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Around seven, I parked my SUV behind Dad's car. Charlie had agreed to come when I reminded him of the big adjustment Dad was making. He would be coming in his own car, which was purchased after Charlie got his license back.
Dad let me in with a large grin. The smell of frying steaks, and sizzling onions permeated the place and my mouth watered.
"Come in!" He said. I noticed that he had already put several pictures of me and Charlie around the living room. Also, he seemed to have reorganized it a bit. I could tell because it looked like the living room at the house.
Quickly, he closed the door and Natalie emerged from the hallway.
"Hey Don! How's it going?" she smiled.
"Good" I nodded.
"Thanks for coming!" She added. "Would you like something to drink?"
"I got your favorite beer" Dad told me.
"Sure. Thanks!" I said. I sat on the couch as the cat scurried away. If nothing else, Natalie had a good sized T.V.
"She's got Tivo" Dad informed me "Here's the remote.
"Need help babe?" Natalie asked him.
"Nah...Go watch T.V with Don"
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Don was already there by the time I arrived in my car. Dad welcomed me and offered a beer, while Natalie watched T.V with Don.
"Hey Charlie!" she stood up and said. "Thanks for coming. Dinner's about ready"
"Hey Buddy!" Don said without bothering to get up. He had a bottle of beer in his hand.
Soon, it was time to eat.
"You know, I had the weirdest client come last week" Natalie began to my and Don's annoyance. I could see Dad getting a wary look on his face.
"Really?" Don faked interest pretty damn well.
"He was my first appointment of the day. Said that he was worried about his cat being sick. So, I gently take in a medical history. This is where it gets interesting. Turns out that he believed that his cat was a feline necrophile ."
"Obviously this guy has a few loose screws. I've met a few in my time" Dad quickly said, then gently suggested. "Let's talk of more pleasant things."
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Come to think of it, Necrophilia is the not the best dinner topic.
"Did Alan tell you? I'm pregnant with twins!" I said in a best serious tone. Charlie choked on his food, while Don turned pale.
"She's kidding!" Alan told them with a chuckle.
"It's not fair!" I said to Don, while still laughing. "That you couldn't see your face two seconds ago."
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Charlie and I both drank some beer to soothe our nerves. The thought of Dad and Natalie expecting a kid together was wrong on so many levels, given Dad's age, and how he'd be stuck dealing with her for the rest of his life, after the breakup, if it had been true. What was up with talking about necrophilia anyway? If I wanna talk and think about sick stuff like that, I'll stay at work.
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Eventually, the boys left, and I played scrabble with Alan.
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Tuesday night came and Alan told me at dinner "the book club is meeting here on Thursday"
"Oh?" I kept my annoyance inward. I'm not really into hosting, especially after a long day of work..
"Phil's house is getting fumigated." Alan told me.
"Is our place big enough?" I asked to get him to doubt his decision.
"I wouldn't have offered if it wasn't" Alan said. He was doing the same thing to me that he had done to Charlie. No wonder the poor guy got mad that day!
"And you offered without consulting me?" I tried to be patient."I could have had plans for the house that night"
"What plans? You don't belong to any clubs" Alan gave me a puzzled look.
"For all you know, I could've joined a club today, and volunteered to host a meeting here that very night." I wanted to soften my point by using a hypothetical. He gave me a skeptical look, knowing full well that one: I'm not into clubs, and two: I would never agree to host anything.
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"Is this your subtle way of telling me that you don't want the book club here?" I asked her with annoyance. It's my place too!
"No babe!" she insisted. "Wouldn't you want me to ask you before agreeing to host a club meeting?"
"I would just expect some notice." I told her.
"Really?" she was doubtful. "So if I was to tell you that I was going to host a large get together here on Thursday, with two hundred people, you'd be okay with that?"
"I'd probably get a heart attack from the surprise" I deadpanned.
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What's with him? Did Alan's late wife let him get away with this? I guess that unless I became a medium, I'd never know.
"Look, just give me the heads up before saying yes next time Okay? That's all I ask." I tried to be diplomatic.
"Fine, I'll talk to you before saying yes" Alan said in that voice men used when they were just saying something to diffuse an argument. Then he added wryly "And you'll do the same next time you plan a large get together?"
"Yes." I rolled my eyes.
Alan did crosswords, while I read a mystery novel after dinner.
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Nat seemed cold towards me during the rest of the evening. She sat on the couch, reading one of those mysteries, where a cat solves the crime.
I figured that she'd get over it in a day or two. So, I did the day's crossword and went to bed around eleven, while Nat stayed up a bit later.
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On the evening of the meeting, I mostly stayed in the dining room, sitting on the one remaining spare chair. . Most of the members were his age, and like him, had worked for the city in some capacity or other. Alan introduced me to most of them. I helped Alan prepare snacks and I made an extra effort to be a good hostess. Things had kinda settled between us, as he again promised, but he seemed more sincere about it.
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During the meeting, there was much thought provoking discussion. Phil, like Art had been shocked at seeing that Nat wasn't exactly my age, as were a few other members. Some gave me looks of admiration. Natalie spent most of the evening either reading, or doing paperwork to give us space. Afterwards, Phil stayed around, and we talked in the living room. Nat joined us.
"How are you adjusting to the new place?" he asked me.
"Great!" I told him.
"Missing the boys?"
"They visit, and I call them almost everyday." I explained, though there were times I missed seeing Charlie reading or working on the couch as I did crosswords and Don watched T.V.
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"Alan..tells me you're a vet" Phil turned me. He had a mixture of blonde and white hair.
"I co-own a practice" I said.
"Are you a specialist?" he asked. "I've heard that some vets specialize"
"I'm a general practitioner." I replied. "Though I mostly deal with household animals."
After some more chit chat. Phil excused himself and left. He seemed like a nice, friendly guy.
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Charlie and I worked on a big case and couldn't visit Dad for about a week and a half. We were finally able to see him one night. As usual, he was happy to see us.
"Help yourself to some beer, while I finish dinner" he said while letting us in.
"Where's Nat?" I asked more out of surprise than regret.
"It's her turn to work late" Dad explained, as Charlie and I got our beers.
Charlie grinned widely when Dad's back was turned.
"How are things here?" I asked.
"Nat and I are adjusting. It was the same way, when I first married your mother." Dad said, while stirring something in a pot.
Charlie looked at me hopefully.
"Last week, my book club met here" he told me and my brother. "Phil's house had to get fumigated."
"How'd that go?" I asked. Something told me that Natalie wasn't as into having guests as Dad was.
"We had a very deep discussion about the book" Dad turned off one of the burners, "and the gang got to meet Natalie."
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Don and I wondered how that went. It was great that it could just be the three of us having dinner, without Natalie's annoying weirdness.
Finally, dinner was ready, and like always it was wonderful. One of the things I missed was Dad's cooking. I could do it, but not as well. Once I tried to make meatloaf for myself and Don, but it came out too dry and salty even though I had followed the directions, which I had gotten from a website. Don had joked that it I had gotten the recipe from a site called 'ways to kill your brother dot com'
"How's your case going?" Dad asked us as he took a bite from his food.
"We've made some progress today, thanks to Charlie." Don told him. "David and Colby are checking out some leads tonight."
"That's good to hear." he said.
"How are things at the firm?" I asked.
"We got a new client today!" Dad beamed as we congratulated him.
After eating, we just hung out and watched T.V. Her dog lay down at Dad's feet, while the cat lay down on the satellite box.
"Rocko seems to like you, Dad" I teased.
"He's a very friendly dog" Dad remarked and scratched behind its ears.
At nine, He went to call Natalie. Apparently she wasn't there because Dad left a message.
"I'm calling her at work." Dad said, after trying and waiting a minute, he left another message, hung up, and sighed. "She probably had a medical emergency"
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I could tell that Dad was a little worried and would be until he got a call from Natalie telling him that yes, there was a medical emergency.
"She must have gotten a patient that needed to go to the animal hospital." I said.
"Or found an injured animal by the road" Dad said with more anxiety. I could tell that his mind fretted about the risks that entailed, such as psychopaths being near the area, as she stopped by the road to help some injured animal. Natalie better have a good reason for not calling Dad. I hated to see him worried.
Eleven came, but Charlie and I stayed with Dad to keep him company, and calm him down.
"It shouldn't take her this long to call! I mean if she did find an injured animal, wouldn't she do what she could and just arrange for it to be transported to a nearby animal hospital or something?" Dad began to agonize.
"Dad, maybe she's helping with the uh..treatment" I tried to reassure him, but it was no use.
The phone rang at midnight.
TBC