“I’m Stephanie,” the woman says, “and I actually made him bring me. I want to talk to you, if you
don’t mind.”
I can see the hurt in Tina’s eyes, and it hurts me too, but she’s always known that we aren’t right
for one another. At least, that’s what I tell myself.
Am I making a mistake with Stephanie? Only time
will tell, and even then, only if I defeat the ßokoharms.
Tina shrugs her shoulders despondently before
turning around to head to her room, and Stephanie follows.
When I step after her, Stephanie stops me.
“You stay and keep Tina’s mom company. This is girl talk.”
“Be nice to her,” I say, and she arches an
eyebrow at me, while she bats her long lashes. I don’t buy the innocent look.
“Why, whatever do you think I’m going to talk to her about?” she asks me innocently; way too
innocently, for my tastes. When I grumble incoherently, she laughs at me, and quotes her favorite line, “You know nothing, Jon Snow.”



Stephanie pats my cheek, and hurries up the stairs.


“Can I offer you some tea?” Nancy asks me and I turn around. For a second I wonder that she doesn’t seem bothered by everything going on
around her daughter, and then I remember the switches I’d made in her forever ago.
After our trip to Alice’s house, I realize that her, ‘contentment'

---

switch only applies to anything I do, and I guess by extension in this case, that
applies to Stephanie too.




I only hope that Stephanie goes soft on Tina.
“No, thanks,” I tell the older woman, and we sit down to talk about minor stuff, my mind is nowhere on the conversation. As she natters away, my mind wonders to past escapades with her and her daughter. I think about how I used my ability on her, and how things have ended up.
“Nancy,” I interrupt her in mid-sentence, and she contentedly lets me, “are you happy?”
“Of course,” she answers without hesitation.



“I mean, with everything that your daughter and I have done, as well as with you?” I press, having
a sudden need to know.
“Where is this coming from, Nick?” the older
woman asks me, and I can hear a note of
concern in her voice.
“It’s just that most people would have some kind of issue with the things we’ve all done, and I
want to know if you’re okay with everything,” I explain.
Nancy studies me for a moment, before giving me an answer.
“A lot of people can think what they want to think. If you concern yourself about what other people think, you will never be happy, Nick.”
She takes a sip of her tea, before continuing. “I might once have had a problem with it, but Tina and I are closer now than we’ve ever been in the past. You ask if I’m happy, and
the answer is yes. What I really think you’re asking is, are you happy?”
I’m stunned at the depth of her words. Is she right? I think I’m happy. . . But then again, the knot in my stomach, over what Tina must be feeling upstairs, says otherwise. Stephanie makes me happy when I’m with her, but her attitude lately, has soured that somewhat.



Of course, Tina and Loveth make me happy as well.
When I first discovered I have the ability with my
switches, I thought my life would be made, but it’s turned out to be a lot more responsibility than
I ever wanted. I recall a line from the Dragon Reborn series, talking about how death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain.
Only now do I truly understand what that
means. It would be ever so simple to just shrug my shoulders, ignore the coming ßokoharms, and just go wild with my ability, conscience be
damned.
“Nick,” a soft voice from atop the stairs breaks my concentration, “will you please come up
here?”



I turn to see Stephanie and Tina both standing side- by-side, their expressions blank as they wait for
me.


I thank Nancy for her advice, before going
up the stairs, and follow the two women into Tina’s room.



Once inside, the women have me sit on the bed, and they sit on either side of me, Stephanie on my
left, Tina on the right. I’m surprised when they each grab a hand, and Stephanie starts speaking.
“Nick, we’ve been talking,” I nod. Of course they’ve been talking. I don’t see any broken furniture, scratch marks, or forming bruises that
would indicate a fight, and I haven’t heard screaming, so what else would they have been doing?
“Stephanie explained to me about what she told you today,” Tina says next, and I have to turn to face her. It occurs to me that the women might have
set up this seating arrangement, so that one is always behind me, and keeping me off balance. It only adds to my apprehension.
“And Tina told me what you mean to her,” I have to turn again, so that I’m facing Stephanie. “And
we’ve agreed that it isn’t right that I have you all to myself.”



My jaw feels like it hits the floor. This is the last thing I expect! Especially after the way Stephanie acted at school earlier, and even at work.