“We’re all going to the game together tomorrow then I’ll see Brian after the game. Then Sunday morning Jagger is bringing my car back if you don’t care?”
Josh was surprised by that news. “And how are you getting home?”
“Brian will bring me home Monday afternoon. We just want to spend a little more time together.” His daughter sounded tentative. He didn’t know how to handle this situation. He wasn’t Sophie.
“Can you hold on?” He asked.
“Sure Dad.” Ally sounded irritated with him, but Josh didn’t care.
Josh got up from the sofa and headed down the hallway to the bathroom where his wife rested against Kai’s body. Both were now sitting up. Kai glanced up at him where Sophie’s eyes were closed; she clutched the blanket to her chest.
Josh had muted his phone. “I need to ask a question.”
Sophie opened one eye. “What?” She croaked.
“Ally is on the phone.”
“What’s wrong? Is she okay?” He hadn’t meant to cause panic, but he realized that Sophie was concerned right away.
“She wants Jagger to bring back her car Sunday morning and Brian will bring her home, Monday afternoon. They want to spend more time together.”
“Josh, why are you having problems with this? He’s twenty, not twenty-nine.”
“I don’t know.”
“You look so panicked,” Kai informed him trying not to laugh.
“Ally didn’t date much, Kai. She went to dances with guys. Otherwise she was focused. School. Sports. Afterschool activities. Not boys.”
Sophie sighed. “She was interested in boys. She just wasn’t outgoing, Josh. Right now, I feel like death. Deal with it. She’s fine.” She waved her husband away.
“Okay.”
He unmuted the phone. “Ally.”
“I’m here, Dad. What did Mom tell you to say to me,” she was more than irritated with him.
He sighed. “We’ll see you Monday. I’d like to meet Brian.”
“Whatever.” She told him she loved him and then hung up. He turned and realized that Heath was standing behind him.
“Wouldn’t Mom be more comfortable in bed?”
“She would,” Sophie agreed. “I’m sure Kai has lost all feeling in her lower extremities.”
Josh laid his phone on the bathroom’s granite counter. He pushed aside the blanket that covered Sophie and drew her to her feet. Then he lifted her in his arms and she whimpered at the pain that shot through her head as he settled her against her chest.
“I’m sorry Sophie. I tried to be gentle.”
“I know.” Her voice was no more than a murmur against the fabric of his shirt.
He carried her to the bedroom and snuggled her beneath the thick warm blankets. Delilah was crying at his feet. Heath lifted her up and laid her on the bed. She ran to the top and under the covers.
“That’s my girl,” Sophie declared trying to find a comfortable position that made her legs and her head feel better.
Josh turned and looked around for Kai. He headed to the bathroom where he found her, still sitting on the floor. “I can’t feel my butt or legs. They are tingling.”
She looked embarrassed. He smiled at her. Then he went into the bathroom and took her hand lifting her from the floor too. He put his arm around her waist and helped her until the pins and needles feeling left her. She smiled grateful that he did.