“Hmmm……”, was the enigmatic response. “She should have tried to find me when she found out she was pregnant”, I suggested. “By then ...he had been shipped off to a cousin of her Dad’s who lived in Houston”, came the reply. “What a balls up then”, I said despondently. Finally I thought I had better broach the subject of our current relationship. “Maybe it wasn’t so surprising then that I fell in love with you, Suze, now I think about it, you have a lot of your mother in you”. “Are you. “I don’t know why I care. I told you, I haven’t seen her in, I dunno, fourteen years or something. She probably doesn’t even remember me.”Jane tightened her arm around his waist for a moment and then asked, “Have you ever wanted to go see her?”Peter’s expression turned even more haggard. “I’ve thought about it. Dad still goes out to see her sometimes...” He fell silent again for a moment. “I guess I...I just don’t want to see her like that.”Jane said nothing, but held him tightly again and. The voice in her head, cautioning and warning her not to fall for Carmen, couldn’t stop Alyssa from saying, “I missed you too.” There was a few seconds of silence. “So, you got my text?” Carmen asked. “I did.” “And?” “And,” Alyssa paused, “I want to see you.” Trying to avoid Carmen was useless. “I want to see you too.” Alyssa smiled. “I get off work at noon. You still want to get lunch?” “Yeah but it will have to be a bit later. I have to take care of some things at the studio first. Maybe one. “I’m gonna go hang out at the mall and then movies. Tomorrow?” she asks while she is slipping into her shirt.“Sure,” I say. She brushes her hair a bit with her fingers before she leaves, although I didn’t touch it at any point, so it wasn’t really messy. Perhaps she had wanted me to?Sure enough, Diana knocks on my door the same time the next day. “You busy, dad?” she asks, although she steps right in before I can answer.“Not really,” I say, moving the folder I am holding into a drawer.This time.