"What did you get him?"
"This stupid gadget thingy he hasn't stopped talking about for pretty much this whole year."
I say unconsciously rolling my eyes when I think about how he hasn't stopped mentioning the flying metal camera thing.
"What about you? What did you get him?"
I ask and she sighs before,
"I've been wanting to run this past you..." she says before pulling out a -
"Oh. Uhm." I feel my heart tighten just a bit.
"That's lovely." It really is, it's just that...
"Your mom's watch." She says taking the words out of my mouth.
She bought dad a watch, which is really nice. But dad has never in all the years I've been alive taken off the watch mom bought him years ago. Even more so after she died. I think it's his way of carrying a part of her with him. And she seems to know that because,
"Oh Alex, I should've come to you first. This is stupid, I obviously don't want to take the connection he has with your mom away. I don't ever want him to think that." She says sweetly and I give her a genuine smile in hopes to calm her down.
She means well, I know she does.
Dad's relationship with Mary is something I still can't fully decipher. Not in a bad way at all, it just came as a shock to me.
I'd found out that they'd become friends when dad used to come to visit me every day at the psychiatric ward, which I guess makes sense because he'd usually be there when I'd been sleeping too. Mary supposedly used to keep him company.
So they'd talked, a lot.
After I got discharged I still visited the hospital, like I'd promised I would. And Mary was still there because she'd never wanted to leave that place, she didn't want to live in a world where she wasn't with her ex-husband who'd not only cheated on her but had emotionally and physically abused her for years, I'd of course found out about the latter not too long ago.
Mary was left traumatized. I remember her situation being the biggest reason I'd decided to officially get over Ezra. That was not a situation I wanted to find myself in years from then.
But apparently dad was a big part of her healing, unbeknownst to me. He'd pushed her to seek even more help than she was getting, he pushed her to start seeing someone - A psychologist. Which was something even I couldn't convince her to do.
But she did eventually thanks to dad. It then took her a while but she started coming out of her shell. She started to get to know herself again, to learn to love herself again. And she did.
She eventually left the ward to restart her life. To find herself.
She luckily didn't have to earn a living since she'd had so much money still from the estate her now ex-husband left her with.
She'd sought a divorce from the bitter man to his utter surprise. He had been wanting to divorce her for a while but she'd refused to. So it's no shock that the divorce proceedings didn't take long at all.
Soon we were all celebrating her official detachment from the man who'd brought her nothing but misery for the majority of the years they'd been married.
I watched her transform from being someone who'd emotionally and physically given up on herself to the beautiful and strong person she now is. And apparently I wasn't the only person who'd taken notice of her newfound confidence and strength.
Dad had been in awe.
It was the first time I'd seen him look at anyone like that since mom. There was no doubt he'd been hooked.
Dad hadn't had anything substantial since mom's death. I know he'd gone on a few dates over the years, maybe even started seeing someone or two. But it was never anything real because he'd never told me nor introduced me to anyone. Of course I'd wanted him to see someone, despite him thinking otherwise. Dad is an incredible person who has so much love to give, and I want him to be happy. And I guess if anyone, I'm happy he found someone like Mary.
It was weird at first. Mostly because she IS my friend.
"Oh," was what I'd said when he told me he was going to ask her out on a date. But with time I'd learned to accept it. Maybe even preferred it.
"Hey, don't do that. Don't stress yourself about this. I'm sure dad will love it." I finally say in effort to calm her down.
If I'm being honest I don't know how dad's going to feel about the watch but I'm not going to tell her that.
Speaking of the devil,
"What are you guys talking about? You better not be plotting a surprise party." He says and from the corner of my eye, I see Mary hiding the watch.
"Dad, it's literally impossible to throw a surprise party for you." I'm not even being dramatic. You can't hide anything from the man.
"Yea, we're all victims of failing to surprise him." Says the man whose mere sight melts my heart, trailing behind dad. Their fishing trip seems to have been cut short.
"Hey babe," I say to him as I go in for a hug he reciprocates.
"Why so early?" Mary asks the thing we're both thinking.
Their fishing sessions usually take more than just two hours
"There's a storm coming."
"Oh." We say in unison.
Soon after, dad and Cody go to the lounge leaving Mary and I to finish up with dinner.
I've never been much of a cooker but I started learning because I want to be a good wife to Cody when he eventually pops the question. I like having Mary around not only because she's teaching me how to cook, but because she doesn't judge me.
She gets me for being patient with Cody, unlike everyone else. Even though I'm happy to be on good terms with Liz again, she's not my most favorite person in the world right now. She doesn't necessarily verbally judge me but you can see it in her eyes. She doesn't get it.
"How's everything going with you two?" I hear Mary ask as I do my final checkup on the steak.
"It's great. It's like every day I'm with him my love grows deeper." That's not a lie. I fall harder for him every day that I look at him.
"Does he talk about being exclusive soon?"
He doesn't need to talk about it. It's the next logical step. I just need to be patient with him so,
"I don't wanna rush him. I know that everything that needs to happen will happen." I answer her now taking the steak out of the oven.
We fix up four plates before heading to the dining area where dad and Cody are seated. Or at least I'd thought...
"Dad, where's Cody?" I ask looking letting my eyes travel around the room looking for him. Dad's entire mood seems to have changed. What is happening?
"Dad..."
Why is he being quiet?
"I told him to leave." He says to me sternly as I scrunch my forehead in confusion.
"Why?"
I don't understand.
"He's not welcome in this house and I don't want you to see him anymore." His voice is commanding yet his demeanor is calm. I've never seen him like this before and it makes me nervous.
"Dad what happened?" I hear my voice squeak as tears start coming out of my eyes.
"Hunnie, he's cheating on you." He says to me carefully. Clearly in fear of hurting my feelings or something. But,
"Yeah so?" I don't bother explaining to him what's really happening because I don't imagine him understanding. Dad has always been a bit old school.
"Alex, I don't know what is happening. But I don't want you near him ever again." He says still trying to remain calm despite his body going against his wishes.
I try really hard to mimic him but I feel myself getting angry by the minute.
"You know nothing about us!" The words slip past my lips before I'm able to stop them. I've never spoken to dad like this but he's forcing it out of me.
I feel myself starting to shake and soon Mary comes to hold my hand but I push her away.
"If he's not allowed here then I'm not too!"
I shout at the man who used to be my father as I make my way out of the house then slam the door really hard behind me.