I'm branching out a bit from my usual categories of stories. It's good to test one's boundaries, and I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did imagining and working it up.
*****
Ted woke to his cell phone ringing. It was downstairs, and normally he would just let it ring, go to voicemail, then take care of it in the morning. He looked at the clock – it was 2:30. 'Damn,' he thought. For some reason the noise had him wide awake. 'Might as well go down and see what it is.' He rolled out of bed, found his glasses in the bathroom, and emptied his bladder. Then he made his way down the steps to the kitchen where he usually left his phone for the night.
Ted picked up the phone and touched the icon indicating he had missed a call. It was his daughter. To be totally accurate, it was his step-daughter. 'Wonder why she's calling at this hour,' he questioned himself, but knew there was only one way to find out.
He tapped the phone to dial his voice mail, and listened for the automated message to start. Then he touched in his PIN code. As he brought the phone to his ear, he heard the end of the automated message "...one new message." Ted waited for the message to start.
"Hi Dad. Just wanted to talk with you about some things. Give me a call when you get a chance. Love you." The voice mail system started to list his options, but he pressed 7 to delete the message, then hung up. Her voice was a bit unsteady. It was almost as if she was holding back tears. He thought, 'well, I better giver her a call.'
He then pulled up the call on call log, and pressed the button to call her back. She answered almost immediately, "Hi Dad. Thanks for calling."
"Hi, Stacie, what's up?" Ted was always to the point on the phone. He felt there was no need to beat around the bush. In fact, he felt most phone calls were a waste of time. There was no reason tonight would be any different.
Stacie was used to it. She expected his brevity. Anyone who knew Ted would expect it. She decided there was nothing to do but get right to it. "I think it's over between Richard and me," she said, her voice quavering. "We had another huge fight tonight."
"Are you alright," Ted asked. "Do you need me to come over? You're not in any danger, are you?"
"Yea, Dad, I'm OK. I just wanted someone to talk to."
"I'll be there in a about 15 minutes," he replied, then waited for her to agree or tell him not to come over.
"Thanks, Dad," she said. "Bye."
Ted didn't wait to hear her hang up. He pulled the phone away from his face and tapped the "end" icon. He grabbed his jeans, put on a shirt, and slipped on his shoes. His wallet and keys were already in his pants, so he headed to his car in the garage.
His daughter only lived about 5 minutes away. On the way over, he went through her history in his head.
Stacie was 5 when Ted married her mother. She was a delightful child, always eager to please. But while she was growing up, it was a constant battle to see that she developed the set of values that would help her succeed in life. When she went to go visit her father, especially for the summer, she would always come back a bit wild. It was particularly a problem during her teenage years. But common sense and perseverance won out.
Maybe not as soon as everyone would have wanted, but in the end, it did. Stacie had gone to college near where her father lived, and didn't last the year. She flunked out. Did too much partying and running with the wrong crowd. She was into drugs and got pregnant. After the baby had been born, she decided to turn her life around and come back to be near her mother and Ted.
Ted had made it clear it would not be a free ride. She'd have to work, and be totally responsible for her decisions and her daughter. And to Stacie's credit, she did all that. Ted and his wife would help out occasionally by taking care of Jennifer, Stacie's daughter. About a year after moving back, she was on her own two feet with a good job. It had been somewhat of a miraculous turn around, and no one was more pleased than Ted.
Many years later, Stacie met Richard, and fell in love. Ted grew to dislike him almost immediately. It was things he said and choices he made. Ted didn't come right out and tell Stacie any of his feelings, but didn't do anything to encourage the relationship either. They ended up getting married a year later.
There were tell tales signs that things were not going well. It seems like they were always running out of money. It became clear that Richard spent everything he had, and more. The phrase "living within your means" had never made it past Richard's ears. He bought fancy pick-up trucks and boats, as well as other toys. The worst of it was his running around.
So Ted was not at all surprised when it began to fall apart and now was apparently at an end. The only good thing was that Jennifer had just turned 18 and was about to graduate from high school. She had done well in school, and was planning on going to college not far away next fall.
Ted's wife had died in an auto accident 6 months ago. They had always talked about watching out for Stacie and Jennifer if that ever should happen. Now, he was just getting back to emotional stability. He felt a need to take care of the girls – they were the only family he had left.
Ted pulled up into her driveway. He paused for a minute after turning off the ignition to gather his thoughts and calm himself. He knew she'd probably be a wreck, and he needed to be a pillar of strength. He made his way to the door.
Jennifer answered the door. "Come on in, Pee-paw," she said. That had been her name for him. She had so many sets of relatives, that calling him grandpa would never have worked. He stepped in, closed the door behind him, and followed her to the living room. Stacie had been sitting on the couch, but she got up when he walked in. She made his way to him and he pulled her in for a long hug. Jennifer joined in as well.
He told them to sit down, and he took a seat too. "Do you want Jennifer to..." he began.
"Dad, Jen knows everything," Stacie said.
He looked at Jennifer and she nodded in agreement. "OK, then," he started. "I guess the first question is how sure are you that everything is over?" he asked. Ted really didn't want to offer an option of counseling or trying to save the marriage. In his opinion, it was unsalvageable. But he felt he had to be somewhat neutral in this situation.
"It's over, Dad," she said. "I've had it. There's no way this is ever going to get better or work out. I've decided to get a divorce."
"Alright. That's decided then. What have you done so far?" he asked. "Have you talked with an attorney yet?" Ted waited for her response. He didn't want to take charge of the situation; he didn't want to even give that impression.
