Page 74 of Silver Player

“Momma. Dad. I have something to tell you.” Charlie reaches for Lucy’s ears, mockingly covering them.

“Is this a good time for this?” My younger brother’s eyes narrow on mine, and it occurs to me he knows what I’m about to say.

“Sadie is more than Roxanne’s niece. She’s someone special to me.”

My mother’s breath catches, the gasp so loud the chandelier quakes. My father’s deep brows lower. “She’s a little young for you, son.”

“Gross,” Sadie groans. “I’m his daughter.”

The words hang in the air.

She’s my daughter.

I wasn’t the one to announce it to them.

“Surprise. I’m a dad.” The enthusiasm is lost and lacking in my voice, but I attempt cheerful, adding jazzy hands to emphasize the announcement.

Silence follows. We can hear the grandfather clock in the main hallway tick-tocking.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

“How did this happen?” Dad asks.

“When did this happen?” Mother questions.

“If she’s Uncle Billy’s daughter, that means she’s my cousin,” Lucy states, clarifying the relationship. She fondly stares at my daughter with wide blue eyes, blinking as tears fill them. “I have a cousin. A girl cousin close to my age. I’m almost a teenager. You are a teenager. We can be friends.” Her hands clasp before her like she’s received the greatest of gifts, and I agree with the excitement on her sweet face. Sadie is a present, even if my mother and father are still flabbergasted by the announcement.

“Explain yourself, William,” my father interjects. My eyes meet Roxanne’s for some reason, and then I turn to him.

“It was after Rachel. We were…over and…Theresa McAllister was in town for a girls’ reunion with some other women from our high school class.”

“Have you learned nothing about protection?” My father snorts in disgust as he’s the one who’d slip condoms into the trophy room, hidden behind remote controls and game consoles in the top left drawer.

“Dad,” Charlie admonishes, his eyes shooting to Lucy.

“I know what a condom is,” Lucy says, and Sadie laughs, then covers her mouth in an attempt to stop.

“I don’t even want to know how you know,” Charlie remarks.

“Television,” Lucy clarifies, but my mother clears her throat.

“So, Sadie…how old are you?”

“Sixteen,” Sadie answers, looking over at my mother. Sadie’s trying to hold her head high, but if I know anything about my mother, it’s that she can make you wither with a simple look. Only Sadie is staring back at my mother like she’d burn her, and I remember that scathing glare from when she first told me she was my child.

“You have your father’s eyes,” my mother states, shocking me.

“She what?”

“The shape matches Roxanne’s, but the coloring, the look, I’d recognize one of my own anywhere.” I don’t know what my mother means or what she sees, and I turn to Sadie who sits at my right.

“I just don’t understand how this happened,” my dad questions. “You know better. You know to wrap it up.”

“Dad,” Charlie pointedly calls his name, side-eyeing Lucy.

“George,” my mother scolds.

“I’m sorry. I just…this is too much. Excuse me.” He stands, placing his napkin over his plate, and leaves the room, sizzling a hole in my heart at his dismissal, but the puzzled hurt on Sadie’s face sets that hole aflame.