I pulled my legs up so I was curled into his recliner, and sighed. “The doctor wants to do them next Thursday, as long as the antibiotics have cleared up the infection. So I’ll take her into the office on Wednesday to check them, then to the hospital on Thursday morning.”
“What did she say about putting Reb under?”
“That the anesthesiologist knows what he’s doing and she’d trust him with her kids.”
“Ok, then. What’s got you worried?”
“Everything. Reb’s going to hate the IV. She won’t understand what’s happening and I’m afraid she’s going to be scared. I’m worried that she’ll have a bad reaction to the medicine they give her. I’m worried that she’ll wake up and I won’t be there. I’m worried about everything.”
“It’s okay to be worried, kid,” Dad said, setting Rebel on the floor again as she tried to get her knee on his shoulder. “There’d be something wrong with you if you weren’t. But you can’t let it make you crazy. You’re not making Reb get a tattoo or pierce her ears, you’re making her get tubes in her ears so those ear infections don’t mess with her hearing. You have to do it. There isn’t a choice here.”
“That doesn’t make it easier.”
“Nah, it doesn’t. But necessary, yes.”
Dad growled at Rebel and tossed her into the air, the muscles in his tattooed forearms flexing as he caught her. I took a deep breath as I watched them, calm settling over me like a warm blanket. I knew the feeling was temporary, but I still let myself relax into the chair.
My mind had been racing all afternoon with possible reasons I could ask the doctor to hold off on the surgery, and I think that may have been fueling my panic. Trying to find just one excuse to back out had made everything worse, but listening to my dad as he mentioned that the surgery wasn’t a choice had lifted that burden from my shoulders. He was right. Rebel needed the surgery. No matter how I felt about it or how scared I was, putting tubes in her ears would stop the pain of the ear infections she’d been getting for as long as I could remember.
My phone rang on the arm of the chair and I snatched it up as soon as I saw Will’s name on the display.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hey, sugar. Where are you? I’m at the house and you’re not,” Will said.
“Oh, shit. Sorry, I forgot to tell you we were having dinner at my dad’s.”
“No worries,” he said easily. “Doctor figure out what’s going on with the baby girl?”
“Yeah,” I glanced up and found my dad watching me from across the room. “She’s got ear infections in both ears.”
“Ah, shit. Poor thing. They give you meds for it?”
“Yeah—hey, can I call you back?” I said uncomfortably as my dad continued to stare.
“Sure. Let me know when you’re headed home and I’ll meet you here.”
“Okay.” I hung up the phone, pulling my dad’s move without a thought.
I set my phone carefully on the arm of the chair before meeting my dad’s eyes.
“Who was that?” he asked, sitting Reb next to him on the couch.
“Will,” I answered, lifting my chin.
“Thought you were done with that.”
“We’ve been seeing each other for a while,” I replied as his eyes tightened in anger.
“Thought I told you to stay away from the Aces.”
“I thought I told you that I’m an adult and I can see anyone I want.”
“You’re bringing Rebel into that life?” he asked glancing at her. “You think that’s what Mason would want?”
“Mason’s dead,” I replied flatly. “And you didn’t like him much when he was alive, so I’m not sure why you’d bring him up.”
“Yeah, you’ve obviously never given a shit what I say.”
“Will’s good to me,” I said softly, getting to my feet. “He’s sweet to Rebel and he acts like I’m the best thing he’s ever seen.”
“He’s neck deep in Aces shit,” Dad replied in frustration, climbing to his feet, as well. “He’s a fucking criminal. He’s been arrested half a dozen times.”
“I don’t see that!” I said, my voice rising. “He’s not like that with me.”
“He’s like that all the goddamn time, Molly Ann! You can’t just shut that shit off. That’s his life.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I ground out, moving toward Rebel’s bag at the end of the couch. “And I’m not arguing with you about it.”
“Those people will pull you into the gutter with them, is that what you want?” Dad asked as I picked Rebel up.
“You tell me, Dad,” I mumbled, meeting his eyes. “You’ve been working for them for twenty years, what’s it like in the gutter?”
He didn’t move. Not a single muscle. But I think that was the closest my dad ever came to hitting me. He was furious beyond anything I’d ever seen.