Chapter 20

A few weeks later, Brittany's eleventh birthday was around the corner. Much to her pleasant surprise, Lori Anne noticed that Paul seemed to be a little more attentive to details concerning their daughter since the incident he'd forgotten to send her home after being with him on the road. He had arrived on schedule, loaded down with presents for Brittany.

He was going to bunk at a hotel, but Britt had begged her mother to let him stay in the spare room she had been planning to rent for extra income.

After thinking about it, Lori Anne gave in; it did make more sense for him to be here with Britt, especially with the cost of gas these days, and spending money needlessly for a hotel when this was his time off was ridiculous.

One afternoon, Paul had gone out on an errand and Brittany had discovered his iPod, sitting down to shuffle through the songs on it.

"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" she yelled while choking with laughter and nearly falling off the sofa.

"What on earth is going on?" Lori Anne asked, coming out of the kitchen. "And what are you doing with your dad's iPod?"

Brittany couldn't answer immediately; she was laughing too hard. "Daddy listens to girly music! Hannah Montana! The Yeah Yeah Yeahs! Britney! Ashlee Simpson! Katy Perry! Oh my God! And he laughs at Brian for listening to gay stuff!"

"Give me that," Lori Anne demanded, holding out her hand. "You do not have permission to use Daddy's stuff, young lady. And I am not going to take the fall for it if you mess something up."

"Oh, Mom, I'm not messing anything up. And Dad won't care."

"That's not the point. You didn't ask first, and I brought you up better than that."

Brittany handed it over. "Yessum."

"Then again, I'm kind of curious too."

"Listen to it. You'll die, Mom," Brittany encouraged. "Here, I'll show you how it works."

Within a few minutes, Lori Anne began to giggle.

"Isn't that totally funny?" Brittany asked, giggling along with her mother.

Lori Anne took out the ear buds. "Just when I think I knew all there was to know about your dad. And he has the balls to make fun of my 'old hippie' music, as he likes to call it. Well, we'll see about that."

"He makes fun of Brian about stuff too."

"So I've gathered."

"No offense, Mom, but your hippie music is kind of weird."

"This coming from the issue of a man who has Beethoven as a ring tone on his phone. Thank you, daughter; I love you too."

"You know, you and Dad would make a cute couple. You both had me, you're both kind of goofy, you both have weird music taste—"

"Stop right there, young lady. What are you insinuating?"

"Well, you're going out with him Friday, aren't you?"

"It's just one night out, Britt. Hardly a hot and heavy romance. Besides, your dad and I would probably kill each other. It would never work."

"Uh huh. I've seen him check you out since he got here."

"And he's probably checking out other women while he's out right now too."

"Whatever, Mom. I saw you looking at his butt the other night when he bent over to pick something off the floor."

"Brittany JoAnn Remington, I did no such thing."

"Then how come your face is red right now? Yeah, busted."

"I think a little girl learned a little more than she should those two weeks on the road with her dad," Lori Anne nodded.

"Yeah, it was kind of fun," Brittany replied. "Especially when he got mad at some guy that wanted to take me in the locker room alone. I mean, who tours a locker room?"

"I don't think a tour is what that particular man had in mind. Apparently he thought you were a little older than you are, and well…..in any case, you can see why Daddy was so upset."

"That guy was kind of creepy. Good thing Dad was hanging out."

"Exactly. You know, as scatter brained as he can be and makes me mad at times, when it comes down to the brass tacks, I think your dad would cut off his right arm if you asked him to. That's how much he loves you."

"Yeah, I think so too. Besides, it's pretty cool having a goofy dad."

"Well, you'll never complain about a dull moment, that's for sure."

"Oh, that reminds me. The next time you see a spider around here, ask Dad to kill it and see how he reacts."

Lori Anne gave her daughter an odd look. "I don't think I'm even going to ask details about that."