Episode 769: We Can't Stop

With a frown, and a tight knot in her stomach, Lila returned home. Thinking herself alone, she turned her phone back on and risked checking her messages.

If Avalon had called with that concerned voice of hers, with the promise to understand, Lila might give in to the urge to talk, which would be a mistake, wouldn’t it? Part of her really wanted to make that mistake though, to have someone other than Katherine to bounce this stuff off of, so she checked her messages, but there wasn’t any invitation to conversation, no vow of support, just threats.

Katherine, as always, didn’t sugarcoat things. She reminded Lila that if the truth took her medical career down, there went Lila’s chief source of employment with her; and there went all the prime connections for the wedding and party-planning business Lila hoped to launch.

Katherine further reminded Lila that most husbands don’t deal well with discovering that their child isn’t biologically their own, and the child doesn’t tend to immediately adjust either.

Lila paced her living room, frantic, and a little breathless, not unlike a caged animal, listening to Katherine on repeat, listening to how dire things could get if she wasn’t careful.

"Mom," Jesse said.

"Oh, hey, how was your day? Did you just get home?" Lila asked while putting away her phone and doing her level best to act normal.

"No, I’ve been here a little while," her eldest son said. "I was just… in my room. Are you okay?"

Lila had intended to deflect that question though she hadn’t realized she’d have a genuine reason to do so until she looked long and hard at her son. His hair sat flat on one side as if he’d been napping, something he’d never been a fan of, and his color appeared off by several shades.

"Forget me," she said. "What’s up with you? Why do you look pale and sleepy?"

"I was cramming for exams pretty much all night, that’s all, and then this afternoon it caught up with me, it hit me like a ton of bricks. It’s no big deal. I’m fine. What about you? You seem frazzled, or freaked out or something, mom."

"I’m just, you know running around working on Ava’s wedding and the garden party at the same time, it’s a lot, I’m fine though, too, really fine, no problems whatsoever."

Episode 770: She's Gotta Be