I THOUGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED SINCE IH AD MET HIM IN THE HALLWAY AFTER 3RD PERIOD. IT HAD ALL HAPPENED SO FAST. FOR EIGHTEEN YEARS, ID LIVE MY LIFE IN A NORMAL WAY, CRUISING ALONG A COURSE THAT SEEMED SO PEACEFUL, SOMEWHAT PREDICTABLE, T...
I smiled to myself when I remembered Dave introducing his mom to Lydia and decided I was going to do it the same way. I put myself between them and nervously said, "Dad, I want you to meet my other dad and mom, Ben and Lydia Dresden. This is Lawrence Manning."
My father's eyes darted over to me and there was a mixture of confusion and a little hurt, but also a fair amount of understanding in them. He kind of froze for a moment, as did everyone, then he stepped forward and shook Ben's hand. Ben shook his hand warmly and grinned sheepishly, knowing how awkward this must be for this man, but trusting that I knew what I was doing and feeling. Ben knew from our looks and body language that we had obviously worked something out, and I could see some pride in his eyes that I introduced them this way.
Larry solemnly said, "It's Larry. It's so good to meet you two, finally. I uh... I want to give you my deepest thanks for all you've done for Cole, all the help you've given him and the... the support."
Lydia said, "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Manning. We're glad you came."
That was all she said, but everyone there caught the tone and inflection in her voice. No one could have said it was harsh or anything like that, but it was, well, ice cold, like a tender smackdown-- a motherly one, but a smackdown nonetheless. Larry smiled very nervously, nodded his head in agreement and looked almost panicky at me; but I had nothing to offer.
Lydia was something else! That woman could make you feel like the most wonderful person in the world with a word or a smile, or she could make you wish you could sink into the floor and disappear in shame and embarrassment with a mere look.
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No one said anything about it at the time, but I was ever so grateful I wasn't in my father's shoes.
I mentioned this little episode later to her, and she chuckled as she said, "I'm sorry hon, I still had some issues with him and his treatment of you at that point." She feigned innocence with a little smirk and said, "I didn't say anything bad to him; I just couldn't quite feel real warm towards him yet." I laughed and told her she had nothing to be sorry about. I hugged her and told her again how much I loved her and how glad I was that she was my mom.
I knew what my dad had said about Dan costing big bucks had to be true, but I really did want my dad to meet Khalil, so I jogged down the corridor and stuck my head into Khalil's room. He was sleeping, lookin' so cute all propped up on his pillows in spite of the wires and bandages and all... and then it hit me-- we hadn't told Khalil yet about all that other stuff that had happened, doctor's orders, and bringing my dad in to meet him was gonna open up the can of worms. Man, I didn't wanna have to explain that to him, no way, gimme some time to put it all together in my head...
