AIDAN
I listened eagerly to the details of her day while also keeping an eye on Clio. I enjoyed the way the two of them interacted.
In a bizarre way, Clio was much more maternal towards Lila than Lila’s own mother. Of course, that wasn’t terribly surprising. Obviously, Lila’s mother and I had gotten along well enough at one time, but after Lila was born, our differences became glaringly obvious. Unfortunately, we weren’t different in a way that complimented one another.
She seemed to resent motherhood and spent the first few years of Lila’s life seemingly trying to recapture her youth. I thought at first it was just a symptom of postpartum depression, but as the years wore on and she seemed to continue to rally against parental responsibilities, it became more and more obvious that our relationship was not built for the long haul. Of course, her final betrayal sealed the deal for our doomed marriage. As much as that betrayal hurt, I often thought her lack of attachment to our daughter was worse.
She was who she was, however, and Lila loved her. And maybe in her biggest act of love towards Lila, she hadn’t fought me for custody. Lila grew up in a home with a dad who thought the sun rose and set with her, and she got to see her mom every other weekend.
The arrangement was not typical, but it worked for all of us.
I’d tried to give her the love of both a mother and a father, and of course, I’d worried myself sick over her when she’d gone off to college. Now, it was obvious that she’d flocked to someone who was a nurturer and a caregiver.
Clio had a natural way of making people feel comfortable and cared for. I could also see why Lila was pushing her to pursue teaching music to children.
“So, what did you two get up to today?” Lila asked, popping a wonton in her mouth.
I saw Clio swallow hard, so I jumped in with, “Oh, you know, giving the old ticker a workout.”
I felt Clio’s kick under the table and looked over to see her flashing me a warning look, but Lila, thankfully, did not notice. “Mm, that explains why you looked so flushed when I came in.” I bit the inside of my cheek.
“How ’bout you, Clio? Oh, I almost forgot, your surf lessons started today, didn’t they? How did that go?”
Relieved to have the subject changed, Clio told us about her surf lesson…and about what her instructor told her. Our eyes met briefly across the table before she ducked her head, and I smiled to myself.
Her reaction to my attempted apology earlier made sense now. Clio was following her gut, and her gut led her to me.