Blended Family

Lin

           

I watched in amusement as Joey and her friends took all sorts of pictures in our living room.  They were all dressed up with their hair and nails done, ready for the Homecoming dance.  They were doing silly poses, making faces, and doing ridiculous selfies.

"Dad, can you take some group shots?" Joey asked me.  I let out a dramatic sigh as she passed me her phone.  They had all sorts of ideas for poses, the last being the iconic Charlie's Angels pose.

"You better get going or you'll be late," I told the three of them.  None of them had boyfriends, which was perfect in my book.  Joey had never had a boyfriend, and I hoped she wouldn't for a long time.  For now, she was super focused on school and having fun with her friends.  Most dads of 14 year old girls would love that.

They found their purses and Joey came to hug me goodbye.  I'm glad she wasn't too cool to give her old dad a hug in front of her friends.  They thought I was hilarious, so I had cool dad points.

"Be back by eleven," I reminded her.

I was exhausted myself.  I'd had Alex and Jack with me all day and they'd run me ragged.  I was ready for a beer and an early night sleep.  I'd be fast asleep long before Joey came home.  She could come home at 2 a.m. and I wouldn't be any the wiser.  Luckily, she was a pretty trustworthy kid.

Pippa had taken the kids about an hour before.  They'd been fed and just needed a bath when they got home.  As I was catching up on my DVR recordings, my phone dinged with a text.

Elliott not home yet.  Is Joey @ dance?

I sat up and replied, She and her friends just left.  I'll text her and ask her.

I shot Joey a text to ask if she'd seen Elliott.  Once they'd arrived, she confirmed she'd seen him with a bunch of his football buddies.  I texted Pippa back that he was there.  Her text back included profanity.  She couldn't exactly leave to go get him with the kids there.  I offered to come watch the kids if she wanted to go out, but she declined.  She settled for calling and leaving him a heated voicemail and multiple angry texts.

I fell asleep on the couch at some point and was awoken by my phone ringing.  I recognized it as the school's number.  Furrowing my eyebrows, I answered, checking my watch.  10:00.

"Hello?" I tried to sound awake.

"Mr. Miranda?"

"Yeah that's me," I said.  "Is everything alright?"

"Well, there was a pretty large altercation between some students at tonight's Homecoming dance," the woman explained.  "Your daughter Josephine was involved.  It happened in the parking lot during the dance.  Some of the football team and a group of students protesting that girls weren't allowed."

I scrubbed my hand over my face in frustration.  Sometimes Joey just didn't know when to stop.  "Is she okay?"

"She has some minor injuries, but she's fine," the woman said.  "Would you be able to come pick her up?

"Of course," I told her, standing up to find my shoes.  I was in sweatpants and a hoodie but I didn't really care.  After finding my keys and wallet I was out the door and on the subway.

The chaperones had taken the kids to a room near the gym.  I was greeted outside and told them who my daughter was.  As I was getting more of the story, Pippa walked up, looking flustered.

"Where's my son?" she asked the woman I was talking to.

"Ms. Soo, I assume?" the woman asked.  "He's down the hall with an EMT.  His hand got pretty banged up."