It wasn’t that the studio really needed another paint job. Sure, it was faded and it could use another coat. But another year wouldn’t have killed it, and she knew fully that she was repainting and decorating the entire house the moment Mr. Fox was the hell out of her life. But painting meant time with Lukas, time to tell news to, and ask very awkward questions with. Like ‘why do you have to like that one kid with the metal on his face?’, and ‘why not a nice boy who doesn’t wear drag and get drunk at a party, and then goes on to eat my organic foods?’
Basic Mom things. Right.
Dressed in old jean shorts, black leggings underneath, and a red shirt with the logo for the New York Ballet Company, Lily had just started pulling her hair back with an elastic when the other walked in. She grinned from ear to ear, still inwardly battling about whether to bring up the divorce thing or the Mao thing. It was a hard choice.
“Hey Sweet Pea!” she said, grabbing an roller and going over to the can. “So, you know the deal. Ten bucks an hour, and I don’t charge you for all the diapers your used as a baby,” she said, cracking a can of paint open. Or whatever you did with paint, she wasn’t sure. “So, you know… your dad, right?” she asked, a little voice groaning in the back of her head. Of course Lukas knew his father.
“Well. You know how… sometimes your Dad and I don’t get along? Well. Marriage… relationships really, are hard. They’re really, really hard. And sometimes the end of something can be just… as good and beautiful as the start,” Lily began, rambling a bit.