Work Text:
7:00 pm - June 3rd, 2044
Conklin-Fisher Dining Table
Boston, Massachusetts
Conrad Beck Fisher, 40 - Doctor (Pediatric Oncology)
Isabel Susannah Conklin-Fisher, 39 - Doctor (Sports Psychology)
Lilianna Alexis Conklin-Fisher, 13 - Currently finishing up Middle School
The clink of forks against porcelain was the loudest sound in the Conklin-Fisher household for all of two minutes before thirteen-year-old Lilianna decided to drop a bomb over the mashed potatoes.
“Hey Mom, I’ve told you about this boy, right?”
“Hmmm, what about this boy, bean?”
“What boy?”
“Which boy?”
“Shh. Let her speak, babe.”
“The one on my swim team, Dad.”
“Who?”
“He shared half his cookies with me today, after practice.”
“Okay, who are we talking about?”
“Didn’t you say you had a crush on him?”
“Mooooom,”
“What? You said it, not me.”
“Hello? Who is this boy?”
“Dad, I told you, the one on my swim team. Tall, cute smile, middle part. The one you said was so good at backstroke.”
“Oh… him… So what about this boy?”
“Just, well– we talked, you know about my birthday and how his birthday is on the same day as me but just on a different month…”
“And then… he might’ve said he also has a crush on me…”
Belly gasps. “Oh, bean. That’s so cute…”
“His name?”
“Daaaad,”
“I want his name, Lilianna.”
“Christian. His name’s Christian.”
“Thirteen.” Conrad sighed.
“Daaaaaad, this is so embarassing...”
“Conrad...” Belly warns.
“It’s just a crush, babe.”
“Still thirteen,”
“Dad, I’m aware.”
“Good. Then you know you can’t have boyfriends till you're thirty.”
Lilianna rolls her eyes but has a knowing smile. She looks like her mother - big brown eyes, her whole face lights up when she smiles.
“Like duuuh, how am I supposed to become a doctor if I get pregnant at thirteen?”
Conrad nearly choked on his water.
“What? It’s common sense.” Lilianna says.
“But Mom, that’s not even the funny part.” she continued.
“Olivia, you remember Olivia right?”
Olivia Koch. Lilianna’s best friend. Also 13.
“Of course, bean.”
“Apparently, she heard from a friend of a friend that Christian’s twin brother; Levi, also has a crush on me.”
“Well, damn.”
“Dad!”
“Conrad!”
“No swearing at the table!” They both exclaimed.
Conrad mumbles an apology. Is damn even a swear word. He thinks.
“So let me get this straight… One twin likes you, you like the other twin.”
“Honey, you did say 'apparently'.” Conrad said holding out quotation marks with his fingers.
“Yeah– but like, everyone at lunch keeps saying that Levi has “hot dibs” for me.”
“Like ewww, what even is hot dibs?” Lilianna grimaced.
“Don’t ask me, I’m not one from your generation.” Conrad shrugged.
A beat passed. Forks continue scraping the plate.
“Twins, huh. Brothers. Cool.”
Belly chuckles.
“What?”
“Your dad apparently has a good memory today.”
“Not really, just reminiscing on the olden days.”
“What about the olden days, Dad?”
Belly and Conrad looked at each other across the table.
“”You know, bean, we never actually told you about me and your dad’s love story, right?”
“Noooo…,”
“And your Auntie Taylor never, you know– told you?”
“Nooooopeeee…,”
“Well, before your Dad and I got together, there was your Uncle Jere…”
“What?”
“Wait–no, hold on, your Dad and I dated for a couple months when I was in high school and he was in college…”
“Ew…”
“Bean, that’s not ew. We were both adults…”
“Still. But like didn’t Dad go to like college on the other side of the world or something?”
“He did but before he transferred he–,”
“I went to Brown which is near Boston, before I transferred to Stanford, which was on the other side of the country, baby, not the world.”
“Okaaay, so I’m guessing it didn’t work out well?”
“You could say that… 6 months was pretty long don’t you think?”
“6 months? Mom, that’s like a week…”
Teenagers. Belly rolls her eyes.
“Anyway, after your Dad and I broke up after 6 months… Your Uncle Jere and I…”
Conrad cleared his throat.
Lilianna gasps, “NO WAY! Mom, you dated Uncle Jere?!”
“Say it louder why don’t you, bean.”
“Ewww oh my god, that is so, Mom, ew! You dated Uncle Jerebear?”
“Maybe this wasn’t a good idea…” She looks at Conrad.
“You think?” Conrad chuckles.
“For how long?!”
“4 years…” Belly mumbles.
“4 years?! MOM!” Lilianna exclaims disgustingly.
“Lilianna Alexis, lower your voice.”
“Sorry, Dad.”
“But like Mooom, how?! Isn’t Uncle Jere supposed to be your brother-in-law?”
“And where were you in all of this Dad?!”
Lilianna glances back and forth at them.
“Okay– he is now my brother-in-law because I married your father but he was my boyfriend before…”
She has her hands covering her mouth.
“Oh, you’re being dramatic, bean.” Belly scoffs.
They skip the engagement part– save that for another time. Or maybe not.
“But you broke up right after, right? Because how was Dad supposed to marry you… right… right…,”
“Wasn’t that like soooo awkward?”
“Awkward is an understatement… if we’re being honest…” Conrad looks down and snickers to himself.
“Oooooh Mom but aren’t we like matching?”
“You dated brothers and now, like twin brothers have a crush on me…”
“Okaaaay, that’s enough for tonight, Lili.”
"But, I wanna kno-." Lili’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulls it out and sees a text from Olivia.
“Lili, no phone–,”
“Oh, it’s from Livie, can I be excused? I promise I will help with the dishes.” She says as she stands up and pushes her chair back.
“Okay, bean. But no phones past 9 pm, you know that…”
“Yeah, Mom! Got it!”
“And I would like a word with this Christian boy, Lili!”
“Yeah, would you like to know if we’ve kissed, Dad?”
“Lilianna Alexis Conklin-Fisher!”
“I’m kidding, Dad. Soooo dramatic.” She hollers from the hallway
“I'm buying a padlock for the front door before that Christian and Levi boys find out where we live."
“Soooo dramatic,” Belly imitates.
“I love you, honey!” Conrad calls out.
“I love you too, I will come back down to help with the dishes… or not.” She giggles.
—
"You survived hearing about her first crush."
"Barely."
"She's thirteen, Conrad."
"I know."
He watched as Lili climbed up the stairs to her room.
For a moment, he could still see the toddler who used to fall asleep on his chest, the one he'd cradled. Conrad looked around their dining room—at the framed photos of their wedding, the messy growth-chart markings on the doorframe, the quiet, steady life they had built together.
“Did she say what doctor she wanted to become?”
Belly slaps his arm.
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