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“See?” Schneider’s voice was pitched high as he led Elena and Alex to the basement. “It won’t stop leaking, and it’s so close to the wall I’m worried about structural damage and the building’s electrical grid--but I can’t get it to stop. I thought maybe it was a problem with the venting, until checking that made it worse.”
Alex had followed them out of curiosity; if Schneider had made it clear the ‘life or death emergency’ was plumbing-related, he would have stayed upstairs. “You know, I’m gonna go,” he said as Elena adjusted her tool belt and approached the pipes.
“Alex, wait,” Schneider protested. “What if your sister and I need help? If it’s a three-person job, or worse, we may not be able to fix it. And my guy’s on vacation.”
“Oh my god, Dad, chill!” Elena grabbed the wrench he was holding. “I’ve got this.”
It took her a moment to hear her own words, and she froze as soon as they caught up to her brain. Maybe no one else noticed.
Alex was quick to ruin that hope. “Whoa--did you just call Schneider ‘Dad?’“
“No,” Elena protested, her eyes wide. “I said...dude! Dude, chill.” She gestured at Schneider with the wrench, before realizing he was frozen too. He looked even more surprised than she was at herself.
“Schneider, you okay?”
He shook his head, his face clearing, and smiled a little. “Yeah. Of course. I’m fine, Elena. Thanks for volunteering--it’s been two hours and I’ve had no luck.”
“Sure.” She shrugged, relieved.
The most embarrassing thing about blurting that out without even noticing was that it wasn’t totally an accident. The whole time she was struggling to deal with her Papi’s rejection, Schneider had been there for her. Even now that she and her dad were getting along better, Schneider was still the one she knew she could go to if she needed something. He always listened, he never judged, and he was so weird she felt almost normal in comparison.
It wasn’t like she thought of him as a parent...exactly. She had a mother and father who’d raised her, who shared her blood.
But Schneider had taught her more than just how to fix a building over the last few years. He taught her that a person could be family because they wanted to be, blood or not, and sometimes she felt so out of place as an Alvarez that it was nice to have him as family too.
Schneider was living proof that you didn’t have to have kids to be a great dad.
As soon as Elena started on the leak, Alex disappeared back upstairs, unmoved by Schneider’s anxiety. “Elena’ll figure it out,” he promised. “This is a new shirt.”
She worked in silence for fifteen minutes, with Schneider hovering nearby. He’d taught her everything he knew, but now that she was better at fixing things than he was, it was sometimes really funny to have him making worried noises next to her, warning her not to cut herself on rusted metal and offering to hand her tools.
“I think...that’s it.” She wiped her hands on a rag and surveyed the fix. “Leak no longer leaking.”
Elena glanced at Schneider, who was looking at her instead of the pipes. “We good?”
“It's awesome. So, I meant to ask, I’m going to see the new Lego movie on Saturday. You wanna join?”
“Oh. I saw it last week with Syd,” Elena said as she put her tools away. She paused before adding, “I wouldn’t mind seeing it again though.”
“Cool.” Schneider grinned. “I’ll buy you an Icee.”
She nodded. "Hey, Schneider?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry if I freaked you out, before.”
He didn’t have to ask what she meant. He just smiled again. “You didn’t. It’s like calling your third-grade teacher ‘Mom.’ It happens. No big deal.”
She assumed that was a personal example, as she’d never called a teacher ‘Mom’ in her life. Of course, she’d heard a lot about Schneider’s parents by now. If any kid had desperately needed loving adults in his life, it was him.
“So it wouldn’t bother you if...it happened again?”
“If it happened again, I’d be flattered.”
Elena swallowed hard. “Really?”
“Of course!” Schneider hugged her from the side. “You’re awesome, Elena. Anyone would be lucky to be your dad.”
Not going to cry, she thought as she felt the sharp warning sting behind her eyes. If she cried, Schneider would cry, and it would be a whole thing.
“I’m going to go change back into real clothes before dinner,” she said, pointing a finger in his direction. “But if that pipe starts leaking again, text me before you mess with it.”
“Will do.” Schneider shoved his hands in his pockets and grinned to himself as she left. “See you at dinner.”