Thirteen

“I KNOW YOU WANTED to be face-to-face, Mel, but I think you should call your father. Don’t let the injury fester, and don’t let him find out about us from someone else—especially not your mother,” I said when we got to Lissa’s house. The boys were still out with Molly, so we had a little time to get Lexi settled before the tornadoes arrived. She decided to lie down for half an hour while she could. That’s when I made the suggestion to Melody.

“I don’t know if I can. What do I say?”

“Do you love your dad, sweetheart?” Lissa asked. Melody nodded.

“We’ve always been so close. He paints a little, too, and wanted me to go to art school. I just can’t believe...”

“So, tell him that you love him. Everything else will follow.” We all sat on the big bed and Melody called her father. As soon as he picked up, Melody launched in before he could say anything.

“Daddy, I love you.” We couldn’t hear his side of the conversation. Lissa and I were content to just be with Melody and support her.

“She’s here with us.— Daddy, is this as hard on you as it is on her?— Yeah, I thought so. Is it really twenty-five years?— I just wanted to tell you I love you and that I understand. Well, I don’t understand—not completely. But I know you and Mom are adults and that not everything can be clear to a kid, no matter how old I am.” I scooted around behind Melody and let her lean back against me as she talked. Lissa curled up beside her and just petted her hand.

“Daddy, I know there is a lot going on and there never seems to be a right time for anything. But I’ve got to introduce you to some very important people. I wanted to do this in person, but since Mom is here and has met them, I need to introduce you, too.” She put the phone on speaker and held it out in front of her. I heard the shutter click and saw a picture of the three of us curled up on the bed on her cell phone.

“I’m sending you a picture, Daddy. I want you to meet my boyfriend, Tony Ames.”

“Boyfriend? I’m so happy for you, baby. It’s nice to meet you, Tony.”

“Thank you, Mr. Anderson. It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“I have the picture. You are a nice-looking young man, Tony. Treat my daughter well. Who else is with you? There’s another beautiful woman in this picture.”

“Daddy, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Lissa.”

“Hi, Mr. Anderson. Thank you for the compliment.”

“It is well-deserved. Any friend of my daughter is also a friend of mine.”

“No, Daddy. Lissa isn’t just my friend. She’s my girlfriend.” There was a silence on the phone.

“Then Tony is... ?”

“Our boyfriend, Daddy.”

“Well. That is a bit much. Is your mother there? Put her on the phone, please.” His voice had become crisper and decidedly less friendly.

“She’s taking a nap right now. It was a pretty emotional morning.”

“Is she ... okay? I mean with all of this?”

“She’s adapting. Will you, Daddy?”

“Right now, I want to rush right out there and protect you from ... from whatever it is. I’m not happy, Melody. You’re too young.”

“We all know that we’re young and that people change, Daddy. You and Mom have just shown us that. But we’re together, in love, and happy. Doesn’t that count for something?”

“I’ll withhold judgment. I worry about you, especially now ... Lissa and Tony, don’t hurt my little girl, do you understand?”

“We do,” I said. “We hope you will also take that advice. Please, come out for a visit soon.”

“I can arrange for you to stay in my house,” Lissa continued. “Just give me a couple days’ notice.” We heard the front door open and Drew and Damon’s voices called out as they ran down the hall.

“Oh yeah,” Melody laughed. “You have to meet your grandkids.”

“Melody!”

“Relax, Dad. We aren’t married ... yet. But you’ll love the boys, believe me. I know you always wanted a boy instead of a frilly little girl,” she teased.

“Don’t you ever think that! I knew I was going to have a daughter the moment I found out your mother was pregnant and I could never have been happier.” His voice got softer and I could hear a little teasing slip in. “Still, a boy might have been easier right now.” Maybe the guy wasn’t as bad as I’d assumed. If he could withhold judgment, so could I.

“Mommy, Meddy, Tony!” Drew and Damon screamed as they piled onto the bed with us. Melody snapped another arms-length photo with all of us crowded together in the picture.

“Here’s the whole family, Daddy. I need to go now so I can play. I love you!”

“I love you, too, baby. I love you, too.”

Dinner was Chinese carryout and a bottle of white wine. The boys were scrubbed and ‘Meddy’s Mommy’ read Fox in Sox to them. There’s something strangely unifying about Dr. Seuss. We were all from different parts of the country, but the nonsense rhymes had been an important part of growing up. We got the boys tucked in and the house was quiet once again.

“Tony,” Lissa said, “You missed therapy today. We shouldn’t let it go any longer.” Lexi’s head shot up.

“Are you seeing a psychiatrist?”

“Mom!”

“I’m sorry ... I mean...” Lissa managed to swallow her wine without choking on it. I’m not sure how she managed.

“Physical therapy,” I explained. “Not that I don’t need any other kind, but this is for my ankle. I injured it in a racquetball tournament this weekend.”

“An athlete artist?”

“Ironic, isn’t it, Mom? I spend all of high school dodging the jocks and then I end up with the only student athlete in my entire college. It must have been my destiny.” She sighed melodramatically.

“And you got two for one,” Lissa laughed. “But I’m serious. We need to get you into the hot tub, do the stretches, and ice before bed.”

“Yes, coach,” I said as I stood. “Melody and I have classes at nine tomorrow, so I may not see you before I take off, Lexi. You’ll stay for a few days, though, won’t you?”

“Well, one or two. I don’t want to wear out my welcome. Do you need a babysitter while you work, Lissa?”

“Molly will take the boys tomorrow after school. She’s my nanny. But you are welcome to either hang out here at the house or come downtown with me. Or if there is someplace you’d like to see, I could drop you off on my way to work. We can talk about it in the morning. Now mister, get to the tub.”

I started down the hall with Lissa supporting me in an exaggerated show that just meant she got to have her arm around me. Just before we entered the bedroom, I heard Lexi speak to Melody.

“Oh my. How can you compete, Melly? She’s just so intensely beautiful.”

“It’s not a contest, Mom. Come on, I want to show you something downstairs.” We passed out of range of hearing them as they went to the lower level—the space where Melody and I had our easels and artwork. Mmm. If Lexi was upset about the painting in the school hallway, I wondered what she’d think after she saw the paintings on my easel downstairs.

Or the one that was on Melody’s.

The best part of my physical therapy was that Lissa and I were both naked. Other than that, it pretty much just hurt. The ice was almost unbearable and the heat of the spa was higher than we’d ever had it. I was looking for anything to distract me and Lissa kept pushing my hands away from her breasts and pussy while she worked on me. With good humored laughs, but firmly, anyway. I finally asked, “So how do you think Melly’s mom will react to our paintings downstairs? I hope she hasn’t started flinging paint around,” I said.

“Melly? Don’t tell me you’re adopting Lexi’s pet name for her.”

“Naw. It is cute. Personally, though, I like Drew’s name better. ‘Meddy pway wid me.’ ‘Meddy, color.’ ‘Meddy hug me.’ Your boy is serious competition for me.”

“Well, the way Damon has been hanging all over you, I guess she deserves some attention. You’ve both been wonderful with the boys. Are you sure... ? I mean ... Isn’t it too much for... ? Oh shit. I don’t know what I mean.”

“Lissa, are you asking if our love for you and our willingness to be with you are lessened because you come with two of the greatest kids I’ve ever met? Are you worried that we’ll leave you because we can’t handle the boys?” Lissa looked at me and there were tears in her eyes.

“We didn’t even tell your parents I have children. I thought Melody’s mother would run for the door when she found out. How can you take on so much responsibility? How can I ask you?” I held out my arms and Lissa melted into them. The timer ran out and the jets in the spa went silent. I held her close to my chest and felt her sob quietly.

“We have to correct the situation with my folks,” I said. “They need to know. I always thought that I’d someday be a father. It scared the bejeezus out of me. I thought I’d be stuck in a factory someplace trying to earn enough to pay for their shoes and my faceless pregnant wife’s doctor bills. Or that I would become a teacher and face rooms full of resentful teens who I forced to draw arcs and lines until one finally showed some talent. My idea of children was that you had to give up your dreams to have them.” Lissa quieted in my arms. The bathroom was still warm and steamy from the tub, but it was quiet save for a little splash if I moved my hands.

“Since I met Drew and Damon, I’ve felt something different. I saw how much of a responsibility kids are. It’s hard! But for the first time, I’ve also seen how much joy there is in our family. It’s selfish of me, I suppose, but I know we ... you ... aren’t financially strapped and the boys are well-cared for. That takes away some of the burden I used to feel when I thought about having kids. I still wouldn’t go out and start a brood at this age, but having them come along with the women I love is fun. And I know you have something with them I can never have, but I want to be right there with you, as much as you will let me. And I know for a fact that Melody feels the same way because we’ve talked about it. We love who our love loves, not only for her sake, but because we are a family.”