by Terry Keys
**
I nodded at De Luca as she passed me in the hallway. I was walking toward the door, ready to head out. She had come from downstairs, where the labs were located.
“Hey, Porter. Whatcha got going today?”
“Hey there,” I said. “Actually, I’m headed home to drop Karen off at her grandmother’s for a few days. She’s not been feeling well and wants to visit.”
“Oh? What’s wrong with her?”
I shrugged. “The doctor’s aren’t sure, but if visiting her grandparents will make her feel better, I’m all for it. By the way, what are you doing in? Didn’t you take today off?”
She nodded. “Oh, I was just catching up on some paperwork. I’m done now.”
De Luca kept looking away from me like she was distracted. Maybe it was my imagination; God knows it’d been working overtime lately.
“Well, I’m out of here,” she said. “Tell Karen I hope she feels better soon.”
I nodded. “Will do.”
I left the station. I had just climbed into my truck when my cell phone rang. I reached into my pocket, saw the call was from Stacy, and sighed.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey, honey. Did you get the note I left for you on your truck? What do you think?”
I frowned. “Uh . . . no, I didn’t see a note.”
“I left it under the windshield wiper.”
I checked. “Nope. Maybe the wind caught it and blew it off. What did it say?”
“Oh, it wasn’t important, just a love note to say I’m sorry again for the other night. I really do have to work on my patience with the girls. I’m—”
“Yeah, I agree you do” I said, not happy to be reminded of the other night. “Their young minds are fragile, and it won’t take much for them to shut you out. I’m not going to lie to you. I was angry at you, and still am, a little. I don’t treat my girls that way, and I certainly don’t expect you to.”
I paused, as she hadn’t said anything.
“Look, I know we haven’t had a chance to talk much about the baby. How far along do you think you are?”
“A few weeks, at most.”
Her tone changed instantly.
“I’m so excited, aren’t you? I hope it’s a boy!”
Stacy didn’t say another word about her encounter with Hilary. It was as if she didn’t remember it. I frowned. Had I made a mistake? Was this the first indication that perhaps I had moved into this relationship too fast? We chatted about the baby for a few minutes, and then I told her I was in traffic and needed to concentrate on the drive. She needed to get back to work as well, her break over. I hung up, mildly disturbed. The memory of her striking Hilary didn’t set well with me at all. I knew I needed to talk to Hilary and Karen about the baby and what had happened between Hilary and Stacy.
I drove home, deep in thought. Once inside, I yelled for both girls to come downstairs, still fighting with myself over exactly what to say.
“Karen, you packed for your visit with Grandma and Grandpa?”
She nodded, still looking terribly pale. “Hilary helped me.”
“Dad, that’s not why you called me down here. What’s up?” Hilary said.
“Sit down here, both of you,” I said, gesturing to the couch. “First off, I want to say that having another baby came as a surprise to me, as it did to you guys.” I paused to gather my thoughts. “I’m not sure what happened,” I said, casting a meaningful glance at Hilary, who remained silent. “But she’s pregnant, and now, as a family, we have to deal with that and make the best of it. Stacy and I talked, and she feels horrible for reacting the way she did to you, Hilary. I told her that can’t happen again.” I shook my head. “We all know no one is perfect, and that includes Stacy.”
“She hit me, Dad,” Hilary said, her voice barely above a whisper. “And right in front of you!”
“I know. I’ve talked to her about that. She promised it would never happen again.”
“There are only so many of her apologies I’m going to be able to take, Dad.”
“I know,” I said with a heavy sigh. “Trust me, I know. Come here.”
We all leaned in for a group hug, and I promised them no one—not even Stacy—would break up our family. I told them I loved them.
“Hilary, I’ll take Karen to Grandma’s house, and then let’s go out for pizza or Mexican food or something. Just the two of us,” I suggested. “Would you like that?”
She nodded.
“Try to find it in your heart to forgive Stacy and give her another chance. This is our family now, and we have to make it work.”
I gathered Karen’s bags, and the two of us headed out the door. The drive to my in-laws’ house would take a couple hours, and I took the opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with Karen. I was eager to get her take on how things were going with Stacy.
“Dad, do you think you can handle another baby at your age?” Karen abruptly asked.
“Is that a joke? I’m not that old!”
“Well, you were sore for days after helping Stacy move in. Remember?”
“Hey, it was hard work moving all the heavy stuff by myself.”
I chuckled. Karen could always make me laugh.
“The baby will be here in less than a year, whether I’m ready or not. Can you make me a promise though?”
“Maybe,” Karen said, smiling. “Is this a big promise or little promise?”
“Well, I need you to keep a secret.”
“A big secret or a little one?”
“Medium, I suppose. Can we hold off on telling your grandparents about this whole baby thing for now?”
She looked up at me. “That’s a big secret. I think I’m going to need some kind of payment. Maybe stopping to get some ice cream?”
“Done.”
I smiled. My little girl sure knew how to wrap her Daddy around her little finger. And ice cream was a small price to pay to keep her quiet.
**
Once Karen was settled with her grandparents, I got back on the road. The drive back would give me some alone time to make heads or tails of the last twenty-four hours. I took out my phone to call Stacy.
“Hey there. Just dropped Karen off. I’m heading back. I know you’re at work, so I won’t keep you long. Hilary and I are going to dinner. Gonna try to get things back on even keel.”
I waited, Stacy’s silence heavy in my ear.
“Hello?”
“I’m sorry, David. Someone walked in, and I had to take the phone down from my ear. What were you saying?”
“Nothing. I’m heading back. I’ll see you later.”
I wasn’t big on repeating myself. Besides, I found myself quickly irritated by Stacy. It didn’t take much these days. I guess deep down I still hadn’t fully forgiven her for raising a hand to Hilary.
I texted Hilary and let her know I was twenty minutes away so she would be ready. I was already starving.
When I pulled into the driveway, Hilary was waiting on the porch, phone in hand as always. She walked down the drive and climbed into the passenger seat.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Hey, yourself. Texting Rodney?”
“Maybe. So what are we eating? Gringos, right?”
“Gringos it is, sweetie. What have you been up to today?”
“Nothing much. Been working on a paper for my English class.”
“Oh yeah? What’s your topic?”
“The effects of stepparents and blended households on children.”
I looked at her—not angrily but direct enough.
“Okay, I deserved that. This how tonight’s going to be?” I laughed, sort of.
“No. It should be, but after some reflection . . . this whole Stacy thing was mostly my idea.”
“Wow! Are you okay, Hil? And this was more like ninety-nine percent your idea, not mostly. I remember actually pushing back and not being sure.”
“Okay, I sorta brought this on myself. Now that that’s outta the way, how do
we coexist? Can we?”
“Stacy will have to assert her demands, wishes, and expectations a lot more slowly than she has, for one. And I’ll tell her so. She’ll have to listen more and talk less, which is apparently difficult for all women,” I said, ribbing back at her.
“Ha freakin’ ha, Dad!”
We both shared a laugh. Maybe this night would turn out okay after all.
55
“David, it’s the middle of the day,” Stacy pleaded, a seductive grin on her face. “Karen is gone and Hilary is at school and won’t be home for hours. Come on, let’s have some fun.”
I sat on the couch, looking up at her. I didn’t really want to and found myself making every excuse I could to get out of it. Still, it seemed Stacy wasn’t going to back down. I had noticed that when she wanted something, especially from me, she usually got it.
I got up and took her hand, attempting to head for the stairs. Instead, she pulled away from my grip, took off her clothes right there in the middle of the living room, and laid down on the couch.
Why am I so weak? I wondered. Why in the world couldn’t I tell this woman no?
Ten minutes later, I heard a key in the door. I froze, lying naked on top of Stacy. Before I could recover from my surprise, Hilary stepped into the foyer and saw us in flagrante on the living room couch.
“What the hell are you doing?” Hilary gasped, wide-eyed.
I did my best to cover our private parts while I responded, my voice cracking with surprise.
“Hilary! What are you doing home so early?”
If it wasn’t so embarrassing, I might have thought the situation funny.
“We got out early today,” she explained, staring unabashedly at the two of us. She glared in Stacy’s direction. “I gave her the early release letter two days ago!”
I looked down at Stacy, who offered a sheepish grin as she squirmed beneath me.
“I thought the early release date was for next week,” she said.
“Well, surprise, it’s today,” Hilary said as she headed for the staircase. “You guys do have a bedroom, you know.”
She offered a parting shot over her shoulder.
“I’ll never sit on that couch again!”
“This is our house, Hilary,” Stacy said, her voice snappish rather than embarrassed. “We’re both consenting adults. I believe we’re free to have sex wherever we please. You, on the other hand . . . now that’s a different story.”
Hilary paused halfway up the stairs. I remained frozen atop Stacy, not daring to move lest I expose a part of myself I never wanted my daughter to see.
“What are you talking about?” Hilary demanded.
“The other day when I came home on break and Rodney was here, you guys were having sex and smoking weed up in your room.”
Hilary didn’t have to respond. The guilt was written all over her face. My heart crashed to the pit of my stomach in utter disappointment. Before I could say a word, Stacy continued.
“Did you think I couldn’t smell it? And don’t tell me you two weren’t having sex. Maybe you’ll be pregnant next,” she said. “We can be pregnant together.”
She looked up at me with a catty grin.
“That would be great, right, David?”
“That won’t happen,” Hilary said as she made a mad dash toward her room. “I actually take my birth control pills!”
Hilary slammed her door behind her. I peeled myself off Stacy and got dressed. She did the same. Again, I was stunned. What the hell was going on around here? I really didn’t have an answer for any of this. Every day brought new drama. Nothing was easy anymore. Maybe it wasn’t supposed to be. Maybe God was punishing me for something. Whatever it was, I might need to smoke some weed of my own if things didn’t improve—and fast!
I turned to Stacy. “If you knew about Rodney and Hilary, why didn’t you tell me? I’m her father. You can’t keep things like that from me. I can’t deal with it if I don’t know about it.”
Stacy plopped on the couch and pulled on her shoes. She offered not a word of explanation.
“I don’t like secrets in any relationship,” I said. “I don’t have skeletons in my closet, and I don’t like surprises, especially of this nature.”
“I’m sorry, David,” she said, looking up at me. “I was trying to ignore it. I mean, it was just weed, and I’m sure you had sex before you got married. After all, you were a jock in college. I’m sure you fooled around with lots of girls, probably just for fun. I bet you got any girl you wanted. Am I right?”
I shook my head. “We aren’t talking about me. Maybe I didn’t make myself clear. If one of my girls does something, I need to know about it immediately. Do you understand?”
I couldn’t believe I was talking to Stacy in such a harsh tone, but I was extremely frustrated and confused. For the first time, I really felt her moving in was a huge mistake. It was never going to work. Not like this.
“Got it, captain,” she replied, miffed. “Well, now that you know, you can go upstairs and talk to your teenage daughter about premarital sex and drug use.”
She rose from the couch and marched into the kitchen, somehow managing to get the final word. Again.
I stood there in her wake, wondering once again what the hell I’d been thinking when I asked Stacy to move in with us. I had no answer. I headed upstairs, knocked on Hilary’s door, and entered without waiting for an invitation.
“Hilary, I’m not mad about the sex. Concerned, yes, but not mad.”
She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at me. She looked miserable.
“We need to talk about it,” I said. “We should have talked long before now.”
“Mom and I already talked about it,” she mumbled. “That’s when she decided I needed to start taking the pills. I told her I could see myself doing something soon.”
I schooled my expression. No sense in going off half-cocked. “Okay, well, you and I can still talk about it. But I am very angry and concerned about the drugs.”
“Dad, it was just weed. I only tried a few puffs. I didn’t like it, anyhow.”
“Hilary, I’m a cop. I’ve seen weed turn into much more over time. I’m more concerned that Rodney might be able to talk you into more.”
“Yeah, yeah, the whole gateway thing,” she mumbled. “How do you know he talked me into it in the first place?”
“However it came about, Hilary, I’m still upset about it. I’m not sure what your punishment is going to be, but it will be severe. You really haven’t left me much choice here. I would also like to set up a time to meet with Rodney. Maybe the three of us can sit down and have dinner one night. It’s my fault we hadn’t met before, I know that, but I’d like to meet him now.”
She stared at me, a doubtful expression on her face.
“The three of us, right? Meaning you, me, and Rodney? I don’t want your psycho girlfriend to join us—”
“Hilary!”
She shook her head. “I’m telling you, she hates me! And I don’t believe she thought I was coming home early next week. I just gave her the note two days ago. Speaking of being talked into something, I’m willing to bet she talked you into that . . . that little display downstairs on the couch. Am I right? So, no Stacy?”
I didn’t answer right away, but Hilary was right. Stacy had talked me into it, but there was no way I could believe the episode had been intentional. I couldn’t put Stacy down on that level of manipulation no matter how mad I was at her. Still, her behavior left me wondering if parenthood would work for her, regardless of whose child it was. But she had been so good coaching those girls in softball.
“Okay,” I said. “No Stacy this time. But if she’s going to be part of this family, she’ll have to be involved at some point. The three of us need to sit down one day, too. Soon . . . very soon. You two are going to have to figure out how to make this work.”
I sat down beside her and gave her a hug. To my relief, she offered one in return. I sat with her for a fe
w moments longer. Finally, I kissed her on the forehead and left her room with a parting sentiment.
“I love you, Hil.”
“Love you too, Dad,” she replied, already reaching for her headphones.
I knew my next move was to talk to Stacy. I went into our room and found her lying facedown on the bed. My anger dissipated, and I sat down next to her.
“I don’t know if this is going to work, David,” she mumbled. “It seems like I’m getting this wrong. Hilary hates me. You probably even hate me now.”
“No one hates you,” I assured her. She turned over to look at me. Her face was flushed, her eyes wet, but she had not shed tears. “I’ll tell you a little secret my mother told me before we had Hilary. ‘Parenting doesn’t come with an instruction book,’ she said. ‘You’re going to make mistakes, but own them quickly, ask for forgiveness, learn from it, and start over. Lastly, realize you’re going to learn far more from them than they will from you.’”
When Stacy didn’t respond, I kept going.
“Maybe I should have passed on that little pearl of wisdom before you got here, right?”
She reached out for me, and, once again, I found myself unable to resist her.
56
“Miranda?”
Stacy slapped her face.
“Miranda, wake up, you stupid bitch. Your little slut daughter is ruining my plans. You did a fine job raising her, by the way.”
Miranda finally opened her eyes and stared at her captor, her gaze listless.
“What are you talking about?”
“Shut up and eat your dog food. I have something for you to watch.”
Stacy had already set up the playback recording of Hilary in her room smoking weed and having sex with her boyfriend. She opened the laptop in front of Miranda and shoved it closer to her face. She pressed the Play button.
“You see that?” she sneered at her hostage. “That’s your offspring. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it? You and David into drugs, too? Y’all do ’em together?”
Miranda shrugged as if she didn’t care. “Hilary has always been her own person. She’s a tough little girl. I’m sure she’s giving a stupid inbred bitch like yourself hell. She too smart for you?”