Chapter 11

It was House's birthday, and Allison planned to spend the day as he liked. When Dee came over to crawl into their bed at six that morning, Allison promptly got up with the child so she wouldn't wake House. In the meantime, they went downstairs and made a simple breakfast for the two of them. They played for about an hour then went on a morning walk through the neighborhood. It was already showing the beginnings of a sweltering summer day by the time they were beginning their walk around nine AM, and by the time they were nearly home, half an hour later, there was no disguising the power of the sun. They were definitely going to have a nice day for House's birthday.

Allison was pushing Dee's stroller down the sidewalk and about to go up her drive-way when she noticed the silver Lexus convertible pulling to a stop near her. She glanced over to see the dark-haired man with a blond girl seated next to him.

"Tara," Allison acknowledged the girl. "It's nice to see you. Mr. Becker."

"Hello, Dr. Cameron," Tara said, although she kept her gaze pointed toward the house instead of the woman she was speaking to. "Is Tony home? I–uh–haven't seen him since graduation day. I hope he's feeling better."

"Yes, Tony's feeling much better. He was still in bed when we left for our walk, about half an hour ago," Allison told her.

"Dr. Cameron, I was bringing Tara over to visit with Tony. I hope that was alright." Victor Becker turned off the ignition to his car as he smiled lazily at Allison. "I feel they didn't have the opportunity to part ways on the best of terms. I know my little girl can be a bit . . . excitable around children, but she means well."

"I see," Allison said, not particularly liking the idea that he had turned off his car. "Well, I'll just go inside and see if Tony's up. And if he is, I'll send him out to speak to you."

Allison moved up her driveway and was about to open her front door to maneuver the stroller inside but felt the screen door being pulled open for her, allowing her the space she needed. Her first thoughts were that Tara had followed her, but when she glanced up, she saw Victor smiling at her as he held onto the door. She wasn't expecting him to follow, so she was really at a loss for words. Luckily, Tony moved to the door and pulled the stroller the rest of the way inside, giving Allison the opportunity to excuse herself.

"Excuse me, please," Allison smiled politely at Victor before turning to start for the kitchen.

"Mr. Becker," Tony spoke up as he moved to the door, at this point, only dressed in a pair of shorts. "What can I do for you?"

"Nothing for me, Tony. Tara was the one who wanted to speak with you. I just thought I'd wait inside while you have a nice visit. I could talk to your mother awhile."

"Uh," Tony looked in the direction his mother went with the stroller. "I think Dee is asleep. I'm sure Mom wants her to stay that way for a bit."

"Oh, don't worry." Victor moved down the hallway after Allison. "I'll be quiet as a mouse."

Tony didn't have much time to ponder on Mr. Becker as Tara was moving inside the door as well. "Hi, Tony."

"Tara, what's going on? What are you doing here? And why is your father here?"

"I needed to talk to you. Can we go to your room?"

"No. If you want to talk, we can go out on the patio, by the pool," he sighed, not wishing to continue any form of relationship with this girl. He truthfully couldn't understand why she would be there. He let her know the day following the prom that he didn't wish to see her again. He was going to pursue other activities throughout the summer and wouldn't have time to see anyone on a regular basis. What he neglected to tell her was that once he actually got to know her, her personality betrayed her outer beauty. She was a self-centered, spoiled little brat, and frankly, he just wasn't interested anymore.

"Mr. Becker!" Allison had just adjusted the stroller so the sleeping child could recline, and when she stood erect, she nearly bumped into the man who had approached from behind.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you," he said in a velvety smooth voice. "I thought I could keep you company while Tara and Tony have a little visit."

"Um, it's okay," she said, a bit unsettled. "Please, have a seat. Would you care for a cup of coffee?"

"Yes, thank you." He sat at the table and watched her closely, his smile never leaving his face. "You don't remember meeting me before, do you?"

"Other than at graduation?" She glanced up at him as she sat a mug of coffee in front of him, then returned to pour one for herself. "No. I'm sorry. When would that have been?"

"I'm guessing it was right before you had your little one, here," he said as he nodded toward the child sleeping in her stroller. "I was at the school, registering Tara for school when you came in and took Tony home with you."

"Oh," Allison said, a bit puzzled, then remembering precisely the day he was talking about. It was the day she found Greg and Stacy together at his apartment; the day she took Tony out of school and ran with him back to her parents in Illinois; the day she gave premature birth to Dee. "I'm sorry, I really don't recall. Actually, I'm a little curious as to why you would remember from such an insignificant crossing of our paths."

"I was concerned. You looked very upset." He took a sip of his coffee then looked back up at her. "I guess the picture of such a beautiful girl, looking so vulnerable, stuck in my mind. So, the next time I saw you, I remembered you. I guess over the years, I've just noticed you, while you had no reason to notice me."

"I'm not sure I'm following you. The next time you saw me?"

"At school events. Don't forget, while you were going to watch Tony play football and basketball, I was going to watch Tara cheer for him. The prices we pay for being devoted parents, I suppose."

"I suppose," Allison said quietly as she eyed him. She remained quiet for the next few minutes until she watched Tony and Tara come in through the kitchen doorway from the patio.

"Daddy," Tara moved to put her hand on her father's shoulder. "Tony says today is his father's birthday. Can you bring me back later so I can go swimming with him? They're having a bar-b-que."

Allison looked at Tony as if she could have thrown something at him. He looked back at her through wide eyes as he shrugged his shoulders, then looked over at Tara and her father.

"Um, Tara, you really don't know my father that well, and he really prefers to celebrate his birthday with close family and friends. . ." Tony started to explain.

"Then we should fit right in," Victor said as he got to his feet, taking Tara's hand in his as he started across the kitchen and toward the front door. "We're becoming great friends with your mother–and father. We better be going now. You needn't see us out."

"See you later this evening," Tara gushed at Tony as she held onto her father's hand, bringing strange looks from both Allison as well as Tony.