Norma sat at the dining table. The place that used to be her sanctuary of peace and quiet. It had turned into a chicken den. The chickens being her adopted daughter and her father. A month ago she thought the old man and Riley would not be all right if she left them alone. It frustrated her to no end that she couldn't be at three places at the same time. Out of that fear an idea had sprung to let them deal with their issues together. Moving her father into her house until he felt better.

Now she regretted the god-awful thought ever coming to her. Not that it didn’t work. Riley looked much better and at times, she even seemed to forget her trauma’s. She was very thankful her father had worked his magic on the teen. Likewise, the teen had a good influence on her stubborn and oppressively rude father.

Three weeks ago she had heard him apologize for telling Riley she could be a real cunt if she wanted to be. She had almost dropped the plates she was carrying out of sheer surprise. In her whole life, her father had only apologized to her twice. Once was when he got arrested at Rey’s birthday and she had screamed at Beverley for being a complete utter bitch. The other time was when he drove over, her and Georges' pet turtle. The last one was only after trying to blame it on them by telling their mother they had let it starve.

Riley didn’t even accept the apology. Instead demanding he hires a pair of dig people or she would quit and leave him with the mess. Whatever that meant. The problem was they were as thick as thieves and had taken over her household like they owned the place.

“Dad, isn’t it time for you to go to your own place again? All those DVD’s are getting lonely you know.” She suggested while tapping her fork on her plate. An unconscious tell she was getting annoyed by the two.

“What do you mean?” The old man looked up from his conversation with the teenager. Surprised, his bushy grey eyebrows shot up and his eyes widening on that fat head of his, the plucks of grey hair a mess. His rosy cheeks almost made him into a naïve little cartoon character. Anyone who believed the act had lost before even starting any kind of dialogue.

Norma sighed but tried again “Don’t you miss being alone? Isn’t Riley tiring you out?”

The old man gasped before turning towards Riley whispering in a conspiring tone “Did she just?”

Riley gasped as well putting her hand to her mouth, whispering passed it “I think she did grandpa.” Norma knew where this was going as Riley only called him grandpa in one of their shenanigans.

Her father turned towards her. A look of strictness on his face as he spoke in his grandfather tone “Listen here, young lady. I would never, ever, touch a hair on this fine teenager... What do you... Gah... I thought I raised you to respect your elders. I’m sorry Norma, I have failed you.” He looked genuine. Defeated. Sacking in his chair, getting a cigarette out of his breast pocket like he didn’t know he couldn’t smoke in the house. He looked at it, put it in his mouth and when he was about to light it he acted like a thought struck him. Dejected he got the cigarette out of his mouth again and went back to staring into the distance. If she didn’t know better, she would feel bad.

But now there were two who were ganging up on her with their shameless remarks. She thought back at the times where she only had to deal with her father. Such happy times. “Norma how dare you! To suggest I would let this old man... My grandpa for goodness’ sake... I thought we... No this isn’t right...” As Riley said it, she put the back of her hand on her forehead and sacked into her chair. He was rubbing off on her.

Then her father took over again. “It's all right Riley. It is best to leave this subject alone for a while... it is...” He paused, sighing. He shook his head, his hand in front of his mouth, his eyes looking into the distance “It is really too painful to deal with these harmful accusations right now... just after.. just after... I can’t even say it. I think I might have relapsed, please excuse me.” He whispered as he rolled himself out of the kitchen. Norma had the sneaking suspicion he didn’t need the thing anymore but liked to get pushed around.

“Grandpa don’t be sad!” Riley shouted after Walton, giving Norma a stink eye and going after him. The play ended. Like a week ago when she had broached the same subject, they had weaseled their way out of the situation.

A small smile crept to the edges of her face as she shook her head. She felt like applauding but that would be bad. What a bunch.

She asked the cleaning bot to get the dishes and clean the table when she heard the chime of the doorbell. That should be George, he had asked if he could come by. He never came by, and if he did, never asked beforehand. But things had changed, and she appreciated the gesture. She walked towards the door and opened it. It was like the release of a racing horse as little Rey jumped in and tried to tackle her leg.

“Aunty Norma! I missed you! Did you miss me?” The little child said in its high pitched voice. The boy's unending energy was the same as ever. His mother getting arrested didn’t seem to bother him all that much. Or the reunion was distracting enough at the moment.

“Hey sis, how are you?” George said to her as half a smile was on his face. The bruises had faded and his arm had healed. But the surprise seemed to linger on his face like he couldn’t believe what had happened. Like he had been in a bad dream for years and just woke up.

“Good, how are you?” She responded, still awkward about the whole situation.

“I dare say I’m getting better with the day. Still hard to explain it to little Rey though. I hope he will understand it after a couple more explanations.” he said and grabbed the seven-year-old off the floor. Holding him upside down and as he walked towards the kitchen, the boy screeched and giggled.

Norma followed while she pressed the comm link on her arm “Can you guys come to the kitchen! We have visitors.” It was like she had adopted two children...

When she arrived at the kitchen, the bots had already done their duty. Back into their designated corners. George was standing in front of the huge setting sun shaped window. Looking out into the forest outside. Still holding little Rey. “This view is something else, Norma.” He remarked.

She agreed. The view was something else. The company located her apartment in a forest outside the suburbs. The window looked out over the treetops. You could see the skyscrapers of the city in the distance. It was the reason she sat in her kitchen most of the time.

As they both stared at the scenery, the dynamic duo came in talking animatedly. “So a coach is like a conductor? Making sure all the musicians in the orchestra play harmonic?” Riley asked as her face looked like she was trying hard to understand something.

Her father in the wheelchair almost got out to give her beating.

“Are you fucking kidding me! We are not some pleb conductor, you brat! A conductor can sit on his ass all day and beat a piece of music into those musicians. Waiting as long as you want until it is time to let the people hear it. Like a six grader practicing his hardest on three lines in a high school musical. It is static. Being a football coach is dynamic. Coaches need to prepare the players on the field for any scenario they can encounter. Coaches are not the conductor, the players are the conductors. They need to anticipate, consider and then put into action. Every one of those things during the match. The tactics of the opposition, the tactics of the team, the qualities of the surrounding players, on both sides. Taking into account what the match needs, and what the situation requires. This from every player in every situation they encounter and they need to do it consistent and harmonious. It is our job to make sure each player knows what the most optimal choices are and how to complete them perfectly. It is complex, unpredictable, and it makes it a players game, not a coaches game. Do you understand?” He lectured.

Riley thought for a few seconds before she said, “Kinda. So like, Pokemon matches are a coaches game and those Raids they talk about in school are then a players game?”

“I have no fucking clue what the hell a Raid is, but… Oww hey Little Rey. Mah boy, what up?” Walton stopped in the middle of his sentence when he saw little Rey and little Rey waved his little hand at the old man. A big smile on his face, missing at least one tooth. Her father smiled back and said to George “Hope you left your dog at home? or she still jailed?”

George gave him the finger, but then said, "Not coming out for the coming four years."

They seemed to communicate again. Which was a lot of progress in Norma’s eyes. Then she looked at Riley who had gotten quiet.

Walton had also noticed and turned around “Ow, this going to be awkward isn’t it?” He said right before Riley turned around and left the room. Awkward was not the right word for Norma. She hoped there would come a time Riley could stay in the same room as little Rey. But that might be a dream.