“Sounds like you had a good weekend. Where’s Dad?”
“In the kitchen. Did you and Emily have fun too?”
I smiled as I thought about all of our fun. I set Drake down and told him we did. I walked to the kitchen and Drake follows, wanting to know what me and Emily did. “We just hung out at Uncle Roy’s and we went to his charity ball. Today, we cleaned up and came home. Hey Dad.”
“Hey son. Sounds like you had a pretty good weekend as well.”
“We had a really good weekend.” Dad was putting away groceries and I helped. Drake went up to his room to play his games, I assume.
“I hope you are being careful,” my dad says after a moment.
“No worries, Dad. We’ve got double protection. Thanks though.”
“Every time? It only takes once, son.”
“I know,” I say as I put the last of the groceries away. I went up to my room and unpacked my bag. There was still a lot of the day left. What could I do with it? I did have a bit of homework to do, so I pulled out my books and got started. An hour later, I was finished and Drake wanted me to play a racing game with him. I walked across the hall to Drake’s room and plopped down into one of his two bean bags.
I picked a random car and we raced over and over for hours. I won most of them, but Drake won a lot too. Soon, my dad was calling us down for supper. We sat at the table and ate a meal of tacos together. Drake was going on a field trip to an aquarium so he was really excited about that. Even more excited that my dad was going with him. I really hope Dad could keep things together.
Which reminds me of my promise to think about forgiving him. Maybe I already have. I don’t feel anger towards him anymore. I was actually happy he was back. “I’ll help you load the dishes, Dad.” Together we started putting the dishes away into the dishwasher. After we finished, I leaned against the counter and tucked my hands into my pockets.
“Dad, I just want to let you know that we’re good. I’m not mad anymore. I really happy that you are doing better and spending time with Drake. He really missed you.”
My dad came over and hugged me. “Thanks son. That really means a lot. I plan on staying like this too. Maybe next weekend, we can go to Raleigh for a hockey game.”
“That sounds great Dad.” He smiles and pats my shoulder. I go upstairs and call Emily.
“Hey love,” she answers on the third ring.
“Hey Sweetness. Busy?”
“Not at all. Dad and me are watching a movie. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to tell you that I talked to my dad.”
“You did? That’s great, Jake! Now you two can rebuild your relationship,” she says with way too much excitement.
I chuckle. “Yeah. We are planning to go to a hockey game this weekend coming up. Should be fun,” I tell her.
“Drake will love that. Dad’s giving me the evil eye for talking during the movie, so I’ll see you tomorrow,” she says.
“Okay. I love you Sweetness.”
“I love you too.”
I set my phone down on my nightstand and plug it into it’s charger. I turned on the radio on my alarm clock, changed for bed, and laid down. I listened to music as I thought about our future. Where was Emily going to college at? Would I be fine with her going to a different college than me? How far away would it be? Long distance would be hard, but I would try. What about after college? I was planning to play with the NHL, if I could.
What was Emily wanting to do? What if Emily found someone else at college? Would she give us up for the chance with someone else? I sighed. Too many questions to which I didn’t know the answer. We would find a way. I was determined to make that happen. With that thought, I fell into a peaceful sleep.
“Hey, prom is coming up. Are we going?”
Emily looks over at me and bites her lip.
“What is it Sweetness?” I ask.
She shakes her head and smiles. “Nothing. Of course we’ll go. I just need to get a dress.”
“Why don’t you wear the one you got this weekend? You would have everyone there jealous.”