Chapter 6: The Conspiracy

"I'm so glad you're here Allie," Nina said excitedly as she ushered Allie into her apartment. "We've barely seen each other these past two weeks."

"I've been with my dad a lot," said Allie as she took a seat on the couch. "I'm sorry."

"Oh honey, don't be sorry. You need to spend a lot of quality time with your dad," Nina sat down beside Allie and put her arm around her. "I totally understand."

"I need your help on something."

"What is it?" Nina asked in concern.

"Mom really likes Charlie and Charlie really likes her but they won't do anything about it."

"I know what you mean. The looks that pass between those two."

"Has my mom ever been in love before?" Allie asked curiously.

Nina thought about this for a long moment. "Before you were born, your mom was just trying to figure out her life, make sense of things. She had to live on her own at a really young age because people were looking for her, so I don't think it really crossed her mind to date at that point. After she got pregnant with you, she'd talk about this guy who was on the ship with her. This guy, she knew, was your father. When she'd talk about him, she'd get this intense look of concentration like she was really trying to remember him.

"I think even then she was in love with him. And subconsciously she's been waiting for him to come ever since."

"And now he's here and she won't do anything about it!" Allie cried in frustration.

"Oh honey, these things take time. It doesn't happen overnight."

"None of this would've happened if it wasn't meant to," Allie sighed. "I just want us to be a family."

Nina looked at her goddaughter, there wasn't anything she wanted more in the world than for Lisa and Allie to be happy. And she really felt that Charlie could be the one to bring that happiness into their lives.

Nina smiled and got a conspiratorial glint in her eye. "I have a plan."