“She made it abundantly clear when I was pregnant that she was never going to let a baby wreck her body. I never believed the baby scam for a moment,” Pam shared.
That did sound like something Cora would say.
“Want me to send Cassidy out to kick her butt for being mean to you?” I offered.
“If it ever comes to that, I plan on doing it myself.”
Pam had hung around Tracy long enough that I had no doubt she could handle herself if things got physical with her sister. Heck, if it all went south on her, she had a Taser. Cora would be in for the shock of her life, so to speak, if she ever pushed Pam too far.
“Let me know if you ever decide to do it. I want to capture it on video.”
“Thanks, I think.”
“You’ll need the video evidence to prove she provoked you. Plus, I want it so I can sell it to Sandy. She would pay big bucks for that one.”
I finally heard Pam chuckle. I knew I’d goofed around enough to get her out of her funk.
“David?”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I said.
◊◊◊
Chapter 12 – You’ve Got A Friend Wednesday February 8
It’s funny how your experiences can make you see things differently. My kids were all taking after Little David by learning to walk. Mom and I were in the living room watching Little David and Coby show off their skills while Cassidy, Peggy, and Dad made breakfast.
Coby pulled himself up using the coffee table and promptly fell on his butt. That triggered his face to scrunch up and his tears to well up. Then my mom began to sing to him.
Her choice of song surprised me. It was a classic I’d always thought of as a love song, but it fit perfectly with the little one’s newest adventure. The song was
It started out talking about if you felt down and troubled that the singer would offer a helping hand. When my mom sang to Coby, he looked up and saw her with her hands held out to him.
The little giggle-box forgot about wanting to cry as Mom continued to serenade him. I joined her when she sang the chorus where it told Coby to call out our names, and we would come running. Mom helped him stand and held onto both his pudgy little hands as they swayed to the music.
In my mind,
“Breakfast!” Peggy called to break up our little sing-along.
I scooped up Little David while my mom took care of Coby. Happy babies can brighten up even your darkest night, in both the song’s and my opinion.
My happiness turned to concern when I saw my dad grab the countertop with both hands, his eyes close, and his head drop.
“Rob,” my mom said with concern.
“It’s just a dizzy spell. Give me a second,” he said.
Mom handed me Coby and rushed over to my dad. He opened his eyes and gave her a sheepish smile.
“I forgot to take my pills this morning,” Dad admitted.
Mom sent me upstairs to get his medicine from their bathroom. I came back downstairs with them in hand.
“I’ve been able to cut back because I’ve been getting better. Sometimes it reminds me I need to take it easy,” Dad said to assure my mom. “I just forgot to check my heart rate this morning.”
They’d given Dad a battery-operated cuff he put on his forearm that checked his blood pressure and heart rate. Thankfully, he was responding well to the treatment plan his doctors had laid out for him.
It was still early, but they expected he would be okay and live a long life. Dad was relatively young and in decent shape. They wanted him to lose some weight, but that wasn’t an uncommon issue for someone his age.
Heck, my brother had put on a few pounds. It made me worry he might end up with problems similar to my dad’s when he reached dad’s age.
“Should we talk to Greg about his weight gain?” I asked.
My dad’s eyes narrowed at me, but then he let go of his initial irritation at the perceived dig and took what I asked seriously.
“I’ll have a talk with him,” Dad assured me.
I was relieved because my brother wouldn’t take me as seriously as he would Dad. Greg would think I was making fun of him. In truth, Greg wasn’t really overweight yet, but if he continued, he would be. With our family history of heart issues, keeping his weight down was something he could do to help. It was something we both needed to be aware of.
◊◊◊
I’d decided today was put-up or shut-up time as far as dating a girl at Lincoln High. I’d run through the list of candidates in my mind.
There were a handful of girls who would have made the decision easy if they were actually attending school with me. The short list included Halle James, my actress friend in Hollywood; Kara Tasman, a top model in New York; and Missy Stone, my favorite redhead at Wesleyan and now off to college.
