AUTHOR'S NOTES: Heyyy everyone! This is the second to last chapter of this story. I don't know what I'll do for the last chapter. It'll be something with Christmas. Probably the Ducks on a snow day or something. Anyhoo…this is kinda angsty, but not too bad. Oh, and I didn't write about changing Kaley's name from Heller to Bombay, but let's just say it happened. I have absolutely no clue how those things work and it would be a really dull chapter anyway. The lyrics to Without You belong to Deborah Craig-Claar, and the music belongs to Mark Hayes.
A NEW LIFE – CHAPTER NINE – DROPPING THE BOMB
"Does the snow ever stop around here?" Kaley asked.
"Not really." Gordon said, opening the door to his apartment. "Well, around March or April."
"Brrr." Kaley shivered. "Michelle's right; I really should go for a transfusion."
Gordon laughed and looked through the mail he'd brought up from their mailbox downstairs. "Oh, Kaley, here's your new social security card and everything."
"Right." Kaley said, opening the envelope Gordon handed her. She looked at the name on the card. Kaley Lynne Bombay. She still couldn't quite get used to it. Especially since her hockey jersey still said "Heller" on the back. But she got so sick of people asking her why she had a different last name than her father, and since Bombay would have been her last name anyway, she decided to change her name. Kaley Bombay. She smiled. Oddly enough, it works.
The phone jangled, and since Kaley was closest, she picked it up. "Hello, Kaley Hel-Kaley Bombay speaking." She quickly corrected herself.
"Hi, it's Charlie." Charlie's dull, flat voice came on the other end.
"Charlie!" Kaley said. "What's up?" She paused, noticing how uncharacteristically devoid of emotion Charlie had seemed when she answered. "Is everything OK?" She asked. "You sound kinda…out there."
"Yeah, everything's fine." Charlie said, still sounding as if he'd just seen a ghost. "Is your dad in?"
"Sure, we just got back." Kaley said. "He's right here." She handed the receiver to her dad and said, "Charlie."
Gordon nodded and placed the receiver to his ear. "Charlie? What's up?" Then his face drained of color. "What? She's getting married?…Charlie, is this a sick joke?…Yes, so do I. When?…That soon, huh? I'm sorry Charlie."
Kaley looked at her father and mouthed "what?"
Gordon shushed her and continued talking to Charlie. "Yes, Charlie, I know…I'm sure it's not that bad…I'm sure Scott will make a fine father for you, or your mother wouldn't have-…Thank you, Charlie." After a few more seconds, Gordon hung up the phone.
"Dad?" Kaley asked cautiously. "Is…is everything OK?"
"Charlie's mom is getting married." Gordon responded.
"Oh." Kaley said. "And that's not good?"
"Not for Charlie, anyway." Gordon said. "He doesn't like Scott-that's Casey's fiancé-too much. Says he always smells like beer."
"What?" Kaley raised her eyebrows. "Oh, Dad, I can't imagine Casey choosing someone like that!" Kaley had only met Casey Conway once, but she was sure Casey wouldn't choose to marry someone who always smelled like beer.
"I'm only telling you what Charlie told me." Gordon said.
Kaley looked at her father. "You really liked her, huh?"
Gordon nodded. "Mm-hm."
"You still like her." Kaley observed.
"She's getting married." Gordon said shortly. "And there's nothing I can do about it." He seemed to be convincing himself more than Kaley.
Kaley nodded. Mm-hm…but you sure wish there were.
Gordon entered his bedroom and sat down on his bed. Sighing, he reached into his nightstand's drawer and pulled out Casey's ring. Well, so much for that one. He thought. Strike two. I had a chance with Ashley, and she booted me out of her life, and now Casey's done the same thing. Only…not so overtly.
"You'd make a way better dad than Scott ever would." Charlie's dejected words rang in Gordon's head. Snapping the box closed, Gordon put it back in the drawer. His common sense told him to return the ring on the Waves' next game in New York, but he just couldn't bring himself to do that. Great. So I've just blown three thousand bucks on a ring for a woman who's engaged to someone else.
The wedding was December twenty-ninth. And Gordon and Kaley were invited. Gordon couldn't think of anything he'd like to do less. Charlie had even said Casey wanted Gordon and Scott to meet. Can't imagine why she thought that would be a good idea. He thought. Am I ever going to get a woman who doesn't either kick me out of her life or find someone else?
Two days later, Gordon decided to pick Kaley up from school because it was snowing yet again. "Hi, Dad." She said cheerfully, sliding into the car. "Gosh! It's freezing!"
"Mmm." Gordon said.
Kaley looked at him. "Dad, you have gotta get out of this funk." She said. "It's been two days!" She began fiddling with the radio. Gordon didn't feel like stopping her, so he just let her fool with the tuning button. "Oh! Here's one!" She said.
Each day I sit at home/Waiting by my telephone/Knowing I will be alone once more"Kaley, what is this?" Gordon asked.
"A song" Kaley answered.
Wishing you could be/Sitting here with me/But it's just a fantasy for/Without you/My white Christmas is blue/Snowmen melt in the sun/And Christmas cards come/With postage due
"Kaley, this is the stupidest song I've ever heard!" Gordon said.
"Come on, Dad, just let me listen!" Kaley answered.
Without you/Rudolph's nose just won't shine/And my needles are dry/And reindeer can't fly/And church bells won't chime/If you're not mine
Oh my gosh, just shoot me now. Gordon thought.
But if you were here/I'd hold you so near/There'd be holiday cheer/And a happy new year/But you're not so I'm caught in this spot so distraught/Oh what can I do/Without you/I've bid romance adieu/And my fire won't burn/And so I just turn/And close up the flue/
"Kay, what on earth do you see in this song?" Gordon asked. It was beginning to get on his nerves.
"I don't know." Kaley said. "I guess it's just so stupid it's funny."
My tinsel all has been tangled/My jingle bells have been jangled/My choir leader I've strangled/Without you
"Kaley, please let me change the station." Gordon begged, reaching for the tuning button.
Kaley slapped his hand out of the way. "No! It's almost done!"
"Kaley!" Gordon snapped.
Kaley sighed. "OK, OK, please let me finish it?"
"All right." Gordon placed his hand back on the wheel.
Without you/My heart's broken in two/Santa Clause isn't fat/Bing Crosby sings flat/And bills are all due/That special day's ordinary/I'll just wait for January/For Christmas won't be merry/Without you
"There." Kaley said as the last strains of the song faded away. "It's done. You can change the station now."
"Thank you." Gordon fiddled with the tuning button for a few seconds before deciding there was nothing worth listening to and shutting the radio off. The real reason he'd wanted to get rid of that song was that it hit so close to home. Especially now, as they were headed to Casey and Scott's engagement party.
The engagement party wasn't really much of a party, Kaley thought. Most of the Ducks came, but spent the whole time trying to cheer up Charlie, who looked devastated. The atmosphere felt more like a wake than a party. The only people who seemed even remotely happy to be there were Casey and Scott. Kaley discovered Charlie was right: Scott did smell like beer. And cigarettes.
Gordon and Kaley made an appearance, said congratulations, and left. As they were getting their coats, Kaley heard Casey's sister Helen saying, "That man is nothing but trouble. I'm telling you, Kevin. I don't know what Casey ever saw in him."
"The same thing she saw in Charlie's father." Kevin said. "Helen, your father was a drunk. Casey's naturally attracted to men who remind her of your father."
"I was attracted to you." Helen said. "And you're not a drunk."
Kaley was itching to hear more, but Gordon grabbed her arm and took her toward the door. When they reached their car, Kaley asked her dad, "So, what did you think?"
"I think Scott's gonna be big trouble." Gordon stated bluntly, getting into the driver's seat.
"Dad…" Kaley started.
"Don't start." Gordon cut her off. "It's not because I'm jealous. It's because I truly think so."
"Do you think it's true, what Helen said about women wanting to marry men like their father?" Kaley asked.
"Not necessarily." Gordon said. "It's not so much that women want to marry men like their fathers, Kay, it just sort of happens."
Kaley was confused. "Huh?"
"It's hard to explain." Gordon said.
"You really wanted to marry Casey, didn't you?" Kaley asked, changing the subject. She'd never been one for deep meaning-of-life discussions, and figured now was no time to start.
"Yes, Kaley." Gordon said. "I did."
"You really love Charlie, don't you?" Kaley asked.
Gordon's grip on the wheel tightened as he pulled the car out of the driveway. "Like my own son, Kaley."
Kaley didn't say anything else, but she thought, Yeah. And Charlie loves you like a father. He deserves better than Scott, and you know it. But she wisely kept her mouth shut.