance at her oldest son. Asa’s hands are in tight fists, and he’s obviously taking several deep breaths to calm himself down. He manages to do so, extending a hand to her, which she takes and briefly squeezes.
“Are you okay, Momma?” he asks as she turns the ignition.
“Rough couple days,” she nods. “Ice cream on the way home? What do you say?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Teo says brightly. “Can you put on my playlist?”
“That sounds perfect. Asa, will you do the honors?”
Asa fiddles with the car’s stereo system and the sounds of Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” leap out of the speakers, putting a wide grin on Teo’s face.
“Thanks, Momma.”
Asa looks at half of his crazy family and feels himself start to do as Teo seems to be doing: he lets it go as Teo’s sweet voice fills the car.
“You can feel it all oooo-ver,” Teo croons, goofy smile in place.
Yeah, people just don’t get it.
***
“Hey, Lena-bug. Wanna go for a run?” Asa questions, coming up to Lena and Arizona, who are awkwardly sitting, silently, in the living room reading the piles of accumulated magazines. Just barely audible are the electronic sound effects and good-natured squabbling of a Caroline/Teo videogame battle coming from the playroom. He shakes his head at the noises. Caroline’s going to turn into a videogame herself one of these days.
Lena looks to her mother for permission, trying not to look too hopeful about the chance to get out of the house.
“I really do need to,” she says. “I haven’t been running since Wednesday, and summer league starts in May so I really have to get back in shape.”
Arizona smirks a little at that part; like Lena is ever out of shape. But her point is well taken, and she can never discourage any time Lena and Asa voluntarily spend together.
“Okay. Asa, you’re in charge.”
“Momma!” Lena complains.
Asa laughs and pulls his sister out of the living room before she gets herself into more trouble.
***
“I heard about mini-golf,” Lena says gently as they stretch out in the driveway.
“Yeah,” Asa blows out a breath as he pulls his arm over his head. “Part of why I need this run.”
“Teo seemed pretty okay. Do you want to talk about it?”
“Just the same shit as ever,” he shakes his head. “No use re-hashing.”
“Are we gonna tell Mami?” she asks as she bends her athletic form practically in half, cocking her head up at an awkward angle to maintain eye contact.
“I’m sure Momma will,” Asa concludes. “Even though they’re fighting.”
Lena nods but doesn’t respond, straightening up.
“Are you ready to go?”
Asa agrees, and they start, setting a moderate speed so that they can talk. Both are in prime athletic condition: Lena from being a “freaky soccer superstar” in Aunt Cristina’s words and Asa from soccer and, more recently, keeping himself in shape for the Naval Academy or NROTC in the fall. He tries not to focus on that; he’s already gotten into a few schools with an NROTC scholarship, but he’ll get final word from USNA any moment now, something no one willingly brings up these days.
“They’re fighting because of you, you know,” he says instead, trying not to sound too accusing.
Lena sighs and shakes her ponytail, missing just a step before restoring their previous rhythm.
“Like, Mami slept in the guest room for the last two nights, fighting.”
His little sister looks confused.
“Not last night she didn’t. I woke up first this morning, and she wasn’t in there.”
“Maybe she didn’t wake up there, but the bed was unmade this morning and made last night. You know how they are.”
“I’m still pissed, but I can’t sleep,” Lena mocks.
Asa laughs.
Maybe most parents tried to hide their fights from their kids, but their moms have always tried to show that it’s normal for two people who love each other to fight, and that it doesn’t have to be scary. That’s why they all crack-wise about the nights when the guest room is occupied and make fun of their mothers’ obvious patterns when it comes to fighting. That isn’t to say that they fight in front of them all the time, just that they never hide the fact that sometimes moms need to go into another room and disagree a bit. Sometimes loudly.
“Dorks,” Asa grins affectionately.
“Yeah. How’d they ever get kids as cool as us?”
“Our sperm donor must’ve been pretty awesome,” Asa teases, another old joke between them all.
“And Marisol gave Teo all her cool.”
“Claro.”
They lapse into silence for a block or two, Lena having effectively changed the subject to give herself a few more moments without an interrogation.
“¿Quieres hablar de Thursday?” [You wanna talk about Thursday?]
“No,” Lena puffs out a breath.
“Sorry. Let me rephrase. Let’s talk about Thursday.”
Lena rolls her eyes and stays silent for a little longer.
“Okay. Again. Talk to me about Thursday, or we turn around and you have to be cooped up inside for the rest of the day.”
“Ay, me molestas tanto, hermano mio.” [Oh, you annoy me so much, my brother.]
“I know. I really suck.”
“You really do.”
“Thursday. You and Chloe. Go.”
“She kisses all the guys; I kiss all the girls. I don’t see how it’s any different. Just closing the circle.”
“Stop it. You’re right; it’s not different. That’s what upsets Momma and you know it. Chloe Martin has a terrible reputation. Is that really what you want? To have a reputation for being easy?”
“I’m pretty sure I already have that. Isn’t that what they say? ‘If you’ve got girl parts, Lena will make out with you.’”
“Who the hell talks like that?” Asa complains, grimacing at the fact that, however exaggerated, her words are more or so less what’s been said around school. He’s heard it all before. It’s not usually said negatively, though, just amusedly, so he’s never had to beat the crap out of anyone for it. Not that he hasn’t been tempted.
“Okay. Different tactic. Back to Chloe. Do you really know where that mouth’s been?”
“Asa! Why are you being so weird and judge-y about this?”
“I’m not being judge-y. And the word is judgmental.”
“I’m gonna kick your judgmental ass,” Lena murmurs.
In a different situation, he would be relishing his supernatural ability to get a rise out of his normally bubbly baby sister. Now, though, he’s just trying to get her to listen to him.
“Besides, I didn’t come onto her. She was flirting with me. She pulled me into that closet.”
“You can say no. You have a brain. One that does not live in, what did you call them? Your girl parts?”
“It’s called a-”
“Oh my god. I live with too many women.”
Asa resists the urge the sprint ahead to get away from his smirking sister, bringing it back to the point. He’s not going to let her weasel her way out of this one.
“Look,” she surprises him by volunteering. “What I’m trying to say is: what I am doing may be with more partners, but it is far more innocent than what you are doing when you sneak off with Katie Shepherd. Which I know our moms are somewhat aware of. Or at least suspect. So I’m having trouble figuring out why I’m the only one who’s grounded or yelled at or disappointing.”
Asa considers her refreshingly rational argument as they run along in silence for a few strides.
“Katie and I haven’t gotten caught.”
“Yet.”
“Yet,” Asa concedes. “And Katie’s my girlfriend.”
“Sometimes.”
“Sometimes,” Asa concedes again. Fights were more fun when they were little and logic didn’t matter. And his little sister wasn’t so insightful. And he could sit on her until she did what he wanted.
“Good talk, Ace,” Lena teases.
“I don’t know! I’m just trying to keep the peace. I didn’t say I agreed with Momma.”
“So you disagree with her.”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know.”
“She’s not here right now. She can’t hear you if you want to openly admit she’s wrong.”
“Me molestas tanto, hermana mia,” [You annoy me so much, my sister,] he echoes her earlier complaint, this time in the fact of her relentless teasing about him being a momma’s boy (and a mami’s boy).
“Ya sé,” [I know,] Lena giggles breathlessly, slowing down as they reach the corner where they usually turn around. She comes to a halt, hands on her head, late afternoon sun catching the natural highlights in her hair. She gets serious, rolling her tongue around in her mouth as she catches her breath, her thinking habit only noticeable to someone like Asa, who’s spent his (or at least her) whole life consciously and unconsciously observing her.
Then she says: “I’m really gonna miss you, Asa.”
And he doesn’t care if it’s embarrassing or stupid or unmanly; he pulls his little sister into a bone-crushing (smelly, sweaty) hug.
“Te voy a extrañar también, Leni.” [I’m gonna miss you, too, Leni.]
She hugs him back just as fiercely.
“I’m leaving you in charge,” he continues. “So you’ve got until this summer to stop fighting with Momma, okay?”
Lena laughs, face pressed into his broad shoulder, and holds on tight.
“Okay.”
“We should go home.”
“Okay,” she repeats. “One minute.”
“I’ll race you?”
“Deal,” Lena agrees, making no move to let him go.
***
tbc in Part 4
Author: A. Windsor
Pairing/Characters: Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. My one semester of law school could allow me to legalese this a little more, but it also tells me it’s pretty useless. So please don’t sue; it’s not mine, I’m just playing!
Series: Thing!verse
Summary: Lena’s girl-kissing causes drama in the Robbins-Torres household. [March 2032]
Author’s Note: It’s not a great weekend in the Robbins-Torres house. Hope you’re still enjoying. Sorry for any posting confusion. My internet is AWFUL until tonight, but I wanted to get this out. Beta’d by the absolutely wonderful, terribly snarky roughian .
( Part 1) ( Part 2)
***
Arizona wanders into the living room to find “the boys” partaking in a Saturday morning viewing of Teo’s all time favorite movie: Happy Feet. The story of a penguin who just can’t stop dancing rings especially true for the nine-year-old, and when he was younger, he memorized all of the dance steps he could and would routinely reenact them for the family. Even now, he can’t help from getting up and dancing during the movie’s toe-tapping finale, much to his brother’s obvious amusement.
“Hey there, Mumble,” Arizona greets.
“Hey, Momma,” Teo greets back, slumping back on the couch next to Asa as the credits start to roll.
“Did it end differently the 433rd time?”
“Nope,” Asa shakes his head.
“Did Asa still laugh like crazy every time the Spanish-speaking penguins appeared on screen?” she teases.
“Oh yeah,” Teo confirms. He adopts the overblown accent from the movie: “’Man, that guy is so accidentally cool.’”
Asa grins and shrugs.
“It’s a beautiful day outside. Let’s go out and enjoy it,” Arizona suggests, extending her hand to help each of her sons off the couch. “I could really use some fresh air.”
“Where are we going to go?” Asa asks.
“Putt-putt?” Teo suggests.
Arizona’s eyes light with excitement as Asa groans. She leans in conspiratorially to her youngest as her oldest moves to shut off the television.
“You have to ask Asa. He can’t say no to you.”
“Asa, mi hermano favorito, ¿quieres acompañarnos a jugar a putt-putt?” [Asa, my favorite brother. Do you want to come play putt-putt with us?]
Teo makes his chocolate eyes especially wide and infuses his voice with an impressive amount of earnestness. They should sign this boy up for the theater.
“You guys are terrible for my reputation,” Asa sighs in acquiescence, rubbing Teo’s fuzzy head as the younger boy beams.
“If we run into any of your friends, you can act like you really don’t wanna be with us and that your lame family forced you to come along. Deal?” Arizona offers.
Asa looks to wide, eager gazes of both his baby brother and his momma.
“Yeah, okay. But I call blue.”
“Do you think nuestras chicas want to come?” Teo asks.
“Hm. Leni’s grounded, bubba, so she can’t come. Mini-golf is way too fun for grounded people.”
“Maaan. ¿Y Cari?”
“You can ask, but I’m thinking no. She’s been in the play room, trying the beat the next level of some new game.”
“Okay,” Teo sighs. “Too bad Mami’s gotta work.”
“Yeah. But she’ll be home for dinner. Alright. Go check with Caroline, and then let’s get this show on the road.”
***
“Hole-in-one?! Really?” Asa complains as Arizona and Teo celebrate their momma’s feat.
He is getting his butt handed to him by both mother and brother.
“Don’t be a sore loser,” Arizona teases, nudging the son that towers over her.
Teo quickly retrieves his mother’s green golf ball and then tees up with his orange ball for his own shot. He lines his body up perfectly, as she’s taught him, and winds up. Arizona grins as she watches him; no dorky little nine-year-old should have that much grace, but five years of dance lessons have made him surprisingly unawkward for his age.
The ball rolls within a few feet of the hole, swinging wide of the plaster elephant in the middle of the course. Mateo gives a little happy dance before stepping aside for his brother to take his turn.
Asa drops his golf ball into place and takes a deep breath before swinging. The ball bounces off the peeling pink elephant and comes back to his feet. Teo snickers as Arizona shakes her head.
“You’re too impatient, bubba,” she corrects.
“It’s just mini-golf!”
“Then ¿por qué te enojas tanto?” [Why are you getting so mad?] Teo asks innocently, earning a laugh from his mother.
Asa groans and tries again, with much more respectable results. They continue through the back nine, with Asa recovering enough dignity to leave the course with his head held high despite his loss. Most importantly, his mother seems to have released most of the tension that she’s been carrying since Thursday’s incident. The day feels like a victory, until they’re headed towards the parking lot, Teo and Arizona still giggling as they mock a few of Asa’s more ridiculous shots, walking close enough that their hands brush every few steps, heads craned towards each other conspiratorially.
“Does it make you feel better?”
They turn around in confusion, and Asa takes a protective step in front of his momma and hermanito at the venom in the stranger’s tone. He recognizes the older African American woman who was giving them odd looks from two holes behind them for the duration of their game. They’re used to curious or even disapproving stares from outsiders, though, so Asa hadn’t really thought much of it at the time.
“Excuse me, ma’am?” Arizona asks, flashing the biggest smile she can manage.
“Does it make your white guilt feel better to raise those boys? You don’t think they’d be better off with people who can understand them?”
Teo is obviously affected by the woman’s tone, sneaking in even closer to his momma, tucking under her arm and tangling their fingers. On the other hand, it makes Asa beyond angry.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Asa,” Arizona reproaches. “Let it go.”
“It’s none of her business,” Asa shoots back.
“No, it’s not. So we’re going to go.”
“Raising a black baby doesn’t make you a good person,” the woman presses. “What’s a white woman gonna teach little black and hispanic boys about the prejudice they’re gonna face in this world?”
“You seem to be doing a great job of it yourself, ma’am,” Arizona says, faux-sweetly, before she turns to walk back to the car, grabbing Asa’s arm to pull him along.
“It’s not right. They’re never gonna be normal.”
Asa spins around but Arizona’s grip gets almost painfully firm and holds him in place.
“Déjalo. No importa. Por favor. Está el hermanito,” [Leave it. It doesn’t matter. Please. Your little brother’s here,] she orders. Just her switch to Spanish gives him pause; it’s rare that his self-conscious momma breaks into their second lengua maternal [mother tongue].
“Momma...”
“Vamános.”
They get to the car, thankfully un-followed. Asa’s practically shaking with his anger. It’s not the first time things like this have happened. If it’s not the racial make-up of their family people criticize, it’s the sexual orientation of their mothers. It’s not constant, but it happens enough that Asa shouldn’t be surprised. And he’s not: just so very, very mad.
Arizona unlocks the door, and Teo wordlessly climbs into the backseat. She leans down so she can meet his eyes.
“You okay, Tiny Dancer?”
Teo nods.
“You sure? Some people just have different opinions about stuff like this. They don’t understand that--”
“Love makes a family,” Teo finishes for her, their repeated refrain.
Arizona swallows the angry knot in her throat and kisses his forehead, her lips lingering.
“Yeah. Exactly.”
“Don’t cry, Momma. She was wrong. And mean.”
“Cry? Who said I was crying?” Arizona gives a shaky laugh, wiping away the few tears that do escape, their foreheads pressed together. “You know I’m way too tough to cry.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Teo grins back.
“I love you boys so, so, so much,” she whispers fiercely as she pulls away.
“We love you, too, Momma,” Teo pledges, a bit of “duh” in his tone.
“Alright. Let’s get home.”
Arizona slides into the driver’s seat with a sideways glance at her oldest son. Asa’s hands are in tight fists, and he’s obviously taking several deep breaths to calm himself down. He manages to do so, extending a hand to her, which she takes and briefly squeezes.
“Are you okay, Momma?” he asks as she turns the ignition.
“Rough couple days,” she nods. “Ice cream on the way home? What do you say?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Teo says brightly. “Can you put on my playlist?”
“That sounds perfect. Asa, will you do the honors?”
Asa fiddles with the car’s stereo system and the sounds of Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” leap out of the speakers, putting a wide grin on Teo’s face.
“Thanks, Momma.”
Asa looks at half of his crazy family and feels himself start to do as Teo seems to be doing: he lets it go as Teo’s sweet voice fills the car.
“You can feel it all oooo-ver,” Teo croons, goofy smile in place.
Yeah, people just don’t get it.
***
“Hey, Lena-bug. Wanna go for a run?” Asa questions, coming up to Lena and Arizona, who are awkwardly sitting, silently, in the living room reading the piles of accumulated magazines. Just barely audible are the electronic sound effects and good-natured squabbling of a Caroline/Teo videogame battle coming from the playroom. He shakes his head at the noises. Caroline’s going to turn into a videogame herself one of these days.
Lena looks to her mother for permission, trying not to look too hopeful about the chance to get out of the house.
“I really do need to,” she says. “I haven’t been running since Wednesday, and summer league starts in May so I really have to get back in shape.”
Arizona smirks a little at that part; like Lena is ever out of shape. But her point is well taken, and she can never discourage any time Lena and Asa voluntarily spend together.
“Okay. Asa, you’re in charge.”
“Momma!” Lena complains.
Asa laughs and pulls his sister out of the living room before she gets herself into more trouble.
***
“I heard about mini-golf,” Lena says gently as they stretch out in the driveway.
“Yeah,” Asa blows out a breath as he pulls his arm over his head. “Part of why I need this run.”
“Teo seemed pretty okay. Do you want to talk about it?”
“Just the same shit as ever,” he shakes his head. “No use re-hashing.”
“Are we gonna tell Mami?” she asks as she bends her athletic form practically in half, cocking her head up at an awkward angle to maintain eye contact.
“I’m sure Momma will,” Asa concludes. “Even though they’re fighting.”
Lena nods but doesn’t respond, straightening up.
“Are you ready to go?”
Asa agrees, and they start, setting a moderate speed so that they can talk. Both are in prime athletic condition: Lena from being a “freaky soccer superstar” in Aunt Cristina’s words and Asa from soccer and, more recently, keeping himself in shape for the Naval Academy or NROTC in the fall. He tries not to focus on that; he’s already gotten into a few schools with an NROTC scholarship, but he’ll get final word from USNA any moment now, something no one willingly brings up these days.
“They’re fighting because of you, you know,” he says instead, trying not to sound too accusing.
Lena sighs and shakes her ponytail, missing just a step before restoring their previous rhythm.
“Like, Mami slept in the guest room for the last two nights, fighting.”
His little sister looks confused.
“Not last night she didn’t. I woke up first this morning, and she wasn’t in there.”
“Maybe she didn’t wake up there, but the bed was unmade this morning and made last night. You know how they are.”
“I’m still pissed, but I can’t sleep,” Lena mocks.
Asa laughs.
Maybe most parents tried to hide their fights from their kids, but their moms have always tried to show that it’s normal for two people who love each other to fight, and that it doesn’t have to be scary. That’s why they all crack-wise about the nights when the guest room is occupied and make fun of their mothers’ obvious patterns when it comes to fighting. That isn’t to say that they fight in front of them all the time, just that they never hide the fact that sometimes moms need to go into another room and disagree a bit. Sometimes loudly.
“Dorks,” Asa grins affectionately.
“Yeah. How’d they ever get kids as cool as us?”
“Our sperm donor must’ve been pretty awesome,” Asa teases, another old joke between them all.
“And Marisol gave Teo all her cool.”
“Claro.”
They lapse into silence for a block or two, Lena having effectively changed the subject to give herself a few more moments without an interrogation.
“¿Quieres hablar de Thursday?” [You wanna talk about Thursday?]
“No,” Lena puffs out a breath.
“Sorry. Let me rephrase. Let’s talk about Thursday.”
Lena rolls her eyes and stays silent for a little longer.
“Okay. Again. Talk to me about Thursday, or we turn around and you have to be cooped up inside for the rest of the day.”
“Ay, me molestas tanto, hermano mio.” [Oh, you annoy me so much, my brother.]
“I know. I really suck.”
“You really do.”
“Thursday. You and Chloe. Go.”
“She kisses all the guys; I kiss all the girls. I don’t see how it’s any different. Just closing the circle.”
“Stop it. You’re right; it’s not different. That’s what upsets Momma and you know it. Chloe Martin has a terrible reputation. Is that really what you want? To have a reputation for being easy?”
“I’m pretty sure I already have that. Isn’t that what they say? ‘If you’ve got girl parts, Lena will make out with you.’”
“Who the hell talks like that?” Asa complains, grimacing at the fact that, however exaggerated, her words are more or so less what’s been said around school. He’s heard it all before. It’s not usually said negatively, though, just amusedly, so he’s never had to beat the crap out of anyone for it. Not that he hasn’t been tempted.
“Okay. Different tactic. Back to Chloe. Do you really know where that mouth’s been?”
“Asa! Why are you being so weird and judge-y about this?”
“I’m not being judge-y. And the word is judgmental.”
“I’m gonna kick your judgmental ass,” Lena murmurs.
In a different situation, he would be relishing his supernatural ability to get a rise out of his normally bubbly baby sister. Now, though, he’s just trying to get her to listen to him.
“Besides, I didn’t come onto her. She was flirting with me. She pulled me into that closet.”
“You can say no. You have a brain. One that does not live in, what did you call them? Your girl parts?”
“It’s called a-”
“Oh my god. I live with too many women.”
Asa resists the urge the sprint ahead to get away from his smirking sister, bringing it back to the point. He’s not going to let her weasel her way out of this one.
“Look,” she surprises him by volunteering. “What I’m trying to say is: what I am doing may be with more partners, but it is far more innocent than what you are doing when you sneak off with Katie Shepherd. Which I know our moms are somewhat aware of. Or at least suspect. So I’m having trouble figuring out why I’m the only one who’s grounded or yelled at or disappointing.”
Asa considers her refreshingly rational argument as they run along in silence for a few strides.
“Katie and I haven’t gotten caught.”
“Yet.”
“Yet,” Asa concedes. “And Katie’s my girlfriend.”
“Sometimes.”
“Sometimes,” Asa concedes again. Fights were more fun when they were little and logic didn’t matter. And his little sister wasn’t so insightful. And he could sit on her until she did what he wanted.
“Good talk, Ace,” Lena teases.
“I don’t know! I’m just trying to keep the peace. I didn’t say I agreed with Momma.”
“So you disagree with her.”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know.”
“She’s not here right now. She can’t hear you if you want to openly admit she’s wrong.”
“Me molestas tanto, hermana mia,” [You annoy me so much, my sister,] he echoes her earlier complaint, this time in the fact of her relentless teasing about him being a momma’s boy (and a mami’s boy).
“Ya sé,” [I know,] Lena giggles breathlessly, slowing down as they reach the corner where they usually turn around. She comes to a halt, hands on her head, late afternoon sun catching the natural highlights in her hair. She gets serious, rolling her tongue around in her mouth as she catches her breath, her thinking habit only noticeable to someone like Asa, who’s spent his (or at least her) whole life consciously and unconsciously observing her.
Then she says: “I’m really gonna miss you, Asa.”
And he doesn’t care if it’s embarrassing or stupid or unmanly; he pulls his little sister into a bone-crushing (smelly, sweaty) hug.
“Te voy a extrañar también, Leni.” [I’m gonna miss you, too, Leni.]
She hugs him back just as fiercely.
“I’m leaving you in charge,” he continues. “So you’ve got until this summer to stop fighting with Momma, okay?”
Lena laughs, face pressed into his broad shoulder, and holds on tight.
“Okay.”
“We should go home.”
“Okay,” she repeats. “One minute.”
“I’ll race you?”
“Deal,” Lena agrees, making no move to let him go.
***
tbc in Part 4