Episode 1189: Just The Two Of Us

He handed her a small container and a spoon, keeping another container and spoon for himself. “Mom’s running late, something about the theater account so I put her gelato in the freezer. She said she’d pick up something for dinner so I figured why not spoil our dinner a bit while we wait.”

“I am kind of starved,” Hope said. “Of course, I’m starved whenever I see mango gelato. Thanks for the treat dad.” Seated on her bed, she folded a leg underneath her and leaned back into her pillow to get even comfier while she ate.

Her dad sat at the end of the mattress and nodded. “You’re welcome.” He opened his container of pineapple gelato and swallowed a spoonful. “I know how hard you’ve been studying to finish the school year strong so I figured why not give my girl an excuse to take a break.”

“Um, to be honest…” Hope spun her laptop around to show her dad the word game she’d been playing. “I actually already was on a break, Dad. Sorry. I really was studying hard before that.”

It wasn’t a lie. Hope always got good grades and had been going a bit overboard lately to get them even even better. It already felt like her dad was disappointed in her for going along with her mom’s insistence that she visit her bio-dad sometimes. So in all other areas she’d tried so hard to be the perfect daughter for her dad, make him proud, make up for him having to share her with somebody else. She knew how hard it would probably be if she had to suddenly share him with some other kid.

Her dad may act all hard in business and stuff but he had feelings like anyone else. She hated that she was hurting him even a little.

“I was just about to get back to work on my science homework when you knocked, honest.”

“I trust that you were, sweetheart. Also I’m impressed. My breaks when I was a kid in no way involved brain games. Maybe you can teach me how to play it sometime.”

The best idea popped into Hope’s head. She’d been trying to think of ways to reach out to her dad, stuff to bond over, stuff for just the two of them so he’d feel less wounded when she spent time with her other dad.

“It’s got this feature,” she said, “where you can play other people. We don’t have to be in the same room, you could be on your lunch break at work and I could be-”

“Spending the most amazing summer of your young life at a camp that has a miles long waiting list that your old man managed to shoot you to the top of?” Her father asked with a grin.

Episode 1190: Talk Of The Town