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God help me. I’m so thankful that I was raised by my father and never had that woman in my life. Though, it makes me wonder; why the hell would she give me away and not Rivers?
“What about his father?” I question.
Noah scrolls down on the birth certificate and shakes his head. “No father has been listed,” he tells me, looking across at me with cautious eyes. “Are you alright? I bet this is a lot to take in.”
I shrug my shoulders, honestly not knowing the answer to that. “I don’t know,” I tell him. “What about you guys? We just discovered more about Rivers in the past twenty minutes than we have over the past seven years.”
“Yeah,” Noah scoffs. “I mean, I knew there was a reason he didn’t want to share anything about his personal life, but I never imagined it could have been that bad.”
“I know,” I murmur, turning to Tully. “What about you?”
She just shrugs her shoulders and falls back into the couch, looking off into space with hurt and betrayal written all over her. “He could have told me,” she whispers a moment later.
“He was trying to protect you from it,” I tell her, squeezing her hand before getting up and pulling her up behind me. “Come on,” I say. “I think this is cause for chocolate and ice cream.”
Chapter 15
“What’s going on, Squish?” Dad says, answering my call with the rumble of his truck in the background, making me strain to hear him.
“Not much,” I tell him, glancing across the kitchen to make sure Aria is out of hearing range. “I, um…I kind of did some digging about my mom, you know, the real one.”
“Oh yeah,” Dad says a little cautiously while trying to sound somewhat encouraging and supportive. “What’d you find?”
“Um…nothing good. She isn’t exactly the kind of woman I want in my life, but I can finally see that she did the right thing giving me to you. I have a much better life than the one she would have given me,” I tell him. I mean, I can only imagine what she would have done with me.
“Ain’t that the truth,” Dad booms. “You’ve got the best old man that any kid could want, and don’t you forget it. In fact, remind your sister a few times while I’m gone.”
I roll my eyes and laugh. “Ok, but listen. There was something I discovered while I was reading into her,” I tell him. “Something…interesting.”
“Oh, yeah,” Dad repeats in that same curious yet supportive and encouraging tone.
“I’ve got a brother.”
“No, shit,” he says, pleasantly surprised.
“Yeah,” I laugh. “That’s not even the interesting part.”
“Oh?”
“Mmmm, you know my friend, Rivers?” I say. “It’s him.”
“What?” dad grunts. “I thought Rivers was that kid’s first name.”
I roll my eyes again and grin. It’s not uncommon for people to think that. After all, no one has ever called him by another name. “No, he just prefers to go by Rivers. His real name is Samuel.”
“Fancy that,” Dad grumbles. I can just picture the astonishment on his face. “What does he think of all this? I bet he’s thrilled to find he has you as a sister.”
I cringe. “Don’t know, Dad,” I tell him. “He’s not been around. He enlisted with the Marines and is at boot camp.”
“Really? But he hasn’t finished high school. Couldn’t he have waited a few months?”
“He got his GED so I guess he couldn’t wait,” I sigh. “But I don’t know. It’s a long story.”
Aria appears by my side and starts pulling on my shirt. “Can we go to Noah and Tully’s place for breakfast? Violet’s pancakes are better than yours.”
“What?” I grunt in outrage, looking down at her.
Aria grins back and I let out a sigh. “I’ve got to go, dad. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Alright, Squish. Tell Ari that I love her.”
“K.”
With that, I end the call and focus on my sister. “First off, your daddy loves you so much. And second, my pancakes are the bomb and you know it.”
She shakes her head, laughing as though mocking my cooking gives her life. “No,” she says. “Violet puts choc-chips, cream, and strawberries on hers and you put healthy stuff.”
“But…”
“Please,” Aria whines, pulling on my shirt for the fifth time. “I want to have breakfast with Tully.”
“I don’t know,” I tell her, my hand pausing on the pancake mix as I reconsider. “Tully’s been a little bit sad lately. I think she might just want to be left alone.”
“No,” she groans. “If she’s sad then she needs me to come and cheer her up. I made her a song.”
I grin down at my little sister. “You made her a song?” I ask proudly. “Can I hear it?”
“Are you sad?”
“No.”
“Then no, it’s just for Tully.”
I let out a huff. How is it this five year old manages to twist my arm like this? “Alright,” I tell her. “Go and get your shoes and your school bag and we’ll head over. But don’t get upset if Violet doesn’t have all the toppings for your pancakes. We haven’t exactly given her much warning.”
