Chapter 2

I could hear the washer going when I came out of the bathroom. Jack must have put the sheets in while I finished up in there. He was standing at the stove, so I went up to him and wrapped my arms around him, nuzzling into his back.

"Thank you for my birthday."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you had a good time."

"Oh, yeah. My most bestest birthday ever."

"That's what I was hoping for. You had a call while you were in the bathroom."

"Who called?"

"Your father."

"Really. What did he have to say?"

"He said he wanted to wish you a happy birthday and that he didn't call yesterday because he didn't want to interrupt anything. He was also wondering if you were upset with him because he changed the locks."

"Is he going to call back?"

"He was on the way in to the hospital and said he'd try you later on."

"Did he say anything about him and Wanda?"

"No, he actually got quiet when I told him she was staying here."

Jack turned off the stove and grabbed a straining spoon from the rack. He picked four eggs out of the pot and lowered them in a bowl of cold water he had in the sink, then put two each on small plates that already had shot glasses on them. He handed the plates to me and took four pieces of toast out of the toaster, splitting them between another two plates. I sat down at the already made table, put one of the soft boiled eggs in my shot glass and took a drink of the orange juice that was at my place.

It wasn't that long since I'd brushed my teeth, but I didn't get that orange juice — toothpaste yuckiness. Well, I'd had Jack's cock in my mouth since I brushed them. Something to remember for the future.

There was some butter on the table, so I prepared my toast, then started chipping away the shell at the top of my egg. It had to have been years since I had soft boiled eggs.

I looked over at Jack and he smiled at me. I still had trouble believing how comfortable we were together. Sitting here at the table, eating breakfast, just being with him; it was like we'd been married for years. I reached over and squeezed his hand.

"What's that for?"

"For you. I just feel good. I'm glad we found each other."

He reached back to my hand and took it in both of his, kissing the palm, then lowering it to the table but still holding it.

"Me too. What are you going to do about your father?"

"God. You would have to ask me that, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, I would. You know you've been avoiding facing him. And you know you can't go on this way."

"I know. It's just that he's so different from the Daddy I grew up with. I'm a little scared to talk to him."

"I'll be there if you want, Hon."

"I don't know. I'll have to think about that."

"You know you need to make up with him before this weekend, don't you?"

"No. What's so special about this weekend?"

"Barbecue. This Sunday."

"That's for the people who built the place."

"Oh, come on, Jill. Without your father there wouldn't be any place. He put up all the money and saved Mom a ton of interest. He's the one who got Alex and Bill Montgomery involved. He's the one who let you move out in the first place. And another thing..."

"What?"

"He's your father and it's tearing you apart that you've lost what you two had."

"I know. It's just... "

"It's just that you're being a spoiled little princess. I talked to him today. I don't know what's going on with him but I do know one thing. He feels as bad about losing you as you do about him. Maybe worse. At least you have someone. He has no one."

I hadn't looked at it that way, but Jack was right. We all think of our parents as all-knowing, indestructible, able to stand up to anything, even when we play the stupid teenager games where we pretend we know everything there is to know and they don't know anything at all. Even though I'd heard him crying alone in his room for years, I didn't really believe he could be lonely. Maybe the whole thing with Wanda was simply to compensate for losing me. I wanted to grow up and be with Jack. But did I want to throw away almost fifteen years of my relationship with Daddy?

I came back to the present and looked at Jack. He was just sitting there patiently, smiling.

"You're right. We need to talk."

"Maybe you can invite him over here for dinner. I think he'd like to be included in our new place."

"I don't think that would be a good idea with Wanda here. I don't think he'd be very open about their relationship if she was sitting across the table from him."

"I'm sure Mom would be happy to feed and entertain Wanda for one evening. Invite him over for dinner."

"OK. You're right, Jack. He would like to be a part of our place."

I felt something in my chest when I made the decision to get my Daddy back. It only lasted a second or two and was hard to describe. Sort of like a flutter, a slight breathlessness, like being light headed only in my chest. Like I'd felt shortly after I found Jack and when I would think about him when we were apart. I knew it was right for Daddy to be part of my life and it was wrong for me to ever pretend he wasn't.

It felt good to have my hand in my boyfriend's, but you can't eat a soft boiled egg one handed. I gave him a squeeze, then pulled my hand away and got back to work cracking the shell of the first one.