A Pleasant Surprise

I worked a Georgetown train yesterday afternoon and as I exited the pedestrian tunnel which leads from the platform to the parking lot, I heard a familiar voice.

“DAD!!!”

It was my Meagan. She was standing by the station, talking on the pay phone there.

“Hello, Scout!” I said. “What are you doing here?”

She told me she’d been visiting her brother (he lives quite close to the train station) and she had planned to meet with her stepfather. She and Scott were going to go out to dinner together.

“But now he’s gone to Montreal or somewhere on business and I’m stranded here with no way to get home.”

“It’s your lucky day,” I told her. “Actually, if you’ll agree to have dinner with me, it’ll be my lucky day too. Will you join me for dinner? Dan too, if you can fetch him.”

“Sure Dad. That’d be great! Sarah’s over at Dan’s right now. Could she come too?”

And so I waited while Meagan went to get her brother and his new girlfriend. The exact location of Dan’s home is kept secret.

(“He doesn’t want you to see that he lives in a dump, Dad.”)

We had dinner at a nearby restaurant and I listened to Dan’s plan to get a job. It was the same story he’s been telling for about two years now, but it didn’t seem to bother me this time. It just felt nice to be with him. It felt nice to be with both my kids. And Sarah seems quite - dare I say it? - normal.

Dan’s beard had been trimmed. His eyes were clear and blue. His hair was clean.

And Meagan’s hair was green. Bright green.

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