Episode 765: These Words

Katherine shook her head as she watched the young woman pace back and forth. She wondered whether any of her composure would ever rub off on Lila.

"Of course I’m happy for you," Lila said into her phone, sounding decidedly unhappy. "It’s fine. It’s good. You’ll do great. We’ll hold dinner if you’re late. It’s not a problem. Bye."

The moment Lila finished her call, she screamed, "it’s a huge problem!" She whirled around, seemingly set to launch her phone through the air like a baseball.

"Oh, no you don’t." Katherine hurriedly grabbed Lila’s wrist and extricated the phone from Lila’s hand. "You will not throw things in my living room. We do not lose our tempers here and break valuable things, it’s not happening. What on earth is wrong now? Honestly, I’m not sure I’ve ever known anyone as dramatic."

"Nate is trying out for a suddenly vacant slot for the last mathlete competition of the year. My son is going to be a mathlete, only Bowie and I are terrible with numbers, so where did he get it from, huh? He was first on their list of substitutes. He expected me to congratulate him, and be happy for him."

"He, unlike you, has the right idea. Not all children are carbon copies of their parents, you know, mine have certainly only chosen their own paths. His aptitude for mathimatics means nothing. Just put away your suspicions and stop overreacting. You have a smart child who actually likes to use his smarts. Not all parents are so lucky, just appreciate it, Lila, and don’t make a mess of things."

"I’m not the one who made a mess of things," Lila countered.

"You are the one who slept with two men, that’s hardly tidy."

"That was a mistake, and they eventually knew, we were having the test, everything was on the up and up. You were the one who may or may not have screwed with the results. If Nate’s dad wasn’t Bowie, it would have been tricky to deal with back then, but nowhere near tricky as it is now, it’ll upset my kids so much more now that they’re older, and fully understand, and what about Bowie, and what if Curran… I don’t want to think about it. The thing is, I can’t help thinking about it. I’m on edge half the freaking time. If it comes out now, it will hurt everyone so much-"

"Lila, will you please give it a rest, shouting is only increasing the possibility that someone will overhear. Just appreciate how good your life is right now, instead of worrying about what if. Be glad you have a child who calls to share his achievements with you." Katherine could not recall the last time any of her children had called her. That sad thought made her more snappish than she should have been towards Lila considering the woman held the power to potentially destroy Katherine’s medical career. "The only way this will come out is if you don’t keep your mouth shut. It’s just a secret, we all have them. Quit acting like a whiny brat."

Episode 766: Dilemma