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After pizza, beer and five rounds of Catch Phrase the girls decide to call it a night. Robert, Liam and I head out to the back deck to sit around the fire pit and have another beer or two.
“So, J are you going to tell dad about Emily?”
“Emily? Who’s Emily, son?” he says with a sly smile on his face. Just the thought of me possibly having a girlfriend seems to have perked him right up from that jet-lag.
“Well, not sure if Liam ever told you about the woman I met before my last deployment?”
“He did son, but I’ve never heard the story from you. Why don’t you tell me about it?”
I spend the next thirty minutes telling our entire story from the first moment I saw her. Okay, I don’t tell them everything but they get the picture. They understand that I instantly fell in love with her and that nothing has been the same since. I have gotten all the way up to where Courtney entered the room and I was given the ‘let’s just be friends’ line.
For a few moments, the room is quiet. Then Mr. F leans forward and scoots to the edge of his chair and gets a very serious look on his face.
“Do you still love her or do you love the idea of her and what you had that week?”
“I love her, Mr. F. I’ve had a dark cloud hanging over me since she walked away, then I lost Matt and then Mom. The moment I saw her, the clouds started to fade away. Yes, she’s beautiful but she is also kind and funny and seeing her with Ireland is amazing. As glad as I am that I didn’t have a child out there that I didn’t know about, seeing them together almost makes me wish I had been Ireland’s dad. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true.”
“You know, the fact that there is a child involved takes this to an entirely different level, right son?”
“I do know that, but I also know that she’s the one.”
“That’s a big deal, Jonathan.”
“It is. But she just wants to be friends.”
“So, you’re saying that she’s ‘the one’ but you aren’t going to fight to change her mind?”
“Of course I am, but I have to go about it the right way. She has trust issues and has been screwed over so many times. After living through what her father did to their family, and then Ireland’s dad and his disgusting behavior, I get it. I know that I have to do what I can to make her see that I’m not them but I also don’t want to scare her away. The fact that we’re texting every day is just the first of many steps, I know, but it gives me hope.”
“If you love her and you are really as okay as you say you are about Ireland, then you have to fight for her. Make her see the man we all know you are. It sounds like she knows it too and you haven’t done anything to make her doubt you, but with her past, you’re going to have to work extra hard. Sounds like she’s worth it though, son.”
“She is. They both are.” I say with confidence.
“Well, that settles it then. You two can stay up and come up with the plan for ‘Operation Get The Girl Back’ but this old man is tired and hittin’ the hay. I’ll see you two in the morning.”
“Night, Dad.”
“Night, Mr. F and thanks for listening.”
“Anytime, son. Night boys.”
The next morning Robert is having his coffee and reading the paper in the kitchen, Kate is still asleep and Liam and I are getting ready to head out to The Gym when Fiona asks me to help her with something in her room.
When we reach my room, which I insisted they take while they’re visiting, I ask, “Whatcha need, Mrs. F?”
“Have a seat, Jonathan,” she says as she shuts the bedroom door.
I take a seat on the bed and she moves the little chair from the corner of the room over so that she’s sitting directly across from me. She is scaring the hell out of me and I feel like she’s about to give me some very bad news or I’m about to be scolded for something. I can’t think of what I could have possibly done wrong in the time since they got here. This woman, who is all of five feet tall, has me feeling twelve again.
“Is everything okay, Mrs. F?” I ask cautiously.
“Everything is fine, sweetie.” She takes one of my hands in both of hers and gives it a squeeze. “Jonathan, you know that I would never try to replace your mother. I don’t ever want to over-step my role in your life, but I think you know that I think of you as my son and I love you just as much as I do those other two yahoos down the hall. You know that, right?”
I can barely breathe I am so filled with emotion. It takes everything I have to whisper. “I do.”
If she only knew just how important she is to me.
“Good, now as you know I have to sleep with the window open no matter the weather—so please know I was not eavesdropping—but I did hear your conversation with Robert and Liam last night, about Emily.”
