CHAPTER THREE
After Shelley had shut the door, Eric said, "That's not true, son, you know that's not true."
Matt gave up on his cigar and stubbed it out. He looked down at the wood planks of the porch as his father-in-law continued, "I've always liked you. Hell, you were like a son to me before you were my son-in-law." Matt ventured to raise his eyes a little. "You know I defended you to my wife when you first started dating Julie. You know that?"
Matt shook his head. It was clear he didn't believe it.
"I did. I said, hey, Tami, at least he's a good kid. At least she's picked a decent kid to date. At least it isn't one of the Riggins brothers."
Matt laughed hesitantly.
Coach Taylor came and sat next to him in the chair Shelley had vacated. "I didn't want Julie to get married so young, but it wasn't you I didn't like. It was the timing." At least she hadn't gone and married the Swede. Or that nomadic, pretentious Habitat for Humanity guy. Or an adulterous, divorced T.A. At least she'd settled on the decent guy after she was done sowing her wild oats, just as her sensible mother had done. At least she'd picked a young man with guts and a conscience, and at least Matt hadn't knocked her up before he proposed.
"Timing?" Matt asked. "That's not exactly how you made it sound when you said your answer would be no until the sun burned out."
"Well, you took me by surprise." Coach Taylor rocked for a while and didn't say anything. "It was an extremely stressful time for me. I was getting ready for State, I was about to maybe lose the Lions, my was wife asking me to make this major life change, because marriage is like that sometimes, it's hard, you disagree, you have to give up things that are really important to you to make it work, or you have to ask the other person to give up things they really care about and feel guilty watching them make that sacrifice for you…and then you come in on top of all that and suggest marrying my eighteen-year-old daughter? Who at that particular time didn't seem to have it in her to think about anyone other than herself ? You have to understand. Julie had not long ago been doing things that - " He glanced at Matt. He didn't know how much Julie had told him, and he wasn't going to cause a fight there if she hadn't come clean with him about all that "- just tend to make a father think she's wasn't all that ready for the responsibility and compromise marriage entails." It was a major understatement, but Coach Taylor wasn't about to mention his daughter's affair with a married man. "And, son, I didn't even really know y'all were back together. So that was something I did not anticipate in the least. And y'all were young – y'all are still young – and I just couldn't believe you were throwing that at me at that moment. Maybe I overreacted."
Coach Taylor studied Matt, who had shoved his hands deep into his coat pockets and was examining the porch.
"That's an apology, son."
"Oh," Matt said, glancing up at him slightly. "Okay."
"Listen, I like you, Matt. I've always liked you." Well, maybe not so much that time he'd sat up with Tami waiting for his fifteen-year-old girl to come home from some cabin where she might be losing her virginity. Maybe not so much when he caught Matt in bed with his daughter, or that time he'd picked the kid up drunk from the hospital, but a lot of the time. Most of the time. "The truth is, you kind of remind me of myself at your age."
It was obvious to Eric that Matt was trying not to laugh at the thought.
"You do," Eric insisted. "I was very much like you as a teenager. Angry with my father. Shy with girls. Determined to do the right thing, but pissed off that nice guys always seemed to finish last. Determined to be a man. Responsible but seriously overstretched. An inch from snapping. Running from home to figure things out. Eager to marry the girl I loved so I could make her mine before she got away a second time."
Matt didn't look like he was about to laugh anymore.
Eric leaned a hand against the arm of his chair and sighed. "I don't dislike you, Matt. And I don't distrust you. I've worked with a lot of young men over the years. A lot. And you're among the finest. Of all the kids your age I've known, if I could've handpicked one of y'all to marry my daughter…well, it would have been you. I can't think of any other kid I've coached, or any other boy Julie's brought home, that I'd rather see her with. My problem isn't with you, Matt. I just wish Julie had grown up more before making that commitment. And you too. Even though you're more mature than most kids you're age, you're still young. I remember how hard it was…and I just wish y'all had waited longer. Waited longer to get married. Then waited longer to have kids. You just want your kids to make smarter choices than you did."
Matt shook his head. His lips fell open slightly. "So…what…you regret marrying Mrs. Coach? You regret having Julie?"
"No. Hell, no! I didn't say that."
"Then what? What do you mean smarter choices?"
"It just…it wasn't easy," Eric said. "Maybe if I'd of been more mature…maybe some things…would have been easier. Maybe I wouldn't have made so many mistakes as a husband and a father."
"You're a great dad," Matt insisted. "Julie says so all the time."
"She does?"
"And you and Mrs. Coach have a great marriage. I mean, look how long you've been married and you're still…" Matt looked away, clearly embarrassed. "In love," he muttered. He turned back to his father-in-law. "Julie and I just want what you guys have. We want that family. And we know it's going to be hard work. We do. But we don't want to put it off just because it's work."
Coach Taylor sighed heavily. "Listen, son. I know you don't owe me an explanation for why you decided to have a kid so soon, but…I worry. Because I'm a dad, like you're going to be. So I worry, like you're going to worry. So…extend me the courtesy of telling me your reasoning. I'm listening."
Matt swallowed. "Julie's got a great part-time work-from-home opportunity right now, writing grant proposals for some artists I know, so she can do that for a few years and then go into her full-time career later with all that experience. My grandma can have a chance to be a great-grandma before she…" his voice got quiet "…dies." His voice returned to its normal volume. "We also really want to be young parents. We want to have a lot of energy for the kids. I want to make sure I'm around for them for a long time, because I know…what it's like to lose your dad when you're just learning to be a man. We also want to be young enough to still do stuff when they leave home."
Eric would qualify for senior citizen discounts when Gracie graduated from high school. He couldn't say the idea thrilled him, but 56 seemed a hell of a lot younger to him now than it had twenty years ago. He was pretty sure he and Tami would still be able to do stuff. "Kids?" he asked. "In the plural?"
"We want three. Two years apart."
Coach Taylor laughed. "Well you've got it all planned out, don't you? You realize God's plans might not coincide with yours, right?"
"Yeah. We know. We'll adapt."
Eric heard the door open and thought Shelley had dared to rejoin them, but it was Julie who came out. "What are you guys doing out here?" she asked, drawing her arms into her sweatshirt. She was in slipper socks, without shoes.
Matt stood up and let her have his chair. "Just talking," he said. "You should get back to sleep. Get your rest."
"I'm pregnant, Matt. I'm not an invalid."
She sat down Indian style in the rocking chair. No, Eric corrected himself, she was sitting "criss-cross applesauce." That's what Gracie had been taught in school to call it. Indian style was politically incorrect. That wasn't how Indian's sat, apparently. That was how applesauce sat. Julie had preferred to sit like that ever since she was a little girl. They'd had to train her not to do it at the dinner table, to put her legs down and sit up straight.
"I was just telling your husband," Eric said, reaching out a hand and placing it lightly on his daughter's shoulder, "Congratulations. So let me tell you too, Julie. Congratulations." She smiled. She had a sweet smile, he thought, like a little girl still. Even though she wasn't anymore. He swallowed.
"Are you ready to be a grandpa?" she asked.
"Oh, yeah," he said. "I'm ready to spoil my grandchild rotten, and then send 'em right on home to you. I'm gonna enjoy this." He stood up and asked, "You too old to give your daddy a hug?"
"Never," she said and rose and put her arms around him.
He held her for a minute and whispered, "I love you, Monkey Noodle. Your momma and I are here if you ever need help in any of this. You know that, right?"
"I know. I know, Dad. I know." She kissed his cheek. "I love you too."
He let go of her, nodded to his son-in-law, and slipped through the door, leaving the parents-to-be alone on the porch.
