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into the elevator with her arms wide.
“Ella!” Mom hugged my wife so hard, Ella got pushed into the
elevator’s back wall. They rocked back and forth, laughing as if they shared
the funniest, most delightful joke ever told.
Dad stood in the entrance, hands in his pockets, watching them.
“Doreen, thank—”
“No, no,” Mom interrupted Ella, pulling away just a little. “You call me
Mom.”
Dad held the doors open to let them out, and I followed into the house.
“Thank you, and…” She looked at my father, making eye contact,
which I knew was hard for her. The possibility that Dad was delivering on
his One Big Thing to me, but without really forgiving us for all the lies, was
her biggest fear, and she took it head-on, first thing, like a boss. “I’m so
sorry about everything. I understand if you aren’t ready to say it’s all okay.
But I’m going to earn your forgiveness.”
“Before you take another step into my house, know this,” Dad said
sternly enough to make my body react.
The only thing that kept me from getting physically between him and
my wife was Ella’s hand, gently keeping me still.
My father saw the split-second interaction and smirked. “Know this,” he
said more softly. “My son should be mad at me. I tried to enforce happiness,
and he did what was necessary to protect himself. I brought the lies on
myself, on the one hand. On the other hand, if I hadn’t? He wouldn’t have
found you, and he wouldn’t be as happy as he is, so…” He shrugged. “It
worked.”
“It did,” I said, putting my arm around Ella.
“That’s not a cue to do it again,” my mother said to Dad, her voice
heavy with consequences. She turned to Ella. “Just tell me you’re happy
too.”
“So, so happy.” Ella pulled me closer.
I believed her, at least. Three weeks into the real beginning of our real
marriage, after an unplanned honeymoon in Palm Springs where we did
nothing but fuck and laugh, I believed she was happy. We had years to go,
and some of them would be harder than others, but I couldn’t imagine any
of them without her by my side.
“Dinner’s on the east patio,” Dad said, leading us.
“Which one’s that?” Mom asked, taking his hand to slow him down.