Rent-a-Family
RENT-A-FAMILY
Logan Emory sat on his couch, glancing at the clock hanging above his fireplace. He wrung his hands as he sipped his iced tea. He was nervous, waiting for 3:00 to arrive for, with the hour, the birthday present he bought for himself would also arrive.
Four actors from the online service FamilyRent were coming; a daughter, Susan, son-in-law, Jeremy, and two granddaughters aged 14 and 9, Allie and Ella. It took Logan months to save the $1000 for this three-hour visit and he was fretful, having no idea what to expect. The required questionnaire asked him about his history, and was easy enough to complete as he never married, had no children, lost his parents while in his forties and had no siblings. He had friends from his cribbage club, but seldom saw them outside of their weekly games, as they were busy with their own families.
At exactly 3:02 the doorbell rang and Logan felt a rush of regret at what he was doing. Walking toward the door, he considered not answering when it rang again. He could see the four actors through the frosted glass that framed his front door and knew they saw him, too, when a woman called out, “Dad, it's us, open up.” So he did.
“Happy birthday, Daddy!” Susan said as she put the grocery bags down and hugged him. “It's so good to see you! It's been too long!” He started in shocked stiffness, not returning her hug. He could not remember the last time he had been hugged.
Taking the bags up again she said, “I’ll just take these to the kitchen and get started on dinner.” Susan kissed his cheek and disappeared down the hall as if she had been there a thousand times.
Grinning and holding a pink bakery box, Jeremy stuck his hand out and said, “Looking good, old man. Looking good!” Logan allowed his hand to be shaken. “Susan baked a cake, I'll put it in the kitchen.”
“Hi, Grandpa!” The older of the two girls grabbed him around his waist and hugged him. “Happy birthday!” Allie held onto him and he felt he had no choice but to hug her back. “I've missed you so much!” She was the spitting image of her mother, who, he had to admit, looked eerily like him. He felt his anxiousness melt away as he held her.
“Grampie!” The little one pushed the older aside and practically knocked him down in her hurry to hug him. “We have presents, but please! Open mine first!”
Warming now and returning her hug Logan said, “Okay, okay. I’ll open yours first.” And with that, the fictitious family settled in and enjoyed a perfect three hours of celebration with much laughter and enjoyment.
That evening, after the excitement of the afternoon had worn off some, Logan logged onto his computer and booked the family again another three hours for the following Saturday. Satisfied, he sat back looking at the confirmation email, he wondered how much it would cost to take a vacation to Acapulco with them.
He had always wanted to go to Acapulco.
Comments