Love Is Ǝvil

17 I'ma Give You The World

The front door shut close with a comforting, final thud. He leaned against the wooden panel. "Fuck!", a long, bewildered syllable. His heart was still beating too fast and his hands still shook nervously. He couldn't believe this.

The foyer was inhabited by the shadows of his home. The stairs wound their way upward, dark holes where doors should be, a small strip of light stuck in the chandelier high up. An all familiar sight, but unreal now. How was this his life?

His feet moved on their own, into the kitchen. Good choice. He could use a drink. Something that calmed his nerves. A coke wasn't good enough, but it would need to do. There was light in the kitchen and his daughters sat around the table eating their dinner. Bad choice. Abort! Abort!

"Hey Dad", they greeted. "You look excited, something good happened?"

He didn't know about good, but something definitely happened. You're welcome, by the way. He could've managed on his own. "Same old, same old." As he looked into the fridge, again nothing seemed appealing. A bottle of red pop caught his eye, there was a strawberry on the label. With his drink he sat down next to his girls.

"That's mine", Whitney complained immediately. That he should've guessed.

He looked at the label deliberately. "Doesn't say Whitney on it, so it's mine now." Sweet, that it was, teeth eatingly sweet.

Hailie smiled innocently. "Shouldn't you still be out? Tonight's date night, isn't it?" Not at all an innocent question. How did she know? Did she read his calendar or what?

Well, he had told them he'd be late, so they wouldn't wait for dinner. But that didn't automatically mean he had a date. There were tons of reasons for him to miss dinner. Nope, there actually aren't. You had an actual date tonight and I was on fire! I totally crushed it. "Didn't take as long as I thought. Happens", he dodged around the real answer.

"Good things don't take long", she replied, still with that innocent smile. He would not be fooled.

Marshall shrugged his shoulders. "Apparently." Okay fine, he was excited. How could he not? Nicolas had given him his phone number. No stupid dating app required anymore. That was freaking amazing. You, my little gay looking boy, officially have a boyfriend now. Congrats. But stay safe, don't get knocked up yet. This pop was too sweet. He went back to the fridge and to his surprise he found a bottle of tonic water. Who drank that around here? Lucky for him. The mix tasted much better. He leaned against the countertop.

"Don't you wanna share the good news with us?", Lainy asked.

Did he look like the sharing type? Actually ... Shut up, just once! He could feel the big smile on his face, he knew how he looked, thank you very much. It just wouldn't go away. "There ain't much to say. Was a good meeting with some breakthrough."

"Dad", Hailie scolded him sternly. Since when did she get to use that tone with him? Had he dropped his parenting in the last couple of weeks because of this mess? He needed to pick up the slack around here.

"Don't dad me." Very parental of him. "How was your biology exam? Your grade must be in by now."

She winked dismissively. "I aced it, duh. But the real question is: How well exactly did your date go?" She watched him closely. "I mean, are you gonna bring her home any time soon or what?"

"What do you care so much?"

"Because you're our dad", Lainy answered instead. "You're all up in our dating lives, too. It's because you love us. And so do we. It's annoying but that's how it is."

That was downright heartwarming. "What do you guys want?"

Theatrically Hailie grabbed her chest. "Dad, you don't think we could use your affection for us for some evil deed. We are good girls, we would never."

"But", Lainy interjected with a sly smile, "if you just can't help yourself but think we're too cute to resist, I want to make a suggestion. How about I and my dear little sisters, who I just can't live without, arrange a, let's call it an intimate get-together this weekend here. Just a couple of our friends come over, maybe we do a little karaoke. Nothing big, just a bit of fun. And you, dear father, could take the whole weekend off for your mystery girlfriend and spend some quality time with her. It's your birthday after all, you deserve some grown-up fun. How's that sound like? It's a great idea, isn't it."

That raised all the warning bells. His father senses jumped in immediately. This sounded like a terrible idea. His girls alone in the house, throwing a party? "Nope. No way. Forget it. Not in a million years."

"Dahad", three voices whined high pitched. They needed a license for that. Why couldn't girls have a change of voice, too? They're not wrong, though. Now that you have a fucking boyfriend, spend some quality time with him. But not if it meant his three teenage daughters would throw a party, for a whole weekend. He knew how that would turn out. Don't be so uptight. Treat your family to some fun. He wasn't uptight, it was called responsible. Same difference, old fart.

"You can whine all you want, I won't change my mind." Not for the whining of his daughters and sure as shit not for the whining in his head.

"Dahad, that's not fair." More whining. They wouldn't win.