(Lena)
I was still sitting on the couch when Cole came in with two mugs and sat beside me.
"How did he take it?" he said.
"The way Dad takes everything good," I said. "Quietly and completely."
Cole handed me a mug and I wrapped both hands around it.
"Are you going to tell your mother?" he said.
I looked at him.
She was still in the hospital. Still recovering. Things between us were in a better place than they had been in a long time.
"Yes," I said. "I should call her."
"You don't have to do it today," he said.
"I want to," I said. "Before she hears it from someone else."
He nodded and didn't say anything else about it, just stayed where he was while I picked up my phone and found her number.
It rang three times before she answered, her voice slower than usual.
"Lena," she said
