Forgive for Joy's Sake (Part 6)

After my mom made her dramatic exit, I turned back to Wes. “I hope you are allergic to whatever she’s making for dinner.”

“Wow, you really are a joy to be around. Come on, let’s go.” He started towards the parking lot. I debated walking to the main street by the hospital and seeing if I could hail a cab. I could easily get a new phone and a new number tomorrow. Who was I kidding? Mom and Wes would probably make it to my house before I did. I followed him to his SUV.

After a silent twenty-minute ride, Wes and I entered my parent’s house. When my dad opened the door, I sighed in relief.  Dad, unlike my mother, was always reasonable and with him there, it would now be an even match.

I gave him a big hug and smiled at him. “Glad to see you, Dad.” He hugged me back and said he was glad to see me too.

He looked over at Wes as he let me go and stuck out his hand. “Good to see you, son.”  Him and Wes had always had a special bond that I had sometimes been jealous of. It had made me wonder if he wished he had a son instead of me.

“Good to see you too, Mr. D,” Wes said as he shook his hand.

“Come on in the living room. Viv’s in the kitchen whipping us up something to eat.” He turned and led the way.

“Where is Joi? She didn’t give you much trouble, did she?” Wes asked before taking a seat on the couch.

“Uh, she kept me on my toes, but I was finally able to get her to sleep. She’s down the hall in the guest room if you want to go peek in on her. Fair warning, if you wake her, you watch her. I’m done for the evening.” Dad took a seat in his favorite chair and turned on the oversized flatscreen television.

Wes stood. “Understood, but I can’t resist taking a peek.” He looked over at me. “Do you want to come too?”

“Nope,” I said not even looking his way. I heard him leave the room and then turned to my dad getting ready to get our game plan together.

Before I could speak, he said, “Joy, have I been a good provider to you and your mom?”

“Uh, yeah Dad. You have, but you won’t believe what—” 

“Have I ever asked you for a favor or to put me first in any situation, or have I always put you and your mom first?” He looked me dead in the eye and locked in and I felt fear.

“No, you haven’t, Dad. Are you okay?” I was hoping he wasn’t sick or worse.

“Yes but I feel bad because I’m about to ask you to do something that I know you are going to hate. And truthfully, I’m doing it for selfish reasons.” He held on to my gaze and I held on to his, but where he probably read confusion in mine’s, I saw a resolve that I didn’t understand. 

“God willing, Mel will pull through that surgery tomorrow and when she does, her doctors are saying she will most likely be in the hospital for another week before they release her. When she gets out, she will need somewhere to stay and someone to help.

“Do you know what your mom and I are supposed to do in a little over a week from now?” Guilt flashed in his eyes and then a resolve again.

Finally, I could see where this road was leading, “Your retirement cruise,” I said, seeing the ship I was on sinking fast.

“My retirement cruise. The one that your mom and I have been planning for most of the forty years I have been in the workforce. The one that is fully paid for and nonrefundable. The one that I have been telling myself would make up for all the vacations we haven’t taken. The one that is supposed to kick off us traveling and seeing the world. The one—”

“Dad, I get it. You can stop.” I sat back and tried to swallow the nasty medicine my father had just forced fed me. “You sure you just don’t want to ask me to go with you and leave Ma home to take care of things?”

“I love you, kid, but you are not the person I want to share my cabin with, if you know what I mean.”

He raised his eyebrows twice and I tried not to up chuck. “Please, I can’t take anymore torture.”

“So you are going to do this for me, right?” He sat back in his chair but continued to hold my gaze as if letting go would break the hold he had on me.

“On two conditions. If when they ask, I’m allowed to find out why Wes, and his actually name is Wes, isn’t handling this mess. And if they have a valid reason for that and agree that as soon as you two are back or Wes is able, I will be released from this commitment.”  This was not how I thought it would play out, but I knew when I was bested.

“Agreed. Now give your mom some push back before you say yes, so she won’t get suspicious. If she found out we talked, she’ll be trying to have me ask you for favors whenever she wants you to do something you won’t do.” 

“Point taken,” I said, happy to at least look like I’d gone down swinging.

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