Family Ties

“Yes and no. Your dad came right out and asked me to. He didn’t insist, but he did say he’d be happier if you were dating a military man. And he made a pretty strong case for me becoming a pilot.” I glanced at her sideways. “What would you think if I did?”

“Do you want to?”

“Part of me does,” I admitted. “I mean, I grew up thinking my father was the coolest guy in the world. Wanted to be just like him. You know how it is with boys.”

She nodded.

“So yeah, I think it’d be cool to be a Navy pilot, the best of the best.”

“But you’d have to give up architecture.”

“Exactly. That’s the part of me that doesn’t want to do it. I mean, I love designing buildings and figuring out ways to make my ideas work.”

“And you’re so good at it!”

“Thanks. I think so too. But I think I’d be a good pilot too. Still…”

“Still…?”

“I’d have to give up everything I’ve worked for.”

“Exactly.”

“And… I guess I want to know what you think.”

“I think you’d make a great pilot,” she said, although her heart didn’t seem to be in it.

“But…?”

“But you’re such a fantastic architect.”

“Then let me ask you a different question.”

“Okay.”

The gate agent came over the PA and announced the start of boarding for regular passengers.

“Hold that thought,” I said. Ten minutes later we were settled in our seats on the plane, so I picked up the thread of the conversation. “Okay, where were we? Right. Let me ask you a different question,” I repeated. “Why were you dating Simon?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, from how you describe him, he doesn’t really sound like the military type.”

She scoffed. “He wasn’t. He didn’t want anything to do with the military.”

“Then why in God’s name were you engaged to him?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I know you loved him, but…” I shrugged. “I guess I can’t help but wonder why you were dating him in the first place. Why take him home to meet your family when he doesn’t like the military?”

“Because he was my fiancé!”

“Whoa! Calm down. I’m saying this all wrong. Gimme a sec and lemme think.” I did just that for nearly a minute. “Okay, a bit of explanation first.

Then I’ll try to ask the question I want the answer to. Without sounding like a jerk about it. Okay?”

“Okay,” she said cautiously.

“It has to do with an ex-girlfriend,” I warned.

“Everything with you has to do with an ex-girlfriend.”

“That’s because I have several exes.”

“You can say that again,” she muttered. She immediately shot me a preemptive glare.

I grinned.

I must have looked cute enough or guileless enough or something enough that she quit scowling and reluctantly grinned as well.

“They’re exes,” I stressed. “You know, former girlfriends. Like, in the past, because you’re my current girlfriend. The one and only.” I waited for the words to sink in. “Happy Birdy?”

“Not-so-grumpy Birdy,” she conceded.

“Baby steps,” I said with a sideways grin. “Okay… back to my question.

So, Kendall was a psychology major. I heard a lot about family counseling,

’cause that’s what she wanted to do. And part of what she talked about was looking for people’s hidden motivations. Why they do the things they do, besides the obvious.”

“Okay…” She still wasn’t convinced.

“You know, like why do you go to work? To earn money to pay for things you want. That’s an obvious motivation. But why do kids misbehave?”

She thought about it and shook her head.

“Because they want their parents’ attention.”

“Ah, okay.”

“So that’s what I mean by a hidden motivation.”

“I still don’t see what—”

“I’ll get there. Hold on. I guess I want to know if you had any hidden motivations when you agreed to marry Simon.”

“Of course I didn’t.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“I loved him! At least… I thought I did.”

“Yeah, but why him? Why a guy who doesn’t want anything to do with the military?”

She scowled and didn’t answer.

“Look,” I said at last, “I guess this has more to do with me than you.

Personally, I don’t care why you were engaged to Simon. He’s your ex-

fiancé. Like Kendall’s my ex-girlfriend. They’re both in our past. Right?”

“Right.”

“So… why I ask about Simon. I guess I want to know how strongly you feel about me joining the military.”

“Why?”

“Well… I told your dad it was a long shot, but now I’m not so sure. Like I said, part of me thinks it’d be totally cool to be an attack pilot. And if that’s what you want, then I’ll give it some serious thought rather than just say no.”

I glanced at her anxiously.

She didn’t say anything.

“But then I started thinking about it,” I continued. “And I kept coming back to Simon. I guess I thought maybe you were engaged to him because you didn’t want to be married to a military man. To bring it back to me and my question, what would you think…?”

“Do you want to?”

“Yes and no. But I thought I should talk to you first, ’cause it’s a big decision, and…”

“And…?”

“Well… I can see myself with you in the future. And it’d affect you too, so…”