“Mom, no. I don't want to upset you.”
Pam squares her shoulders. “This isn't about me.”
Dad can't help himself, interrupting. “It's most certainly not about that miscreant, Pamela! He has no right to–”
“You have no right to do this, James,” Pam says to my dad, challenging him with a forcefulness Declan would admire deeply.
I know I sure as hell do.
“Excuse me? I'm trying to protect everyone from him.”
“You're trying to assert your will over people who have wills of their own,” she flatly declares. She looks at Amanda. “Do you want Leo here?”
Uncertainty fills Amanda's face, but she closes her eyes, looks down, and says, “We saw him a few weeks ago.”
Time stops.
Just for a few seconds, but it's enough.
“You did.” Pam says it flatly, sadly. Her reaction to stressful news is the same as Amanda’s: A whoosh of air comes out of her. She’s clearly struggling to control her reaction.
“I did.”
“It's okay, Mandy. It's fine to see your father.” Her Revere accent comes out, blooming under pressure; the end of the word father is cut off, the r consumed by the past.
“I know it is, Mom.” Amanda looks up at Pam, eyes begging for forgiveness, understanding, empathy, compassion. “I had to. He reached out.”
“He did?”
“Yes. Finally.”
“FOR ANDREW'S MONEY!” Dad yells, as if we're all stupid and haven't pieced together some chain of facts he's pre-convinced himself is the truth.
“No,” I say back loudly. “He hasn't asked for a penny.”
“Not yet!”
“Not ever.” Pam's mouth goes firm, set in a grim line. “Leo's not like that.”
“How do you know, Pam?” Dad challenges.
“How did you know your late wife, James? I was with Leo for long enough to know the man. He may be a drunk, and a terrible father, and even an accidental killer, but he's not sniffing around our daughter so he can get money. He's here because he's trying.”
“You don't have to see him, Mom. And we can send him away.”
Gerald watches all of us with keen eyes, his quiet strength always a plus. Unlike in most situations, though, he speaks.
And speaks to Amanda.
“Amanda? It's your call. I can send him away. I can let him in.”
She nods, then looks at Pam. “He brought a present for the boys.”
“He did?” Her mouth softens. “What was it?”
“Red Sox hats and little onesies.”
All of the blood in Pam's face drains out, her hand drifting to the back of a chair for support. “Red Sox?” she whispers faintly.
“I know, Mom. I know!” Amanda starts to cry. “He wants to try to make it right.”
“He gave up that right long ago,” Dad blusters.
“Did you?” I challenge him.
A deadly silence fills the air, my gut twisted in agony but my heart standing firm.
“Excuse me? What does this have to do with me?”
“Nothing, Dad. That's the point. Stay the hell out of it.”
“Someone has to make sure they're protected from him.”
“He made mistakes. He's trying to make amends.”
“Some mistakes are too great to ever fix.”
“Like when you blamed Declan for saving me instead of Mom?”
The front door code beeps at that exact moment, Terry's face popping in, Leo behind him.
“Hey, everyone! I came over to meet the babies and this is Leo. He says he's here to...”
No stranger to family tension, Terry's deep voice fades fast as his eyes ping from me to Dad, finally settling on Amanda with compassion. Quick to cross the room, he inserts himself physically between Dad and me, a wall between us and Amanda and Pam as well.
“What's going on?” Terry asks, voice calm yet firm.
“I was just explaining to Dad that people deserve second chances. Fathers, especially.”
Terry's eyes narrow and he gives me a look that says, Are you sure about that?
“Leo?” Pam gasps, looking like a deer in headlights.
Leo's in the foyer, neck tipped up, eyes taking in the high ceiling, the double staircase, the whole nine yards. Because I grew up here, I don't think about how it looks to others.
But he lets out a long, slow whistle. “Heya, Pammy. Check out these digs.”
My mother-in-law is one for polite laughs, so it's rare to hear her completely let loose, but now is one of those times. Raucous laughter, the nervous kind that bubbles out under tension, comes out of her like Silly String being sprayed by a four-year-old at the family dog.
“Leo,” is all Pam can say in between giggles.
“Hey.” Leo's gaze settles on Amanda. “Hi, Mandy. I hope you don't mind. You gave me your address and I know I shoulda texted or called but I was afraid you'd say no, and I didn't want to bug you. I didn't know if the babies had come yet, but I wanted to see you either way. A buddy lent me his car, but today was the only day I could use it and maybe it was wrong and man, I'm feeling like a jerk right now, so...” He takes a deep breath after all those words, unnerved by Amanda's silence.
All she can do is stare.
His eyes cast down, and his head dips into a submissive posture. Shoulders dropping, he turns back to the door. “I'll–I'll go now. I shouldn't've come.”
“NO!” Amanda stands up, then bends over, clutching her pillow with one arm, Charlie with the other. In an instant, I'm next to her, the searing pain of this moment something I can practically taste.
“No,” she says softly as I ease her down, taking Charlie out of her arms. “No, Dad. Please stay.” Raised eyebrows and a sad smile are all she can manage as she looks at Pam.
Who nods.
Then walks out of the room toward the kitchen.
“Hello,” poor Leo says to Dad. He shuffles closer to Amanda, his gaze on Will as he walks past.
Dad says nothing, eyes deadly.
Terry walks over to me and whispers, “Leo is Leo Leo? Amanda's dad?”
“Yes.”
“Holy smokes.”
“Uh huh.”
“Want some whisky?”
I look at our father, who is watching us with the narrow-eyed expression of a man trying to figure out how to dominate. “Nope. Later. Need all my
