My name is Rae. I'm a Senior in High School. Just so you can get a mental picture, I'm 5' 1" and weigh 95 lbs. I have blue eyes, blonde hair, and wear an A cup bra, and I'd just turned 18 a few weeks before this event that changed my life.
I was home alone after school one Friday afternoon when my Uncle John called. (He's my dad's brother.) Dad was still at work, though. When he asked if Mom was home, I told him she was off on another of her trips with her sister β my aunt, Joan. That really set him off for some reason. I mean, he just blew up!
"Seems like she's always on some trip with her damn sister. If she was married to me and pulled that bullshit I'd change the locks on her while she was gone."
I was shocked. You gotta realize my Uncle John's about the nicest man you'd ever meet. I can't ever remember hearing him swear, even, but for him to say he'd do something so mean as to lock his wife out of the house was just incredible to me.
"Isn't that a bit mean, Unk?" I asked.
"Maybe," he answered me, "but she keeps traipsing off with that divorced sister of hers like that and she'll be getting ideas. In fact, I could just bet you that as soon as you're out of the house at college next fall that she'll file for divorce."
"You think so?"
"Eh, what do I know?" he growled. "But I've been watching this for years now and it seems to me like Sue doesn't even like you two that much anymore. She keeps running off with Joan and she treats your dad like dirt. Your dad's a good man, Rae. He deserves to be treated better than that."
"It's not like they fight or anything," I muttered,, but part of me knew they didn't fight mostly because they didn't talk all that much. Daddy just seems to retreat and let Mom go her own way.
"Billy's not the kind of guy that'll say anything."
"True." I shrugged.
"Do you remember the last time we were over?" Uncle John asked. "Sue was going on and on about how she's tried to get Billy to do some remodeling project and how ticked she was about how he just won't get started?"
"Yeah. Dad just slipped away from the table and didn't come back?"
"Exactly," he said. "She's always onto him like that. Talks about him like he's not even there half the time. And he's such a good man, Rae. Marsha [Uncle John's wife] says there's a zillion women out there who'd kill to have him. He's good looking, hard working, doesn't smoke, stays sober and doesn't have a girlfriend."
I had to admit that much was true.
"The right woman could bring out so many good qualities in him," Uncle John sighed. "Anyway... Tell him I called, sweetie."
That conversation was on my mind the rest of the day, and I found myself watching my daddy that evening during dinner and realizing that Uncle John was right. Daddy really is a good man. I was even checking off his good qualities as I looked at his handsome face and studied him. He really is handsome. "He keeps himself in good shape," I thought as I looked at my daddy's broad shoulders. "And Uncle John's right about how he doesn't smoke and doesn't get drunk, and if he's got a girlfriend, I don't know when he'd find time to be with her. He's either at work or at home." The more I thought about it the madder I got at Mom for not seeing how good she had it.
After supper, Dad and I watched TV for a while and I snuggled close to him on the couch. I've always done that. But when I thought about it, I realized that we usually only did it when Mom was gone because Dad goes off and messes with the computer when Mom's home. He always seems more at ease when Mom's out of town. I wonder if he actually looked forward to these times β a chance to be himself without her nagging at him.
All too soon the 10 o'clock news was over and I moved from my warm and comfy spot against Daddy's side as he stretched.. "Tomorrow's a school day, Rae-rae," he yawned. "You'd better get on to bed, huh?"
"Yeah, daddy. See you in the morning," I sighed as he hugged me and kissed the top of my blonde head. Then I went up to my room and stripped down to my panties, threw on a baggy t-shirt and crawled into bed
I had a lot of trouble getting to sleep that night. Uncle John's words kept running through my mind. "The right woman could bring out so many good qualities in him," I heard repeating over and over. I was sure he was right, but at the same time I realized that "the right woman" would mean a stepmother. I started to cry, cuz I didn't like the idea at all.