Picture Perfect

and when Tess walked through the door they’d jumped apart like there was a fire. What really made me happy was that my dad was only wearing a pair of flannel pajama bottoms… and Sandra was wearing one of his tee shirts. It was obvious they’d only recently gotten out of bed, and I had to stifle a laugh. I never thought I’d see the day that I’d be cock-blocking my dad, but here I was, and that shit just happened. Sandra looked mortified and my dad looked upset about that, and that was the only reason I was uncomfortable. Otherwise, I was great with finding them like that.
    Wringing her hands in front of her, Sandra addressed me. “Oh my god… I’m so embarrassed. I’m sorry Flynn, Tessa. We were… I’m… Um… I’m late for something. I’m going to get dressed and go. Please, don’t tell your sisters about this!”
    With that, she turned and ran from the room. Giving me a ‘what the hell am I going to do’ look, my dad went after her. That left Tess and I to stare at each other wide eyed as we tried not to laugh. I’d sensed that my dad and Sandra were attracted to each other, big time, and I was pleased that they were acting on it. I knew my dad well enough to know that if he didn’t really have feelings for her, he wouldn’t be doing anything with the woman that was, for all intents and purposes, the mother of his daughters. He’d never take the chance that things would go badly if he wasn’t pretty damn sure they could go the distance.
    Turning to me Tess asked, “Should we go, or?”
    Shaking my head, I walked to the kitchen table and gestured for her to sit down. “No, it will just upset him if we leave, and it will make him feel guilty that he did something for himself. No matter how many times I’ve told him that I wish he would get married again, he still believes that it upsets me to see him with someone that isn’t my mom. My dad’s stubborn.”
    Gesturing to me, Tessa laughed. “So… the apple didn’t fall far from the tree?”
    “Busted, babe. So busted.”
    A few minutes later Sandra and my dad came back into the room. He was now wearing a pair of jeans and a button down shirt, while Sandra had changed into a summer dress. I couldn’t help but notice that my dad had a flowery overnight bag in his hand, and I knew that meant they’d planned to stay together. How cute was that?
    Standing from the table, I walked over to Sandra and smiled down at her. “Please don’t be uncomfortable about this. I’m actually thrilled about it. This is a good thing Sandra.”
    She looked relieved, and for the first time since I’d walked in, she smiled. “Really, you’re okay with your father and I getting together?”
    “Yeah! I think it’s great. I’ll bet you money that the girls will love this as well. They just want you to be happy.”
    Now she didn’t look so relieved. Instead, she looked anxious. “Flynn, you know your sisters weren’t raised normally… but none of us can really understand all of the things that they saw and heard. I give thanks every single day that something horrible didn’t happen to any one of those children. The five of them lived through hell on earth and had to fear for their physical safety every day. I made a promise the day I met them that I would never, ever behave like that, and that they’d always be safe with me. During the entire time they lived with me, I never dated because they needed to know that they came first. Too much of their lives were destroyed by my sister and her husband being promiscuous. I would never do that to my girls. Until I know for sure that Todd and I are solid, I can’t have this touching them. I’ve always been their only female influence, and I don’t want them to think I’m some kind of… anything like my sister or some… loose woman . I also don’t want them to feel like they are less of a priority to your father because of me.”
    “Sandra… no one thinks you’re loose. Dominique and Delilah both already know that you and my dad are attracted to each other. I know this because they mentioned it to me, and they were excited about it. To them, hell, to all of us, the two of you being together would be a good thing. They already love dad and they don’t think that they aren’t a priority for him. They know that they are. It’s obvious that they mean the world to him. You’ve raised some very smart, very kind girls. They just want their Mama San to be happy. Don’t put so much pressure on