"Grandpa!" Carlton knelt down to scoop up his granddaughter Morgan just as she ran into his arms. "Oh, there's my princess," he said. "You know, there may be something for you sitting on the couch." Morgan gasped and bolted into the house as soon as he set her down.
"You don't have to keep buying her toys, dad," Dani gently reminded as she gave her dad a hug. He chuckled and told her, "I know, but what kind of grandfather would I be if I didn't spoil her?" Dani shook her head with a smile and followed him as he slowly went inside.
He was always slow nowadays.
They went into the living room, where Morgan was very happy with a new doll Carlton had just gotten today. "She's been looking forward to being here all week," Dani told him. He smiled and said, "Well, you know she's welcome over here anytime. I've got nothing going on these days."
She looked at him with a small smile, then asked, "Are you alright, dad?" He looked at her curiously and asked, "Why wouldn't I be?" She looked over to the dining room table where he had set up their lunch.
"You made an extra plate again," she softly pointed out. He sighed in annoyance, then picked up the extra plate. "I thought Ryan would be here, that's all," he lamely explained. "I forgot you told me he was still traveling."
He went slowly into the kitchen and stared at the plate in his hand. He was very confused on why it was there. Cassie. They're for Cassie. They're always for her. "Dad?" He jumped, then dropped the plate. "Shit," he said, "sorry."
She got him to back up and said, "It's okay, it's okay." She grabbed the broom and started sweeping it up. "Mommy," Morgan said, as she stood in the kitchen entry way, holding her doll. Dani pointed at her and said, "Don't come in here. Grandpa just had a little accident."
Carlton picked up Dani and said, "Grandpas get clumsy in their old age. Do you like your present?" She nodded with a huge smile and said, "I love it! Thank you, Grandpa." She hugged him around the neck, then placed a kiss on his cheek.
He set her down and watched as she ran off to go watch T.V.. When he turned back to the kitchen, Dani was eyeing him skeptically. "What's going on, dad?" She asked. He quirked an eyebrow and asked, "What do you mean?"
Sighing, she said, "I mean, something's up. You never leave the house, you always set out an extra plate setting, no matter if Ryan is here or not. You're forgetting the simplest things, like you're own birthday, what you were going to grab from upstairs...where you live."
Carlton sighed and sat himself down at the kitchen island. "I'm fine, Pumpkin. It's just...old age." With tears in her eyes, she went over to him and said, "No it's not. You're not even that old, dad. Let me take you to our family doctor, he can check you out."
He got himself to stand up as quickly as his body would allow and said, "No, Dani. I told you, I'm fine. Now, I suggest we all start eating before Morgan gets cranky. I raised you, so I know how she gets like her mum."
Dani didn't find that amusing because she was so focused on how he's gotten slower since the last she saw him. That was only last week.
"Dad, how is it you move like this?" She asked. "You exercised everyday, you were an olympic runner. You were the healthiest man alive in my book. Now you can barely walk." Carlton ignored her and called, "Morgan, lunch is ready!"
Morgan came running in and sat herself next to Carlton. "I made your favorite," he told her. "Ham and cheese with crusts cut off, cut into triangles." Morgan gasped in delight and dug in. Dani ate while keeping an eye on her father.
Throughout lunch, Carlton had Morgan laughing up a storm from his impressions and jokes. He showed her the water bottle trick that Dani always begged him to do when she was Morgan's age.
"I'll stick her in your old room," he told Dani once Morgan passed out at the table. He had only picked her up halfway when it looked like his arms were going to give out. Dani quickly took her from him and said, "I've got her. Just relax, you've done enough."
Carlton put his hand over his eyes as Dani went upstairs. What is going on? He thought to himself. Deciding to brush it all off, he picked up the plates and put them in the kitchen. "Dad, I've got those," Dani said as she took a plate from his hand.
As she was scrubbing a plate, she said, "I have some news." Carlton took the plate from her and dried it as he asked, "What is it?" She tried to repress her smile, but it was clearly difficult to do. "I'm pregnant."
Carlton nearly dropped another plate! "Honey...oh my God, wow! Congratulations!" He brought her in for a tight hug. She put her head on his chest and said, "Thanks. We found out it's a boy and decided that...well, his name is going to be Benedict Carlton."
His body tensed around hers as he asked, "Are you serious?" She looked up at him and said, "I am. Benedict Carlton Caverly." He pressed a long kiss to her forehead and told her, "Thank you, Pumpkin."
She kissed his cheek, then went back to doing the dishes. Once that was done, she said, "We should probably get going. Are we still on for dinner on Friday?" He nodded and told her, "Of course."
"Okay," she said. "Are you...are you sure you're okay? When you picked up Dan it looked like your arms had just about given up on you." He shook his head and told her, "I promise, my darling, I'll be fine. Stop worrying about me and worry about your family."
"You are my family," she retorted. "I would feel so much better if we just got you checked out. It could be something or it could be nothing. I would really like to know." Carlton sighed and pursed his lips. "I don't like the doctors," he told her.
She scoffed, "Obviously." After giving a loud sigh, he told her, "Fine. But only to put your mind at ease and so you can stop focusing on me. Just let me know when." Dani hugged him and said, "Thank you. I'll call you when I have the details."
**
This was not how Carlton wanted to be spending his day. He was sitting in a waiting room with Dani, hoping to be called in by the doctor very soon here. He hated this, but if it was going to ease his daughter's thoughts, then it was the least he could do.
"Mr. Carlton," a nurse called. "You can come back now." Dani walked with a slow Carlton and followed the nurse into a room. "Thank you," Dani told her as she shut the door. Carlton attempted to sit on the patient's table, but didn't seem to have the strength to.
"Oh, daddy," Dani cried. He waved her off and sat down in the chair instead. When the doctor came in, he introduced himself as Doctor Watts and started asking Carlton some questions. "You said you can't remember where you live?"
Carlton rolled his eyes and said, "Only sometimes, it's very rare. Anyways, that's why I don't leave the house very often, I suppose." The doctor wrote this down, then said, "Well, I'd like to do some additional tests, but to me it sounds like you might be getting Alzheimer's. Between forgetting things, to losing muscle movement and strength, it's a high possibility."
Dani quickly piped up and said, "But he remembers my mom. He sets out an extra plate for her every night." Doctor Watts told her, "Remembering certain points in life and thinking they're happening today is very common. When he sets out the plates, he's just remembering a time when he had to do that and he lives in that time, even if it's just for that moment."
Carlton scoffed and shook his head. "I do not have Alzheimer's," he told them. "I don't care what you or your damn tests say!" Dani gasped, "Dad! Please, listen to him, he knows what he's doing." He looked at her oddly and asked, "He does? He didn't know what he was doing when your mother was in the hospital!"
Both Dani and Doctor Watts looked at him oddly. "Dad, he wasn't her Doctor," Dani gently told him. "That was in London, remember?" He raised his eyebrows and said, "Yes, London, I know! Bloody hell, I've only been here my entire life."
"Here?" Doctor Watts asked. "Here as in D.C.?" Carlton looked at him as if he were stupid. "London!" He shouted. "How many times do I have to say it!" Dani put her hand on his shoulder and begged, "Dad, please. Hey, it's okay."
Carlton looked at her...but now he seemed confused. "Darling, you're tearing up," he said. "What's wrong?"She just slowly shook her head and let some tears fall. "Is there any way he can stay with you?" Doctor Watts asked. "I would like him to be watched over until the test results come back."
Dani nodded and said, "Of course. I'll take care of him."
**
Over the course of the next couple of weeks, Carlton lived with Ryan, Dani and Morgan. He didn't completely understand why half of the time, even if it did get explained to him time and time again. Each time it was explained, he would say having Alzheimer's was "ridiculous".
When Doctor Watts called Dani with the test results...that's exactly what he had. He was prescribed pills and he took them daily, but it just seemed to get worse and worse each day. Somedays, he didn't know where he was.
"Where's Cassie?" He asked one day while sitting on the couch, reading a book. Ryan and Dani were watching T.V. and Morgan was playing on the floor. Dani was about to say something, but Carlton asked, "Is she at work again? I swear, your mother works herself too hard some days."
Dani and Ryan looked to each other in question. Each time they told him Cassie had died thirty-five years ago, the reactions to it got worse and worse. "I'm sure she'll be home soon, dad," Dani told him.
Carlton smiled and said, "I hope so. I miss her." Dani was doing everything in her power not to cry and Ryan was trying to comfort her.
Somedays, he would go into a fit if he realized Cassie wasn't home and would try to call her...but couldn't remember her number. That just got him even more upset. Dani would assure him that he would remember after he took a nap and when he woke up, he wouldn't remember being upset. He would just be back to normal.
Things got really bad when he would wander off and the police would have to pick him up. One day, he wandered to the White House to try and visit Cassie. Dani had to drive down to the police station to bail him out after he attacked one of the guards for telling him Cassie wasn't there.
This went on for five months.
By the time Dani was nearly nine months pregnant, Carlton was too far gone. "I'm just saying, they can take better care of him in a home," Ryan told her. Dani shook her head and told him, "No. He needs us, Ryan. I'm not going to just abandon him."
"He calls you Morgan and calls Morgan Dani," Ryan said. "He doesn't even know who I am half of the time." Dani gave him a sharp glare and shouted, "We are not abandoning him! He is my father, he needs me. My entire life, he's looked out for me, done everything to protect me. Now, he needs me to return the favor. That's exactly what I plan on doing."