Joneses – 19.2 Future Plans

Bob didn’t have time alone anymore. Before Breanne’s birthday, he always looked forward to the quietness and solitude of Mondays, Tuesdays and weekday mornings after the girls left for school. He loved his family, no doubt, but living in a house full of women made life loud. What he really needed was a guys’ night. But, he worked at night and didn’t know any guys with whom he’d want to spend time. Jared would be the only one, really, but he intimidated Bob with the whole legacy thing, being an astronaut, having all those kids, and now being the husband of his wife’s ex-friend.

But now, he would have to find some other way to get some alone time for Breanne was constantly underfoot. The way she ran around all day, one would think she had a work-from-home job or something. She ran up and down the stairs, in and out of her room doing only she knew what. Sometimes she did laundry and cleaned up the kitchen. Other times, she ran outside to play in the rain. Wasn’t she supposed to be older and wiser? It wouldn’t have been so bad if he knew what she were up to. Every movement made him nervous like watching her take first steps again. She was exhausting.

This particular Monday she took a break from whatever she got into and joined him. His end of the couch bounced as she plopped next to him with a glass of water. “Hey, daddy!”

“Hey, Bre. Whatcha got goin on up there?”

“Oh, a little of this and that.”

Of course she wouldn’t be specific.  She was so strange. Even more now with her new style. She said she wanted to “look the part,” whatever that meant.

“So… You’re out of school. Do you have any jobs lined up?”

She sounded like the laugh track on the comedy channel. “Oh, daddy, you’re hilarious! Why on earth would I get a job?”

“Because…” Bob had come out of his shell a lot over the past few months because of Eliza’s drama, but he still had problems talking to Breanne. Why? “Because you should have something to do.”

She laughed again. “I have plenty to do around here, daddy! Don’t worry about me.”

Plenty like what? How could he warn her? “But…jobs can get you other skills. Skills that may be handy one day.”

“Don’t be silly. I have all the skills I need presently. I simply need to perfect them.”

“But, don’t you think you need a backup plan?”

She looked at him as if he had just confessed to being a bad person. “Backup plan? Being the matriarch of a successful lineage is not some job one signs up for. It’s a calling! Like, being the Chief of Police! You want me to place my life’s work on hold for some job I’m going to hate? As if!”