Father of the Bride

by Jennifer Dione

  "Wow, you guys are crazy."

  "Believe what you want. Do you want your eggs, runny or firm?"

  "Runny." I paused, "Wow, so Mya is a lesbian according to you and your lesbian cousin Missy. And here I am still trying to process the fact that she is a stripper."

  "Mya is a stripper?" He shouted nearly dropping the skillet of eggs he held in his hands, I could tell this had woken him all the way up. There would be no getting any more sensitive information out of him this morning.

  "Yeah, don't tell anyone please."

  "Who would I tell?"

  "Your lesbian cousin Missy maybe."

  "Good idea, then maybe she can go see her dance, tip her really good, then they would hit it off, you know, start dating and it will be a win-win situation."

  "How would that be a win-win situation?"

  "Well, you would believe me and Missy when we say that Mya is a lesbian, and she would be taken so I wouldn't have to worry about her trying to convert you, or complete your conversion."

  "I'm not gay."

  "Prove it." He winked at me.

  "Shut up."

  "OK, maybe you aren't gay but Mya definitely has a crush on you."

  "Prove it."

  "She bought you a nearly two-thousand-dollar wine glass set a couple weeks ago, the whole time I'm wondering how she could afford it but I guess the stripping explains that now. I mean it depends on how much she is making."

  'She makes five to twenty thousand a night."

  His eyes were wide with shock.

  "But it still doesn't explain why she would buy you such an extravagant gift. I don't even think your wedding ring cost that much."

  "You're lying, my wedding ring cost like twenty thousand dollars."

  "Actually, more like eighty thousand, but whatever." He shrugged.

  "I see the morning's truthfulness potion still has not worn off." I laughed, while also secretly impressed by the amount he spent on my ring.

  I had to call my aunt, she'd made a sly remark that it should be three months' salary at least and he had spent about 8 months' salary, I grinned at him, good boy.

  "What?" he said.

  "Nothing. Mya just loves me, as much as you do."

  "Almost as much as I do."

  "Maybe more than you do."

  "Stop playing Yely."

  "OK, OK, but that's what friends do. I've done so much for her, and spent so much money on her throughout the years because I was always more fortunate. Not that I am keeping track at all. She probably just felt that this was her time to pay me back a little, and with the amount of money she's making, that gift was nothing, I'm still waiting on her to invite me on a shopping spree after one of those twenty thousand-dollar nights."

  "I bet if you asked her she would say yes."

  "I did ask her and she told me to ask my daddy to take me shopping."

  "Cold blooded. You know she has a smart mouth and you probably asked in a playful way. Ask her the way you ask me for something when you really want it."

  "Like the way I asked you to cook me breakfast this morning?"

  "No. Nicer than that. Speaking of your daddy, today is the day, huh?"

  "Yup."

  "Still nervous?"

  "No, but I am anxious."

  "What made you go from nervous to anxious?"

  "I talked to my mom."

  "Good, so your mom approves of you meeting her baby daddy?"

  "I think she is encouraging me to meet him."

  "Good. When are you meeting him?"

  "As soon as the clinic opens at 10 and I can get the results of the DNA test. I'll probably try to meet him for lunch."

  "So, do you want me to come with you?"

  "No."

  "Such a big brave girl, I'm proud of you and so motivated by you all the time. You're my idol, when I grow up I want to be just like you." He popped me on my nose with his pointer finger.

  "Stop that." I said.

  "Really baby, I love you, you are awesome, and I know your daddy is going to love you. That may be the only person in this world who will love you more than me, and he still has a lot of years of catching up to do because I have loved you for so long."

  I smiled at him.

  "I do want to meet him. Whenever you're comfortable, of course."

  "You'll probably be the first person to meet him since my Auntie and Mya already hate him, despite how much they are trying to fake it for me, which I know you told them to do."

  "I told them to support you, whatever that means to them."

  "Thank you, baby."

  Chapter 7

  Breakfast with Omar was interesting to say the least. Now that my anxiety about meeting my father for the first time was soothed I now had the anxiety of wondering whether or not my best friend since forever was a secret lesbian and trying to find out, without it being super awkward whether or not she had a secret crush on me. As I took a shower and thought about it, it did actually make sense. Mya had never been very interested in boys growing up but neither had I, of course I was always super focused on school and extracurricular activities and therefore had no time for boys and to be honest boys never paid me any attention growing up. I was always slim and didn’t have the curvy body that Mya started to develop when she was only about ten or twelve. In other words, boys ignored me, and Mya ignored boys. She was a virgin just like me but not because her mother kept her on a tight leash with her strict rules. Mya’s mom was very relaxed about what Mya did, she could always spend the night at my house for days at a time, sometimes, without even checking in. I couldn’t spend a night without checking in every hour.

  Her mother encouraged her to date boys from the time she was about 13, telling her that if she was still single by the time she was sixteen everyone would think that there was something wrong with her and she would never find a husband. My aunt thought that was insane, she was only 13. Mya spent all her time with me or dancing, or dancing with me and she never seemed to be bothered by it. The only time she was bothered by anything that had to do with me or boys was when I started dating Omar and this was very clear. All my life I had just assumed that this was because I was her best friend and she was as protective of me or that she was just jealous that she now had to share me with someone else. I guess if she was secretly lesbian and had a crush on me the latter was actually true. I tried to put the whole controversy out of my mind while I got dressed and Omar cleaned up the kitchen after our breakfast.

  We met on the couch in front of the TV which neither of us turned on. He still looked tired and I never watched TV anyway, between work, school, and studying I never had time. I leaned on his chest and he let his head fall and rest on the back of the couch.

  He handed me my phone and whispered, "It's time." in my ear.

  I glanced at the clock and notice that it was 10:07 and the clinic wase open and the test results would be ready.

  I took a deep breath. "Hey, I have some good news.” I said all of a sudden perking up as I sat up on the couch and turned to face him excitedly.

  "Yeah, I know, the results of the DNA are ready and you're going to call them now and then you are going to call your father, hopefully, and tell him the good news and agree on a time and place to meet today for the first time."

  I rolled my eyes, "Sure, but that’s not what I’m talking about right now."

  "That is what you should be talking about right now."

  "Listen, if you want me to call I need you to listen to my good news first."

  It was his turn to roll his eyes, "Fine, go." I could tell by the look on his face that he planned to hear my good news and then completely blow it off until I made the call to the clinic. I remained excited despite his lack of enthusiasm.

  "I’m going to audition with Mya for the dance academy!" I said with a big corny smile.

  "Wow, that is good news. I was expecting you to tell me how you passed you statistics exam."

  "Well, that too, but of course I did."

 
"So, when do you plan to make time for this, and what about graduate school?"

  "Listen, just like I told Auntie, I don't plan on dropping out of graduate school to pursue a career in dance, but ever since Mya didn’t get in last year she hasn’t been the same. Now she's stripping and she's settled in life. I want to support her in her dream, and I’m excited for myself. I mean it was always a dream of mine to go to the dance academy and I’m just curious to see if I have what it takes to get in."

  "I mean, dance is literally Mya’s life and she didn’t even get in."

  Pause, "So are you saying you don’t think I will?"

  "I mean, I hope you do. I know that you can do anything you put your mind to. So, no that is not what I’m saying," He sat up on the couch, "I think that you will get in, but what if you do, then what?"

  "Well a happy ending would be Mya getting in and not me. I mean, you know how competitive she is and if we practice and audition together she is going to work her ass off to try to be ten times better than me."

  "How is she going to pay for it?"

  "Stripping." We both said this at the same time with a straight face and then laughed in unison.

  THE CLINIC OPENED AND surprisingly Omar was not around to pressure me to call. I procrastinated for a while. So long, in fact, that 10 o'clock completely pass and it was already 11. Right before 11:30 I got a call from ‘Father of the bride”. I answered right before my phone would have sent him to voicemail.

  "Hi, it's Nayely."

  "Hi, baby girl." He sounded happy and the use of baby girl kind of clued me into the fact that he had already called the clinic and got the results. "I’m definitely you’re Papa." He laughed nervously.

  "I’m glad you called and got the result. I was a little too nervous to do it."

  "I figured that. I knew that the results would be in our favor. I wanted to give you time to call and find out yourself but I got a little antsy. I’m so ready to meet you." He paused. "Are you busy today, because if so we can do it another day, I know you have a wedding to plan and all, I don’t want to bother you too much."

  "No, no, I’m sorry. I know you're probably wondering why I seem so disinterested when I’m the one that initiated all of this. I think I’m just still in shock that I found you at all, and that you wanted to meet me and now that you are actually my biological dad, it’s just a lot to take in in a matter of a few days."

  "I understand and I want you to be comfortable. If you're not, I want to give you time to get comfortable." He paused again, "So you just let me know when you are, I have nothing or no one waiting for me at home. I'm no rush to get back there."

  Now he was making me feel bad, he sounded so hurt, and so sympathetic to my feelings.

  "You know what, I’m ready now. There is a vegan Mexican restaurant I like, meet me there in an hour, I’ll text you the address."

  "OK! I’ll be there." I smiled as I heard the excitement return to his voice.

  "OK, I'll see you soon." I hung up and jumped up with new excitement, remembering that my mom approved of this.

  I was ready, I could do it.

  I PULLED UP TO THE restaurant early. I didn’t want to go and sit awkwardly at the table. Instead I sat impatiently in my car. I watched with anxious anticipation as cars pulled up and people stepped out of them. It was only then that I realized that I had no idea who I was looking for. All I had was a name, I didn't know what he looked like, I didn't know how tall he was. I didn't know if he was dark, brown, or light. I didn't know if he had hair or not. Maybe he had dreads or a bald head, was he slim or heavy? What color were his eyes? Did he walk with a strut or a limp, or straight up with his shoulders back? I watched more closely as cars pulled in and people hopped out. I kept my eyes on my phone in case he texted me to tell me he was here. After about fifteen minutes of waiting I decided that I would go in and wait, maybe order some chips and guacamole and people watch. As soon as I closed mt car door my phone buzzed, it was a text from Omar.

  Good luck baby, if he knows any better, he is going to love you as much as I do, not more though, lol.

  I smiled as I started to reply back. Just as I did a truck pulled into the restaurant parking lot. It caught my attention because the truck was moving faster than it should through a business parking lot where pedestrians were walking around. I twisted my face up and cursed the driver in my head, 'Where do you have to go that is so important I thought to myself.' I was a hypocrite because honestly the way the person was driving reminded me of the way I drove when I was running late for a meeting, or a class, or work, which was often. That thought is what made me pay closer attention.

  I watched as an older man stepped out of the truck. He was tall and dark, he was balding, but seemed to be in denial about it judging by the way he chooses to hold onto the hair around his head when he was missing all the hair in the top center. He glanced around the parking lot, and caught me looking at him. He smiled and nodded at me before closing his car door and heading for the restaurant. I don't know why but I had a strong feeling it was him. He didn't look exactly like me, but his smile was crooked the way mine was and his eyes were almond shaped with a slight curve upwards on the outer corners, just like mine. I waited until he was inside he restaurant before I followed him in. I waited while the waitress seated him and then I told the hostess that I was waiting on someone, she asked for a name so that she could check the list to see if they were already seated. I declined her offer and told her I would just send them a text and wait for a reply. She said it was fine and went about taking care of the other patrons.

  I'm here, waiting at the front, sorry I'm late, are you here?

  I waited about two seconds before I received a response.

  I see you.

  I looked up and immediately made eye contact with the same man I had seen driving erratically into the parking lot. I took a step towards him and he immediately got up from his seat to come to me. He was wearing that huge crooked smile, and before I had made three more steps he had made it to me. He didn't say anything, he just stood before me smiling. He looked me up and down as if he was taking everything in about me,. He didn't wait for an invitation, he opened his arms and pulled me into the warmest, deepest, and longest embrace I had ever had with any man. He was shaking, I could hear him sobbing right there on my shoulder, that was already one thing we didn't have in common. I wasn't so free with my emotions. I was more concerned with the people who were standing around us watching a grown man cry on my shoulder. What could they be thinking? They didn't know our story and they didn't have time to hear it. I didn't even know our story, that's why I was here.

  He finally released me from his grip. He pulled back from me, his hands gripping my shoulders a little tighter than he may have noticed.

  He looked me up and down once again, "You're beautiful, just like your mother." The mention of my mother made me even more uncomfortable but also seemed to calm my nerves a little as well, I felt a calm come over me as I thanked him for his compliment. "Where is she?"

  I was confused, "Who?"

  "Your mother," he said with expectancy in his voice, "She couldn't make it?" He asked looking genuinely concerned and disappointed, he must have really loved her, but I still couldn't understand how he had no idea that she was no longer living.

  "Let's go sit."

  "OK." He said finally letting me go and leading the way back to where the hostess had seated him.

  He pulled out the chair for me and waited for me to scoot myself in before he took his seat across from the table. Again, I started to wonder about the pair of us. Did they think he was my boyfriend, or maybe my sugar daddy due to the age difference. Maybe they did figure he was my dad, and had only gotten so emotional because he hadn't seen me for a while since I was away at college. If only they knew.

  I decided to speak first. I just couldn't handle him asking about my mother one more time right now without breaking out into tears, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.

  "I'm
so glad you could make it to New York on such short notice. I can't help feeling like I am barging into your personal life and shaking everything up."

  "I couldn't be happier for all of the shaking, I told you I don't have much at all waiting for me at home besides a few cats and they don't like me much anyway." I laughed at what I suspected was an attempt at a lighthearted joke, my first 'dad-joke'. "I always wanted a family, and to be blessed with a daughter, but not just any daughter a daughter as pretty, and smart, and talented as you. It's the best thing to ever happened to me. The next best thing was meeting your mother, without her, we wouldn't have you." He paused, I blushed at all his compliments, but could tell that he was still waiting to hear about my mother.

  "That's very true, without my mother I would not be here," I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, his eyes watched me closely, waiting for me to go on, "My mother struggled and suffered so much in her pregnancy and giving birth to me. I almost didn't make it due to the many complications. I was born about a month early, I came home from the hospital after 59 days. My mother, she never came home from the hospital." I stopped there and looked in his eyes, waiting for the realization of what I didn't say to come to him. I didn't want to have to say it out loud.

  He was quiet for a while, while he thought about what I said, "You mean to tell me..." His words trailed off, apparently, he didn't want to say the words either.

  I just nodded, my eyes on the table but not looking at anything in particular.

  "Now, it all makes sense." He said with a uneasy smile on his face..

  "What do you mean?"

  "Your mom and I were close, up until the point she got pregnant. She had mixed feelings about the pregnancy." My eyebrows rose. "In the beginning," he continued, "she wasn't sure if she wanted to go on with the pregnancy, or have an abortion, she was also thinking about adoption. I wasn't happy with any of those options. I wanted you from the moment your mom said she was pregnant, but at the same time I understood her concern. We were young, we were in college, we were stupid and irresponsible and probably shouldn't have gotten pregnant at all. I was determined to do whatever I had to do to convince her to keep you. Her top request' were that I get a good job, find a nice place for us to live, and get all the things we needed for you, crib, car seat, bottle, clothes, a year's worth of diapers and wipes. In that order."