She’s right, but the look on Emme’s face prevents me from agreeing with her. “My entire life has already changed, and so has Emme’s.”
“I can provide her with stability that you can’t,” she counters. There’s desperation in her tone and I’m unsure what the cause is. She’s not particularly close with Emme that I know of, despite working at her school.
Besides that, I haven’t even had a chance to prove I’m capable and already she’s telling me I’ll fail. “You think your revolving door of husbands is indicative of stability?”
Her expression shutters and she snaps at me, “Far more stable than you and your Tinder dates and sleeping around with whatever woman you pick up from the bar.”
I pin Linda with an unimpressed glare. “You don’t know the first thing about me or my personal life. Emme is my sister. I’ll make whatever lifestyle changes necessary so I can support her and be there for her.”
It’s not like I have a rotation of women warming my bed all the time. I have an old acting friend I see once in a while when she’s in town. It’s a no-strings kind of thing because we’re both too busy for relationships. Linda’s making me sound like a playboy, when in reality, I’m a thirty-year-old with a healthy sex drive, and I like to be safe and smart about my partners. I don’t just screw randoms on a whim whenever I feel like it. Not that I need to discuss this, particularly not in front of my sister.
While I’m not sure I’m the best option, I don’t want to disrupt Emme’s life more than it already is, so if that means I have to move back here, then I’m willing to try to be the parent she needs, even if I have no idea how to do that.
“Maybe we should ask Emme what she wants.” Linda smiles encouragingly at her. “Do you think it would be better for you to live with me, honey?”
Emme looks from Linda to me and back again.
“It’s okay,” I tell her. “You can answer the question honestly, Em. I only want what’s best for you.” Although it might literally kill me if she says she’d rather live with our aunt.
“I want to live with Dax,” Emme says quietly.
Linda sighs, annoyance pushing through. “Of course she wants to live where there won’t be any rules or supervision.” She pushes up from the chair. “This is a mistake. You don’t have the first clue what it takes to care for a teenage girl, Daxton. I think you should seriously consider the demands and whether this really is best for Emme.”
And suddenly I realize I’ve gone from single to single dad.
Once Thomas leaves, Linda packs her things, her frustration at the situation clear in the jerky way she moves around the house. I understand her shock, but I can’t quite figure out why she’s so upset. It’s not like I’m a drug addict or I go partying all the time. I’m more of a workaholic than anything.
After she leaves, I search my dad’s office for the trust files, aware it’s another thing I’m going to need to go through. It’s been months since it was set up, and aside from the initial meeting, I didn’t have much to do with it. I find a set of papers tucked into a filing cabinet in my dad’s desk. They’re a draft and not exactly what I’m looking for, but it’s a start and I’m too tired to keep looking. It appears my parents kept every file from birth for both of us, so locating the full trust documents will be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Later in the evening Felix comes by with a six-pack of beer. He was at the funeral yesterday, but I haven’t had a chance to talk to him since he delivered the news that my parents were gone. Emme’s in her room, exhausted by the whole custody thing and the reading of the will this morning. Frankly, so am I.
I grab the file with the will, and Felix follows me outside to the backyard and drops down in one of the rickety Adirondack chairs my dad and I built together a good decade ago.
“So give me the lowdown. What happened with the will?”
I pass over the documents and give him the abridged version. “I have custody of Emme.”
He’s silent for a few seconds, leafing through the papers without really reading them before he clears his throat on a low whistle. “So does this make you Daddy Dax?”
“Screw you, asshole.” I laugh a little, though.
I need to find humor in something. Felix is a joker and he’s good at making light of things. He sort of has to be, seeing as he’s a criminal defense attorney and he deals with some messed-up cases. I’m more than happy to spend my days dealing with actor contract negotiations, and the occasional harassment suit, thank you very much.
“Seriously, though, your parents gave you custody of your sister?”
“Apparently they decided to change guardianship from Linda to me when I turned thirty, and didn’t tell either of us.” I take a sip of my beer.
“What the fuck were they thinking?”
I shoot him a look, although that was pretty much my first thought, too.
“I’m not saying it to be an asshole, well mostly I’m not, but come on, it’s not like you’re a candidate for the responsibility award.”
“I’m responsible.”
He snorts. “Remember that time you went to Vegas for the weekend? You forgot to manage the thermostat in your condo and all your tropical fish died.”
“That was one time, and it was an accident.”
“Accident or not, your condo stunk for weeks. We had to move poker twice until it went away.”
“I’m not good with pets.”
“Fish are the easiest pets in the world. They require minimal effort to keep alive. You sprinkle food in there and clean their tank, what, once every two months, if that? Teenage girls are like rabid, angry puppies. They’re yappy, they want your attention all the time, they make a mess. Take it from someone who grew up with three younger sisters: Even when they’re adorable, it doesn’t really make up for the rest of the bullshit,” Felix says.
I give him a sideways glare. “You should definitely never have kids.”
“I’m just saying, this isn’t like raising her from birth. You’re taking over someone else’s job when she’s on the downslide, you know? Like you missed all the years when kids actually like you and rely on you, and now you just get to deal with moodiness and fending off boys.”
“Has anyone ever told you your pep talks are legendary?”
“I just think you might need to consider what you’re getting yourself into.”
“My parents gave me custody. It’s not like I asked for it.”
“What about your aunt? Hasn’t she already raised a couple of kids?”
I’ve thought the same thing more than once today. “Yeah, but if your parents had just died and entrusted you to take care of your thirteen-year-old sister, wouldn’t you at least try?”
Felix drums his fingers on the arm of the chair. “I guess. But it’s a lot to take on. It changes everything, Dax.”
“I know. Linda kept saying that. Talking about what’s best for Emme.” I rub the back of my neck. “You know what’s weird? My parents didn’t leave anything to Linda. She’s my only aunt, and she and my mom were pretty close. Or at least it seemed that way. They helped her through some rough spots in the past, so I figured she’d get something, you know?”