I said. "It's not like you settled down, and you are older than I am."
"Those are the benefits of being an orphan. I don't have a father to guilt trip me into doing something I do not want to do."
He drink more wine. I winced. It was still a sore spot, even though his parents had died 2 years ago, when we were still in college.
"I'm sorry, Drew."
He waved his hand. "Don't worry about it. Not important."
"I can't handle that I need to meet this redneck hick from the boonies. Why can't he come to DC to meet me, if my dad wants us to get married so badly?"
"He probably has something tying him down."
"Yeah, he does." I snorted. "Farm chores. My dad says that I don't understand, but honestly, I don't want to understand how a barn works. It's not like it would ever be relevant."
"It's relevant now."
I rolled my eyes. "I mean, yeah, for a half second. But when I come home, it will all be gone, like a broom sweeping it away. Like Fantasia."
"Like the Sorcerer's Apprentice?"
"Exactly like that." I nodded. "It's completely impractical knowledge."
"Well, I will help you pack. I can't believe that you're going to Wisconsin in the middle of winter."
"I know, brr! But Daddy says that he wants it this to be finished as quickly as possible."
"Why the rush?"
My voice got very small. "He has cancer."
Drew gasped. "No. Your dad never gets sick. I swear, he's just too healthy for any diseases to hit him."
"I thought so too. I thought he was invincible. But it turns out he's human just like the rest of us. I mean, I got the flu twice. And he lives in the same house as me. But, he has never gotten the flu. And he never gets the flu shot!"
"You sound like he should have gotten the flu by now."
"It's not fair," I whined.
"How serious is this cancer?"
"I don't know. He says that they caught it early. And they would not have if I hadn't nagged him into seeing a doctor when he kept being tired."
"So he wants to see you get married before he dies?"
"Yeah, actually, he wants to see his grandchildren before he dies."
"That does not leave you any time. He wants you to have two or more kids before he dies? Sounds impossible."
"I have no idea how long this battle with cancer will last. Maybe he'll beat it into submission. He's healthy underneath, you know."
"But you aren't going to fight when he is so sick."
I nodded. "You know that I would do almost anything to make him happy. After my mother died, we only had each other."
"That's why you are so spoiled. Your mother would've put a stop to this. Instead, you went through your teenage years alone."
"I had you."