Chapter 6

As the trio clambered into Megan’s car, a random thought popped into her mind.

I gotta get HOP cards for me and Sophia.

Yet another item on a list that seemed to get longer every time she thought about it.

Megan was feeling unmoored. Just thirty-six hours ago, life was normal; routine. Then there was Brad’s infidelity, the long drive to Portland, reconnecting with her college roommate and (renewed) best friend, and then finding out that Tasha was a lesbian. Okay, maybe not a lesbian—Tasha said that she wasn’t calling herself anything right now, because she needed to figure herself out. Anyway, it was a lot for Megan to process in a short amount of time. Unmoored seemed like the perfect word right now.

Priority list. What is important? What do I need to concentrate on and what is noise? Concentrate on what needs to get done. Everything else is noise.

Brad? As unbelievable as it might have seemed, given that they had been married for a decade, he was just noise. Definitely the kind of obnoxious noise that she didn’t need right now.

And Tasha’s revelations about her sexuality?

Does Tasha’s interest in women have any impact on my need to decide to accept her offer? Yes/No? Definitely No. I want to support my friend and, hey, being close by makes being supportive easier. Okay, that sounds like a slight yes, it does have an impact. Spiraling—need to focus.

The big question… Should I accept Tasha’s offer? That means that Sophia and I are staying in Portland for the foreseeable future. Am I okay with that? I think so. More importantly, is this what is best for Sophia? That’s the real question.

From the backseat, Tasha said, “You know, I could get used to this. It’s like Driving Ms. Tasha.”

Megan laughed, “Oh, I see now. You want us to stay in Portland so that you can have a personal chauffeur.”

“You know it!”

“Are we staying here, Mommy?”

“Let’s talk about it later, okay, sweetheart? Tasha, when we get back, can you give us some time to talk?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll go ahead and fix some hot chocolate. Sounds good?”

“That would be great, thank you.”

The three of them settled into an uncomfortable silence for the next few minutes, until Megan found a free space near Tasha’s apartment. Tasha got out, and Megan turned to her daughter.

“Aunt Tasha offered to let us stay with her here in Portland.”

“Are we ever going home again?”

“I don’t know, sweetheart.”

“Why? I miss Daddy.”

“I know, Sophia. It’s hard to explain. Ummmm… A long time ago, before you were born, your father did something that made me very upset. He promised that he would never do it again, but yesterday I found out that he was doing it again.”

“Is Daddy bad because he broke his promise to you?”

“Sweetie, I don’t want you to think of your daddy as a bad person. He’s made mistakes and he’s made Mommy very angry, but you need to make up your own mind about him. I know that’s hard, but your feelings need to be your own, not Mommy’s. Does that make sense?”

“I think so.”

“Right now, though, your Aunt Tasha has offered us a place to stay. What do you think about that?”

“Does that mean that I’ll go to a different school?”

“Yes, it does. Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah. The kids at my school can be really mean sometimes.”

“Well, I don’t know if the kids here would be better, but they would be different. Are you sure that you wouldn’t miss your friends?”

“Maybe, but I think I’d be okay. Plus, I like Aunt Tasha a lot!”

“That’s good. You haven’t seen her since you were five, though.”

“That’s okay! I like her cat, and she makes you laugh. You and Daddy never laughed. I heard you and Aunt Tasha laughing a lot today. What was so funny?”

Yeah, that’s a conversation for a later date, Megan thought to herself. “We were remembering old times and having fun with the cats. Did you have fun with the kittens?”

“Yes! They were so much fun! Can we get one?”

“Not right now, sweetheart, but maybe once we are settled down again we can talk about it. Does that sound good?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Mommy? Are we going to talk more? Because Aunt Tasha said that she was making hot chocolate. She makes the best hot chocolate!”

“Okay, okay. Wait… Better than my hot chocolate?”

“Yeah! She puts cinnamon in hers.”

“Oh, I see now! Well, I guess that I’m going to need to do better, then. Let’s go, munchkin, so you can get some of Aunt Tasha’s hot chocolate.”

“Yay! Race you!”

They raced up the stairs, and Sophia won—not that there was any doubt of the outcome.

As Megan closed the door, Tasha grinned and asked, “Out of breath?”

“Chasing an eight-year-old is great cardio. Who knew? Now, if I could just bottle her energy, then I would make a fortune!”

“I bet.” Tasha laughed.

“I have a bone to pick with you,” Megan said in a serious voice.

“Uh oh, that sounds ominous.”

“Yes, this is very serious. Apparently, you are using cinnamon in hot chocolate as a way to pierce my aura of motherly infallibility.”

“What? Girl, that sounds like a ‘you’ problem!”

“Oh no, girl! Don’t you ‘girl’ me!,” Megan shrieked as they both collapsed on the couch laughing.

As she sipped her hot chocolate, Megan tried to remember the last time that she and Brad had laughed about anything. She drew a blank. Whenever the last time was, it was a long time ago. Megan smiled over at her daughter, struck by Sophia’s insight.

Turning her head, she whispered, “Hey, Tasha. We do need to talk. We haven’t been roommates for a long time, so we’ll need to figure out how to live with each other again.”

Tasha’s face lit up. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“Yes. Sophia and I would like to live with you, at least until we get back on our feet. I’m gonna do my best to make sure that we aren’t imposing for too long.”

“Megan, you aren’t imposing. Well, unless I come home and find a sock on the door…”

“Hey! That was mostly freshman year, and that was because we were in that triple with Lauren!”

“Oh my God, Lauren! I haven’t thought of her in forever. I do give her credit for our good grades freshman year.”

“Yeah, socks on the door meant that we spent a lot of Friday and Saturday nights in the library.”

“Tuesdays and Wednesdays too, for some reason.”

“You’re right! I totally forgot about that.”

“What are you two laughing at?” Sophia asked.

“Nothing!”

“Jinx!”

“Mommy! What’s so funny? No fair! You can’t tell jokes and not tell me, too…”

Megan and Tasha barely avoided spilling hot chocolate on the couch as they collapsed in a fit of giggles. When Sophia jumped on the couch between them, the tickling started and soon all three were giggling like mad.