I Do It For Them

Chapter Fourteen

ETHAN’S POV

Despite her saying that, she never cancelled the arrangement and, sure enough, a nice black car pulled up in front of the house. I was surprised that Richard didn’t sit down and refuse to speak when they came in to speak to him. They had their psychiatrist come and speak to him calmly about the whole family situation. As in, they talked about me and the Avory incident (Sophia had told them all about it beforehand) and recorded his reactions and responses. I guess they were hoping to make a diagnosis that they could further look into at the moment but we weren’t allowed to be in the room with them as they spoke or else it would screw up the diagnosis. Instead, Sophia, Avory, Serena, and I went to the backyard where Avory was swimming in the pool and Sophia was relaxing in the sun. Her back had gotten better, better enough to do a bit of Christmas Shopping and hide all of the presents. Of course it was my job to put up the Christmas tree and make a trek to the roof to install the Christmas Lights (I almost killed myself in the process). Christmas was right around the corner, seven days away, and we were hoping they could get Richard into a state where he could visit the house to witness the Avory’s excitement when he sees all the presents. He would be extra excited today because I told him that Santa told me he’s thinking about giving Avory coal since Avory wouldn’t hold back on the candy. Let me tell you, he stopped eating candy that day.

Serena, since she was a baby, had black eyes up until now. She was beginning to have a bit of eye color show and they were beginning to look a bit green, like Sophia’s. Her heir was definitely going to be my hair color even though Avory had a mixture of the both of ours. She was going to be a man-eater, just like how Avory was going to be a lady-killer. And then she smiled, causing me to smile in return. Sure it was toothless and full of baby slobber but it was the cutest smile I’ve ever seen. Much like the first smile Sophia ever gave me. I tapped her nose, getting a giggle as a response before she took a firm hold of my finger. “She definitely adores me,” I announced, looking up to see Sophia pulling Avory out of the water. He looked…funny with all of those floaties on his arms and the goggles over his eyes. “I get her, you get Avory.”

“Hey,” Avory protested, letting Sophia remove the inflated objects from his arms. “Bros before hoes!”

I bit my lip, trying to keep the laugh in. Sophia nearly dropped dead on sight, she looked to me, then back to Avory. “Who taught you that,” she squeaked, completely ignoring the fact that Avory called his sister a ho.

Avory shrugged, snapping off the goggles, “I was watching Transformers with dad and Miles said it.” I immediately took my attention from Sophia and Avory and directed it to the still giggling girl in my arms. I pretended like I didn’t hear what I just heard and continued to talk to Serena. I couldn’t help but catch Avory say, “Dad said that was one of the bro codes. Right dad?”

Cursing, I lifted my head, “Sophia, understand that-”

“Mr. and Ms. Mccallehy?” One of the employees stood in the opened sliding glass door. Both Sophia and I snapped out heads in his direction. “We are ready for you guys to come in now.” I could see the worry etched on Sophia’s face as she turned to me, not even moving an inch. I relieved myself of my position on the ground, expertly holding onto Serena, and held out a hand for Sophia to grab. I guess the employee understood the pressure of the situation because he only gave her a sympathetic smile before going back into the house to join the psychiatrist. Sophia grasped my hand tightly and Avory grasped Sophia’s hand, not even understanding why he was holding her hand besides the fact that he just wanted to. Sophia wrapped Avory in a blanket and told him to go into his room to put dry clothes on while we talked to the psychiatrist.

When we went inside, they informed us that Richard was waiting in the car, with his luggage. We would be given time to say our goodbyes, the guy said, before they left. Even if I couldn’t see it, I knew Sophia was nervous about talking to her dad because she is sending him away for real. She didn’t even talk to him the time before the guys came to get him; it was like he no longer existed in his life. But, first things first, we had to hear the potential diagnosis.

The psychiatrist had his notepad sitting on the table, he was wearing his glasses, and his legs were crossed. His intensely grayed hair explained the aftereffects of taking care of patients like his. It made me want to rub my own hair, silently telling it to never grey until I was old old. He saw us and smiled politely, offering a seat. Sophia took the seat across from him so I took the seat in between the two of them, Serena still in my arms. She was quieted down by now and was simply staring up at her oh-so-amazing father with eyes full of awe as if she was thinking “How did mommy catch that?” when it was in fact the other way around.

“So,” he started out, looking over his notes. “I’ve got a potential diagnosis and, with professional help, the impact shouldn’t be so bad.” He looked at the both of us, he probably saw to grown people looking like children as they eagerly leaned forward to hear the news. “Richard has Alzheimer’s Retrograde Amnesia.” It was like he said Richard was going to die because Sophia immediately burst into tears. Not like I blame her, Alzheimer’s was a big deal. He could come back one day not remembering who any of us were. I tightly held her hand as the guy continued (his name totally left his mind). “It’s not as bad as it sounds, though. See it is only called Alzheimer’s because he is old but what matters is the Retrograde Amnesia. This is when someone forgets a part of their life with the chance of getting the memory back. He, as an elderly man, will never get the memory back therefore making it Alzheimer’s.” I nodded, actually getting what he was trying to say while Sophia only heard the Alzheimer’s part. I’d have to explain it to her later. “This requires further investigation later but would you like to come say goodbye?”

Looking to Sophia, I nodded, and relieved myself of the seat. Sophia still had hold of my hand and stood with me, following me to the front door. It was wide open, the car waited on the street, and Richard sat in the back while he stared blankly ahead. We slowly walked to the car, kind of like the walk people do when they’ve betrayed somebody. He looked at us, slightly, before he got out of the car and rounded it to come and meet us. He didn’t even have to say anything, he only had to give us that look, and then we both felt guilty. He sighed, and we both braced ourselves for a verbal attack, but he only whispered, “I am sorry Ethan.”

I wanted to gasp, I wanted to scream in joy, but I had my daughter in my arms and I didn’t want to make that much of a scene. So I blinked, keeping my cool. “Um… For what,” I asked truthfully but Sophia hissed my name, obviously knowing why he was apologizing. I admit to being clueless, I really do.

“I can only remember you being a monster.” I flinched. Thanks for sugar-coating that old man. “In between now and when you had Avory, it’s all gone. Sophia, tell me, are you truly happy?” I looked to Sophia, she looked to me, and she nodded. She nodded and she squeezed my hand, causing me to smile at her. That was good, because I was happy with her too. Not like anyone thought I wasn’t happy with her… or anyone cared. “Then Ethan, please, take care of her.” With that, he turned to leave. He didn’t even give Sophia a hug or anything, he just started to leave. Once he got to the car door, he looked at us, and then smiled before saying, “Avory will grow up to be just like you, Ethan; he will be a fine young man.” My jaw dropped. First of all, he made it seem like he was never coming back! Second, he complimented me. Jeez, whatever that psychiatrist did… he needed to keep it up.