“That’s my girl.” My dad appears behind her, holding out his fist for Claire to bump.
She laughs loudly before she runs back down the hall, heading toward the elevator. I tilt my head up at my father, staring at him with a look of disbelief. He simply steps forward, grabbing my arm and pulling me into a hug. I sigh in defeat as I wrap my arms around him, giving him a gentle squeeze before pulling away.
“Don’t give me that look,” he tells me, a finger pointed in my direction. “I can’t spoil you girls anymore the way I can spoil her. I miss it. Let me be the fun Grandpa, honey.”
“Aren’t there other ways you can spoil your granddaughter that don’t involve pumping her full of sugar before you drop her off?”
Neve laughs from behind me and Blue coughs, trying to stifle her own laughter. “Oh, there’s plenty. But that’s not as enjoyable for me.”
“Are you coming slow pokes?” Claire yells from down the hall, the sound of her feet pounding against the floor as she approaches. “The elevator is waiting.”
Claire grabs my dad’s hand, pulling him down the hallway. The three of us girls follow behind them, stopping at the elevators as she hits the up arrow. She’s bouncing on the balls of her feet, anxiously waiting for the arrows to flash. Once the doors open, she runs on and hits the button for the fifth floor, a sugar-high grin covering her face.
“Thank you for watching her,” I say to my dad once we reach the apartment. “If you don’t have any place to be, I was wondering if you wanted to hang around for a bit?”
“Hey, little rascal,” Blue calls out to Claire as she bursts inside. She stops in her tracks and turns around, looking at her aunt with a confused expression. “Why don't you get your warmer coat, and you, Neve, and I will go down to the park for a bit? Burn off some of that energy.”
Claire’s face lights up before she comes running back to the door, opening the front closet. She rips her coat off the hanger and hastily puts it on, all the while running out of the apartment and taking off down the hall. I can’t help the laugh that escapes me as Neve chases after her.
“Take your time.” Blue places a comforting hand on my arm. “Text me when you’re ready for us to come back.”
I watch as Blue slips out the door, trying to catch up with my daughter and sister. When I turn back around, my dad has a nervous look gracing his face. His eyes never leave mine as I walk inside, slipping out of my jacket and tossing it on the back of one of the dining room chairs before sitting down.
“You’re worrying me, peanut,” he tells me softly, pulling out a chair of his own to sit down in. He reaches forward and grabs my hand that rests on the table, giving it a squeeze to grab my attention. “What’s going on?”
“Well, first things first.” I take a deep breath before plastering on a careful smile. “I was talking to Neve today and told her that, if she wants, she can move into the spare room here.”
My dad’s eyebrows shoot up as his eyes widen, and I can’t tell if it’s out of relief or disappointment. He sighs heavily, sitting back in his chair as he peels his hand away from mine. “As much as I love that girl, I think it’s better for her to be here with you, to get out of the house. Is Travis okay with that, though? I don’t want him creating any problems between the two of you. I mean, you know how your sister can be.”
I try my best to stifle the nervousness that is rising within me. I feel my hands grow clammy as I wring them together in my lap, taking a moment to look anywhere but at him. Truth be told, I am terrified to tell him about what has been going on. Not because I think he’ll be mad at me about what transpired, even though I know he will be, but because he’ll be disappointed that I haven’t said something sooner.
“It’s actually up to me,” I tell him simply. “He won’t be around for a while, actually, and I don’t see him living here anymore. I dropped him off at Tallgrass Treatment Center the night of the match event three weeks ago.”
There. Quick and… kind of painful.
“Oh, wow.” A deep crease appears between his eyebrows. “Okay, I’m not sure where to start.”
I lean forward, grabbing his hands. “I do. You need to know that Claire and I are okay. I can handle things on my own—have been for some time now.”
“Peanut, no.” He shakes his head. “That’s not my worry at all. I’ve always known you can handle yourself, and you’re an amazing mother; I have never doubted your parenting ability. But Mar, it’s okay not to be okay.”
“I know, but I actually am,” I tell him honestly. “This isn’t the first time he’s been in treatment, and it feels like Claire and I have been on our own for a few years now. Our relationship ended a long time ago. I was just too afraid to admit that to myself until I dropped him off.”
My dad gives my hand a tight squeeze, forcing my eyes to drift back up to his. “Does he know that? What is Travis expecting once he completes the program?”
If he completes the program, I think. But I don’t say that.
“That’s the thing.” I hesitate, taking a deep breath. “He proposed to me that night, at the match event.”
“Marlowe—”
I shake my head, cutting off whatever he is about to say. “I said no. But he gave me the ring and told me to hang on to it. Said that he wanted me to keep it so he can prove that he’ll be back to get down properly next time.”
“And what did you say to that?”
“Nothing. I didn’t want to completely destroy him before he went in there. I’m trying to help him get clean, and if he needs to hold on to the belief that there may be something for him to come home to, then so be it.”
He sighs, looking at me with disappointment clear as day in his eyes. “Marlowe, you know waiting may have been worse. I’ve known Travis for a long time, and I can see something like that ruining whatever progress he’s made.”
