The Good Hair Family Sitcom

S1 E4.1: Dad in Town

Andi's POV

The repeated smacking sound draws me into the kitchen where I see Amber aggressively hacking away at a carrot with a knife. With each chop, I become more worried that she'll accidentally take off a finger. I come over to the other side of the island to lean my elbows on it as I watch the woman violently prepare lunch.

"Since when do we make carrots fresh and not from frozen?" I question.

Amber doesn't look up as she replies, "Since I need something hard to cut to release my nerves."

She slaps the knife down again, making me flinch from the noise.

"How's that working?" I ask.

"Not well," she mutters. Then sets the knife down on the cutting board and puts her hands on the counter, saying, "Andi, I'm stressed."

"Is this about your dad?"

"Of course, it's about my dad," she confirms. "He hasn't bothered to visit or even talk to TJ and me in eleven years, and now all of a sudden he's decided that he misses his kids and wants to be a good dad. Yeah, that ship sailed along with his cruise to India."

She reaches behind her for a glass of red liquid, which she brings up to her lips to take a sip.

"Is that wine?" I ask.

"Yeah."

"It's eleven AM."

Amber shrugs and raises the glass again, saying, "If you don't look at the clocks, it can be any time you want."

After another gulp, she sets the cup down to her right, the lines of worry still on her forehead.

"Look," I say, "I know you and TJ don't have a great relationship with your dad, but if he wants to try, then maybe you should let him."

"If it were only us in this house, I wouldn't be so worried about it."

"It's about Hazel? But I thought you said he was fine with it."

Amber shakes her head and confesses, "I never told him."

"You never told him?" I repeat, my eyebrows going up.

"No. Because I knew he wouldn't accept her, and I'm scared to hear what he's gonna say now."

"Well, he's met Hazel before, and he always liked her," I reason.

"Yes, but that was before the dresses and the makeup and the puberty blockers..." Amber's anxiety is clearly audible in her tense voice. "He still only knows her by her deadname."

"Well, if he's coming to stay here, then you have to tell him," I respond. "It's not fair for Hazel to have to hide from her grandfather."

"I know, I know," Amber says. "I hid from him for eighteen years, and it was horrible. He's still a little weird about having two gay kids, but nowhere near like he was at the start, so maybe this will go over okay."

"Okay, so when he gets here, we'll find a moment to talk to him alone to explain it," I suggest.

Amber nods, but a second later, she asks, "What if he isn't okay with it?"

"Then he can leave," I answer. "This is out house. He's a guest in it, so he'll either be respectful or be gone."

Our conversation comes to a halt as Hazel enters in from the hallway, coming up to us with determined intention in her movement.

"Can I have eighty dollars?" she asks. "And before you say no, just know that it is for a very important cause."

"What cause?" Amber questions.