Leah Healy lightly knocked on the door of her mother's bedroom at the rehab center three times. She knocked so lightly she was not even sure her mother would hear her.

"Come in!" She heard her mother's familiar voice say. Leah paused, and then pushed open the door.

"Hey, hon," Becky greeted her eldest daughter cheerfully. Leah smiled back.

"Your roommate out?" Leah asked looking over at Rachel's empty bed.

"Yes, she's in the center's synagogue," Becky rolled her eyes and gave a slight chuckle. Leah and her family were the furthest thing from religious, Mom's roommate Rachel on the other hand? All about that life. Mom had told Becky about how Rachel believed everything was a part of "God's Plan™," including Leah's father's death at just 34 years from a motorcycle accident.

Initially, when Leah had heard this, she was upset. Who the hell says that about anybody – let alone someone they had never even met? But Rachel's opinion about her father did not mean a damn thing to Leah. After Mom got clean and left rehab (hopefully sooner rather than later) neither of them would have to see her or her stupid knitting again. There was someone else's opinion about Dad Leah cared more about.

"You talk to Grandpa yet?" Mom asked, as if reading Leah's mind.

"And why the hell would I do that?" Leah asked nonchalantly.

"Because he's your grandfather!" Becky insisted.

Leah shrugged. "Blood is blood. He's glad Dad's dead and wishes I had never been born. I don't need him in my life.

Becky sat up on her bed and patted the spot next to her. Reluctantly, Leah sat down next to her mother. Mom began to stroke Leah's ponytail like she always did when trying to comfort her.

"He didn't say he wished you had never been born," Mom said, calmly.

"But he said he was glad Dad died and that he should've done it sooner!" Leah's eyes began to tear up again. "He wished you two had never gotten together – and if that never happened, I wouldn't be here. Therefore – he wishes I was never born!" Leah started sobbing just like she had that day in family therapy when over two decades of her grandfather's anger finally came to light.

Becky sighed. "I can't speak for your Grandpa Dan," she started. "But it wouldn't surprise me if he felt the same way about the situation that I do. When I married your dad, I was only 17 – not even an adult yet."

Leah swallowed hard. "So, you're saying that you regret marrying Dad?" her voice broke.

"I didn't say that" Becky continued. "I loved your dad – I still do. But I hadn't even finished high school when we eloped. I would have liked to have done that and gone on to college to become a doctor. If your dad had still gone to Minnesota, and we were really meant to be – and I believe with all my heart that we were – because I know for a fact that one day, I was supposed to give birth to the one and only Leah Rebecca Healy no matter what," Leah couldn't help but laugh.

"Maybe I could've gotten a scholarship and gone to school in Minneapolis and then married your dad after college – or during, who knows? And then I could've at least gotten a decent paying job to help support the family and save up for medical school. But God, think of the things we could've done with my doctor's salary. We could've lived in a bigger house. Gotten a nicer car. You could've done every extracurricular in the book – hell, we could've vacationed every damn year. The problem is – we'll never know. I don't think it was just my lost opportunities that your grandpa was thinking about when he said those things. I think it was yours, too.

"I should go talk to him," Leah sat up and heaved a deep sigh.

"Good girl," Becky smiled and gave her daughter a quick hug.

"Bye, Mom," Leah gave a weak smile and stood up.

"Bye, honey," Becky gave a wave.

When Leah arrived home, she found her Aunt Darlene sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Hey," Darlene said, looking up. "How's your mom?"

"Good," Leah replied. "Where's Grandpa?"

"He's in the garage," Darlene said.

"Thanks," Leah headed for the garage. She slowly opened the door and poked her head in. "Hi."

Grandpa Dan turned and looked her direction. "Hi."

"Can I come in?" Leah asked quietly.

"Sure," Grandpa gestured to the stool next to him. Leah sat down.

It was quiet for a few moments. Leah was trying to come up with the exact right words but was struggling. Fortunately, Grandpa Dan spoke first.

"I'll start," he said. "I'm sorry that I upset you at the family therapy session. I knew that whatever I was going to say would not make you or your mother happy, but when the therapist asked, I knew there was no turning back. First and foremost I just want you to know that any ill will I have towards your father I do not and will never have towards you."

"Are you really glad that he's dead? Do you really think that Mom and I would've been better off if he had died sooner?" Leah swallowed. "Because you saw how we were after he died. We were devastated. I mean… I know he shouldn't have pressured Mom to marry him so suddenly and forget about her education, but they loved each other. They cared about each other and she felt the same way when he died that you felt when Granny Rose died. She still does. And I still feel the same way that Mom, Aunt Darlene, and Uncle DJ felt. It's hard to watch them put your parent in the ground – especially when you're 11 and about to start at a new school and you had to stay home from the fifth-grade father-daughter dance because your father was dead!" Leah's sobs were coming out in great heaves.

"And I know he made a lot of mistakes. But you made me feel like you thought I was one of them!" She stopped.

"I'm sorry I made you feel that way because I could never for a single second think that my first grandchild – or that any of my grandchildren were mistakes. When your mom announced that she was pregnant, your parents were starting to get on their feet. And they were both so excited – so were your grandmother and me. It was like the light at the end of the tunnel. I had already seen how hard your dad worked to support your mom and I knew that he would work twice as hard to support his child too. He worked hard for me in the bike shop – he worked hard for me at the garage. When he put his mind to something he saw it through that's for damn sure," Grandpa said.

"So why would you say you thought we were better off with him dead?" Leah cried.

"I don't know," Grandpa sighed. "I think that part at least, was my anger coming out more than I wanted it too. Your dad and I grew a lot closer over the years, so I didn't really have the chance to confront my bitterness towards him sooner. Maybe if I had – maybe if I'd been able to go to therapy with him and your mom, that therapy session from last week wouldn't have ended the way that it did. Again – I'm really sorry, Leah. God, your one of the greatest things that's ever happened to me. I love you." At this point, both grandfather and granddaughter were crying and had finally embraced the other – holding on longer than they ever had before.

That night, as Leah went to bed in her mother and sister's room, after she had read Beverly Rose a story and kissed her good night. She crawled under the covers and turned to the framed photograph on the nightstand – next to the one of her with her mom and sister. It was a picture of Leah, about four years old. Her dad was holding her, and her mom was on the other side – Leah had an arm affectionately wrapped around each of her parents. All three of the Healys were smiling as big as ever.

"Good night Mom, good night Dad – I love you guys," Leah smiled and turned out the light.