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He knew where he needed to begin. “I’ve finally found her, Mom. The woman I’m meant to be with.”
“Oh honey.” Emotion quavered in his mom’s voice.
“Her life’s a mess, and I don’t care. I always thought I was looking for perfect, for what you and Dad have, but Tasha makes me see how important it is to wade into the mess right along with her. To be there for her in any way she needs me.” He dropped his voice, closing his eyes to savor the words, the emotion. “I love her, Mom. And I need to help her heal her heart over things she’s not truly responsible for. To help her stop blaming herself.” He told her briefly about Tasha’s father and brother, about the scams they’d pulled.
“Sweetheart. I’m so sorry for everything she’s gone through. But you’ll help her see that she’s not to blame. It just takes patience and time. And she’ll understand eventually. As long as she has the man who loves her right beside her.” His mother sucked in a breath, and then she sniffled.
She was always emotional for her kids, hurting when they hurt, joyful when they found joy. But he knew this was different, that she was crying over whatever had been bothering her for days now.
He wasn’t afraid of hearing it anymore. Tasha had shown him there were no bumps that couldn’t be faced if you faced them with someone you loved.
Propping his elbows on his knees, he concentrated on his mother. “Is there something you haven’t told me, Mom? About you and Dad, I mean. I keep getting this sense…”
He heard her breathing, then finally she said in a low voice, “One of the hardest things to do is to stop blaming yourself.” After another deep breath, she swallowed audibly. “I still haven’t completely forgiven myself for what happened in the past.”
He thought of all the things someone could feel guilty about, certain that none of them could possibly be anything his mother was capable of. But he’d asked, and he was obliged to hear, no matter the cost. Just as he would do for Tasha.
“I’m listening, Mom. It’s okay. I’ll never judge you.”
After two quick but shaky breaths, she said, “I was pregnant with you before your father and I got married.”
&n
bsp; Was that what she was worried about? Because it was no big deal. Lots of people got pregnant first, then married later. Even back in the eighties. There was no shame in that.
But before he could say this, she spoke again. “I didn’t tell your father. In fact, I broke up with him and didn’t even let him know the real reason why.”
Now that shocked the breath right out of him. His mother had always talked about openness and honesty. She’d kept something that major from his father?
Still, he’d asked. And he’d sworn not to judge. “It’s okay, Mom.” Maybe he was saying it to himself too.
As though she hadn’t heard him, she said, “I just couldn’t change Bob’s life that way. We didn’t have any money. And we were so young. My mother wanted me to give you away. She was so angry. She had all these hopes and dreams. That I’d go to college. That I’d get out of the neighborhood. She said I could never do that if I had a baby. But I wanted you, Daniel. I could never give you away. I just thought I had to make it on my own. So that Bob could make it out without me. So that he could be the one to go to college, to get out of that horrible neighborhood, to make something of himself, to have a chance at a better life.”
Though he struggled not to reveal it, Daniel reeled at her confession; how could he not? His mom had left his father. Daniel had always thought they were perfect right from the start—yet she’d doubted his father’s love, so much that she’d kept her pregnancy a huge secret from him.
“What happened?” He knew—they’d stayed together, of course—but now he needed to understand not only how, but why. Just as Tasha needed to understand her family.
“Your father never could take no for an answer.” His mother’s laugh was soft and heartfelt. “He kept showing up, kept asking me why, if there was someone else, if I’d stopped loving him. I swear he plain wore me down until I told him the truth.” She laughed again, this time with the hint of tears. “Saying it that way doesn’t do your father justice. He showed me so much love that he broke through all my fear and resistance, straight to my heart. He helped me grow strong. He didn’t have to insist we get married. He simply made me believe we could do anything as long as we were together.”
That sounded exactly like his father, like the man Daniel had always respected and loved. He just couldn’t believe his mom had been the one to give up.
Daniel thought of Tasha once more. She thought she was weak, and yet she was so strong, finding the courage to reveal her past, not just to him, but to the Mavericks. She’d found the courage to search for her father, her brother. Compared to the things Tasha had been through, Daniel’s life had been easy. Because of the love of his parents. Because they believed in him. Because they’d never given up on him.
But maybe you couldn’t learn how to give that kind of love and unconditional acceptance without hitting some hard bumps of your own. Maybe it was the bumps that taught you what was worth fighting for. And maybe it was surviving the worst of those bumps that made a person truly special.
Like Tasha.
Like his dad.
Like the mother he loved, respected, and cherished.
“I’m so glad you said yes to Dad.”
“It wasn’t all roses after that, sweetheart. I wish it had been. My parents stopped speaking to me. My mom said if I was going to be an idiot, she was washing her hands of me.”
He’d never known his grandparents on either side, but he’d always thought it was because they’d died when he was only a toddler, not because his mom’s parents had disowned her. His dad’s father had died before Daniel was even born, his mother passing maybe a year afterward.
“I’m so sorry your mother didn’t support you.”
