"How are you doing, Dad?"
I smiled and shook my head. We were at my daughter Bethany's wedding reception, and she was asking me how I was doing. Say what you want about my ex and my relationship, but we did pretty good in the parenting department. Either that or we were awfully lucky. It was probably a little bit of both.
"I'm supposed to be asking you that." Bethany smiled at my reply and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. She stepped back and her smile turned into a frown, which confused me until she reached out and wiped off the lipstick she'd left behind. I couldn't resist teasing her. "You know, you don't need all that makeup. You're beautiful without it."
It was an old joke between us. It went back to her early teens when she was just starting to figure out how much makeup was too much. We used to argue about it all the time.
"That's what I keep telling her." Neil walked up and wrapped his arm around my daughter. I guess he had the right now that he was her husband. Who was I kidding? He had that right long before they said their I dos, but only because no one else made my little girl's eyes shine the same way.
Bethany and Neil had that special spark that some couples had. I hoped it would help get them through the tough times, and there would be tough times. All marriages had them. Mine certainly did. Unfortunately, Bethany's mother, Adrian, and I didn't make it, but if I was being honest, that spark wasn't something our marriage ever possessed.
Don't get me wrong. There was definitely a time when we loved each other. Hell, I think down deep we still did, but just not in that way. You didn't spend almost twenty-five years together without it being based on something real. Unfortunately, that wasn't always enough.
"Dad, I know it would have been your twenty-fifth anniversary next week. If Mom having Don with her bothers you, you don't have to..." Bethany was always good at reading my moods.
"I'm fine," I interjected. "And Don seems like a nice guy. Believe it or not, I'm happy for your mother. You have to forgive an old man for feeling a little melancholy at his daughter's wedding, but I lost my little girl to this joker today." It was a sad attempt at humor. Neil was kind enough to laugh. Bethany stepped away from him long enough to give me a hug and whisper in my ear.
"Don't be ridiculous! I'll always be your little girl." She stepped back into Neil arms before adding, "And you're not that old. You're only fifty-one."
"You know," Neil teased. "My aunt Ann is single..."
"Don't even think about it." I did not want to be set up by his newly minted son-in-law, or anyone else, for that matter. Besides, I'd met his aunt Ann. She was single for a reason.
"I'm just saying, I can almost guarantee you'll get lucky tonight. I mean, you know women and weddings." Neil had a twisted sense of humor. It was one of the things I liked about him, my daughter, not so much, at least not in front of her father.
Bethany slapped Neil on the shoulder, which only made him laugh, pull my daughter into a hug and give her a quick kiss. Of course, Neil being Neil, he couldn't leave it at that. She stepped away from Bethany and grinned at me before adding, "I could let Aunt Ann know you're interested. Just say the word."
"You do and my daughter will be a widow before the night's over." The threat was meaningless, but he got the point. Neil looked ready to tease me some more, but he glanced behind me and whatever he saw made him lose his smile.
"Oh hell," my new son-in-law sighed. "Here comes Walt Millerson. He's one of the partners at my company. I didn't want to invite him, but I couldn't exclude him and invite the others."
"That must really suck now that you're giving your notice when you get back from your honeymoon." My son-in-law was very good at what he did and was quickly moving up in his field. He hadn't planned on leaving his current job quite yet, but he received one of those offers you can't refuse from another company.
"Right?" Neil snorted. "If I'd only known when I sent out the invitations." He sighed, glanced over my shoulder again and added, "At least the arm candy with him this time looks more age appropriate."
"Wow, she's pretty," my daughter added. I was curious, but I didn't think turning around and staring would be all that polite.
"They always are." Neil took a breath and looked at my daughter. "Let's hope this one has a brain. The last one was half his age and a quarter his IQ. Well, I supposed we can't avoid him forever."
"Are you sure?" I grinned. "I've been dodging your aunt Ann all night. So far so good." That made Neil laugh again, which was sort of the whole point. Of course, the down side was that it also made my daughter groan.
"You know," she sighed dramatically. "I'm just starting to realize just how much you two are alike."
"No way!" Neil replied. "I'm much funnier."
"And better looking," I added easily. "But only because you're younger. Besides, I'm still smarter."
"What do you mean only because I'm younger?"
I know some people might be surprised by my relationship with Neil, but the truth was that I'd known him since he was ten and moved in next door. His father was a good guy, but he worked a lot and was on the nerdy side. I was the one who taught Neil how to play baseball. Hell, I'd taught him a lot of things over the years. On the other hand, I learned quite a bit from him as well. My daughter could have done a lot worse.
"You should have seen me back in my youth," I laughed. "I was pretty damn good looking." I'm sure my son-in-law was ready with a good comeback, but this guy Walt took that moment to find Neil and my daughter.
"Neil! My boy!" The man said as he interrupted our conversation. He actually tried to shoulder me aside, which was pretty funny in its way. Of course, I had to reach out and put my hand on my daughter's arm to calm her because Bethany wasn't nearly as amused. I thought she was overreacting a bit, but it was her wedding day and emotions were high. The guy seemed oblivious as he looked at her and added, "And this must be your lovely bride!"
He opened his arms as if he expected my daughter to give him a hug. Instead, Bethany stepped closer to me. Frankly, I didn't blame her. He was giving off a creepy vibe.
"Yes, I'm Bethany," she said with a frosty smile. "And this is my father." I stepped forward, in part to shake his hand and in part to put myself between him and my daughter, which I guess was silly in a way, but like she said earlier, she would always be my little girl and Bethany clearly didn't like Walt.
The guy actually looked at me with what seemed like a touch of distaste, which was odd since we'd never met before. Walt probably never had a chance with Bethany, but he wasn't helping himself any.
"Hi, I'm John." I offered my hand, figuring it was my job to keep the peace.
"Ah yes, the man who considers himself 'pretty damn good looking'," Walt said as he took my hand somewhat reluctantly and shook it.
So, not only had this guy tried to shoulder me aside, but he decided to judge me based on part of a conversation he'd been rude enough to interrupt. He thought I was serious earlier. I couldn't help it. I laughed.
