You Worry Too Much

Life was moving much too quickly for Tom Hartman. Brooding over a cup of coffee at the Schuyler Square Café, he thought over all the changes that were happening around him. First, he discovered that he had a daughter that he’d known nothing about and he’d spent the past year or so trying to hammer out a relationship with her. Now that daughter, his little Tiffany, was graduating from high school and then getting married to a weasel who wouldn’t know what honest work was if it jumped up and bit him in the butt. But before the wedding could take place, Tom was going to have to have a blood test along with Vlad, his ex-wife’s former lover, to find out just who really was Tiffany’s father.

Not that it really mattered to Tom. Even if it turned out that Vlad was Tiffany’s biological father, Tom knew that he was always going to feel like he was her true dad. Over the past year he’d come to love the girl and he planned on being there for her for the rest of his life. If Tiffany insisted on marrying that no-goodnick loser Rex, Tom would stand by her. He’d pay for her wedding, give her Kleenex when the marriage broke up and give her a place to stay when the inevitable divorce happened.

“Hello, Daddy.” Tiffany sashayed into coffee shop, tugging up her jeans as she moved.

“Good grief, Tiffany, what’s happened to you?” Tom stared at his daughter. His formerly pudgy little girl had turned into a string bean seemingly overnight. “I knew you were dieting but you look positively starved.”

Sitting down across from him, Tiffany laughed. “I’m hardly starving,” she assured him. “As a matter of fact, I’m going to order some lunch, if you don’t mind. I haven’t eaten for at least an hour.”

“Of course I don’t mind. Order anything you want.”

A waitress came to the table and Tiffany ordered a double cheeseburger with bacon, extra large fries and a chicken burrito. “See?” she said after ordering. “I’m not dieting.”

“Then how are you losing so much weight?”

Tiffany shrugged. “I guess my metabolism has moved into high gear. You worry too much. Don't--everything's fine. Have you talked to Vlad?”

“Yes. He’s getting his blood test today.”

“How about you? When are you getting yours?”

“I had it this morning.”

“Great! Then once we straighten out the who’s my dad question, I can marry Rex!”

“Honey, are you sure you want to go through with the wedding? I don’t see why you’re in such a hurry to marry him.”

“Well, to tell you the truth it’s really more about him being in a rush to marry me,” Tiffany confided. “I wouldn’t care if we just lived together.”

“I wish you would just live together,” Tom said frankly, “although I’d much rather that you go to college, get a degree and find a career that you like.”

“Why would I want to do that?” Tiffany asked. “I don’t want to work. Rex and I have other plans.”

“You mentioned that you’ll be coming into more money soon. What was that all about?”

Tiffany looked uncomfortable. “Nothing. We’re doing a little investing.”

“With the money your mother left you?”

“Sort of.”

“Tiffany, you aren’t doing anything illegal, are you?”

“No!” Tiffany said much too quickly. “Why do you always think the worst of me? Don’t you trust me?” She suddenly pressed her hand to her forehead. “I have a headache. See? You’re upsetting me. Stop it.”

“I care about you, baby. I’m not trying to upset you. I’m trying to help you.” The waitress set a plate of food down in front of Tiffany and Tom watched in amazement as his daughter inhaled everything on the plate. There was no way that she could be consuming so many calories and still losing weight. Something weird was going on and Tom planned on finding out just what it was. Tom knew what he had to do. He was going to have to talk to that lamebrain Rex and get him to spill the beans both over why Rex was so anxious to marry Tiffany and how the two of them were going to get rich.

As he watched Tiffany scrape her plate clean, Tom knew that he was going to have to find out what was going on as soon as possible. Whatever was happening, he was sure that he didn't like it.

Schuyler Square Day 134 Let's Start to Wrap This Thing Up

"I'm so glad that everything is back to normal again," Chelsea Van Husen told her husband Peter. She patted her very pregnant stomach and smiled up at him from her position on the couch. It felt so good to have Peter back home where he belonged. Chelsea had totally forgiven him for everything--leaving her when she was pregnant, having an affair with Mavis Schuyler, going through that long, weird period when he thought that he had been a teenaged murderer--after all, isn't that what a good wife did? Forgive?

"You are an amazing woman," Peter told her. "One in a million."

"And don't you forget it," Chelsea responded. A sharp pain made her gasp.

"What is it?"

"I don't know but I think it's time for Junior to make his appearance."

Instantly, Peter was on his feet. "I'll get the car. You call the doctor."

Chelsea picked up her cell phone, her heart pounding. Their baby was about to be born! Her heart beat even faster. At least she hoped it was their baby--suppose Peter wasn't the father? What would she do then? Was she morally obligated to tell him about her one night stand with his co-worker?

No way! Jim's dead and you're safe! Do not tell Peter anything about that horrible night of revenge sex!

Chelsea felt better. As long as the baby wasn't born with flaming red hair and black eyes--like the late Jim had and that would be nearly genetically impossible if Peter was the father--then she'd be fine. She drew a deep breath. Everything was going to be fine.

Peter reappeared in the doorway. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I'm ready to say hello to our son or daughter."

Peter's cell phone buzzed. "Yes? No, I can't. Not today. Chelsea's going to have the baby! I'll do it tomorrow."

"Who was that?" Chelsea asked when Peter was through.

"Work. I'm supposed to be investigating a complaint against that new chemical company on the north side of town but I'm not doing that today. You and I have more important things to take care of. Now let's go before you have our baby right here."

Chelsea nodded as another pain hit her. Their future--all three of them--was about to begin. She couldn't wait.

Schuyler Square Day 96 Tiffany and Tom

"Order anything you want," Tom Hartman told Tiffany. "The lobster might be good."

"I detest lobster," Tiffany informed him. She squirmed uncomfortably in her seat at Vicky's Secret, Schuyler Square's fanciest restaurant. Although the man sitting across from her, the man who claimed to be her father, seemed decent enough, it was downright awkward to be meeting him for the first time at the ripe old age of seventeen.

"Well, maybe steak then. Do you like steak?" Tom looked at Tiffany hopefully.

She shrugged. "It's all right. I think I'd rather have lasagna." She knew from past dining experiences that the lasagna at Vicky's Secret was beyond delicious. About four inches high and filled with enough cheese to clog the arteries of the entire town, one portion would blow her diet completely out of the water but Tiffany felt like she deserved a treat. She'd been so vigilant about watching calories, not giving into emotional eating and generally eating like a starving ant. Well, forget about that! If ever there had been a moment in her life when she felt an overwhelming need to give in to emotional eating, this had to be it. Meeting her dad for the first time was up there with running into her mom's car and accidentally killing her.

Tom looked relieved. "I'll have that too," he said.

Picking up her glass of Diet Coke, Tiffany studied Tom over the rim as she took a long sip. He was all right looking, she supposed, with brown hair and brown eyes. Pretty average for a man his age. Tiffany's mom had blue eyes and Tiffany had grey eyes. Weren't brown eyes supposed to be dominant? Or was it blue? Tiffany couldn't remember. She never paid too much attention during biology class. Or math. Or English.

"This must all feel pretty strange to you," Tom remarked after giving the waitress their order.

"Just a little," Tiffany agreed.

"It's going to take us a while to get to know each other but that's OK. It's not like we're in any kind of a rush." Tom seemed so uncomfortable that Tiffany felt a little sorry for him.

"How come my mom told me that you were in prison?" Tiffany asked.

"Is that what she told you?" Tom's eyes widened and he took a gulp of his scotch and soda.

Tiffany nodded. "She said you were in Joliet at the prison and that's why you never came to visit and never wrote."

Tom sighed deeply. "I don't know why Lynnette told you that, Tiffany. I also don't know why she never told me about you. Our divorce was pretty bitter and I'm guessing that she didn't want me to be part of her life after we split up. It really wasn't fair to either of us but there isn't much we can do about it now."

"I guess not," Tiffany agreed.

"But it isn't too late for the two of us to be family," Tom told her. "Is there anything you want to know about my side of the family? Any questions?"

"Just one," Tiffany said slowly.

"What's that?"

"Are you sure you're really my father?"

Schuyler Square Day 51 Tyler Schuyler

"And that's my sister Breanna. She lives up north with her husband. And that's my brother Aaron. He lives in Iowa but he's coming home next week for Grandma's birthday party. She's going to be 81."

Tyler Schuyler stared at the large gilt framed photographed that dominated the small foyer of Jenny Sanderson's house. Jenny was Tyler's date for the Policemen's Retirement Ball, a fact his mother wasn't too thrilled by. Jenny's dad worked as a maintenance man at Schuyler Industries and her mom was a nurse's aide at Schuyler Square's sole retirement home. Needless to say, the Sanderson family didn't quite make the grade as far as Mavis was concerned. "Who's that?" Tyler asked, pointing at the fourth figure in the photograph.

Jenny rolled her eyes. "That would be my other sister, Natasha. She's the black sheep of the family."

"What did she do?"

Jenny lowered her voice. "She's a Republican. She only visits on major holidays and birthdays which is probably good thing. The last time she was here Daddy snapped at her and called her selfish. Natasha was so upset that she left before we had our dessert."

Tyler shook his head while envy surged through him. There really were normal families out there. There were families who spent holidays and birthdays together and who considered having differing political views to be a big deal. He could only imagine what Jenny would think of the members of his family--his father who drank scotch with his cornflakes and sometimes on his cornflakes, his mother who might be fooling around with another man and who might not be, his brother who had basically abandoned the family, Tiffany, his cousin who solved all of her problems with a bag of corn chips and then there was himself, Tyler Arthur Schuyler, 24-years old and clueless about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. How he'd love to have a family like Jenny's. Maybe then he wouldn't be so lost.

"Are you ready?" Jenny asked. "I can't wait to go. I've never been to the country club before."

"It's really no big deal," Tyler assured her.

"That's easy for you to say. You've been going there your entire life. Believe me, it's a big deal for me. Thank you for inviting me."

Jenny was so sweet. That was why Tyler liked her. It didn't hurt that she was gorgeous too with blonde hair, green eyes and a fantastic body. It would be nice to marry someone like Jenny. Then he'd get to go to all of her family events too.

"Are you kids leaving?" Jenny's father came into the hall. He was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt and popping open a beer. Tyler knew his mother would call Jenny's dad "low brow" but Tyler liked him. Mr. Sanderson actually looked at him when he spoke to him, unlike his own dad.

"We're just about to leave," Jenny said.

"You look beautiful, sweetheart," Mr. Sanderson said. "And you look nice too, Tyler."

Tyler's cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He'd wait until they were in the car to look at it. One of his many pet peeves was people who were always looking at their cell phones in the middle of conversations. Tiffany did that all the time. Come to think of it, his whole family had been doing it the last time they had dinner together. He couldn't imagine the Sandersons ever texting at the table.

Tyler checked his phone five minutes later. That was odd. It was from Tiffany. Why would she text him? As far as he knew, she had barricaded herself in her bedroom with the entire collection of Sex in the City and a large pizza from Dominoes. Well, whatever Tiffany wanted it could wait until he got home. He was on a date, for crying out loud. The first date he'd been on in ages and he wanted it to be perfect. Besides, knowing Tiffany she probably wanted him to spy on her mother and Officer Van Husen again. She could forget that. Tiffany didn't seem to be able to grasp that his mom and dad's marriage was perfectly OK and was going to last until death did they part.

Tyler just didn't realize that death had already done that.