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ChapterEight
Chase
The following day, my phone rang. I glanced down to where it sat on the counter in my kitchen. I was sitting on a stool, lingering over a cup of coffee. It was my sister calling. Again.
I answered, “Hey, Tiffany.”
“Hey! I called you the other day, and you didn't call me back,” she said.
“I know. I meant to. I’ve just been busy.”
“That's what you always say. Are you okay?”
“Tiff, I'm fine. It's fine.”
My sister charged right at any problem or person she worried about. Of late, that was me.
“Chase, you can't change the past. Dad and I are fine with it, and I want you to be at peace.”
“With what?”
“Mom’s dead, and she lied.”
“Tiff, I know you want to fix this. You want to fix everything. I just…” I paused, scrubbing a hand in my hair. “Look, the whole situation sucks. That's all.”
Roughly a year ago, we’d collectively learned that my mother had lied about who my father was. The man who’d been the only father I’d known and the father of my heart was not my biological father. My mother had never told any of us before she passed away. We’d only found out because my sister had us do DNA tests out of curiosity to find out if we had more family out there. At first, all I’d learned was Tiffany and I didn’t have the same father. I felt like my feet had been kicked out from under me. Mere weeks later, I received a message online from one of my half-siblings. I’d never know why my mother lied, and to make matters messier, I hadn't had a good relationship with her for most of my life.
She’d beena lotto deal with. My dad and I had always been tight, and we still were. Ever since this little bomb had landed in our lives, he had assured me every which way that he loved me as his son and always would. My bio dad had died before I’d even known he existed.
Lately, Tiff had been trying to get me to have a relationship with my other half siblings. I had seriously mixed feelings about it. The whole thing was a fucking mess. I had seven half siblings in Fireweed Harbor, a small town in Southeast Alaska. I'd never even visited there. Apparently, my mother had worked a summer job there and gotten pregnant just before she married my dad.
“Tiff, please let me figure this out at my own speed.”
My sister’s sigh filtered through the phone line. “All right. I'm sorry.”
“I know you want to fix it. You've connected with them, and they sound great, but I just need a little bit more time.”
“I know, I know. Can you promise not to blow off my calls? That’s what gets me worried.”
“I promise. I really was busy.” I was always busy with life, but I knew I was grabbing onto an easy excuse. “You coming home anytime soon?”
“Yeah, I'll be there in a few weeks.”
“Good. What else are you calling for?”
“Just to see how you're doing.”
“Well, I've got news, and it's pretty big.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m going to be a dad.”
“Excuse me? What?!” Tiff exclaimed.
“Yep. I'm as shocked as you.”
“When did you find out?”
