A Good Woman

Thirty two years old and he's burying his dad. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Charlie's three months today and he will never know his grandfather, the one man Evan looked to for guidance. On everything. From how to tie his shoes, what clothes to wear, how to change the oil, rotate tires, shoot a puck, assemble a bouquet, memorize a sonnet, and to note the difference between single malt and a blend. Some say there's a balance; with every birth, a death, but Evan feels ripped off. He finally feels like he's growing up, becoming his own man and suddenly he's orphaned. A father himself. He never envisioned life with a woman, a house, a dog and a kid. Well, ok, there's no house or dog (yet) but he's got a good rental, a reliable beater, and the most incredible woman in Jenna. Talk about punching above his weight. How he landed her he'll never figure out. She met Dad and he fell in love with her before Evan did. They spent ten minutes discussing the latest book they had both read, mooned over their shared love of butter tarts, without raisins, thank you very much, and he was hooked. Evan remembers the look. Dad fixed him squarely with his eyes, raised one brow, slightly curled his mouth in a knowing smile and just shook his head. He guffawed when she commented on Evan's dilapidated old sneakers, worn out torn low cut Converse he'd been wearing since university. That's when Evan realized he'd met the One, that missing link that clicks in imperceptibly and holds the three of them together. A bond so effortless that Evan wondered what he had been doing with his life before he met Jenna. For 28 years it had been Evan and Dad, and the myriad of fly by night women that would occasionally pass through. Jenna made them better men. She made their family make sense. When Evan told Dad he was thinking of proposing his dad said, Of course you are. As you should. Don't dawdle with this one, son, she's a good one. Dad started feeling off  during Jenna's last trimester. They all joked about sympathetic labour pains. No one saw it coming, so fast and furious. Mean. Cruel. At least he got to meet his grandson, however briefly. Jenna knew they'd name him Charles, after Dad. He made it through the naming ceremony and collapsed on the way back to the hospital. He never regained consciousness. Jenna seems to be holding it together for all of them, rock solid in the middle of the maelstrom. When the ground thaws they'll plant a tree, on the old property. One day Charlie will hang the old tire swing on it for his kids and Evan and Jenna can watch them fly.