Lin went for a walk, amped up from his fight with Kate. Her rage towards Jason seemed to be blinding her to the hurt she was causing Madeline. She had every right to have a relationship with her father if she wanted one. Madeline was terrified to contact him because of what Kate might think. That wasn't right.

Back at the apartment, Kate was cooling down. She realized she may have upset Madeline, so she went to her room to check on her. She knocked but didn't hear an answer, so she pushed the door open. Maddie wasn't inside. She checked the bathroom, then the other rooms, but she was nowhere to be found.

Kate pulled out her cell phone and called her daughter. It went straight to voicemail. Kate hated when her daughter ignore her. Though she wasn't sure she was ready to talk to him, she called Lin. He answered after a couple rings.

"What?" he asked, his tone curt.

"Maddie's gone," she told him.

"What?" he said again. "She's not in her room?"

"No. I checked everywhere and of course she's not answering her phone."

"Well, she's probably upset," Lin pointed out. "You basically attacked Jason."

"Will you try calling her?" Kate said, ignoring his accusation.

"Sure," he said, and they hung up. Lin called their daughter and it went straight to voicemail. He texted her instead, telling her to tell them where she was.

Madeline had been walking for a good half hour now. Both her mom and Lin had tried calling her, but she wasn't in the mood to talk to either of them. She needed some space. She knew they'd be upset with her for not responding, but if they hadn't been fighting she wouldn't have had to leave.

She made her way to Central Park, one of the few areas you could be in nature. Finally, she found a bench and sat down. She started to catch her breath and let her heartbeat slow. She'd been walking pretty briskly. Today just needed to end. Her meet had gone terribly and the adults in her life had all gone nuts.

Nature calmed her down. She sat back on the bench and closed her eyes, listening to the sound of the breeze blowing the leaves, a few birds chirping. She felt the sunlight on her face. She reminded herself she was just one person out of 7 billion on this planet. Her problems weren't unique. Somewhere, there was another kid sick of her parents fighting.

She checked the time on her phone and realized she'd been gone for a good two hours. There were tons of texts and calls from her parents. She sighed audibly as she stood and decided to head back home. When she walked in the door, her mother pounced on her.

"Why haven't you been answering your phone?" she asked, crossing her arms. "We've been worried sick!"

"Leave me alone!" she said, feeling her anger build up again. She'd finally calmed herself down and now her mother was in her face again.

"No. You owe me an explanation," Kate told her daughter.

"Kate-" Lin tried to intervene from the living room.

"I left because I didn't want to listen to you guys yelling!" she said, her voice raised. "Did it ever occur to you that I might be upset? You almost attacked Dad!"

"He had no right to come to the meet," she said. "And I cannot believe you didn't tell me he came to your school."

"Because I knew you'd react like this!" Maddie spat. Kate had been moving closer to her daughter. Lin had been crossing the room. He put his hand on her upper arm to hold her back.

"Kate, stop," he told her a bit more firmly. "Maddie, go to your room."

She gladly left, not wanting to argue anymore with her mother. As she left, she could hear her mother yelling at Lin. His voice was annoyed and firm. Maddie slammed her door and laid back down on her bed. She plugged in her earbuds to drown out the noise.

She must have fallen asleep because she woke up when Lin sat on her bed. Her eyes fluttered open and she pressed pause on her iPod, then took out her earbuds.

"Hey," Lin greeted her gently.

"Hi," she said, sitting up.

"Sorry you had to listen to your mom and me fight," he apologized. "I know that's not pleasant."

"I couldn't listen to it anymore," she told him, crossing her arms.

"I know," he said. "But next time, will you answer your phone? We need to know where you are."

"Okay," she agreed.

"Now, did your father showing up at the meet throw you off?" he asked.

"Totally," she said. "I was completely off. I can't believe he'd just show up like that."

"No, that wasn't fair," Lin agreed. "He can't just show up unannounced, especially since you haven't contacted him yet."

"I feel like I have to contact him now," she said, examining her nail beds.

"Well, you can e-mail him to let him know you don't want him showing up."

She sighed. "I might have to. I'm not sure I'm ready to see him yet."

"And that's totally fine," Lin told her. "He needs to go at your pace. He doesn't get to decide."

"Can I go hang out with my friends? I don't wanna be here," she said.

Lin sighed. "Sure," he said, knowing she probably needed some fun after a hard day.

"Is Mom still on the prowl?" she asked, swinging her legs over the bed as he stood up.

"I'll take care of Mom," he told her. "You go have some fun."

Madeline took her phone with her and met a friend down at a nearby park. They spent most of the afternoon pulling up silly videos on their phones and Snapchatting. It was just what Madeline needed. She liked that her friends had no idea what her home issues were. She just wanted to be normal like everyone else. She was pretty sure no one had a father who'd been incarcerated and that they hadn't seen in eight years.

Back at the house, Kate was watching TV alone in her room. Lin had pissed her off. It was like she was undermining her. She had every right to be angry about Jason, and he acted like she was being unreasonable.

Lin walked in, wanting to make peace. He laid down next to her on his side, propping his head up in his hand.

"Can we talk?" he asked gently.

Kate sighed and turned off the TV, waiting for him to start.

"Madeline needs to be our main focus," he told her. "She's really upset right now. Her dad showed up out of nowhere, and she didn't want to tell you because she knew you'd be upset. Then he showed up at her swim meet unannounced and made her nervous. Then we were fighting."

Kate knew Lin was right about that, but she was still pissed at Jason.

"I'm sorry," she said. "It's just, when I saw Jason I saw red. I can't believe he had the nerve just to show up."

"I know," he said. "That wasn't okay. He needs to wait for Maddie to make the first move. But we need to be on the same team here. You need to make sure you're not putting Maddie in a tough spot. You need to push your feelings about Jason aside."

"I can't," she told him. "He took her from me. It's unforgivable."

"But Maddie deserves a relationship with her father if she wants one, and she doesn't need push back from you."

"Easy for you to say," she told him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lin asked, annoyed. "She's my daughter too."

"Forget it," she said, standing up and going to the restroom.

"You think I want him barging into our lives?" Lin asked, following her. "I'm pretty uncomfortable with this too, Kate."

"Really? You seem to be making this easier for him," she quipped as she started brushing her hair harshly.

"I'm trying to make it easier for Maddie," Lin countered. "We need to support her."

"Fine," she said shortly. "You made your point."

Lin could tell she was still annoyed, but he decided to drop it. He shook his head and walked out of the room, out to the living room. Lin pulled up his laptop and opened his email. He still had Jason's email from years before. He began to compose an email.

Jason,

Lin here. Just wanted to touch base regarding Maddie. She's really confused right now. You showing up out of the blue has really thrown her off. I don't think it's a good idea to just pop up again until she's ready to contact you. She needs to be the one taking the lead.

As for Kate, I'm trying to talk with her about making sure Maddie's the priority. No matter what she thinks, Madeline is the one we all need to be concerned with most. It's her choice whether she wants a relationship with you or not, and our feelings can't get in the way.

Sincerely,

Lin

Lin pressed send, then closed his laptop. He let his head rest against the back of the couch and sighed. Lin kept his distance from Kate from most of the day, knowing she needed some space. If he tried to broach the subject again, they'd probably start another argument.

He took Rio out to play some basketball in the afternoon, and the physical exertion did him good. He always loved spending time with his son. Rio was getting to the age where he'd probably want to start hanging out with friends more than him. He was trying to cherish all the time with him he could before that became a reality.

Madeline came home just before dinner time. She moved about gingerly, trying to feel out her mother's mood. She didn't seem angry anymore, but she definitely didn't look happy. Lin had promised to help cool her down, and she knew he kept his promises.

The family of four gathered around the table for dinner, which started out somewhat quiet and tense. Kate and Madeline didn't even look at each other or acknowledge the other's existence.

"Maddie, if we need to, we can get a restraining order against your dad," she told her daughter finally, and Lin let his fork drop to his plate. She needed to let this go.

"Kate," he looked at her, running his tongue over his teeth.

"I'm serious," she said. "If he bothers you anymore, we'll do it."

"Mom, it's fine," Maddie said, wishing they didn't have to keep talking about this.

"But you said he completely threw off your swimming today," she said. "That's not fair."

"What's not fair is that you keep bad-mouthing my father," Maddie told her mother, glaring at her.

"Watch your tone," Kate warned her daughter. Maddie looked at Lin, exasperated.

"Lin?" she asked for some help.

"I think we just need to drop the subject for now," he told them both. "There's no use in talking about it more when everyone's still upset."

"Just know it's an option," Kate told her daughter.

"It's been noted," Lin said. "Now drop it."

The rest of dinner was mostly quiet. Once they were finished, both the kids went off to their rooms, not wanting to be around the tension. Lin wanted to admonish his wife again, but he decided not to. They'd just argue.

Lin spent the evening in the living room, and Kate in their bedroom. Around bedtime, Kate felt the need to go talk with her daughter. She didn't like being at odds with her like this. She knocked on Maddie's door then walked in. Maddie was on her bed messing with her phone.

"Hi, Mads," she greeted her, pulling out the desk chair.

"Hi," Maddie said timidly, setting her phone aside.

"I want to apologize if I've upset you today," she said. "I just have a lot of feelings regarding your father. It was very difficult for me to see him today."

"And how do you think I felt?" Maddie asked.

"I'm sure it was hard for you too," she acknowledged. "The year you were gone was very painful. I just don't want him hurting you again."

"I know," Maddie said. "And I'm not sure if I want to see him. But, he is my father and I haven't seen him for eight years."

Kate nodded. "That's a long time to be without your father," she admitted. Madeline nodded. She adored Lin, but she also knew Jason was her real father. It was painful not to have a relationship with him.

"Anyways," Kate said, rubbing her thighs a bit. "I just wanted to let you know I won't stand in your way if you want a relationship with him. Just be careful."

"I will," she said softly. Kate gave her a small smile and tucked the chair back in. She wandered out to the living room, where Lin was reclined on the couch watching a movie. She sat down next to his feet.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah," she sighed. "I just apologized to Maddie. I lost sight of the fact this is about her. My anger towards Jason took over."

Lin sat up and kissed Kate on the cheek. "That was big of you," he told her. "I'm sure that will help her feel better."

She nodded and leaned her body into his as he wrapped an arm around her. He pressed another kiss to her hair and guided her to lean back against the couch.

"I wish I'd met you before I met Jason," she mused. Lin tucked some hair behind her ear.

"Then you wouldn't have Maddie," he reminded her.

She smirked a little. "True. She's a pretty amazing kid. And resilient."

"She is," Lin agreed. "A great kid."

"Do you think she'll want a relationship with him?"

"I don't know," he said honestly, resting his chin on top of her head. "I imagine she'll want some kind of relationship with him."

"I just don't want her getting hurt," she said.

"I know," he kissed her again. Lin let his hand run over her belly, glad they weren't fighting any more. He gently put a finger on her chin, turning her face towards his. Lin captured her lips in a sweet kiss, letting their mouths fuse together. Then, he deepened the kiss, letting his tongue probe her mouth. She let out a little sigh as their tongues moved together. They'd been together for about nine years now, but he could still take her breath away.

Their kisses became more insistent, and Lin leaned his body towards her, urging her to lay down. She opened her legs to make space for him as they kissed more passionately. Lin pushed at her shirt, letting his hand wander up to her bra, cupping her full breast in his hand. She groaned, pushing her hips up towards his.

Soon, his fingers expertly unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans and his fingers dove between her legs. He grinned when he found she was already wet. His fingers pushed inside her and she groaned.

Soon, his pants and underwear had been kicked off and he pulled hers down her legs. The best part of fighting was the make up sex. The made passionate love on the couch, reminding each other of their deep connection.