“The little faggot’s boyfriend, no doubt.” Jacob sounded pleased with his answer, but fear robbed the insult of its usual venom. Uriel was an unknown. Jacob didn’t pick fights unless he thought he could win.
“I thought Nick exaggerated, but I was wrong,” Uriel said, staring a hole in Jacob. “You really are an asshole.”
Satisfying as it was to watch Jacob get humiliated, I came for a different purpose. “No, Jacob, this is my Uncle Uriel. My boyfriend’s in my Maserati parked out front.” Okay,thatpart wassatisfying.
“What the fuck are you on?” Kevin stared at me with nothing close to fatherly affection. “This guy isn't part of our family.”
I'd worried I'd flounder trying to explain things, but they made it easy. “You're right, he's not related to you. He's related to me.”
“Now I know you’re on drugs,” Kevin said. “Saw that coming a mile away.”
I took a breath to steady myself. This wasn't my father, so I didn’t really care what he thought. “Do you remember when I was eight and you demanded a paternity test because there was no way I could’ve been your son? You were right, Kevin. You're not my father.”
Mom gasped, but I didn't give Kevin a chance to turn on her. “And she’s not my birth mother.”
“How dare you insult your mother like that!” Kevin yelled. “Get your perverted asses outta this house before I call the cops.”
Considering the topic, I knew they’d be skeptical. But it didn’t matter if Kevin believed me, I came to convince Laura. “The day I was born, the nurse handed the baby boy to you. After a minute or two, something went wrong, and the doctors whisked him away with no explanation.”
“How did you know that?” She glanced at Kevin. “I never told anyone, not even your father.”
The snarky side of me wanted to say, “Of course you didn’t; you never met Eliakim Grant,” but she didn’t need another man treating her poorly. “At the same time you gave birth to your son, I was born in a nearby room. My mother was Ariel Chandler.She'd checked into the hospital as Jane Doe so her family couldn't find her.”
Uriel and I kept it as close to the truth as we could. “Ariel died giving birth to me. Nicholas died before they could save him.”
I stumbled because it still bothered me that I caused Nicholas Fenton’s death.
“We're not exactly sure what happened next.” Uriel moved in without missing a beat. “What we know for sure is the staff switched your son for Ariel’s. She’d listed no family or anyone the hospital could contact. Her son would’ve been an orphan and turned over to the state. The staff must've thought it a kindness to both you and the surviving child. Switching the two babies prevented you from having to deal with the death of your child, and they thought it would give Ariel’s son a good home."
Uriel somehow kept a straight face, but I struggled not to laugh at characterizing the Fentons’ as a ‘good home.’ If Uriel had known how bad they were, I doubt he’d have given me to them.
“That's bullshit!” Kevin waved his hand dismissively. “I took a paternity test. Unfortunately, the little shit is my son.”
Henry had been right about Uriel’s ability to spin a believable story. “You took me to the hospital where I was born. They had a note in the family file in case you ever showed up. They lied.”
“Right,” Jacob said, drawing it out for maximum sarcasm. “Even if we believe this fairy tale, how did you figure it out?”
“First, it doesn’t matter what you believe,” Uriel said. “My family’s convinced he’s Ariel’s son, which means we accept him as part of our family. As to how; I havesignificantresources at my disposal. I never stopped looking for my sister. About a year ago, my lawyer suggested I take a DNA test. It worked. The results said I had a nephew. Since I only had one sister, it had to be her child.”
At the mention of Uriel’s wealth, Kevin looked at me, his eyes opened wider. If I were a truly evil person, I'd offer him a million dollars to accept me and disowned Jacob. Knowing Kevin, he’d toss Jacob out in a heartbeat to get the money.
“I took a DNA test in college for a school project. The company only had my school email, but I don’t use it anymore. A few months ago, I checked it and found the match request from the testing company and contacted Uriel.”
“Is that why you're here?” Kevin asked, looking at me and then to Uriel. “To pay me back for all I did for yournephew?”
My story might be bullshit and he hated me, but if it meant he’d get free money, Kevin would happily accept I wasn’t his biological son. “Pay you back? You were a terrible parent. Worse than terrible. You let Jacob torment and beat me to satisfy your sadistic streak. The only way topay you backwould be to stoop to your level and I’m better than you. I’ve always been better than you, which is why you let Jacob bully me.”
I should’ve toned it down, but they were awful people. Kevin’s suggestion that he’d done anything worth compensation, needed to be discredited.
“That’s enough.” Jacob bunched up his fists. “Get the fuck out, faggot.”
Part of me wanted him to attack me so I could pummel the person who’d been so nasty to me as a kid, but that was my anger talking. It also wouldn’t help me convince Mom to leave. “I didn’t come here to fight, Jacob, but if you come at me, I promise I’ll put you in the hospital.”
Uriel moved closer. I didn’t need protecting, but it sent the message it would be unwise to fight us. Jacob tried to act tough, but he stood rooted in place.
Using the moment Uriel bought me, I faced Mom. “You are the only good memory I have of this family. Despite all the abuse you endured, you still tried to protect me like any mother would.I’ll always love you for what you did. Now that I have the ability, I want to take care of you the way you always tried to care for me.”
In a normal world, she'd never accept. The abuse was too ingrained. Mom made so many excuses for Kevin and Jacob that she'd convinced herself they weren’t bad people. At the edge of my awareness, I sensed Uriel using his influence. This was how Trevor and the others convinced guys not to date me.
