The Unexpected Dad
Piper and Nick waited at the front door of Bob and Betty’s house in Briar. Bob had invited them over to make an announcement and they were curious to hear what it was. Nick said that Bob was “very excited” to tell everyone about a special addition to their house. Dog? Child? Piper didn’t know.
“Great seeing you guys,” he said as he opened the door. “Come on in.”
Piper followed Nick into the family room of the house, where they found Flypaper and Betty sitting on two of the three couches in the oversized room. Flypaper was seated next to a very attractive Asian-looking woman whom he introduced as his date. A boy sat on the third couch opposite to everyone wearing a pensive expression.
“Nick and Piper, let me introduce you to my new son, Brian.”
Brian had a freckled appearance similar to that of Betty’s, so Piper assumed he was Betty’s son. Must have had him prior to meeting Bob as he looked a little older. Brian looked around the room at everyone in a nervous sort of way, appearing somewhat out of place and shy.
“Hi, Brian,” Piper said. “Nice to meet you.”
“Yeah, nice to meet you,” Nick added.
“Thanks,” Brian responded.
“So, how old are you?” Piper asked.
“I’m nine.”
Bob sat down next to Brian on the couch and put his arm around him. “His dad passed away last week, so now his mom has custody. We’re going to raise him here and will be enrolling him in elementary school on Monday. He’s the son I always wanted.” Bob said as he leaned closer to Brian with tears welling up in his eyes. “Didn’t think it possible to have my own kids. So lucky this fine young man has come into our lives.”
Betty smiled at Bob just before wiping her eyes. “Brian is going to love it here living with us. So much to do. Fishing, boating. He’ll never get bored. And we’re going to have a very nice Christmas, Brian. Very nice.”
“That’s great, really great,” Flypaper said. “Kids are such a blessing.”
“There are lots of kids in the neighborhood and Brian will fit right in. Plus, Bob’s cabinet shop is doing very well, so I’ll be able to work part-time and pick him up from school every day and help him with his homework in the afternoons,” Betty added.
“That’s great,” Piper said.
She looked about the room, noticing its eclectic mix of contemporary navy blue furniture, glass end tables, and grey-colored walls. Stuffed marlins, tuna, and wahoo covered every wall, which was something one would expect from a fisherman. It was surprisingly neat, devoid of stinky socks, which was something unexpected. Betty must be a good influence.
Brian got up from his chair and headed into the kitchen. “Can I have a soda pop, please?”
“Of course,” Bob answered.
“Thanks. I’m going to go in my room and play Minecraft.” He opened the refrigerator, pulled out a soda, and headed down a hallway into another room.
Bob let everyone know that Brian’s life hasn’t been the most stable. Though his dad had full-time custody, he wasn’t always a full-time dad. His parents and others often watched Brian to help out. But when he passed away, Bob and Betty gave a convincing argument for full-time custody. No one in the family protested.
Piper never realized that Betty had a son. No one ever spoke about him. She looked over at Bob and decided that sometimes unexpected dads make great dads. Hopefully that will be the case. No demons were in the room; that was for sure. She had scanned every corner and crevice quite well. No beer was in the room either. Maybe Bob wasn’t drinking.
“We’re happy for you,” Flypaper said. “You’ll make a great dad. You can take him fishing and boating. You guys will have a blast.”
“That’s the plan,” Bob said. “Anyone up for a beer?”
No one, not even Betty, wanted a beer at that point, which was around 4 p.m. Piper sensed a change in the room.
“Seriously? Betty you don’t want a beer? Flypaper? Okay, I get it,” Bob said, “too early for beer. How about some rum punch?”
“Thanks, but no thanks. I’m driving,” Flypaper said.
His girlfriend smiled at him in approval. She probably didn’t drink and Flypaper was probably trying to impress her. He never talked about drinking and driving before. Piper turned to Betty and took pause.
What’s with Betty? Why doesn’t she want a beer? How unusual! It’s not like she needs to drive anywhere.
“Just not in the mood. We need to be sober around Brian. He’s too new here to see us drunk. Plus, we promised them. Remember? We promised things would be different.”
“Oh, yeah. True,” Bob said. With a loud sigh, he slumped his shoulders and glared at the refrigerator. “Well, then, what else can we do? You guys want to play some poker?”
“Sure, that works,” Flypaper said.
“Works for us too,” Nick added.
“Let me see if Brian wants to play,” Bob said as he stood up.
Piper could hear him asking Brian to play, but Brian was too wrapped up in his video games. Kids. She pictured the way her kids would probably be doing the same, if only she had kids.
She thought of Cherie and how she had lost two kids. Poor woman. And poor husband, Chase. The last time she saw Chase was at the foster home.
Her thoughts turned to Bob. The opportunity to say something to Bob about God didn’t present itself, as Brian’s presence was in the forefront of every conversation. Maybe God put Brian there to influence a change in Bob. Maybe he was changing for the better. As the hours passed, Piper noticed that he never opened a beer.
***
On the way home from Bob and Betty’s house, Piper decided to call Cherie. She hadn’t spoken with her much since the incident, so she wanted to check in to be sure that everything was okay. Plus, she wanted to find out how Chase was doing.
“Hi Cherie. How’s it going?”
“It’s going fine. Actually, much better than expected. Chase has made some important decisions in his life that will benefit us all. He doesn’t want me to tell anyone yet, but you’ll be hearing about it soon. Believe it or not, I’ve found peace. I forgave my attacker and decided to move on. Hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but once I did it, I found it liberating. And even better than that, my husband has found God.”
“I know. I’m so happy about that.”
“He gives you and Nick a lot of credit. I do too. Thanks for being there for us. I promise you that I’ll be there for you if you ever need anything.”
“Thanks, Cherie. I’ll be there for you too. Let’s get together soon. I’d love to see you again. Catch up on old times.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
***
Chipper greeted Nick and Piper at the door when they arrived home, wagging her tail and signaling that she needed to go outside to relieve herself. Nick was happy to oblige.
“Outside?” He asked as he grabbed Chipper’s leash.
Chipper barked.
Chipper hadn’t been the same over the past week, spending more time than usual curled up in her dog bed. Piper had an appointment to bring her to the veterinarian the next day, just to be sure that everything was okay. She was getting older and becoming frail, having out-lived many dogs of her same age and breed.
Piper headed over to the couch, where she figured she would finish reading an old classic by Max Weber, “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.” She propped a pillow for her feet on the coffee table and plopped down.
“Piper,” Nick hollered from the front yard.
“Piper, come here!”
Piper ran to the front door where she found Nick carrying little Chipper, whose body appeared lifeless.
“What happened?”
“I walked her and she just collapsed. She’s passed, Piper. She waited for us to get home so she could give us closure. Must have known it was her time.”
Piper put her hands over her mouth and closed her eyes. Sadness overcame her. That little dog was such a blessing and could never be replaced. Tears formed in her eyes as she took a deep breath and tried to maintain her composure while trembling.
She followed Nick back into the house in a silent shock and watched him as he gently placed Chipper’s body in her dog bed and covered her up with a blanket.
“I had an appointment with the vet tomorrow,” Piper said.
“Well, that’s where we’ll both be taking Chipper tomorrow. How sad.”