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"Thanks. Tell him I'm sorry that we didn’t connect before this, but we thought he'd want to know about Mom."
"I will. Goodbye and I'm really sorry about your mom."
"Thanks."
We ended the call and I sat beside Sophie and watched her playing, a lump in my throat, my eyes filling with tears at the prospect of telling Drake that his mother was very sick and could be dying.
He'd want to know. I was sure he'd want to go and see her once before she died. I was almost certain he'd want to meet his half-siblings. He had brothers and a sister? And seven nieces and nephews? I knew Drake would want to become family with them, despite the years they'd been apart. Drake had been deprived of a family all his life but now, he had a wife, two children and would soon have brothers and a sister.
That made me tear up even more, imagining him meeting them and finally feeling like he was part of the kind of large family he always dreamed of while growing up.
"Did you hear that, Sophie?" I said through tears. "You have a grandma and uncles and aunts. And cousins."
Sophie smiled up at me, chewing on her pacifier, a toy in her hand.
When we'd been gone for about an hour, I packed us up and we walked back to the house, entering just before eleven. The house was quiet and so I took Sophie out of her stroller and took her into her bedroom to remove her clothes and give her a bath. She was splashing in the water happily when the door opened and Drake peeked his head inside.
"How are my girls doing?"
He came inside and knelt beside the tub, kissing my cheek and reaching out to stroke Sophie's wet rosy cheek.
"We're fine. How did you sleep?"
Drake stretched his arms over his head and smiled. "Fantastic. I feel great. Ready to face the night."
He seemed so happy, I hated the thought of bringing up the whole business of his mother, but I had to.
"I got a call while I was out," I said while Drake sat on the edge of the tub and played with Sophie.
"Oh, yeah? From who?" he asked, peering at me, his smile fading.
"From your half-brother, Kent."
He frowned, and I could tell he was confused. "My half-brother Kent?"
I nodded. "Your mother remarried and had four children. Three boys and a girl. There's Kent, the oldest, then Craig and Andrew and Amanda, your half-sister. Kent called, wanting to get in touch with you. Your mother is very sick and may not survive. She's early-onset Alzheimer's and has contracted septicemia due to an infection with what they think is antibiotic resistant bacteria."
"Oh, God," Drake said, his face falling before my eyes. Gone was the happy Drake, the well-rested Drake, ready to face his day of work and family. "Is she dying?"
"She's very sick. Kent wanted to give you the chance to come down and see her in case she dies. He and the others want to meet you, get to know you and they thought it should be now, while there is still time."
Drake stared off into the distance for a moment.
"Kent said he wasn’t sure if she'd even understand who you are, so it's fine if you don’t want to go. She barely recognizes them now and doesn't really talk."
"I have to go and see her," Drake said finally. He looked in my eyes, and I could tell he was steeling himself for the ordeal. How could it be anything but heartbreaking? To see her after all these years?
"If she doesn't or can't remember you, is it really worth going?" I asked, wanting to give Drake an out, just in case he really didn’t want to go to see her.
"I want to see her," he said, his voice throaty, emotional. "She's my mother, even if she abandoned me." He nodded, more to himself than to me. "Besides, I really do want to meet my brothers and sister."
"I'm so sorry about this, Drake. It's too bad you couldn't have contacted her before this happened."
"I can see her now. She may not recognize me, but I need to see her."
I picked Sophie up out of the tub and wrapped her in a huge soft towel, drying off her hair with the corner. She was all clean and smelling like the soap we used on her hair, her cheeks rosy.
"Let me have her," Drake said and held out his arms. I handed her to him and he held her close, kissing her head and cheeks, smiling at her as he stroked her cheek. He looked up at me, his eyes filled with tears.
