Chapter 8

Deena’s turn:

They did it! Married.

I did it! Left Mom’s and moved in with Dad ‘n’ Haley.

Momentous. That’s Dad rubbing off on me. Dad actually has a vocabulary and likes to use it. Exercise it. I get that from him and I get odd looks and little remarks from my contemporaries (another ‘Dad’ word, okay?) and sometimes strange looks from adults, especially my teachers.

When Haley picked me up after school, she gave me the news. “Your mom talked with your dad. We’re supposed to go get you some stuff so you can come live with us.”

I was sure about what I wanted to happen before this, but now I was conflicted. I thought honestly that I’d be there by Thanksgiving, Christmas at the latest, but this soon? Maybe I laid it on Mom a bit thick. And My Dad and Haley hadn’t even had a week of being married. I was walking into the middle of their honeymoon.

I said so.

“You can’t breathe a word, Deena,” Haley said. “Your dad and I ... almost two years...”

“When you were FOURTEEN?” I squeaked.

“And I promised him and he promised me that there would never be another. That’s when real marriage happens.”

“But you just moved in Sunday, right?”

She glanced sideways to see how badly I was coming unglued. “Not exactly. Mom sort of figured out what was going on. She and your dad had a talk. I got to spend the night with him a lot...

“I never suspected, you know...”

“I worried. Your dad worried. He loves you, Deena, and he was worried you’d die if you found out.”

“All I knew was that he smiled at you a lot and he never objected to you going with us anywhere.”

“That was me, a lot, you know,” Haley said. “I liked you as a friend. I knew that you and I could have a better time, we could get your dad to have a better time, if it was the both of us. I think it worked.”

“And all that time, he loved you...”

“And I loved him. And you were my best friend.”

“I guess I don’t feel like I’m interrupting your honeymoon, then, at least maybe not as much. So your Mom knew?”

“And Mister Steve. Nobody else. And you KNOW how we were in public. Now I can kinda hold his hand better. We’re legal. It’s out in the open.”

“I’ll never tell a soul, Haley,” I said. “I wondered all along when Dad was gonna finally meet somebody and get married and be happy. I wanted that for him, soooo bad. It’s crazy, but I really am happy it’s you.”

“Thank you, Deena.”

“No, really! If I’d moved in and you ‘n’ Dad weren’t, you know ... I’d’ve really had you for a big sister. I thought about that a lot, too. We talked, huh?”

Haley smiled for me. I know it’s genuine.

She drove me to Mom’s house. I didn’t know what to expect when we got there.

“I’m going in with you,” Haley announced.

“I dunno if that’s a good idea, Haley. Mom, when she gets on a roll, she can get mouthy.”

“I can stand it. Besides, I’m just helping YOU, and what claim does she want to have on your dad? They’re divorced.”

“You know there’s more to it than that. She has to justify the divorce in her mind. Part of that is tearing Dad down. I ... She’s tried that with me because I keep WANTING to go spend time with ‘im.”

“There’s nothing she can say to me,” Haley said. “I personally feel sorry for her, that she didn’t’ see what I see in your dad.”

“I know, right?!?” I said. “I mean, okay, Harv’s an attorney. That’s a big deal, I guess, but Dad’s an engineer, and I think that’s a bigger deal. Don’t even get me started on personalities...”

“Don’t ask me about personalities,” Haley chuckled. “I don’t know Harv, and with your dad, I’m kinda prejudiced.”

I smiled. “Yeah, you kinda WOULD be, huh?”

Okay, we’re in Harv’s neighborhood now. I have to admit, there’s a huge difference between Dad’s house and Harv’s. Dad went for ‘home’. Harv went for ‘impress the RIGHT people’. I’m thinking an order of magnitude in costs, and Harv doesn’t have Haley’s mom and Mister Steve for neighbors, with the twenty year old RV under the tree in the front yard.

I grew to understand the difference between a house and a home. I prefer the second one. Dad’s provided it. Like when we did a Christmas tree – we went and bought a tree, me ‘n’ Haley (yeah, now that I think of it, Haley DID help) decorated it, Dad hung a couple of geeky ornaments. Looked like a FAMILY tree, not a display in the lobby of a business. Dad’s house is like that. It’s HOME. So after this little thing with Mom, I’m going HOME.

We parked in the driveway. Haley and I walked to the door. I opened it.

“Mom, I’m here!” I said loudly. “Got Haley with me.”

Mom had seen Haley ONCE before, one time when she and Harv came to get me at Dad’s for some ‘family’ social event. That was almost two years ago. She came around the corner, stopped, scanned Haley from head to foot.

“Hello, Haley. I guess congratulations are in order, dear.”

“Thank you Mizz Pettifer,” Haley said with that little smile. I personally think you’d have to be a demon spawn of Satan hisownself not to be moved by that smile. I know it’s a lot of what pushed me away from being a bitchy spoiled brat when I first met ‘er. But would it work on Mom?

There! It did. Mom smiled just a vestigial amount. Then, “Uh, could you have a seat for a few minutes? I need to talk with Deena.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Haley said. “May I sit in here?”

“Certainly, dear. We’ll be finished shortly.”

‘Here it comes’, I thought. I followed Mom to my bedroom. Was surprised to see my bed covered with folded stacks of my clothes and a pile of clothes on hangers.

“I thought I would make this as easy for you as I can, Deena.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“I don’t think you’re right about Harv...”

“Mooo-oommm,” I said. “Let’s not get into it again.”

She took a deep breath, a move I’ve known all my life as her way of keeping her mouth from blurting out who knows what. “Okay. I won’t. You’ve made your opinion known and you’ve proposed a solution.”

“Yes, Mom.”

“And battling it out, you, me, Harv, your dad, that would get very nasty, no matter who’s right or wrong, and Harv’s professional status would suffer. This is the easiest solution for us all.”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Darlin’, I love you. You’re the only child I’ll ever have. I tried to give you everything you needed.”

“You did, Mom. And I’m not sailing for the New World, you know...”

I saw her lips straighten. I know what I did and I did it on purpose. That ‘sailing for the New World’ is a 100% ‘dadism’. I know she caught it because of her change in facial expression.

“I’ll keep in touch. We’ll go do things. Really. I love you, Mom. You know that.”

“I do, Deena,” she said, gathering me in for a hug. When she let me go, I saw tears.

“Mom, this’ll be better for all of us. Me. You. Even Harv.”

“Your dad...”

I smiled. “Dad’s got a wife, Mom, just like you have a husband. Cool thing is that Haley and I have known each other for years. Her marryin’ Dad is a bit of a shocker (another Dadism) but we’ve talked. I know we can handle this.”

And there’s the unsaid part – I don’t have to worry about Haley seeing me as an interesting sex object.

“Okay, baby,” Mom said softly. There was still moisture in the corners of her eyes. “I hope I’m doing the right thing.”

I was thinking ‘staying with Dad would’ve been the right thing’ but then I wouldn’t have Haley and even worse, Dad wouldn’t have Haley and with every passing hour I’m realizing more and more that what I saw but didn’t understand was Dad and Haley learning how to be very happy with each other.

She pointed out the obvious. “Those boxes ... I didn’t fill ‘em. You can do that so you’ll have things organized the way you want them to make it easier to put things away at your dad’s.”

“I’ll get Haley to help me, Mom.”

“She’s not very flashy, is she?” Mom said softly.

“Nope. Dad says ‘standard brown-haired girl’. That’s Haley. Smart, though. VERY smart. Funny. Mom, she’s just NICE. I’m glad for both of ‘em.”

“I’ll try to be,” Mom said. “Best for all of us. Go get ‘er.”

I brought Haley into my bedroom.

“Wow! Nice place,” she said.

“I’ll leave you two to load this up,” Mom said as she left us.

Haley looked at me, softly said, “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“Your mom okay?”

“Yeah ... Mostly. We’ll talk on the way home.” I paused. “On the way HOME.” For emphasis.

We put all the stuff into boxes, hauled them out to Haley’s SUV, then I went back inside and hugged Mom.

“If you decide to come back home, just say so, Deena,” she said.

“Thank you, Mom. I love you, okay?” I said with a hug and a kiss. She was standing at the door when Haley backed us out of the driveway.

“Well?”

“She’s conflicted...”

“I would be. Unless I was a total psychopath,” Haley said.

“Yeah, and I suppose Harv’s conflicted, too,” I said. “I think Mom’s as close to genuine as she can be, for some of the right reasons, you know.”

“I imagine so. This is a big step for both of you.”

“For ALL of us,” I said. “Me, you, Dad ... for one set of reasons. Mom and Harv, for another set.”

“She say anything about me?”

I smiled. “Said you were kind of ... not flashy.”

“I go out of my way to be ‘not flashy’,” she affirmed. “I have apparently succeeded.”

When we got home, we started hauling in boxes.

“Deena, that was a NICE house. This one’s...”

“Home,” I said. “This one is home. Okay?”

Haley looked at me. “That place was like a castle...”

“Yeah, in some ways. But you know, I’ve been happier here. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Seriously, would you trade the happiness you have here for living in a McMansion without your ... Without Dad?”

“Nope. Never. No way,” she said.

“Dad could probably do a house like that. I’m here, so he’s not doin’ child support. He could afford it.”

“But why?” Haley asked.

“Status?” I posed.

“Yeah, your dad’s all about status, right?” she parried.

I smiled. “He’s not. I think that’s one thing that ate Mom up about him.”