1.4: Secrets
(Francisco had just got off the phone with Sophia. Shanice was sitting waiting to hear about the new arrivials. They’d both decided, because it was so late, that they’d take everyone down to the hospital in the morning to see their mother and the new babies.)
Shanice: King Arthur? Dawn must be desperate for names.
(Francisco chuckles)
Shanice: Is she alone right now?
Francisco: Sophia’s still with her.
Shanice: Listen, I’m not going to start flipping out like Erika, but… doesn’t it bother you just a little bit?
Francisco: What?
Shanice: Mo– Um Dawn and Sophia’s relationship.
Francisco: Why should it? For a long time I’ve been watching mom be unhappy. Trying to cover up the loneliness with this fake smile. Keeping moving because she’s too afraid to stop and really take in how alone she is.
Shanice: Have you looked at this house? How could she be alone in a house full of people?
Francisco: Very easily. We’re her…children at the end of the day. I’ve done my best, but it’s not the same as having someone who’s really just there for her, having someone who isn’t her child, who’s just there because they want to be.
Shanice: She was happy with dad, with her family.
Francisco: Yeah, a long time ago before…well before things changed.
Shanice: You mean before my mom died. Before I moved in.
Francisco: I’m not blaming you or your mom. I blame dad, he gave up on making this work. Do you really think he has to be away as much as he is? Sophia’s been more family to us in the last month, then he’s been for a good 10 years. So I don’t hate the idea that mom could find something with her that she lost a long time ago with dad.
Shanice: It’s not going to happen. It just doesn’t work that way.
Francisco: How can we know? I mean, it’s happened to other women before, hasn’t it?
Shanice: It’s not going to happen to mo– (pause) I mean with them. Besides, Sophia’s closer to my age than your mom’s. She probably sees her more as a daughter than anything more than that.
Francisco: I’m not going to stress about it. Cause I don’t care, wherever it goes from here, as long as mom is happy, I’m happy for her.
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