Tina's Sleepover - I
Β© 2023 cv andrews
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My daughter's 18-year-old girlfriend Tina invites herself over for a sleepover - even though she knows my wife and daughter are out of town for the entire weekend.
Even weirder, it's Tina's dad who drives her over!
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My wife Janet and my daughter Jenna had left about 45 minutes before for a long weekend with her sister Ruth. Janet had been wanting to visit her sister for almost a year, and there's no way Jenna was going to pass up the chance to spend time with her favorite aunt and her cousins. Jenna, Robbie, and Rhonda grew up together for years and were best buds until Ruth's husband Ed got the new job in Des Moines.
Since I didn't have to be home for dinner at any particular time I decided to stop by the gym to get an hour on the machines, and when I got home I headed straight for the shower. After I dried off I slipped into my nylon track suit - perfect for lounging around the house on an evening alone.
I'd just finished my bachelor dinner of cold fried chicken and leftover tomato-and-feta cheese salad that Janet had left for me, along with a Sam Adams seasonal beer, when the phone rang. Probably for Janet, or more likely for Jenna - I couldn't think of any reason why anyone would be calling me, especially at this time unless it was Janet and there'd been some kind of problem on the drive to Des Moines.
The caller ID said
ALBERTINI NICOLA
. My first reaction, of course, was the usual: "Who the heck is Albertini Nicola? I don't know any Albertini Nicola." But I thought the phone number looked familiar so I picked up the handset that was on the end table next to me.
I was surprised to hear a familiar voice chirp, "Hi, Mr. D!"
It was Jenna's friend Tina. Then it hit me - "Albertini Nicola" - Nick Alberts! Jenna and Tina Alberts have been friends since grade school. Now they're both 18 and starting college next year. Boy, does time fly.
Anyway, I replied, "Oh, hi, Tina. I'm sorry - Jenna's not here - she and her mother went ..."
... and before I could finish Tina broke in, "Yeah, I know - they went to visit her Aunt Ruthie for the weekend ..." She hesitated. "And that's kinda why I'm calling ..."
I didn't quite get the logic of that, but I replied, tentatively, "Oh
-kayyy
...?"
"I was calling to see if it'd be OK if I came over for the weekend."
I replied, "Well, I'd love to see you, Tina, but like you already know, Jenna and her mom are in Des Moines for the weekend."
But then Tina surprised me with her response: "Yeah, I know - that's why I'd like to come over."
"Are you sure, Tina? It's just me here, and I'm ..."
"I know, Mr. D - that's why I called. And I'll leave whenever you tell me, okay?"
It was sounding like there was something special that Tina wanted to see just me about, like maybe planning something special for Jenna, though I couldn't imagine what - Jenna's birthday isn't for another ten months. Or, heaven forbid, maybe it was about her parents, or something she couldn't talk about with them.
In any case, I decided it wouldn't hurt to let her come over and I could hear whatever it was that she had to see me about so desperately.
"Sure, Tina, you can come over. Anytime that's good for you."
"Thanks, Mr. D! You won't be sorry. Promise!"
Now what could I possibly be sorry about?
I was surprised when the doorbell rang maybe 10 minutes later.
I went to the front door and opened it, and there was Tina. She was wearing a red raincoat and carrying some kind of bag - not her normal school backpack that I'm used to seeing her with all the time. This one was more like ... a "weekend bag," I'm going to call it - like a large purse or satchel, or maybe some kind of tote bag with long straps that you could carry over your shoulder.
"Hi, Tina, I wasn't expecting you this quickly. How'd you get over here so fast?"
"Oh, my dad drove me."
Her dad drove you over to a friend's house when the friend isn't going to be there?
"Does you dad know that Jenna's not home this weekend?"
"Yeah, when she was over Thursday Jenna told us that she and her mom were going to be gone all weekend."
"And he was
okay
with that?"
"Yeah. He said if I needed a ride home I should call him ..."
I waited for her to finish.
"... but I told him I didn't think I'd need one ..."
It took me a few seconds to process the two parts of her last statement: Her father offered her a ride home,
if
she needed one? But Tina told him
she didn't think she'd need one??
And this explanation was OK with him? Like, he accepted it??
"Here, let me get my raincoat off - it was drizzling a little when we left, but I think it's stopped now." Tina unbuttoned the lightweight crimson raincoat she was wearing and slipped it off. "I'm just gonna put it here in the closet, OK?"
Let me tell you a bit about Jenna's friend Tina. Like I said, they've been friends since they were in the second grade together, and over the years Jenna's spent a lot of time at the Alberts' house and Tina's spent a lot of time here.
Tina was always a cute little girl with curly dark brown hair, a straight "Roman" nose, and a happy smile. Over the years, she's matured, of course. Her curly hair has become longer and richer looking. Her face has matured, too. For one thing, as she's gotten older her eyes have assumed an, almost almond-shaped, exotic look, and they go beautifully with her complexion - an olive - what I think of as "Mediterranean" - skin.
And I remember when she and Jenna used to run around the back yard in the summer in their underpants, squirting each other with the garden hose, and I remember noticing Tina's firm, straight legs, and how even then how her bottom was beginning to assume a firm, round shape. But then again - tell the truth, now! - what father hasn't noticed these kinds of things? Even if he'd never, ever do anything, still, a guy can't help noticing, right?