Friends Forever #1: Kristy's Big News

Kristy is hanging out with her whole family, enjoying dinner and probably being super smug about them when the phone rings. Elizabeth, her mother, comes back with a concerned look on her face. The caller is Patrick, their father, and he wants to talk to Kristy, Charlie, and Sam. He has some big news, which is that he's getting married and wants them to come out for the ceremony.

Charlie doesn't even make it through the call before hanging up and leaving. Elizabeth lets them know that Patrick is sending plane tickets and wants them to stay for almost a whole week. It's their decision whether to go or not. Charlie instantly decides that he is not going, which makes her decide that if he doesn't go, no one else can. Kristy and Sam badger him for way too long because they really want to go and see Patrick again until Charlie finally gives up.

After Charlie takes the window seat on the plane, Kristy suggests they break up who sits in the window to keep Sam from exploding. Since Charlie made it very clear that he didn't want to go, they should let him do whatever he wants. They arrive and pick up Patrick's car at the airport. See, even though he totally wanted them there, he was way too busy to actually pick up the kids he hasn't seen in decades. He sent them car keys and left directions to his new house in the car.

They get to his house and discover that it's absolutely nothing like Patrick at all. Kristy finds his office and sees photos of him with a beautiful woman. She also finds one of him in an apron outside of a restaurant. Though all the kids wander around a lot, they don't find anything that reminds them of the father they actually knew.

Patrick shows up with Zoey, his future wife. Though he tries to hug them all, Charlie is visibly unhappy and walks away. He and Patrick later get into it, with Charlie accusing him of not giving a shit about them. Charlie also makes it clear that he has no interest in being Patrick's best man alongside Sam. Sam kind of goes overboard to make up for his brother and winds up spending a lot of time with his dad.

It turns out that Zoey owns a restaurant and that Patrick gave up sports writing to be her head chef. They even met when they were both taking classes at a cooking school. Kristy actually really likes her and bonds with her when they go shopping. Zoey is very down to earth and just seems like a cool chick. Kristy does feel a little uncomfortable about her dad though. She always thought he left to focus on his career and then he just ditched that job.

Though Zoey manages to bond with all three, Charlie still refuses to spend any time with Patrick. This comes to a head the night of the rehearsal dinner. Patrick literally hisses at him and tells him to grow up and act like a “good son,” which causes Charlie to decide against attending at all. Sam and Kristy stay behind with him, but he makes it clear that he doesn't want to hear about their dad. They talk things through and get to the rehearsal dinner just in time, though it seems like they mainly do it for Zoey and not their dad.

While shopping for dresses, Kristy finally works up the courage to talk with Zoey about how Patrick is kind of shitty. That's when Zoey reveals that she thinks the experiences he had with them will make him a better father when they have kids. Kristy almost cries because she never thought that her dad would have any more kids. She kind of tries to talk to Zoey about how this might not be a good idea, but Zoey knows that Patrick is a good man.

The book then cuts to Kristy back home in Stoneybrook. She tells her mom all about the wedding, and Elizabeth says that she just wants to see her dad happy. Kristy then heads over to a BSC meeting and talks things through with her friends. She tells them that it's still possible her dad might change for the better but that she's still lucky for what she does have. They then talk about weddings until Kristy rolls her eyes and announces that it's time for pizza.

*Kristy says that Karen and Andrew live with them every other month, but didn't Andrew move away with his mom and Seth while Karen stayed with Watson?

*She also makes the comment that “we adopted Emily Michelle” instead of saying her mom and Watson, which I thought was sweet.

*I don't understand why she pushes Charlie so much to go to the wedding or why any of them would even want to go. Patrick has had no contact with them in so long and was such a horrible dad that I don't think I'd ever want to see him again.

*It's also kind of ridiculous that Patrick invites them out for almost a whole week! That seems like way too long. If he actually wanted to reconnect with his kids, why not come back for a long weekend to see them first?

*Kristy tells a story that almost made me cry. For the first year after their dad left, Charlie couldn't play baseball because he had to take care of them. Sam bought him a glove for his birthday and agreed to take over one day a week so he could play.

*Charlie gave them all extremely short haircuts once to save their mom some money. Kristy and Sam did laundry to help, accidentally mixed in a red shirt, and everything came out pink. Charlie redid the laundry with a yellow shirt thrown it that turned everything orange.

*Patrick does not ask about David Michael, doesn't ask him to come to the phone, and doesn't send him a plane ticket. Elizabeth says he's just too young to go, but it does lead some weight to the theory that he isn't Patrick's kid.

*During their BSC meeting, Claudia wears cut off jeans with bicycle shorts, a paint splattered tee shirt, and suspenders covered in buttons that she made. Kristy wears a WNBA shirt and cut offs. Mary Anne pairs khaki shorts with a polo shirt, and Stacey wears a ribbed and sleeveless shirt with linen shorts.

*Just in case you missed it, Patrick and Zoey not only live together before getting married but actually share a bedroom!

*This book really got to me because I've been in Zoey's position before and dating a guy who had kids with someone else. He seemed like the perfect guy to me, despite what everyone said. It took me way too long to realize that he wasn't a good guy and that good guys don't just ditch their kids.

*Zoey has her whole family there for the wedding, including her parents, each of her dad's ex-wives, and even her grandmother. Patrick literally just has three of his four kids. How does she not find that a red flag?

*It's pretty clear that Patrick only asked them there because he wanted to show his new in-laws that he's the perfect guy to marry Zoey. The fact that he hisses at Charlie about being a good son cements it. That's why I hated that Sam and Kristy kept pushing Charlie to be good and talk to their dad. I also hated that they seemed willing to forgive him for all his shit over the years.

*They have an uncle who is Patrick's brother. They stopped talking after some fight he won't talk about, and when Patrick sent him a wedding invitation, he wrote back “best wishes, but no way.” Is that not a red flag for Zoey??

*Zoey even admits that she knew there was something up with him and his kids because all his stories are from when they were really young and he has no photos of them anywhere. Yup, sounds like someone I would want to marry!

*Charlie snaps back at Patrick that he shouldn't be a good son because Patrick wasn't a good father. Patrick then literally tells Charlie that they didn't do a good of staying in touch with him. Are you kidding me? Watson's been more of a father to them in a year than he was their whole lives!