Daddy Needs a Date

by Sean Michael

  “It sounds like a great plan, babe. Just one more reason to look forward to coming home.” Alex blinked slowly, clearly getting close to nodding off.

  “Go to bed. I love you. Good night.” Good afternoon. Whatever.

  “I love you too. Good night.” Alex smiled goofily at him, and it became obvious that he wasn’t going to disconnect the call himself. Ryan was going to have to do it.

  He hit the button and took a second to breathe. Then he went to check on the little girls because they were being quiet and that was bad.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  BAD WEATHER meant they couldn’t fly out the day they were supposed to. Then they were delayed the next day as well. Another earthquake turned the strip of land they were using as a runway into a disaster zone, forcing them to wait for ground transportation to arrive and take them to the nearest airport.

  Alex couldn’t even Skype with Ryan, their connection extremely flakey, not working for more than a moment or two at a time. He did manage to get a couple of texts out, and he’d eventually received replies, so he knew Ryan was aware of the delays. Thank goodness. He’d have hated for Ryan to not know what was going on, to look for his arrival when it wasn’t coming.

  Two trucks had arrived just after dark, and they’d be leaving first thing in the morning. He just had to make it through one more night.

  The stormy weather had finally abated, leaving an almost eerie silence behind. No rain, no wind, only quiet.

  Alex crossed his fingers and hit connect on a video call to Ryan. Even if they could only manage an audio chat, he’d take it.

  The video didn’t work, but he heard a girl’s voice. “Daddy’s in the shower. He says two minutes.”

  “Hey, Mel.”

  “Hey.”

  He couldn’t tell if she was happy to hear from him or not. “I can totally wait two minutes. We’ll cross our fingers that my connection will hold. In case it doesn’t—they’ve found a way to get us to an airport, and we should be flying out late tomorrow.”

  “Okay. Are you going to take a taxi home? If it’s late, I mean?”

  “Totally. I can take a taxi home either way. How are you doing?”

  “I’m okay. I’m doing my homework. Rosie had to go to the hospital last night. She broke her arm. She’s got a cast and everything.”

  His heart clenched at the words “Rosie had to go to the hospital” and only relaxed marginally at knowing it was “just” her arm. “Oh no! What happened?”

  “She was running and fell and hit one of Daffy’s roller skates with her arm. Daddy says it is going to be fine. Gran came over, and I went with him. She was brave.”

  “That sounds like Rosie. I’m glad she’s going to be okay. That must have been scary when it was happening. I’m glad your father had you there to help support him with Rosie.”

  “I didn’t want him to wait alone. Here he is. Bye.”

  “Alex? Are you trapped there forever?”

  “It’s starting to feel that way!” He managed to chuckle, though he wasn’t feeling very amused. Maybe after he’d been home for a few days he could look back and find humor in the situation. “How are you doing? Mel said Rosie broke her arm?”

  “A greenstick fracture. The weather’s been shitty, and they are cooped up. Everyone’s been a little nuts. She’s fine. She has a bright purple cast. Daffy is insane with jealousy.”

  He chuckled again, and it was more real this time. “That’s hilarious—that Daffy’s jealous of a broken arm. I’m glad she’s okay.” He should have been there to help—if the weather had cooperated, he would have been. God, he missed them all.

  “Me too. I wasn’t sure it was broken, but I didn’t want to risk it. How’re you?”

  “Good thing you didn’t. I’m tired and dirty and frustrated. All the rain and storms, plus the new earthquake, have left conditions here worse than ever. We can’t even do anything to help at this point and are sitting around waiting to be rescued.”

  “I… I don’t even know what to say. I miss you. I’m praying hard.”

  “That’s the best thing you could say. I love you, Ryan. And I will be home tomorrow to say it in person, dammit.”

  “Tomorrow? Do you know what time?”

  “I’m not sure. It’s about a five-hour flight once we get to the airport. I have no clue how long it’ll take us to get to the airport—we’re heading out at first light, but the roads might be bad.” There was the possibility they wouldn’t be flying out until the day after tomorrow, but he was hoping that wasn’t going to happen, and he didn’t want to give voice to his worry in case that put it out there in the universe.

  “Well, maybe you should get a cab? I hate you not having a greeting, but….”

  “I can’t even give you a time range of when I’ll be landing. Of course I can take a taxi. Don’t sweat it.” He could get a homecoming as he crossed the threshold—he didn’t need to be greeted at the airport, as much as he’d loved that the last time.

  “I feel bad, honey.”

  “Please, don’t, Ryan. I’ve been coming home to no greeting at the airport for a very long time. And you’ll be there when I get home instead of an empty hotel room. Or Aunt Ada—trust me, while she’s a great lady, you’re so much better to come home to.” By an order of magnitude.

  “Well, we’ll be here. Mess, cast, and all.”

  “You have no idea how good that sounds.” He couldn’t wait. He just hoped that Rosie would forgive him for leaving in the first place. He’d hate to lose his place in her heart.

  She was his girl, somehow. His mini-me. Who would have thought he’d ever be as close to kids as he was to Ryan’s? He’d never thought he’d find a permanent lover, let alone one with kids.

  He heard the patter of rain hitting the roof of his little tent, and he groaned. “We’ve got more rain—if I get cut off, that’s why. I love you.” It was important he said it before the connection disappeared.

  “I love—”

  And that was that. The call was gone.

  Sighing, he closed his laptop and put it on top of his bag, which was packed and ready to go. He prayed this new rainfall wouldn’t delay their trip overland to the airport and that they were able to get out tomorrow.

  Now that he had someone to go home to, it was harder to be out here, the delay frustrating instead of being one of those things.

  He would cross his fingers that he didn’t get tapped for another assignment for a while.

  Closing his eyes, he tried to go to sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  RYAN CLEANED the house and made stew and tried to keep everything low-key for the girls in case Alex couldn’t fly in.

  He finished his assignments for the week, printed out different desks and chests of drawers. Christ. His head hurt from waiting and not sleeping.

  At three o’clock he got a text.

  on plane taking off right now.

  Thank God. He’d been really worried that Alex wouldn’t be able to make it out of Chile.

  It was a Friday, so as soon as everyone was home from school and snacking, he told them that Alex would be home around nine.

  “You girls can wait up for him, even.”

  “Can we make him a cake?” Daisy asked.

  “And cookies!” added Daffy.

  Rosie looked like she couldn’t decide if she was still mad or if she wanted to join in the celebration. She was the one who loved baking, so it had to be making it even harder for her to stay angry.

  “We can. I have stew in the Crock-Pot for him. Someone needs to make a Welcome Home sign too.”

  “Daddy, will you draw it?” Daisy asked. “You’re the best drawer.”

  “I do glitter,” Rosie said, suddenly getting into the swing of things. “And I makes a cake. Chocolate.”

  “Yeah? Rock on. Let’s do it. You able to help, Mel?”

  “Yeah. I don’t have plans tonight.”

  “Awesome—Alex will be thrilled to have a special homecoming
.” He hugged the girls. “Where should we start?”

  “Cake!” Rosie shouted before anyone else could speak.

  “I got this, Daddy. Why don’t you draw up a sign so Daisy can color?” Mel suggested.

  “Works for me.”

  They baked a cake and cookies, and colored in an amazing Welcome Home sign. Then they stopped for supper. He cooked hot dogs for everyone because the stew wasn’t quite ready yet. After supper he and Rosie decorated the cake while the others worked on homework.

  The whole time the knowledge that Alex was coming home tonight buzzed through him.

  He put on Finding Dory once everything was done, hoping to distract everyone, himself included, from the waiting.

  Daisy was curled up on one side, Daffy was coloring, Mel was texting madly, and Rosie was sitting at the window, watching.

  He was glad she’d decided not to be mad. Alex had been so disappointed every time she wouldn’t come and talk to him via Skype. Now that he was coming back, though, they both deserved to have a good time together.

  He tried not to check his watch every two minutes and finally told himself he could check the time when the movie was over. He liked this one, but he had to admit, it seemed interminably long tonight.

  Rosie’s squeals came before the movie was over, and she jumped up and ran to the front door.

  “He’s here!”

  “Don’t knock yourself over, silly.”

  The rest of the girls hurried too, Ryan right behind them. He got to the front hall as Rosie threw open the door. “Lex! Lex!”

  Alex was coming up the walk, bag slung over his shoulder. His cab was pulling away behind him. “Rosie! Daisy! Daffy! Mel! Ryan.” Alex smiled wide.

  Rosie stomped up to him. “I’m mad at you. You don’t go away no more, okay?”

  “Rosie!”

  Alex crouched down on the veranda so he was at her height instead of looking down at her. “I can’t promise you that, sweetie. My job means I’m going to have to go help people. It doesn’t mean I don’t love you, though. I always will. And I’ll always come home.”

  She shook her head. “No. No, Lex. This is home.”

  “Rose Marie! That is quite enough!” The words came out sharper than Ryan intended, and she spun around to stare at him.

  “Popsy!”

  “No. That’s rude. That’s mean. You are being a mean girl.”

  Rosie stared at him for a long minute, then went inside without a word.

  Mel looked at him, wide-eyed, then at Alex. “Hey. Welcome home. Uh. Yeah. Okay. Go say hi to him.”

  She nudged her sisters, who stood there in the chilly damp and stared.

  “Hi Mel, good to see you.” Then Alex opened his arms. “Hi, Daisy. Hi, Daffy. Can I get some hugs?”

  “Uh-huh.” They went to him, and Mel went inside, lips in a tight line.

  Alex hugged the girls and kissed their cheeks. “Why don’t you go in while I say hi to your Popsy.”

  They did and Alex stood, came to him, and hugged him tight. “Are you mad at me too?” Alex whispered.

  “I’m not mad at you. She’s a little girl, Alex. Come on in. The girls made a cake for you, and there’s stew.”

  “That sounds delicious. And I knew Rosie was mad. I didn’t realize Mel was too.” Alex kissed him gently. “I’m glad you’re not.”

  “I don’t…. I’ll talk to Mel. Who knows what’s up? Come in, huh?”

  “Yeah, please.” Alex relaxed visibly as he crossed the threshold. “God, it’s good to be home. Did you say something about stew? Oh! Look at the banner.” Alex one-arm hugged him.

  “Rosie glittered it for you, Daisy and Daffy colored, and Mel and I put it up.” He looked for Mel, but she was gone. Okay, what the hell?

  “I love it. And you.” Alex leaned against him. Then he dropped his bag by the washer and they went to the kitchen. “Oh, it smells like heaven in here. I’ve been living on MREs and grass soup.”

  “Have a seat. I’ll fix you a bowl. There’s a loaf of french bread on the counter. Daffy, can you grab it, please?” Half his head was here, and half was with his oldest and youngest.

  “Thanks, this is great.” Alex poured himself a glass of milk and sat, tearing off a hank from the bread.

  “Do you mind talking to the Ds while I check on Rosie?”

  “No, no. Go ahead. I’m hoping she’ll let me talk to her before bedtime, but if I have to wait ’til morning, I will.”

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  He jogged upstairs, and Mel stopped him at the landing, a frown on her face.

  “Can we talk?” she asked.

  “Sure. Come in and sit.” They went to her room and sat, and she pierced him with a look.

  “I don’t like this, how you put Alex before Rosie’s feelings. She’s a little girl. She’s allowed to be mad. She doesn’t get a choice whether he goes or not or whether you move him in or not.”

  “I didn’t put Alex before her feelings. She’s allowed to be mad, but she’s not allowed to be rude and mean. That’s not how we express our feelings. And no, Alex moving in is my choice. It wouldn’t happen if he was a terrible person, though, but he’s not—he’s a good guy and he cares for all of you.” Christ, he didn’t need this. Not now. Tomorrow or yesterday, not now.

  “I felt like you did. Nobody ever asks us kids. Nobody asks whether we’re ready for stuff.”

  He took a deep breath, reminding himself that this was his baby and she was telling him something she needed him to hear. This wasn’t about him. This was about her. “Are you ready for Alex to move in?”

  “I like him a lot. I don’t like this whole boom, everything changes right now, and then life is okay, and then boom, everything changes, and then boom, everything changes. Do you understand?”

  Of course he did—he didn’t like it either. But Alex was doing good in the world. It wasn’t fair to dump him because it was hard when he had to go.

  She was waiting for his answer, gazing earnestly at him.

  “I understand, baby. I don’t know how to answer you. I’ll do my best to make things stable for you guys, but life’s not always stable—”

  “Duh. I’m the one that got three sisters in one day. I know.”

  He found himself chuckling at that. “Yeah. You know, if we could handle that, I think we can handle anything. Even Alex getting called away for work. Maybe what we need to do is sit everyone down and Alex can explain his job, and what’s likely to happen, how often, and that it doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about us.”

  “Maybe. I don’t know. All I know is Rosie’s crying, and you made sure to feed Alex before you came up to see her.”

  Damn, Mel sure didn’t pull her punches. “I came to make sure you were okay before I went to her too,” he pointed out. Maybe more to himself than to Mel. She was right too. He needed to go make sure Rosie was okay. “Still, you’re right. I’m new to all this being in love thing.”

  “Me too.”

  “Well, we’ve learned everything else together, baby girl. Why not this?”

  She blushed hard, but she nodded and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a quick, solid hug. “I love you, Daddy.”

  “I love you, baby. More than life. Now, let me go check on Rosie, huh?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Ryan sighed and went into the little girls’ room, finding Rosie sound asleep, holding her blue kangaroo, tears drying on her cheeks.

  Damn. Now both he and Alex needed to talk to her, to earn her forgiveness. He wasn’t sorry for what he’d said—she had been mean and rude—but he could have been kinder in his delivery, and he could have gone after her.

  He pulled the covers up over her, turned on the night-light, and closed the door partway, then went downstairs.

  The kitchen was empty, but he found Alex and the girls on the couch watching Finding Dory—again!—Alex fast asleep, one girl curled up on either side of him.

  Ryan shook his head and went to make himself a bowl of stew and put
the food away. It wouldn’t kill any of them to crash on the couch.

  He opened a beer and sat with his food. “Welcome home, Alex.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  ALEX WOKE up with a crick in his neck and another in his side. He was sitting somewhere soft, though. Groaning, he opened his eyes. Oh. Home. He was home. Right. On the couch with Daisy and Daffy curled up with him. The TV was off and they were covered with blankets, so Ryan must have done that.

  There was sun shining into the room from the window, but he had no clue what time it was. Hell, he didn’t know what day it was.

  But he was home and the kids were still with him. At least half of them were. He had some work to do with Rosie, and Mel too, it seemed, though he wasn’t sure why she was mad at him. Rosie didn’t understand, but surely Mel did. Maybe she was just upset that her sisters were upset.

  He probably should go and pee, find out what time it was. Maybe make breakfast. The trick would be getting up without waking the girls.

  Alex eased himself up, Daisy stretching once and then settling with her sister.

  Bingo.

  Task one down.

  He went to the little powder room on the main floor to do his business, and when he couldn’t find his backpack, which he was sure he’d left by the washer, he rubbed his teeth with his finger and rinsed a few times. He could really use a shower, like seriously, but it could wait until everyone was awake. And he could find his clothes or get his pajamas from Ryan’s room.

  A trip to the kitchen revealed the time. It was barely six. Damn, he’d hoped to sleep in later. Although he’d been lucky to get three hours a night lately, so sleeping as long as he had was at least something.

  He snuck upstairs, finding Ryan sound asleep, little Rosie in his arms, that cast cradled against his chest. He hadn’t even gotten to commiserate with her over the broken arm before she’d taken off, after telling him off first. He had some work to do there. He hoped Ryan had some ideas on how he could bring her around and alleviate her anger.

  He watched the two of them sleeping for a while. Then he realized that his pajamas were on top of the pile of folded laundry. Score. He tiptoed carefully over and grabbed them, then crept back out again. He could have that shower after all.