Ten

“DAD, I’D LIKE TO TELL YOU about my girlfriends,” I said, leaning over the seat to look at him. He’d jumped in the back of the car to give me room to stretch my swollen ankle.

Well, there it was. I’d started the conversation. Dinner had been nice and I was finally feeling like I’d come to grips with the outcome of the tournament. If I’d gone back in to play, I might have beaten Rob, but there was an equal chance that I’d have done serious—maybe even permanent—injury to my ankle. That would have put me out of competition and maybe out of my scholarship. Lissa and Sam figured it out. That’s what coaches are for. So now that the three of us were in the car, I had to talk to Dad.

“Both those little cuties at dinner tonight? Tony, I’m proud of you, but don’t you think it would be nice to share with the other guys? You don’t have to take all the best girls.” He was making light of it. Well, that was a good sign.

“Allison and Bree aren’t my girlfriends, Dad.”

“I know, son. I was trying to make a joke. Why don’t you tell me about you and Lissa?” I think both of us snapped our heads around to look at Dad. “Sam said you had a unique relationship. I’m a little surprised that the school would allow that between a coach and athlete.”

“We came as a package deal. I was involved with Lissa before I got the offer from SCU and PCAD. We’ve been friends for months and lovers for weeks.”

“I understand, son. Lissa, I don’t know too much of your background, but I could tell right away that you meant more to Tony than just being his coach.”

“Tony’s very important to me, Mr. Ames,” Lissa said.

“Tony, your mom and I had a long, agonizing talk last fall. Remember when we dropped you off at school?”

“Yes. I didn’t think Mom was going to hold it together without crying in the parking lot. Um ... I didn’t quite hold it together all the way to my room.”

“Well, you were scarcely out of sight before she broke down. But we took a couple of extra days as we drove back to Nebraska—went down to Napa Valley and drank some wine. And we talked. A lot. We talked about the fact that you were truly a man now. We always want to be there for you when you need us, but you won’t need us as much. We also decided that as much as we can, we will support your life decisions. As long as they are decent people, we won’t reject any friend or girlfriend you have. Lissa, we might not understand why a woman who is a little older and probably more experienced than our son is so interested in him, but you showed tonight that you have his best interests at heart. Deborah and I will welcome you into our lives as long as you and Tony are together.”

Lissa was crying. She kept wiping tears out of her eyes so she could see the road. I squeezed her thigh with my left hand and realized that my dad reached forward and had a hand on each of our shoulders.

“Thank you, Mr. Ames. Just from knowing Tony, I knew I’d love you and your wife, too.”

“Please. Call me Saul and my wife is Deborah. We’re all adults here. Speaking of which, I should call her and introduce you.”

“Um ... Dad ... There’s more.”

“Oh?”

“I said girlfriends, remember?”

“Oh, dear. This is complicated.”

“I guess so. Before you call Mom, I’d like to call Melody and introduce her to you, too. We’re not exactly a couple. We’re a trio.”

“Ah. A ménage à trois. You are all involved with each other?”

“I love Melody every bit as much as I love Tony,” Lissa said as she pulled into a parking spot at the hotel. “I never thought about using the French word. It’s always used with such temporary connotations.”

I dialed Melody and put her on speaker phone.

“Tony! I love you!” came clear across the connection.

“Guess what, sweetie. We just found out there’s a word for us. Ménage à trois.“

“French. What does it mean?”

“Literally, ‘household of three’,” my dad answered automatically. Melody gasped.

“Tony, is that... ?”

“My dad,” I completed. “Lissa is here, too.”

“Hi, darling. We miss you.”

“Hi, Lissa. Uh ... Mr. Ames, I guess that means Tony told you about us.” Melody sounded so far away over the phone. I wished she was in the car with us.

“Yes. I’m happy to meet you, Melody. I wish we were all in one place so I could see you together.”

“Oh, believe me, I wish I was there, too. Are you all right with us, Mr. Ames?”

“I just told Lissa to call me Saul. We’re all adults here. As to being all right with you, I love my son and part of that is to love who he loves—even sight unseen.”

“You sound just as wonderful as Tony, Mr ... uh ... Saul.”

“Okay, stay on the line while I get Tony’s mom, and that means Deborah to you both, on my phone.”

“Wait, Dad. I’ve got three-way dialing.”

“I’m sure that comes in handy.” We all laughed. I put Melody on hold and connected with Mom.

“Congratulations, Tony,” Mom said. “Dad told me you qualified for Ektelon National Singles. We’re going to come to cheer for you.”

“That’s great, Mom. Hey, I called because I just introduced Dad to my girlfriends and I wanted to introduce you, too.”

“Girlfriend? I didn’t know you had one.”

“Uh ... two, Mom.”

“Oh. How exciting. Saul?” You could hear the panic in her voice when she spoke Dad’s name.

“Hang in there, Pumpkin. They’re nice girls,” Dad assured her.

“Mom, Melody is on the line with us. She’s back at school.”

“Hi, Mrs. Ames. It’s nice to meet you.” I could hear my mom take a deep breath.

“I’m sure Saul already gave you the lecture. Please call me Deborah. It’s nice to meet you, Melody.”

“And this is Lissa.”

“Hi, Deborah. I’m so glad we get to meet you and Saul.”

“Lissa? Tony’s coach?”

“Yes. We were together before she became my coach. She didn’t exercise any undue influence over me.”

“In fact,” Lissa said, “Tony is going to be acting as my coach as well. He’s already helped my game. But that’s just one part of our relationship.”

“Are you classmates?”

“Not exactly, Mom. Melody’s a classmate. Lissa is...” I wasn’t sure how to phrase it.

“I’m a few years older,” Lissa supplied. “Just enough to add some stability to these two wild ones.”

“Hey!” both Melody and I exclaimed before we all broke out in giggles.

“Who adds stability to the wild ones?” Melody asked through her laughter. I thought of Lissa’s boys, but decided that overwhelming my parents a little at a time was better than all at once.

“It’s a shared responsibility,” I said.

“Well, I hope all three of you plan to spend some time here in Nebraska this summer. I want to make sure my boy hasn’t bitten off more than he can chew.”

“Mom!”

We talked for about ten more minutes and Dad told Mom he’d call her back in a little while. We went up to the hotel rooms and I opened my room door and then handed the key to Dad.

“I suppose you’ll be spending the night ... elsewhere?” he said.

“Yeah. We’re right next door.”

“Well, it looks like a comfy room. I expect I’ll be on the phone with your mother for quite a while. Breakfast?”

“Not too early, though,” I said. “It’s been a long day. I want to watch the finals at noon, so let’s meet at ten.” I started to leave when I thought about the fact that Bree and/or Allison probably still had my other room key. “Uh ... Dad? Just for safety’s sake, I’d suggest you put the security chain on the door. Strange things happen around here at night.” I left before he could question me any further.

“It was so wonderful, Tony! I can’t wait to tell my mom and dad. But I’d be too scared if you weren’t both right beside me when I do. They’re ... um ... unpredictable. They never want me to grow up and Dad’s kind of conservative. Just thinking about it makes my heart beat so fast I think I’m going to pass out.” Melody’s voice came through the speaker phone on the bed beside me. I’d had to plug it in because we’d used so much juice talking to my parents in the car. Lissa was putting a fresh ice pack on my ankle and I gasped. “What are you two doing?” Melody asked suspiciously.