Joe nods, working through what that would mean.
“Would you live with him there?”
Katie hesitates. “Yeah.”
Well, that can’t happen. Rosie’s already a wreck. If Katie moves to Portland with Felix, Rosie might have a legitimate nervous breakdown. She’s already convinced that she’s going to lose everyone. Her husband has Huntington’s, and two of her kids are definitely HD positive. Patrick’s hardly ever home. Never mind that Felix isn’t Irish Catholic and what the neighbors would think; if Katie leaves, Joe’s not sure Rosie could handle the void. She’d protest Katie moving to Somerville, never mind the other side of the country. Portland might as well be a city on the moon. It would feel like losing her daughter, like a death. With all that Rosie faces losing, Katie leaving home and living with a man out of wedlock would create an unnecessary pain, an avoidable suffering that need not be inflicted.
Joe has to convince Katie to stay, but he’s unsure of how to approach her. It’s an odd transition as a parent, being a father to his baby girl who is now a young woman. Katie was just a cute little kid, Meghan’s happy-go-lucky sidekick, a blink ago. Back then, it was his right and responsibility to tell her what to do. Brush your teeth. Go to bed. Do your homework. Don’t talk to your mother that way.
Don’t move to Portland with your boyfriend.
He’s not sure he still holds the authority to make this kind of forbidding demand without meeting overt rebellion. It’s going to require a softer touch.
“Hey, you know I like Felix, and I’m all for trying on the shoes before you buy them, but you know living in sin would make your poor mother crazy.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“And living all the way across the country with all that’s going on, to not have you around. You really haven’t known him that long. Maybe you could go a little slower, try things long distance at first, do Skype or Facebook time or whatever you kids do.”
“Yeah, I could, but he doesn’t want to do long distance.”
“Well, don’t let him pressure you into doing something you don’t want to do.”
“I’m not. I don’t know what I want to do.”
She sounds overwhelmed, like she’s unsure of so much more than her future residence.
“Would your genetic test results influence your decision?”
“I dunno. I think that’s one of the reasons I’m afraid to find out.”
“Honey, I’m sorry to have to say this, but for the sake of your poor mother and the family, I don’t think you should go with Felix to Portland. It’s too serious, too fast anyway. It’s just not the right time, okay?”
Katie hangs her head and fiddles with the bracelets on her wrist as she studies the ground. Just as Joe assumes she either didn’t hear him or forgot his question, she looks up.
“Okay.”
“Thanks, hun. I think it’s for the best, for everyone. If you and Felix are meant to be, the two of you will work it out.”
She nods, her face expressionless. Joe exhales, feeling like he just dodged a bullet. That was fairly easy. Katie’s in agreement and not upset, and he protected Rosie from more tears. And he’s protecting Katie, too. Living with her boyfriend in an unfamiliar city where Katie has no family sounds like a bad plan any way he slices it, even without considering HD. She’s only twenty-one. She’s too young. Granted, he and Rosie were eighteen when they married, but times are different. They don’t know each other well enough. Joe and Rosie don’t even know his parents. It’s too risky. Katie’s got enough risk to deal with.
“And listen, if you decide to find out, I know the genetic counselor probably told you not to bring me, but if you think it’s too much for Felix and you don’t want to go alone, I’d be happy to go with you if you want me there.”
“Thanks, Dad. I don’t think I’m ready to know.”
“Okay. If and when you ever are, I’m here for you,” says Joe, rubbing his quarter. “And I’m praying for you, every day.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
Joe’s got that genie-in-his-gut feeling that sees the truth light-years before his head does. He doesn’t want to jinx anything, so he doesn’t share his prediction aloud, but he’d bet his lucky quarter and everything he’s got that his baby girl is okay.
Please, God, no more.