99999999999999999999

Dinner went well. Charlie and Natalie talked more to each other, and this seemed to please dad.

Two months passed; over that time, Nat got along a little better with Charlie. One evening, I found myself in for a shock. Dad came to see me at my apartment. He looked serious. A part of me hoped that he had broken up with Natalie.

"Dad? Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine..it's just that I've got something to talk to you about" He had an envelope in his hand.

"Sure! Come in" I told him. Soon, we sat down.

"I've uh...given Natalie the legal ability to make medical decisions for me in case ..I'm incapacitated" He said.

"What?" I had always assumed that I would be the one making those decisions, given that I'm his oldest son and all. Why the hell give that kind of power of attorney to Natalie? How could she ever make decisions in Dad's best interest like I could?

"Nat and I have been going out for a good while..."

I snapped "I can't believe you trust her judgment more than mine!"

"It's not about that!" Dad countered, and tried to explain. "I see the two of us being together long term. She's the one who's going to be the main caregiver if something were to happen and her knowledge is going to be an asset when it comes time to make the critical decisions."

"Who's idea was this?"

"Mine!" Dad glared at me.

9999999999999999999999999999

Why couldn't he understand?It had nothing to do with how I viewed his judgement. Besides, he should trust me enough to make my own desicion on this.

"Have you made this legal?" he asked.

"Yes I have" I told him as he groaned.

He gave me a hard look"I can't believe this!"

Suddenly ,his cell phone rang. From his end of the conversation, I could tell that it was work.

"I gotta go" Don told me when he hung up. "We'll talk later"

With, that I left his apartment in disappointment.

Later, as Nat and I had dinner, she asked nervously. "So you uh..told him?"

"Yeah..he took it well. We didn't get to talk much because he got called from work." I didn't want to worry her. Besides, Don would get used to the idea.

"Really?" she didn't believe me.

"Of course!"

9999999999999999999999

Somehow, I found it hard to believe that Don, as protective as he was of his family, would have just accepted this. My gut told me to expect a visit from him in the near future. Alan had been the one to bring up the subject. Seems like having a wife who died from a long term illness had made him aware of those things. Either way, I hoped that Alan would stay healthy and live a long, full life. I loved him and hoped to have him around for the long term.

After dinner, Alan and I played scrabble.

"Promise me one more thing" he said during his turn.

"Sure" I agreed.

he looked at me in the eye."Promise me you'll see other people, when I'm gone"

"Alan!" Why was he being so morbid?

"I worry about you being lonely, especially since you don't have kids" He explained. Why must people with kids assume that those without them are lonely? Friends of my parents had kids, but were lonely because of estrangement or lack of visiting. Lonliness and kids aren't mutually exclusive.

"I'll put out an ad the day after the funeral" I said sardonically. " ' Must like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, have half a brain and like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.."

"I"m serious!" he complained.

"Let's return to the game!" I insisted, this subject made me uncomfortable.

With a sigh, he agreed.

As I predicted, Don came to see me the next day around nine in the morning.

He began as soon as we were both in my office "Dad came to see me yesterday"

"Yeah...he uh..told me" I idly sat down on my chair.

Don continued, playing it cool, but I knew better. He sat down in a visitor's chair."You can imagine my surprise when he told me about giving you power of attorney"

"I had an inkling I guess..." I said lamely.

He asked in an accusing voice. "Why did you accept?"

I told him, trying to be diplomatic"Maybe if you looked at this objectively, the answer would be obvious."

Don scoffed "Objectively? He's my Dad!"

"And we've got to respect his wishes!"

He replied sarcastically "Yeah...especially if they are in your favor"

"Don..."

"Whatever happens, Dad's gonna need a lot of care in the long run." He began. Just when, he, Charlie and I were going from détente to quasi-friendliness, something comes up. Now here we were, fighting again, with him trying to manipulate me. "It doesn't help that his dad had lots of heart problems."

"Did he now...?" I asked with a straight face.

"He had a couple of heart attacks and a stroke. He really needed to be taken care of, like a baby, almost..."

"Oh..."

"My grandma was very overwhelmed"

"Know what, Don? Save your law enforcement mind games for suspects and perps. I've got work to do." With that I left my office.

TBC