Dad, would you mind if we stayed with you for a few months? I asked, my voice hesitant.
Would I? he replied shortly.
My parents had split about ten years ago. Mum remarried after two years, but Dad never bothered to move in with anyone else. He was a hardheaded man, almost unbearable at times, and the women who drifted into his life never lingered. He never abandoned me, though. Besides the child support, he bought everything I needed and took an active role in raising me stern, masculine, without any hint of sentiment, but with a fathers sense of duty.
I had been on my own since I left school. After finishing Year 11 I went straight into work and moved out of my mothers house into a rented room in a student hall. A couple of years later I married Emily, a friend from school. We were saving for a deposit on a flat, but the landlord of the room we were renting announced he was selling it, so we had to wait for the sale to go through. I thought Id ask Dad if we could crash at his threebedroom house while the flat was being arranged. His refusal left me stunned, and I was about to drop the subject when he added:
Fine, you can stay. Just keep it quiet.
Thanks, I breathed out, relief flooding me.
I knew my father was a man of few words, a lover of silence, and a man who kept his emotions tightly shut. His demand for quiet didnt surprise me in the least. Emily, who was five months pregnant, understood the rule as well; she too craved peace. What she didnt realise was that quiet meant only us, and not the house itself.
At five a.m. every morning Edward Thompson that was my fathers full name would stomp around in his heavy boots, rattling the floors as he went through his rituals: bathroom, kitchen, back to the bathroom, then the kitchen again. The house echoed with the relentless clackclackclack, followed by a sudden crash and a muttered bloody hell. He didnt seem to care that people were still sleeping; he was in his own domain, and anyone who didnt like it could take their leave.
Besides the morning ruckus, he kept a tight leash on everything we did. No TV after nine p.m. the noise irked him. No frying the smells bothered him. He insisted we conserve light and water he wasnt exactly rolling in cash.
A week passed like that until Emily was admitted to the maternity ward. Two days later my father turned up with a bag of fruit.
Your baby needs vitamins, he said gruffly, handing over the bag.
Thank you, Edward, Emily replied.
Right then, he nodded. Ill be off. Listen to the doctors.
Will do, she smiled, waving goodbye.
After Emily was discharged, my father kept his fivea.m. schedule, but he tried to make a little less noise. He even attempted to show a sliver of care calling us to breakfast in his stern tone, or silently snatching a rag to mop the floors himself, knowing Emily needed rest.
We finally bought the flat three months later, but my dad insisted we finish a full refurbishment before moving in. Emily gave birth to our daughter, Poppy, right in the middle of the renovation, so we returned to my fathers house for a while. My motherinlaw and her parents visited a couple of times after the birth, but my dad always pretended he wasnt pleased to have guests. He did, however, light up whenever he saw his granddaughter. A smile would break across his severe face, and he swore to protect her from any threat he imagined in the world.
Every morning he would take little Poppy out of the cot, giving Emily a chance to catch up on sleep after sleepless nights. He even learned how to change diapers. When the day came for us to move into our own flat, Edward, wiping away a rare, tightlipped tear, said in his customary grim tone:
Youre still young enough to live with a baby. Stay here a while longer. Not for long until Poppy gets married.
Emily and I exchanged baffled looks. Edward turned away and added, Its just oldage sentimentality. Dont make a fuss. Bring the baby in and start sorting your things. Youll get another chance to move, you daft lot.
We thought he was waiting for us to leave, but the words left us speechless. In the end we decided to stay a bit longer; after all, having a grandfather around wasnt such a bad thing. Edward, now cooing over his granddaughter, seemed genuinely happy to have the most precious person in his life finally by his side.
