by Dan Dillard
*****
Danny was at our house early that Friday evening and we all sat down to dinner. Vicky placed him next to Robin so he could get the full effect of feeding someone who spat out most of her food.
“Those clothes aren’t very expensive are they?” she said with a smile.
“It’ll be fine. I won’t press charges,” he said.
“That’s a lawyer joke, right?” I asked.
“You know, I didn’t mean for it to sound like one, but yeah. I guess.”
Aside from the kid noises, we ate in near silence. I could see Danny was preoccupied. Some wine loosened him up, but he was still quiet. I cleaned the dishes from the table and loaded the dishwasher while Vicky cleaned up Robin. Danny sat with Sean in the living room. When we joined him, he was staring off into space and Sean was playing on the floor.
“I think me and the kids will sit this one out tomorrow,” Vicky said.
Danny snapped back to reality. “What? No, you guys are welcome to come with us. I didn’t mean to imply…”
“It’s fine,” she said. “You need to go see your dad and it will just be better if you and Todd go alone. Better for him too.”
I hadn’t thought about it before but that would be the first time I hadn’t had her there to save me, if any saving was needed. We wouldn’t have the grandchildren to distract him and keep him from possibly turning back into the monster he used to be.
Danny nodded. “Fine,” he said. “You’re right. That’s probably a good idea.”
We all sat enjoying the company until the kids’ bedtime. Danny remained distant and excused himself to the guest room around 9:30 pm. Vicky and I went to bed shortly after.
“You think he’s okay?” I said.
“Yeah. I saw that same look on your face when we took Sean there for the first time.”
“I guess. I just didn’t know Danny had any reservations about John. I thought he was more disinterested than anxious about it. This whole thing is strange to me.”
“Are you going to be okay?” she asked.
“I’ll be fine. I just won’t have a baby to shove at him if things get awkward.”
“You’ll do okay, Todd. He knows you’re grown and that you aren’t screwing up the way he did.”
“Right. I’m screwing up in plenty of my own ways, though. I’m sure of that.”
“Everybody screws up. You just do the best you can to make up for it and don’t let it drag you down. I have no complaints, so that should count for something.”
She kissed me. It was warm and soft and still exciting.
“It does,” I said.
