Page 26 of The Exception

She lifted the phone to her ear. “Hi, Dad. How are you?”

“Hey, baby. I’m doing okay.”

He sounded tired but present and Sonya released the breath she was holding.

“How’s your week been?”

“It’s hard, but it’s getting better every day.”

After years of denying reality and destroying most of his relationships, her dad had finally admitted he had a problem and called her for help a few months earlier. Sonya had immediately flown down to San Antonio to help him get enrolled in an inpatient program for PTSD, depression, and addiction at the Veterans Administration facility nearby.

She sat on the sofa and pulled out a pen and the notebook she was using to track her dad’s progress.

“You’ve been going to the group and individual sessions, right?”

“I haven’t missed one.”

“And your meds? You’re taking them like you’re supposed to?”

“I am. Can you please talk to me like I’m your father and not one of your patients?”

There was a smile in his voice and it made Sonya smile too. He had to remind her not to go all “Nurse Pope” during all of their calls. Even though they’d talked more in the last four months than they had in the last decade, she loved him and she wanted to see him get healthy.

She closed the notebook and tucked her legs under her. “I’ll try. How’s everything else? Did you sign up for that photography class you told me about?”

“I did. It starts next week. I always enjoyed taking pictures.”

That was true. Sonya remembered him following her around with a camera when she was a little girl and she was glad he was making an effort to find joy in those kinds of things again.

“Great! I can’t wait to see your photos.”

“You’ll want me to be your wedding photographer before it’s all over with. Speaking of which, you and Mario set a date yet?”

She laughed in spite of herself. This version of her dad was proof that everything he’d said about how well his treatment was going, was actually true.

“His name is Marcus, dad.”

Her dad snorted. “He’s the bozo who never thought to call and ask for your hand before proposing.”

It was an old fashioned tradition that Sonya hated but understood, and her dad hadn’t been able to hide his disappointment when she’d told him about the engagement. If she and Marcus had actually gone through with it, he’d forever be a bozo in her dad’s eyes.

The accuracy was amazing.

“Anyway… it doesn’t matter because we called off the wedding.”

“Oh, baby I’m sorry to hear that. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine. It was for the best.” It was her canned response but the only one she could muster.

“You finally realized I was right about him being a bozo, huh?”

Sonya’s chuckle slipped out before she could catch it. “Dad...”

He laughed. “Okay, okay. I’m not gonna get all up in your business. As long as you’re good, I’m good. Besides, no wedding means I get more time to get right before I see your mama again.”

There was a short pause as Sonya waited for him to ask the question he asked every time they spoke. It was the only time regret crept into his tone.

“How’s your mama?”

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