Page 117 of My Family

And I mean it.

He looks at me for a second, surprised, then nods.

"She is," he says. "She really is."

That's when I see Griff coming toward us.

He's doing his rounds, visiting all the families. He's wearing a navy-blue polo shirt, and it makes him look like a cool dad instead of the strict, scary military counselor.

Next to him is a young man I've never seen before. He's tall, probably in his early twenties, with the same squared shoulders as Griff and close-cropped hair, though his is dark brown instead of gray.

He's wearing jeans and a navy sweater that looks expensive.

"Mr. Marsal, it's good to have you here," Griff says, extending his hand to my dad.

My dad stands up quickly, wiping his hand on his napkin before shaking Griff's.

"Thank you, sir. Thank you for having me today."

I've never heard my dad call anyone "sir" before.

It's weird.

Griff puts his hand on the young man's shoulder.

"This is my son, Michael."

Michael smiles and shakes my dad's hand, then mine.

"Nice to meet you both," Michael says. His voice is deeper than I expected. "Dad's told me a lot about the program here."

I can't stop staring at them standing side by side.

It's like seeing Griff in two different timelines, what he was and what he is.

I never pictured Griff as someone's father. In my head, he materialized fully formed at Aspire, but he takes Sundays off to spend time with his son, so it makes sense.

"Liam's been doing very well in our program. He's very disciplined. Always does his tasks, shows up to class, works very hard," Griff tells my dad.

I feel my face get hot.

Disciplined is not a word anyone's ever used to describe me before.

"That's wonderful. I'm extremely proud of him," my dad says.

"Do you guys want to kill me?" I ask, my face burning.

The three of them laugh.

Michael shifts his weight slightly.

"Dad, we should let them get back to their visit."

Griff nods. "Of course. Enjoy the barbecue. I'll be around."

They move on to the next family, and I watch them go. Michael leans in and says something that makes Griff laugh.

"He seems like a good man," my dad says, following my gaze.