Chapter 10

Daddy looked at me, then he blinked a couple of times and started to laugh.

If someone tells a joke that he finds amusing, he'll laugh politely. And I've even seen some guffaws when he's had old-time movies on, stuff like Chaplin and the Marx Brothers.

He's laughed like he now was twice before when I was around. The most recent was a few years ago, the day I told him I needed my own credit card.

He always starts out nodding his face, slightly but rapidly, kind of a stuttering motion. His mouth was closed, almost as if he was afraid of what might slip out if it wasn't. Then his chest started the stuttering motion. You could tell he was holding it in as his face started to flush and his eyes watered.

Both June and Wanda looked concerned. I'd thought he was having a heart attack the first time I saw him go through this, too.

"It's OK. You'll just make it worse if you try to help him."

Even Bozo seemed disturbed until I reached down to comfort him.

I don't know if it was our reactions that caused it or if he just couldn't hold it in any longer, but the floodgates opened. Daddy started laughing, loud and hard.

My father is not shy about making his opinions known, but he's surprisingly quiet for the most part. But when he laughs like this, his voice is deep and booming. My father laughed. And he laughed. And then he laughed some more.

By this time, the tears were just flowing down his face. He took a breath, looked at me, pointed, then laughed even harder, pushing his chair away from the table, bending over and holding onto his stomach with both hands.

I remember that other time I'd been the focus of that booming laughter. By this point I'd been flushed and squirming, his laughter making me self conscious, making me doubt my position. Now I just let him get it out of his system. The last time, when all was said and done, he made the call and I got my credit card, which also saved him a lot of hassle down the road and was the only reason for the request in the first place. This was the first stage of several I knew he would go through before he'd finally acquiesce and work with me to make it happen. If this was anything like last time, there would be a token effort to talk me out of it before he caved, too.

I glanced over at Mary. She was fidgeting, looking everywhere but at my father, trying to hold in her reaction to his laughter. When she caught me looking at her, she lost control. She started laughing and Wanda was right behind her. June didn't laugh out loud, but she did have a smile on her face.

Jack went down the hall and got a washcloth out of the linen closet, bringing it back to my father. Daddy tried to thank him but was laughing too much to say anything. He gave Jack a wave of acknowledgment as he attempted to wipe the tears from his eyes while still laughing.

By the time Jack had gotten a box of Kleenex and made sure Mary and Wanda were taken care of, Daddy had quieted down a lot. His face was still red and his eyes and nose looked like mine do after I've been crying. He stood up.

"June, can I impose on you to use your restroom to wash up?"

Mom said, "Sure, John. Use the one in the hallway. Hopefully it's not in too bad a shape and there's a clean towel or two." She glanced around the table, and Jack held up his hands in front of him.

"Don't look at me. I don't live here anymore."

Mary said, "If it's a mess, Sara did it."

Mom said, "Yeah, right. You blame Sara for everything around here. I wonder how things got messed up before she moved in."

Daddy was smiling and shaking his head as he made his way toward the hallway. Wanda was right behind him.

"No funny stuff, Wanda," Mom said.

She answered back, "You're no fun."

Both Daddy and Mom said, "You'd be surprised," at the same time.

Daddy and Wanda went on down the hall. I swear Mom's face was a little redder when I looked over at her.

Jack said, "That went well. Any more surprises up your sleeve? Do I need to take Lamaze classes or anything?"

I suppose I should have expected something like that.

"No. No more surprises that I know of. And I'm not pregnant, either."

"I just wanted to make sure it wasn't part of your master plan."

Mom had just taken a sip of her coffee when he looked at her and said, "Guess you'll have to wait a while to be a grandma."

She spit coffee all over the tablecloth and started coughing just as Daddy and Wanda came back in. He ran over to her and pushed her forward on her chair and rubbed her back briskly below the shoulder blades.

After a few deep breaths, she struggled to sit back and he let go.

"Damn, Jackie. Don't do that to me when I'm taking a drink."

"Sorry, Mom."

I stood up as Daddy came around the table and he gave me a hug. "There's more to this emancipation stuff than just moving out of the house, you know."

"I know."

"I don't think it's going to make things much different." He glanced quickly at Jack, then back to me. "I suppose any damage has already been done."

"What damage, Daddy?"

"I don't know. I'm just saying that. I miss my daughter."

"I'll always be your daughter. Don't you want me to grow up?"

"Of course I do, Princess. You just don't know how tough it is."

"Sure I do. I thought I lost you for a while, too."

He pulled me in closer and I just held on as tight as I could.

I don't know how long we stayed that way. He finally released me and backed up, then mussed up my hair. Something he hadn't done since I was little.

"We'll talk. I'm sure we can figure something out."

"I know we can. I love you, Daddy."

"You too, Princess. You too."

He turned to Jack and held out his hand.

"You'd better take care of her."

"I will, John. Don't I get a hug?"

"You aren't turning gay on me, are you?"

"I don't think you have to worry about that."

He glanced over at me. "No, I suppose not."

Men are so funny when they hug. When two women hug each other, they hug. But you get a man on one side or the other and he seems to think that it's a catastrophe if anything below his belt touches anything below the other person's belt. Even Jack was like that when we first went dancing and he got hard. Like I wouldn't want to feel that. It took about half a second to make it clear I wasn't in sixth grade anymore and there wasn't any six inch rule. Daddy still tries to pull that crap when we hug, but he gives up pretty easy because he knows I won't let him get away with it.

But you put two men together in a hug and they look like they have to keep their feet a minimum of four feet away from each other. Their chests and necks need to be straight up and down, no scrunching their heads to the other person's shoulders like I do. I also think there's some magic number of pats on the back that makes your manhood questionable if it's exceeded. They pushed away from each other, as if they were afraid someone might see them. Mary said "Aaaww," and the rest of us joined in. Both of my men turned red.

Daddy grabbed Wanda by the hand. "Come on, Hon." He looked over at me. "We'll see you tomorrow afternoon."

"OK, Daddy. Don't forget, I'll want you to sign those papers. And Ms. Evans said she might come so she can meet you."

"That's the one who thinks you're crazy, right?"

"Yes, Daddy."

"Well, I'm not going to lie to the woman."

"I know, Daddy. I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Does she know about this emancipation idea you've cooked up?"

"No, this is the first time I've mentioned it."

He got me by the shoulders and kissed me on the top of my head. "I'll let you tell her when you're ready. Come on, Wanda. Let's get out of here before she gets any more ideas."

Wanda went up to him, put her arm around his waist and snuggled in. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She grinned at me on the way out. "See you guys tomorrow."

She looked like a teenager in love, which is just what I guess was. Strange how quickly things can change.