Reina and Will cleaned off the dining room table and sat back down silently looking eagerly at Valerie to say something. 

“Uh, so, it looks like I might have to teach John and his friends at med school,” Valerie said awkwardly, blanking on what to say to her father and sister. 

“Does it feel weird? Teaching people that are older than you?” Reina asked.

“I’ve gotten used to it, but it might be really weird to teach John. I feel like he definitely won’t like that I’m in charge. I don’t think he likes me,” Valerie explained. 

“You think so? You two were so close when you were younger,” Will remarked thinking back.

“I remember that when we all played together you would tell us what to do and I would get bored really fast and leave, but John would stay and do what you say and you two would hang out together for hours,” Reina recalled.

“Really? All I remember is the day John and I overheard the bet being made between Dad and Dr. Griffin, and we ran outside and John proclaimed he was going to win the bet because he was his father’s son. And I got so mad that I yelled, ‘I don’t want to marry you! I won’t let it happen!’ and stormed off,” Valerie recalled, laughing about how this whole thing started off with her not wanting to be told who to marry. 

Reina and their father also laughed realizing what had started this whole thing was something as simple as a young girl not wanting to marry her one year older next door neighbor. 

“So you didn’t want to marry John and that’s why you left?” Will asked to confirm.

“At the time it wasn’t about marrying John or not, I just said that because I wanted to hurt him when he so proudly exclaimed he would win. I was upset because I didn’t want my future being decided like that, by Dad and Dr. Griffin,” Valerie explained, trying not to be too hard on her father. 

“I understand now. And I’m sorry I shouldn’t have made a bet like that. I was too proud of my own accomplishments and wanted to achieve more through you two and I realize now how much pressure I put on you and how selfish I was being. Now that I’m retired I rather enjoy simply living through whatever makes you two happy.” Their father looked upset at himself. 

“It’s ok Dad, we’ll figure it out from here on out,” Valerie said, appreciative of her father’s honesty and change of heart. 

“Dad helps me out with a lot of school functions and stuff, so if you need help with any of your work, definitely ask him for help,” Reina said with a smile. 

“Sure, sure. I would definitely, but it looks like I have five boys of my own for that kind of work. But, I may occasionally bounce research or teaching methods off you Dad,” Valerie suggested.

“That works for me, it would be good for my brain that’s for sure,” he replied with a smile. 

“Well, you two, I’m a bit tired and have some things about the house to take care of so, I’ll say goodnight and see you tomorrow morning,” Valerie yawned. 

“Okay, goodnight,” Reina said.

“Goodnight,” Will said. 

Valerie entered her room and leaned on her door with her left hand resting on the door knob. She was overwhelmed by what had just happened and more emotions bubbled up, sending tear after tear down her pale cheeks. Across the other side of her bed were a box of tissues and as she sat down to grab them, she noticed movement outside of her window. What was that? She asked herself and peaked between the blinds. Looking around she saw John leaning on the left side of the house trying to pretend he didn’t see anything. Valerie unlocked the window and slid it up, “John? Are you there?”

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry to bother you. Thought I would pop by to discuss the house with you.”

“Okay, but you couldn’t use the front door?”

“I didn’t want your Dad or sister thinking there was something going on between us, if they knew I was here,” John tried to explain.

“Why would there be, I’ve only been back barely a full day. Anyways, do you want to come in?”

“Sure,” John climbed through the window with ease. 

By now Valerie had stopped crying, distracted by John and his weird ideas. She used the tissues she had grabbed to blot the remaining tears from her eyes and moved to sit on her bed. 

“Are you okay?” John asked, looking more concerned than normal. 

“Yeah, I just told my Dad and Reina that I’m sick.”

“So what is it? What do you have?” He asked, becoming serious. 

“I have a heart condition. And well if I don’t take my medicine I get sick, which you saw in the car, and I can’t do strenuous activities and I have to watch what I eat.”

“What heart condition?” He asked again.

“Well, I’ll tell you more later, when I feel comfortable doing so. Anyways, what did you want to discuss about the house?”

John sighed, “There’s four bedrooms upstairs, a Jack and Jill with a shared bathroom, a master bedroom with a large bathroom and walk-in closet, and a fourth bedroom that doesn’t have its own bathroom. These are too many rooms for me to use by myself and I was wondering if you would rent the other three out to Roy, Allen, and Tristan. Greg lives with his girlfriend so he doesn’t need a place to live.”

Valerie thought about it for a bit. With more of them there they might find out what I’m doing, but with their rent I could buy more chemicals and that’s more important than being found out. 

“Okay, I’ll rent it out to them, but no house parties, unless I’m totally out of the house, which I’ll let you know beforehand.”

“We’re not really like that. We play video games together and study most of the time,” John laughed. 

“Okay, whatever. But is there anything that needs to be fixed upstairs?”

“The bathrooms and closets need to be updated, other than that the walls need to be repainted, but if you allow us, we’d like to do that ourselves and make our rooms our own.”

“Sure, no problem. Did you check soundproofing?”

“Oh, no. I didn’t think to do that.”

“That’s fine, I’ll have the renovators check and make adjustments as needed,” Valerie replied. “Can you give me my laptop?”

John picked up her sleek laptop, “here you go.” 

“Thank you, I’m going to make some notes for the renovators and what not.’

Valerie typed up her bedroom and bathroom information first, then the upstairs information. She read back to John what she had typed up and he agreed everything was correct. 

“Well is that all you have to say?” Valerie asked with a yawn. She reminded herself to take her final dose before bed. 

“Yeah, uh. Good night,” John said, turning towards the window. 

“Good night,” Valerie replied, while John climbed out and walked in the direction of his house. 

She walked over to the window to close and lock it, pulling down the blinds and making sure they were closed for privacy. In her bathroom she administered her last dose of medicine for the day followed by brushing her teeth. Looking in the mirror she looked better than she did yesterday, less pale and a little color in her cheeks. 

Valerie slipped into pajamas and laid on her bed yawning, waiting for sleep to find her. Her mind kept wandering over the day’s events, but the one that struck her as odd was John’s visit. Why visit me in person about the house and why today? Valerie couldn’t figure it out. Nine years had been a long time and she didn’t know who John grew up to be, as a person. The impression she had developed of him was that he didn’t like her and that he was a weirdo.