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Ted let out a grunt of effort as he managed to get the last garbage bag into the can. It did not quite fit, but it would do until garbage day. He rolled his shoulders and tried to work out the kink in his arm. It did not feel like anything had been pulled, but he would likely be paying for this tomorrow.
He headed back to the house where Laura was sitting on the couch. She had a vacant, distant look on her face. Ted was immediately on high alert. The fact that the floor had not yet been swept only added to the feeling.
“Hey, something wrong?” He asked, hoping it was not something he had done.
“Did we do a good job?” Laura asked.
“What?”
“Did we do a good job? Were we good hosts? Was the party good?”
Ted let out a mental sigh of relief. She was just worried over nothing. He sat down next to her and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
“Yeah. We did good. Everyone had a good time, there was plenty of food, and everyone had a good time. Well, maybe Kristy didn’t, but well, she doesn’t count.”
Laura let out a quick chuckle. A smile almost formed before she remembered that she was supposed to be second guessing their party throwing abilities.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. Was anyone complaining? And remember, Kristy doesn’t count.”
“Well, no. But that doesn’t mean anything. They could’ve just been being polite. Humoring us, you know? And then when they’re going home, they talk about how terrible the party was.”
“Maybe. But remember, your parents were there too.”
Her eyes opened wide. “Oh god, what if Mom and Dad hated it? What if I disappointed them? What if—”
“Laura, honey, stop right there. Don’t think like that. Now, tell me, has your dad ever talked behind someone’s back?”
“No. He prefers to say things to people’s faces.”
“Right. And if he doesn’t like a party, what does he do?”
“He takes Mom and leaves.”
“And how long did he stay today?”
“He and Mom stayed for the entire thing.” Ted stayed silent, letting her work it out from there. “And that means he was enjoying himself. And if Dad like the party, then others probably did too.”
“And there we go. Our party was a resounding success based on the dad metric. And really, what other metric really matters?”
“I guess that’s true.” She paused, looking around the still not-quite cleaned room. “But what about the food? I mean, we had to make so much of it ourselves. What if everyone hated it? Should we have just catered the whole thing?”
“Again, we look to the dad metric. If he doesn’t like food, what does he do?”
“He doesn’t eat it.”
“Right. And what did he do today?”
“He ate two full plates. And dessert. Mom was definitely not happy with that.”
That was a particular mark of pride as far as Ted was concerned. After all, he had cooked just as much of the food as Laura had.
“There you go. So the food clearly passed the dad metric as well. All in all, a big success.”
Now a small smile did form on Laura’s face. Her entire body began to relax and the light began returning to her eyes.
“I guess so. I guess we did host a good party, didn’t we?”
“That’s right, we did. A damn good one. Unfortunately, that means we also have to clean up after that party.”
Laura let out a shocked little squeak and sat bolt upright for a moment before standing quickly. “Oh geeze, sorry. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that…sorry.”
“It’s okay. I took care of a lot of it already. Now, let’s do the rest together. And remember, we did good, so no trying to find flaws or faults.”
“I’ll try. No guarantees, but I’ll try.” She said as she went to get the broom.
Ted nodded. That was as good as he was going to get.
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