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“Anyway, I should go, I think Trixie might be chasing one of the vikings again,”
Erica raised an eyebrow at the image of her son on the Skype screen in front of her. “That’s the dinosaur, right?”
“Yeah, Mom, I got another pet dinosaur, hope you don’t mind.”
Erica smiled warmly at him in response. “Just try and stay out of trouble, Nicky.”
Her son smiled apologetically, as she had predicted. He knew just as well as she did that he chased after trouble, just like his parents.
It had been about a month since he’d left for Britain, but even since the first day she’d missed that familiar face; the warm, brown skin tone, the freckles she had had too as a child (but which had since faded), and the green eyes, brighter than either hers or Larry’s. He had the same face shape and nose as Larry, her mouth with the little dimple at one side when they grinned, the smaller height from her side of the family, Larry’s father’s ears (according to him) and the curly hair that had completely bypassed Erica; her sister and mother having bouncy locks while she had straight, thick hair that was now going just the tiniest bit grey.
When she was younger, Erica had never wanted kids. Career driven, focused, determined, not mother material, even though people kept irritatingly asking when she would marry and have kids. But then she met Larry, and she had wanted just that, and she had a son, one of the most important people in her life. She could see their family, their history in him: she could see her stubbornness and passion, Larry’s confidence and creativity, both of their quick thinking and sense of humour, and a calmness that neither of them could claim to have too.
Larry and Nicky’s similarities could annoy the heck out of her (especially when they tried to hide something or straight up forgot about important events), and her and Larry just hadn't worked as a couple in the end, but she still cared about them, of course she did. They were all part of a dysfunctional family, with Erica living with her girlfriend and her two daughters, and Larry with, well, his dog, Betsy. She was blessed that they all got on together, there had been strained times between her and Larry, and things could've gone differently, but they knew Nicky deserved the best he could have, and they'd worked on their differences for him.
She was just so proud of her son, to see him out in the world on his own journey, following his own path and learning and doing so many interesting things. She still missed him though, they'd always been close - Erica was glad that Nicky had been close to both her and his dad - and it was hard knowing he wasn't coming back for the weekends or just staying with Larry for longer than usual.
“I’ll try, you know that, but it’s hard to avoid it with this job.” Nicky was saying, shrugging.
“I know. Stay safe, okay?” Erica heard the front door open and glanced over her shoulder to see her partner enter the living room, returning from dropping off her daughter at a friend’s house.
“Is that Liz?” Nicky asked, and Erica nodded, gesturing for the other woman to join her on the couch, where she sat with the laptop on her knees. “Say hi to her for me.”
“Nicky says hi,” Erica called over her shoulder, realising a little too late that Liz was already leaning over the back of the couch, and now holding a hand over her ear.
“I heard! Do you want me to lose my hearing in this ear too?” Liz teased, one hand nursing the ear without a hearing aid and the other waving at Nicky. “Hi to you too!”
Erica rolled her eyes fondly at her girlfriend. “Sorry.” She turned her attention back to the screen to see Nicky gesturing to someone off-screen. “Nicky, you go and sort out whatever it is that you need to sort out.”
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” There was the sound of a nearby crash through the laptop speakers. “Don’t worry,” Nicky quickly reassured the women, as they gave each other a panicked look. “That’s just Tilly, she tripped over something metal that Lance left lying around, anyway, I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”
Liz and Erica both nodded at him. “We’re so proud of you for doing this, Nicky,” Liz told him, now curled up next to her girlfriend so she could better see what was happening on the screen.
Nicky looked a little bashful as he ran a hand through his curly hair. “Thanks, Liz. Oh, Bella says hi, she hopes you guys send us a care package of American candy.”
The women both laughed at that. “We’ll see.” Erica told him.
“If you’re lucky, I’ll make you some of my famous cookies too,” Liz countered with a wink, and Erica knew her girlfriend wouldn’t be stopped from sending them gifts in the mail. It wasn’t a problem though, Erica admired her generosity.
“Awesome. Take care you guys.”
“Bye, Nicky!” They all waved at each other until the call ended and the screen went blank. Erica left him a little message telling him not to forget to get some sleep that night, with lots of x’s, partly to teasingly embarrass him with her affection, but also to remind him that she was still going to be looking out for him, even if they were in different countries.
“That was nice, he’s really settling in well,” Liz commented, sweeping up her braids off her face into a ponytail.
“It was the right decision… even if Larry still isn’t sure. Apparently he still gets worried when they video chat, but when he goes to visit he’ll see that Nicky is doing fine.” Erica shook her head a little, though she understood her ex-husband’s concerns.
For a while, after they had divorced and his job offers kept falling flat, Nicky had kind of been the only thing keeping Larry going. He had grown overprotective of their son, and they’d grown pretty close while they had both been going to the museum together for all those years. It had been hard for him to let Nicky do his own thing, and Erica had even had to chastise him for tracking Nicky’s phone a while back. Yes, he might have been anxious and concerned, but they needed to trust their son, and now he was in the U.K. doing what made him happy, which was the most important thing.
At some point, while Erica had been lost in her thoughts, Liz had gotten up to get a snack and make some tea. “I think it’s exciting, and this is a really good thing for both of them, you know? Nicky can have some independence, and Larry can get used to him having that independence, and they both still get to have a museum in their lives.”
The living museum had been such a magical place, but Erica had always preferred to focus on her career and life outside of it. She would admit to herself that she was a realist; she enjoyed a good fictional book or movie, but she didn’t want to live in one, and sometimes it had felt like that at the museum. Larry was moving on with his degree and hoped to be a history professor, and Nicky wasn’t ‘chasing after a lost cause’ like Larry had once said: he was following his heart, and Erica had always admired that about him.
She slid the laptop from her lap and turned around to look over the back of the couch at her girlfriend. “It’s probably easier for us, seeing as we’ve never even been to that museum.”
Liz frowned, pouting her plump lips. “True and unfair. I can’t believe there’s a museum coming to life and I can’t see it!” She looked over at Erica and smiled, showing that she was only joking (even though she was keen to visit Nicky and her eldest daughter Bella as soon as they were able so that she could see the museum for herself).
“We’ll definitely go in October. I wonder if they’ll be organising anything for Halloween in the museum…” Erica chuckled quietly. “Larry went trick or treating with a few people at the New York museum, when Nicky was younger.”
Liz stopped stirring her tea to look at Erica with wide eyes. “Oh my God. Really?”
“I have no idea why he thought it was a good idea, but yes. Imagine opening the door to a boy dressed like Captain America and a group of adults who look just like various historical figures. Oh, and Larry, looking like a teacher supervising a school trip.”
“I’d love it.” Liz replied, nodding to herself as she gestured with a mug to the woman on the couch, a silent offering of a drink.
“What flavour is it this time?” Erica quirked an eyebrow at the mysterious packet that her partner was fishing out of a plastic container. She loved how Liz was warm-hearted, enthusiastic, witty and bubbly, she loved her thrift store dresses, her skill for debates, her homemade macaroons… but she wasn’t fond of some of her choices in food and drink.
Liz was quite interested in herbal teas and medicines, most of which Erica was sure didn’t do anything, but as her girlfriend said - usually while on her third spoonful of manuka honey - it didn’t hurt to try. The two of them were vegetarian and both knew some great recipes, including some passed down from their relatives and popular in their cultures, but still Liz insisted on getting taken advantage of by greasy hipsters who thought they had invented the cures for every ailment by discovering green tea.
Liz moved over to the couch to wave the tea bag packet in her face. Erica noticed that she had painted her nails yellow at some point during the day. It looked nice; Liz had always been fond of bright and bold colours, and Erica had always been fond of how they looked on her. “A delicious blend of cinnamon, mint and strawberry!”
Erica couldn’t help but pull a face as she took the packet to see if those ingredients were real. They were. “I’m going to have to pass on this one, honey. Mint and strawberry is nice… but cinnamon with it? Where do you find these flavours?”
“They love me at the health food shop, I think they make some of these specially for me.” The other woman looked quite proud of herself as she took the tea back.
“Probably because you’re the only person who will buy them,” Erica teased, quickly holding onto her girlfriend’s arm as she went to move away, now looking grumpy. “Hey. You know I love you and all the interesting things you bring into my life, even if I am sceptical of their health benefits.” Erica kissed her on her shoulder, and got a gentle kiss on the cheek in return.
“It’s so unfair how you can go from teasing to saying the nicest things in zero seconds.” Liz complained, although she didn’t look unhappy at all. “I love you too, and I’ll get you a chamomile one.”
Erica thanked her, following her into the kitchen to sit down on a bar stool. She remembered that her girlfriend had returned from dropping off her - their - youngest daughter at a friend’s house. Erica knew that both of Liz’s daughter’s had said they were fine with her calling them her daughters too, and they had been a part of her life for four years now, but she still worried about being overbearing. Liz on the other hand had been calling Nicky her son since the second time they’d met, but that was just like Liz: the other woman was exceptionally friendly and comfortable with everyone.
“Is Maya staying over at Jessica’s house tonight?”
Liz nodded, sliding a warm mug of tea to her girlfriend. “I remember when she hated sleepovers, and now it’s like she’s staying at someone’s house every week. I’m glad she’s spending more time with her friends.”
Erica sipped the tea, then pursed her lips, and Liz leant closer, recognising the look on her partner’s face. “Go on, what are you thinking?”
“Nothing, I’m sure Jessica is fine.” Liz watched quietly, waiting for Erica to continue. It didn’t take long. “But her mother is insufferable, I’m sorry, but you don’t try to limit your child to only befriend children of the same intelligence level as her. It’s such a terrible lesson to be teaching your child.” Erica paused. “Am I one of those bitchy moms? I feel like I should have a glass of wine in my hand.”
Liz laughed, placing her hand on Erica’s. “No, don’t worry, I was literally thinking the same thing. Jess is a lovely girl, but her mom…” Liz pulled a face, and the two women smirked at each other. “Maya won’t pay attention to any of the nonsense she says though. I brought up my daughters to be accepting, not to turn away possible friends because they find math hard.”
“Listen to us. Next we’ll be complaining about so-and-so’s brownies at the school bake sale or whatever.” Erica commented, shaking her head in amusement. But really, what kind of a relationship would she have if they couldn’t complain about people together?
Liz was giving her a scandalised look. “Erica, come on, we’re not white PTA moms. We’re gay lawyer moms. We backup our bitching with evidence.” The two of them burst out laughing, Erica quickly putting her mug down before she sloshed hot tea over them both.
“Anyway,” Liz squeezed her girlfriend’s arm as she passed her to sit at the kitchen bar with her. “Let’s not worry about our kids. I love our little family, and we’ll go and see Nicky and Bella soon and all get to hang out together.”
Erica rested her head on Liz’s shoulder, warm mug of tea clasped in her hands. Her life had been full of tumultuous events; a divorce, stressful court proceedings, Larry and Nicky changing their minds about their future plans every five minutes, but right now? Things were really good.
Bella was doing her first year at a London university and was having a great time going to every theatre possible. Maya was very different to her confident sister, but her quiet, gentle nature was so lovely, and she was doing well at coping with her anxieties about school. Nicky was thriving in the museum environment, Larry was doing successfully with his degree and she and Liz had even been discussing getting engaged. Erica couldn’t help being the kind of person who felt like she couldn't rest unless everyone’s lives were running smoothly and organised, and it was good to know that there were a lot of good things happening; a lot of new beginnings and exciting changes.
“I’m still surprised you agreed with Nicky that he should go to the British Museum so quickly,” Liz was saying, doodling on a shopping list.
“He can be persuasive, you know. He inherited his charm from his dad, it’s very unfair.” Erica smiled as she noticed that Liz was doodling a person that looked quite like her, along with some little hearts. Her girlfriend was adorable.
Said girlfriend was looking down at Erica with disbelief. “You aren’t a pushover, Erica, I think you just saw that this meant a lot to Nicky and didn’t have the heart to say no.”
“Well, yes, that too. You’ve seen him talk about the museums, they’re so important to him.” Erica wouldn’t be surprised if Nicky took on the job of being a head night guard like his dad at some point.
“Being in London will be fun too; Bella talks about these free concerts and street performers and nightclubs, those are the kinds of things that Nicky is going to love. I’m surprised he’s not gone to any yet.”
Erica hummed in thought. “He’ll probably be at the museum every night, he’s not taken a night off yet. I hoped he might make new friends, but I should’ve known that he’s going to be like Larry and get too involved in the museum to do much outside of it.”
“Don’t worry.” Liz started running a hand through her girlfriend’s long hair, and Erica smiled, although she was still feeling concerned about her son. “He’s planning on taking that course, isn’t he? The one about media or film, or something like that. He’s good at that, and he’ll meet people there. He might even meet a special someone while he’s there!”
Erica had to laugh a little at that. “Larry never had time for much outside of the museum, he’s not dated in years, and I think Nicky is going to be the same. It’s not a worry, and if those two blonde people he knows are anything to go by, British people seem to talk a lot, so it won’t be hard for him to start a conversation. I just hope that he doesn’t find it hard if he does want to start dating. He’s going to be awake more at night than during the day.”
“I hope he gets enough sunlight.... I might have to send him some orange juice.” Liz wrote down a note to herself about Vitamin D and then shrugged, and Erica’s head bounced a little on her shoulder. “Hey, maybe he’ll meet someone at the museum.”
Erica sat up, looking at her phone as it buzzed with a message from Nicky. “Actually… you might be onto something there.” She showed Liz the photo that Nicky had sent from the museum.
“You think so?” Liz looked between the phone and Erica with intrigue.
“He talks about this one a lot in particular.” Erica pointed out, smiling to herself.
Liz grinned at her. “Nothing gets past you, does it?”
“Nope.”