All I Ever Wanted(101)

“I was picturing Denzel Washington. Not Dwight Schrute here.”

“I love Dwight Schrute,” I said.

“Yes, but do you want him sleeping with your mother?” she demanded.

“Good point.” Hester and Louis were staring at each other, all sorts of icky pheromones flying. “You can come live with Noah and me,” I whispered to Bronte.

“I probably will,” she said huffily. But a little smile played around her mouth.

“Okay, kids, gather ’round,” Dad said. “Well, I wish my father were here… Callie, where’d he go?”

“He slipped out of his collar and ran off! I don’t know, Dad! He has a girlfriend. Can we leave it at that?”

“Sure, Poodle,” he said, all sparkly and Clooneyesque. “Well, Bluebird, would you like to tell them?”

Bluebird. Bluebird. My breath caught.

“You go ahead, Tobias,” Mom said.

Dad looked around at us all. “Your mother and I…” His voice grew husky. “We’ve reconciled. And we’re getting married.” His gaze rested on me a long second.

My eyes flooded. I covered my mouth with one hand, absolutely stunned. He got her back! He did it.

For a second, I was right back in that upstairs window, watching my father leave, and the memory of that wrenching, twisting heartache made me dizzy. Back then, I would’ve given twenty years of my life for him to come back. And now he was. They were getting married. Married! My God! My heart felt so big I thought it might pop out of my chest.

“Way to go, Dad!” Freddie said, applauding lightly.

“Aren’t you married already?” Josephine asked.

“No, honey. Do you want to be a flower girl? You can have a sparkly dress,” Dad said.

“Ooh! Sure, Poppy! Can it be black?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Hester boomed. She shook loose of Louis’s hand. “Are you kidding, Ma? You’re not serious, are you?”

Mom glanced at the girls. “Ah, Louis…would you mind taking the girls elsewhere for a few minutes?”

“Of course,” he said. “Girls, would you like play vampires in the showroom?”

“Typical,” Bronte muttered. “I am so old enough to hear this, but I get booted anyway.”

“I call the Windsor!” Josephine said happily, grabbing her sister’s hand. “I love bronze.”

“I’ll be Van Helsing,” Bronte said, resignation dripping from her voice. Louis closed the door after them.

“I’m sorry,” Hester said, “but uh…this is f**king ridiculous.”

“Hes,” I began.

“Please, Callie,” she said. “I’m not like you, singing rainbow songs and letting f**king bluebirds flutter around my head. Dad. You cheated on Mom when she was pregnant. I think we can see that I’m emotionally scarred from that. I mean, I’ve spent my whole life avoiding men like the bubonic plague because, Mother, that’s what you taught me!”

Mom’s mouth was hanging open. “Oh, honey… I never meant to—”

“But you did!”

“And yet here you are, sleeping with the Prince of Darkness,” Freddie commented.

“Shut it, little boy,” she snarled. She turned to my parents, who’d been beaming just a few seconds ago. “And now you’re marrying him? Again? Are you insane? What if he cheats on you again?” Her breath came in jerking little fits, and I could honestly say I’d never seen her so upset.

My mom’s face was pale, and Dad’s smile had vacated the premises.

Then he put his glass down and walked over to stand in front of his eldest child. “Hester, I want you to forgive me,” he said gently.

“No f**king way,” Hester answered.

“Forgive me,” he repeated.

“Dad…” Her voice broke a little. “No.”

“Please.” He stared right in her eyes, no smile on his face, no twinkles, his eyes steady and sad. “Everything you said is true.”

“I know that!” she sputtered.

“Please forgive me, Hester. Give me another chance. Please, Bunny.”

At the sound of her long-ago pet name, my sister’s mouth wobbled. Her eyes were no longer dry. She looked at my mother, then at Fred and me.

“Come on, Hes,” Freddie said gently. “It’s true, they f**ked us up, but isn’t that what all parents do? Imagine what the girls will say about you. Stop stepping on kittens and let Mom and Dad be happy.”

My sister looked at me, and our eyes locked, sunshine and butterflies against the rhino. Then I smiled, gave a little shrug, and the butterflies won. My sister heaved a sigh. “Fine. I’m outranked, anyway.” She looked at my father. “You’re taking the girls and me to Disney World. God knows you owe me.”

“Name the day,” he said. Then he put his arms around her, and after a second, she hugged him back, and if it was awkward and less than wholehearted, it was, nonetheless, a start.

“This family is not normal,” Hester said, releasing Dad to wipe her eyes. “Not f**king normal.”

I found that I was crying (surprise!). Going to my mom, I hugged her long and hard, then went to my dad, my dear old dad, and wrapped my arms around his neck. “You did it, Daddy. You got her back,” I whispered.