Daddy Parker's Arc

Chapter 8 of 10

Daddy Parker made the call that night. He opened the drawer, pulled out the bill, and dialed the clinic before he could talk himself out of it. The woman on the line booked the youngest for next week and set up a payment plan he could handle. He hung up and sat in the kitchen with his hand flat on the table. Delores came in then, in her robe, and told him she had picked her sixth father. She had picked him. She slid an envelope across the table with the kids' crayon letters inside. He read each one twice. The next evening he drove the family out to a roadside place with a hand-painted sign and a wood porch. The kids ran ahead up the steps. Delores held his arm. Inside, they took a booth by the window and ordered too much. Steaks for him and Delores. Burgers for the kids. The youngest pointed at the menu and said the word for fries clear enough that Daddy Parker caught Delores's eye across the table. She squeezed his hand under the booth. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. A waitress wheeled out a cart for dessert. On it sat a two-tier cake with blue frosting and four ice cream cones standing around it like candles. "Happy Father's Day" ran along the bottom in piped gold. The kids cheered. Jeffy got chocolate on his chin. Jeremy traded his cone twice before settling. Daddy Parker cut the cake himself and gave the corner piece to Delores. He watched her laugh at something the oldest said and felt the tight knot in his chest loosen a notch. The bill at home was still big. The plan was still thin. But tonight the table was full and the kids were loud and his wife was here. When the plates were cleared, Delores reached into her purse and pulled out a small wooden pendant on a chain. She had carved his likeness into the oak herself, or had someone do it. He couldn't tell which and didn't ask. She stood, walked around the booth, and slipped the chain over his head. The kids lined up beside her. "Happy Father's Day, Daddy," they said together. Jeffy said it twice to get it right. Daddy Parker touched the pendant against his shirt. He thanked them. He meant it. On the drive home he kept one hand on the wheel and one on the wood at his collar, and he thought about the appointment on the calendar, and the five other fathers, and the one slot he still had not filled.