Page 4 of Paging Dr. VanRyan

“We’ll go see them again soon, Katy, my love. We were just there not long ago.”

“I know,” she whispered. “Kylie is just growing so fast.”

He chuckled. “She is.”

Grams laughed. “They all do.”

Gramps leaned back in his chair after they had disconnected, promising to call back after dinner. “When will you be heading to Port Albany permanently, Richard? You keep going back and forth. You need to settle.”

“Anxious to get rid of me once and for all, Graham?” Dad asked lightly.

He chuckled. “No, but with me retired and the kids running the ship, I assume you’ll want to step away completely and not just cut back. And I know you love it there.”

Dad nodded and exchanged a glance with Mom. “We have been thinking more and more about it. Especially selling the house. Once I stop working, there’s not much holding us here.”

“Hey,” I interrupted. “I’m still here.”

Dad smirked. “I meant real estate-wise. We’d love a condo close to the water so we aren’t rambling around in it the way we do in this house without all of you in it. But we’d miss the space outside. So we’re thinking of splitting our time between there and here. Visiting Gavin and Penny.” He winked at me. “We’re lucky to see you regularly. Between work and play, you’re hard to pin down.”

“Especially work,” Mom said with a slight edge of reprimand to her voice. “You still work too much.”

“I’m getting established,” I argued. “But if you go, I’ll miss you.”

She smiled and cupped my cheek. “You’ll miss my food, you mean.”

I turned my face and kissed her palm. “Same thing, Mom.”

Everyone laughed, and the men stood and cleared the table. Earlier, I had told Dad I had the cake handled, and he was grateful.

“Where is it?”

“I put it in the pantry.”

“I should look at it.”

“Nah.” I discouraged him. “You’ll see it soon enough.”

“Don’t tell your mom about the incident.”

“She won’t notice the different car?”

“I told her I was getting it serviced. Let me take credit for the cake. I’ll owe you one.”

I bit back my smile. “Sure, Dad. All yours.”

He grabbed my shoulder, shaking it. “Thanks, kid.”

We loaded the dishwasher and put the leftovers on the counter. We still had a lot of food, and I knew Mom would pack up a bunch for me.

If my prank went over well.

“I’ll get the cake and bring it in. You be ready to sing,” I instructed.

Dad and Graham went ahead of me.

I unboxed the cake, adding a few candles and lighting them. I held the cake up so no one could see it but me. Maddy had done a great job smoothing out the top and changing the writing. I carried it to the dining room, grinning like an idiot.

“Dad picked the cake, Mom,” I called, then started singing “Happy Birthday.” Everyone joined me, and I waited until we were done before sliding the cake in front of Mom. Gavin, Heather, and Gracie were watching via Zoom and joined in singing. We were all really bad—we got that trait from our dad. It was the only thing he didn’t do well, my mom always insisted—and she was right.