Page 62 of Resolution
“I see…” But I don’t. Why would this make her cry?
“Well… then Caroline, the girl I told you about in my driver’s ed class said, ‘You should see the way she parallel parks. God help us all if she actually gets her license.’ Everyone laughed, calling me ‘curby’ because I hit a curb one time. One time, Enzo. It wasn’t even that big of a deal. I’ve never done it before and I wasn’t used to driving the driver’s ed car. Now the entire school is making fun of me for it. I couldn’t even get on the bus. I forced myself to walk home, just so I could avoid the kids who were making fun of me.” By the end, tears fill her eyes. Crap. This isn’t something to cry over.
“Maddie, tell me more about Sophia. Have you fought with her before or is this a new thing?” There’s gotta be more to this.
“Well, I never really knew her until I started dating Soren last fall. She used to hang out with him a lot before we started dating.”
Bingo. “Well, if I had to place my bets, I’d say she’s jealous of you. She probably likes Soren and wants you to not feel good enough to be with him.”
She looks at me as if my head just spun around twice and popped off. “Me? You think she’s jealous of me?”
“Well, why not? You’re smart, beautiful, funny, and easy to get along with. You also got a great guy you’re dating. Does she ever pick on you when Soren’s around?”
Maddie thinks about it for a few moments. Placing her hand on her chin and looking to the sky for answers. “I guess not. It’s usually just a snide comment when we’re alone.”
“I’m sure it has something to do with jealousy. Trust me. Girls used to do that to my high school girlfriend Vanessa when I wasn’t around. But they’d be as sweet as honey if I was around. It used to piss her off.” Boy, did it ever. I remember many a fight over my “so-called friends.”
“Maybe…” she concedes.
“And about the thing with parallel parking… we’re not going home tonight until you can do it with one arm tied behind your back,” I tease at the end, making her laugh.
“If you say so.” She rolls her eyes.
As soon as we finish with our meal and get a ‘to-go’ box for the leftovers, I take Maddie back to Riggs’ place. It’s the only place I know that I can set up an obstacle course for her to drive through. As we pull into the parking lot, I see Michaels and Riggs are still around. Once we get out of our vehicle, I quickly fill them in on my idea. Soon, they’re both helping me create a course for Maddie to drive.
Once it’s set up, I drive through it once, pointing out how to turn at specific points, to keep the cones in place. Then I sit beside Maddie as she maneuvers it. I’ve ridden with her a few times. I know she’s a good driver, but like most fifteen year olds, she just needs practice and experience. Confidence is the biggest factor holding her back.
By the time we go through it three or four times, I actually hop out and let her drive it on her own. I want to see if she can do it without someone correcting her or warning her of things to come.
I walk over to talk with Riggs, while she drives the course.
“Hey, Harps. I heard you were in the range earlier, but I missed you,” Riggs states as he leans against the hand railing to the stairs. He’s balancing on one foot and the other is propped against the wall of the building.
“Yeah. I wanted to help Maddie let off some steam.”
When Riggs cocks an eyebrow at me, I explain the entire situation. He nearly doubles over when I explain how I didn’t have a fucking clue as to what I should do with a crying teenager who was so pissed at the world, she couldn’t see straight. The gun range was a knee-jerk reaction.
“Holy shit. You may be new, but you’re going to make an awesome dad. Not only will your girls know how to protect themselves, but word will get around that you regularly take them to the gun range. Half your battles will be won.”
We watch as Maddie makes the last turn, then attempts to parallel park on her own. She pulls up to the car we have placed in front of the designated spot and without a single correction, she perfectly parks the car on her own.
As soon as she’s in the spot, I hear a “Heck Yeah!” come from Riggs beside me and a “Omigod, I did it!” screech across the parking lot. Maddie ejects herself from the car faster than I ever thought was possible and runs toward me. I close the distance to give her a high-five, but she catches me off guard by throwing herself at me, in a gigantic bear hug. I get so excited, I pick her up off the ground and spin her around, making her squeal with delight.
By the time we settle down, Riggs and Michaels are there to congratulate her. Maddie beams with pride. After what we just witnessed, I highly doubt anyone will be calling her “curby” in the future. They each give her a high-five or fist bump and tell her they’d be happy to help her practice again anytime.
Maddie’s on cloud nine as we walk into the kitchen that evening. We quickly find Samantha sound asleep on the couch, and since it’s as quiet as a church mouse, I’m pretty sure Frankie and Dec are in their rooms asleep, or close to it. When Maddie sees Sam asleep, she whispers, “Thank you for an amazing afternoon.” She reaches out for a hug again.
“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Anytime.”
Maddie turns to go upstairs, but not before she whispers, “Goodnight.”
“See you in the morning,” I quietly return.
When I look to Samantha, I see that she’s out cold. She’s curled up on her side, with one arm under her face, the other cradling the twins. Her shirt has risen, giving me a peek of her belly. I walk over and bend to kiss the swell of her stomach. I can’t help but whisper, “Love you guys,” as I pull away.
When I look to Samantha’s beautiful face, I see she’s smiling down at me. “Don’t let me ruin your moment,” she whispers. “I’m quite enjoying it, too.”
I reach in to kiss her, too. She pulls me down to her. Instead of attempting to get comfortable on the couch, because let’s face it, there isn’t room for the four of us to snuggle in this position, I end the kiss and help her to a standing position.
