Junior Year Box Set

When I got home, my missing parents were there. Greg and Angie had already left. They had watched Duke for me while I was gone. He was an absolute wild child. By the way Duke greeted me when I got home, you would have thought I’d left him for a month, not a couple of days. Once I’d finally given him a year’s worth of loving, I braced myself to hear how their week had turned out and walked into the kitchen.

“Everything’s fine. Now tell me what happened with you and Tami,” Mom said.

I looked at Dad, and he just shrugged. ‘Everything’s fine’ hardly told me anything. I knew better than to not answer my mom, though. I told them about Tami showing up and inviting herself to Northwestern, and explained that Alan and Brandon had known about her joining us and how irritated I’d been to have it sprung on me. Then I got to the hard part and told them what I had found when I returned to my room. I gave them all the pertinent details so as not to have to suffer through an inquisition. I might have left out the part where they were naked and used a condom. I also didn’t say anything about taking the promise ring because I didn’t think I wanted to admit to that. I did tell them how I felt about what happened. It was usually in the area of feelings that Mom pounced on me.

I told them about how I had acted with both Stanford and Northwestern. I confessed to threatening to fire Brandon and how I had fixed that. I wasn’t surprised when they just nodded when I finished telling my story. I guess Uncle John had really filled them in. Then it was their turn to get me up to speed.

“Your dad and I worked out our differences. We planned on talking to Phil about who his father really is, but we talked to Vickie, and she asked us not to.”

“Are you okay with that?” I asked my dad.

“No, not really. I’ve stayed quiet about it for far too long, but I have to respect Phil’s mother’s wishes. I hope you understand that it’s not just my decision, it never has been. That’s why I was never involved in his life. I appreciate that Vickie has brought us together as a family, and I get to see and get to know him. She isn’t ready to tell him she’s lied to him all these years,” Dad explained.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I would have a really tough time knowing I had a son I couldn’t have in my life,” I said.

“I hope you can keep this between us,” Dad said.

“Of course. How was Greg with it?” I asked.

“He understood. I think he felt the same way you do,” Dad said, and then got up and sat next to me and took my hand. “John told me what you said about how disappointed you were in me. I’m sorrier than you’ll ever realize. You deserve better from me, and it breaks my heart that I let you down. All I can do is try and be the man you expect me to be. You have to realize, though, that I’m only human. I never plan to disappoint you again, but if I do, I want you to know that I love you.”

I felt my throat tighten up, so I just nodded to him. I loved my parents and knew that they loved me too. I wasn’t naïve enough to think everything would be solved with just a trip to Las Vegas. I could hope that over time we would get back to where we had been as a family. Some way Phil and Dad would work it out.

“Mom, I need to say something,” I said, and she locked eyes with me while Dad sat back in his chair. “Something we haven’t talked about is your talk with Tami. I was blindsided with questions about Dad and Phil. She told me you talked with her about it.”

“David, we’ve talked about this. Tami and I are friends. I needed someone to talk to,” she said.

“Bullshit!” I said.

Dad’s expression told me wanted to be anywhere but here. My mom’s face flushed, which I was sure matched mine.

“You better explain yourself very carefully, Young Man,” Mom said in her serious voice.

“Tami’s a seventeen-year-old girl. She has zero life experience, and I thought you two were just friends. I would expect you to have talked to Mrs. A. That would make perfect sense. I’m your son, and you didn’t want to talk to me about my half brother.

“The other issue is I went to Uncle John’s for a reason. I didn’t want to be found by Alan or Tami. It seems it only took one phone call for you to rat me out.

“Both issues come back to the same key question: who do you want to be in your life for the long haul?” I asked.

“David, I expect you will both be in my life for the long haul.”

“Let me be clear: while I love Tami, I am not in love with her, and can’t foresee any scenario where that’ll happen. What I learned this weekend is that what I thought was family business really isn’t. I understand why Uncle John felt he had to tell Dad everything I’d discussed with him. I also understand why Dad told you. What I don’t understand is why you chose to tell Tami, who then felt comfortable enough to bring it up with me.