I turn to Spencer. “What are you doing? Getting the band back together? This looks like your ten-year ‘we pulled it off’ reunion.”
Spencer sips his beer, looking off in the distance towards the rolling hills that surround his farm, and feigns disinterest. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. But just for the record, it’s been sixteen years, not ten.” Then I catch him grinning into his mug.
“It’s gonna catch up with you one day,” I say.
He shrugs. “It always does.” Then he looks at me and his expression goes serious. “But don’t you worry. We’ll still win in the end.”
Ronnie is suddenly in front of me, smiling. “OK, that’s enough of that talk. Vic, your daughter is delightful. She needs to be enrolled in Saint Joseph’s pronto. I have all the paperwork inside and I’ve already bribed Sally in admissions into putting her in the same class as Starling. So”—she pats my chest—“make sure you and Daisy sign those before you leave.”
“Ronnie, you can’t just enroll our kid into your favorite school.”
She shrugs and shoots me an expression that reads, Try to stop me. “Oh.” Her eyes go wide. “Vivi has a surprise for you.” She claps her hands. “Kids! It’s showtime!”
And then I’m tackled again, but this time by Vivian, who is trying to put a blindfold on me. All the other kids pile on as well until I relent.
Daisy is given the same blindfold, only they ask her politely and get to put the scarf over her eyes without a battle.
“What the hell is happening?” I protest.
But Spencer grabs my arm and starts walking me across the farm. “You’re gonna fuckin’ love this, dude. So just go with it.”
Daisy grabs my arm. “What are we doing?” But she’s excited, I can tell.
“Your daughter has a surprise for you,” Ronnie says. “She’s been working on it all week.”
A surprise. When was the last time someone bothered to surprise me?
I can’t recall a single time.
But this is the life of a dad, right? It comes with all kinds of surprises.
I’m pretty sure we’re led into the pool house and then we’re positioned and told to sit. Daisy and I sit, falling backwards into the cushions of a soft couch.
There’s some whispering, some giggling, and then Oliver says, “I’m not wearing a tutu!” But the Little Mermaid sets him straight with some hushed threats, and he relents.
Daisy leans in to me, wrapping her arm around my biceps. “Your family is crazy.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
She leans her head on my shoulder. “I’m falling in love with them.”
“Just them?”
Her lips find mine. Then I get a kiss. “This has been the best week.” She sighs. “You are the very best thing that has happened to me since my parents died.”
“And just imagine. We’re just getting started.” I relax back into the couch cushions, also letting out a breath. Not even caring that I’m blindfolded.
From outside my imposed darkness there is a hushing sound. Many children with fingers to lips. And then Snow White says, “Welcome to the first annual Sick Girlz show! Produced, written, and directed by Vivi Vaughn. Sit back, relax, and feast your eyes on this summer’s hottest tattoos! Body paint edition!”
Vivi Vaughn. I get lost in that for a moment. It’s not her name. Yet. But I like it.
Our blindfolds are taken off and Daisy and I have front-row seats as the glass patio doors to the pool house are opened up to reveal the pack of princesses. They have taken off their baseball jerseys and helmets to reveal full-sleeve body paint up and down their arms. And pigtails, of course.
There is a red carpet, there is music, they have choreographed dance, and there is an intermission where Daisy and I are served hot dogs and snow cones while a costume change takes place. Then they come back out and do it all again. This time, instead of tutus, they are wearing Shrike Bikes gear and have a new dance that involves Oliver and Vivi pedaling a couple of Shrike Trikes in a figure eight while Belle leaps across the space like a ballerina.
I don’t even know what I’m looking at.
At one point, baby animals make an appearance. Not just goats—ducklings, chicks, piglets. Then the whole thing devolves into squealing and laughter.
Daisy leans into me and once again says, “Your family is amazing.”
And even though most of these people aren’t even related to me, I have to agree.
Vivi is one of them now. She will grow up with the nieces, and Oliver, and the friends.
She will never be alone again.
After the show Daisy migrates to the pool for some girl time and I spend the afternoon with Spencer and his friends. Regardless of his denial, Spencer and his friends do indeed have a history.
Ronin was an internationally famous model in his younger days. Ford used to produce reality TV shows. And Spencer and Ronin’s wife, Rook—who was also a model for a short period of time—were the stars of one of those reality shows.