He braced, prayed for wisdom and grace, and finally called her back.“Hey Mom.”
“Oh, Kyle, at last!I was so worried.”
“What about?”
“You didn’t answer your phone last night,” she chided.
“Because it was really late and I was asleep.”Or had been trying, anyway.
He kept his eyes closed, praying for grace as she kept talking, kept woodpecking him with questions that drilled a fresh ache in his head.
“So you’re feeling okay?”
In his body.“Sure.”His heart and soul?Not so much.
“It’s just that you sound a little tired, Son.”
“I saw Gen yesterday, Mom.”
“What?Why?”
Why had he said that?Sure enough, Mom began to rant and rave about how that girl was Bad News and Kyle should keep away from her.But her comments only made him punchy, to want to strike back with a truth bomb sure to ignite her antipathy.
“She’s got a nine-year-old daughter, Mom.”A beat.“So, apparently, do I.”
Silence met him for a long moment.Then, “What?Are you serious?Are you telling me you have a daughter?How do you know it’s yours?It could be anyone’s.Oh, she’s always been a tramp, I wish you had never met—”
“Is Dad there?”
“David?”
He rolled his eyes.How many other dads did Kyle have?“If he’s working from home and can talk I need you to put him on.Please, Mom.”
He heard a loud huff then Mom’s voice calling for his dad to pick up the extension.
He waited until his father finally answered.“Kyle?What’s this I hear about Gen having a daughter?”
“It’s true, Dad.I met her.Her name is Bella, she’s nine years old.”
He could almost hear his dad doing the math.“But that would make her… You and Gen were going out back then.”
“She’s mine, Dad.She’s got my eyes and my hair.”
“You can’t be certain, Son,” Mom spoke up again.“I bet she did this to entrap you.”
“Entrap me?She didn’t even want me to know, Mom.”
Kyle shivered.Imagine if he’d gone through life and never found out that someone—Bella—shared his blood.He was suddenly incredibly grateful for the injury that had placed him in Gen’s path.
“I demand you get a DNA test before you go doing something foolish,” Mom continued.“I can’t believe—”
“When can we meet her?”Dad asked calmly.
Kyle pressed his lips together for a moment.This was the support he wanted, needed.“I don’t know yet.It’s all so new I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.But I thought you should know.And,” he swallowed, “I’m sorry for disappointing you.I know this is probably the last thing either of you would’ve wanted.”
Mom concurred, while Dad took a little longer to respond.
“Kyle, if I’ve learned anything over the course of my years it’s that life has a way of throwing us curveballs.And if this is one of those for you, then I’m standing with you, Son.You let us know what you need.”
