Mulligans

35. Fine

Kayakers paddled across the lake in front of the pier as Stacey sat with her tea. The morning silence was only intermittently broken by the rhythmic slosh of the paddles slipping in and out of the water. Hearing the creak of the pier, she turned to see Tyler walking its length toward her. After reaching the bench where she sat surveying the lake, Tyler sat down beside her and laid his head on her shoulder.

"How'd you sleep?" she asked, resting a hand on his thigh.

"Not so good."

"It's going to be fine."

His gaze darted up to hers. "Fine?"

"You know what I mean. We've been through tough stuff before."

They sat in silence for a few moments, listening to the gentle waves lick against the lakeshore.

"So much for having the perfect family," Tyler remarked dryly.

Stacey smiled and patted his leg. "Perfect is overrated. Let's aim for functional, and we'll be one step closer to happy."

"I don't even know how I'm gonna look at Dad."

"He's having enough trouble looking at himself. He's still your dad; he's always been a good dad. This doesn't change that."

Tyler considered this for a few moments and then lifted his head from her shoulder. "Mom, did you know?"

Stacey looked at her son and smiled bravely. She didn't answer and she didn't need to. "I love your father, and we've had a good life together. You can't blame a person for who they are."

Tyler lay in his bed and tossed a baseball up into the air, watching as it spun and fell back into his mitt. His eyes wandered over to the closet, where the empty wire hangers clinked together, dancing in the draft from the open window. There was a light knock on his door.

"It's open!"

His father slowly opened the door and nodded to him. Tyler looked away and went back to tossing the ball. "Tyler, can we talk?"

Tyler gloved the ball and sat up in his bed. "I'll go first. I hate what you did to Mom. I need you to know that."

"Tyler, I'm—"

"Let me finish. If you ever hurt her again, it'll be the last time you see any of us," he threatened.

"Okay."

Tyler sighed. Those words had been pent up inside him all week. Now that the anger had been channeled out of him, he looked at his father and searched for the empathy his mom had asked him to try to find. "I'm trying to understand it all, Dad."

"That's all I can hope for, thank you." He smiled and then his gaze drifted over to the other twin bed in the room. "Have you talked to Chase?"

"There's nothing to say," Tyler remarked coldly and went back to tossing the baseball up in the air.

"I know what I did was stupid," his dad admitted and grabbed the ball out of the air to get Tyler's full attention. "There's no excuse in the world that can change it, but I'm still your father. I'm the same guy I always was. I shouldn't have lied to your mother and I shouldn't have lied to you."

His father walked to the window and looked out. "When I met Chase, I realized what my life might have been like.... And it was exciting to think about. I wouldn't change the past. I'm not giving up on our family now, but it might look a little different. What happened with Chase wasn't his fault, and it doesn't change the fact that I love you very much, Tyler. Think about it, okay?" he asked as he tossed the ball back.

Stacey watched as Birdy flipped through the colorful packages in the wood box and pulled out seeds for marigold and wisteria before handing them to her. They sat in the gazebo in the backyard, and Birdy had several pots of various sizes set out with her gardening gloves and trowel, ready to begin planting.

"Oooo... I like this one too," Birdy exclaimed, handing her a seed package for Stella de Oro daylily.

Stacey set her jaw firmly as she took the package. It was the same flower Chase had selected a week earlier, the one she had promised to plant as a perennial reminder. Well, everyone around here was going to learn to be a little flexible, including herself, she decided, and ripped the package open.

"Where did Chase go?" Birdy asked while slipping on her gloves.

"He's gone to stay somewhere else."

"Did he and Tyler break up?" she asked, as if this were the most probable scenario.

"Tyler and Chase were never dating."

"But they loved each other. I could tell." Birdy placed a seed on the end of her finger and pressed it into the soil.

"They loved each other like good friends. And right now, there are some issues they need to work out," Stacey explained, joining Birdy on the ground.

"Because Daddy kissed Chase?"

Stacey paused and looked at her little girl. She'd been working so hard at protecting her children, and here was evidence her efforts were in vain. Birdy stated it like a fact, with no judgment, just something that had happened.

"Yes, Birdy, because Daddy kissed Chase."