Skinny • Book 1 In The Reality Series

Calum

Staring across the waiting room, I shuddered at the sound of a woman puking in a bad next to me. Unable to turn my head since Anna was leaning against me, her head flopped over onto my shoulder emitting small snores, I closed my eyes. I opened them once again however, when I felt a presence standing in front of me.

"Here." My Dad sighed, holding out a scarlet Star Bucks cup to me.

"Thank you." I mumbled, taking the drink and sniffing it, my eyebrow cocking at the scent of coffee.

Sitting down on my opposite side, Dad pulled a few packets of Splenda from his pocket and handed it to me.

"I figured you want drink something with a lot of calories in it." He muttered, taking a sip from his own cup.

My heart twisting in my chest at the rarity of the understanding gesture I nodded.

"Is she asleep?" he questioned, gesturing to Anna.

Again I nodded.

It was his turn to nod.

Tentatively lifting my coffee up to my lips I watched out of the corner of my eye as my Dad wiped his palms on his snowflake print pajamas.

"We need to talk Calum." He said slowly.

Swallowing nervously, I stared down hard at the aquamarine, tile flooring.

"I don't know where to start." He admitted, "But the question that comes to mind first is why was there a bleeding teenage girl in my bathroom at one in the morning?"

Fiddling with the cardboard ring which circled my cup, I racked my brain for a believable excuse.

"The truth Cal." Dad added, interrupting my thoughts.

"She got kicked out of her house." I answered softly.

"So you thought you'd hide her in our house without my knowledge or consent?"

I looked down.

"Listen, Calum," he mumbled, "I may not agree with every decision you ever make. And I may not support it. But I can guarantee you that I will always support you, no matter what."

Feeling my cheeks burn with embarrassment, I nodded curtly.

"I know I'm hard on you." He continued, "And I know you hate me for it, but I was a piece of shit at your age and I'll be dammed if I'm the kind of Dad my parents were."

My mind wandering to my grandparents, I frowned, "Grandma and Grandpa are awesome."

"Now." He chuckled, "When I was a kid they were always right on top of me, always needling me, pushing me to get the best grades. I wasn't allowed to play sports or date, or hang out with friends, so you know what I did?"

I shrugged.

"I broke every rule they set." He said, answering his own question, "No sports? I was the captain of the football team. Straight As? I started getting Ds. No parties, I didn't miss a single one. No girls? I didn't just have one girl, I had ten. It was fun for a while until one of the girls called me crying saying she was having a baby and I was the father."

Feeling my eyes widen I glanced down at Anna.

"I didn't want that for you." He sighed, "I didn't want you to ever feel like you had to be someone you weren't, someone I wanted you to be. I didn't want you to give up your dream of playing pro ball to get a practical degree. I didn't want you to give up the things you're supposed to do when you're a kid, to raise a kid. Do you get where I'm going with this?"

"I think so?" I answered.

Smiling sadly, he rested his head on the wall behind him, "You should have come to me. The moment you found out she was pregnant. I could have made sure she went to the doctor and took the right vitamins, we could have prevented this from happening... I just wish you wouldn't always act like I'm some kind of monster and come to me."

"Dad, no." I said quickly, "It's not... She isn't... It's not my baby. It's uh.. it would have been... it's Luke's."

His eyes widening and a sigh of relief, Dad looked at me as if waiting for me to tell him I was lying.

"I was helping her for Luke." I assured him, "It's not my baby."

"Oh my God." He breathed, "You're a great kid, you know that?"

"You weren't saying that when I was in the hospital." I muttered.

"What?" he questioned, his face falling.

"You know, when you were mad at me."

"Calum, I wasn't mad at you."

"It sure felt like it."

"I wasn't."

I rolled my eyes.

"Calum I was scared." He informed me, "And sad, and disgusted but not with you, with myself. Do you know how much of a failure I felt like, realizing that my kid had been killing himself right in front of me and I didn't even notice."

Shocked, I shook my head, "That wasn't your fault. It had nothing to do with you. It's my body."

"I made you." He snapped, capturing the attention of a rather nosy woman sat across from us, "I love you, my job is protect you and clearly I haven't done that. I failed you."

"No you didn't." I choked out from behind the lump in my throat, "You're a good Dad."

"Cal, you think I care more about the fish then I do about you. Clearly I'm not doing a great job."

Realizing that feeding him bullshit wasn't going to do a bit of good, I sighed, "You're not a great Dad, that's true. But you're not a bad one either, and you're my Dad, and I wouldn't trade you for anyone."

His dark eyes glossy he set down his coffee cup and to my surprise pulled me into an awkwardly tight, long overdue hug.