A Matter of Perspective

Chapter 2 - Graham

"You up, Joe?" Graham bellowed up the stairs, hearing a slow shuffling noise from the ceiling above him.

"Yes, do you have any coffee made?" his son's voice echoed down the hall. "I need coffee. Lots of coffee."

Graham watched with amusement as Joe slowly walked down the stairs, pushing his messy hair back out of his face and yawning noisily, his eyes still closed as he reached overhead to stretch.

"Tired?" Graham quipped, a smirk evident on his face. "Too much FaceChatting or whatever it is you were doing last night."

"FaceTime, Dad. FaceTime," Joe rolled his eyes and pushed past his father toward the kitchen, bumping into the table and countertops before finally coming to rest in front of the coffee machine, leaning down to inhale slowly. "Yes, give it to me. Give me the good stuff."

Graham snorted before following his son and sitting down at the kitchen table, leaning back to study the boy-turned-man that was now rapidly chugging coffee out of a massive mug.

"What?" Joe grunted, noticing his father's expression. "I told you I'm tired."

"Clearly," Graham grinned. "So, how is Dianne, anyway?"

Joe shrugged, before beginning to gulp more coffee.

"So you just stare at each other for hours over FaceChat? There's no talking?"

Joe glared at his father over the rim of the coffee mug, and Graham had to hold back a laugh at how his facial expression instantly transformed Joe into the stroppy teenager he had dealt with so many years ago.

"No, we talk," Joe sighed as he made his way over to the table, seemingly aware that he wasn't going to be able to escape this conversation, as Graham hadn't moved from his seat.

"What do you talk about?" Graham pressed. "Come on Joe, you're not a kid anymore, we can have these conversations."

Joe's face cringed slightly at the thought of having this conversation with his father, and Graham held back another laugh. "I want to know about her, Joe! I want to know about the girl who has clearly won my son's heart."

"It's just weird," Joe mumbled. "You and me...we don't talk about this stuff."

"That's because you've never had someone to talk to me about," Graham pointed out, smirking as Joe rolled his eyes at the truth in his words. "I've met Dianne once, and it was in the middle of a ballroom while she had feathers on her head...all I'm asking is for a little insight into who she is so when I meet her next time, I'll be able to talk to her about more than just...well, you."

"Don't even think about it," Joe glared again, "You are officially forbidden from bringing up any stories of my childhood with Dianne, from this moment forward, you have to swear on it."

Graham reached up and put his hand over his heart, "I solemnly swear I will not. Unless she asks. Then I'm telling her about the time you ran around with underwear on your head when you got into that Captain Underpants series...weird lad you were..."

Joe groaned and leaned his head into his hands, "You're the worst, Dad."

Graham chuckled lightly, "Alright, come on then. How's she doing? She's in Australia with her family, right?"

Graham watched as Joe smiled, despite his obvious annoyance at his line of questioning, before responding softly, "Yeah. She's doing really good...I think. I mean she's jet lagged as can be, but she's with her family for the first time in months...I know they make her really happy."

Graham nodded, hoping his son would continue to open up in this way. Joe had been right when he said they didn't talk about this kind of stuff - and it wasn't just because Joe had never had a girlfriend before. Graham always prided himself on being a father that you could depend on - for everything but emotions. He left that to the kids' mother, who excelled at reading people's thoughts and feelings. He knew from when Zoe and Joe were little that he would be the dad who taught them how to ride a bike, change a tire, and understand the rules of football. If they had problems with friends or significant others, he had always defaulted to his wife. After they split, the division of responsibilities had become even deeper, with the kids having to actively seek out his advice on things now that they weren't all living under one roof.