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“Because he’s been asking the rest of the family how to get hold of you. He believes you have a new number, so he wants it. Of course, nobody is giving it to him, but it’s not stopping him from asking.”
Dad is trying to get hold of me? I haven’t thought about him in a long time. Ever since I caught him canoodling with that woman, I’ve cut off everything with him. Anything I needed to get from Dad, my other relatives did it for me. His brothers - my uncles - are still really angry with him for what he did. Mom was very much loved, and Dad screwed up something good. Nobody in Dad’s family talks to him unless they absolutely have no choice.
Thankfully, I have the ability to not speak to him. He’s never met Amy, and I don’t plan on changing that.
“What does he want from me?” I ask. “Does he want to see Amy or something? Because that isn’t happening.”
“That’s what he wants.” Grandma sighs. “He wants to see his granddaughter. And he’s upset that we all kept it from him. Nobody told him until last week that he had a grandkid by you.”
“You what?” I stare at her. “Did he genuinely not know about Amy?”
“No, we all kept it from him. I know you didn’t care either way, seeing as he wasn’t going to meet Amy anyway per your wishes, but we didn’t think there was much point in telling him as it would just cause you extra stress.” Grandma squeezes my hand. “We just want to be sure that you don’t have those two parasites bothering you, especially given what they found out about Megan.”
“What do you mean?”
Grandma hesitates, looking around at Amy. But Amy is still on the climbing frame, sitting at the top of the slide. I put my other hand over Grandma’s.
“She can’t hear us, Grandma. What’s going on with them?”
“Well, they started trying for a baby as soon as they got married.”
“What?”
“Kevin said he wanted a boy, and he was denied the chance, and Megan was eager to get pregnant before she turned thirty. But nothing happened, or when she did get pregnant she had a miscarriage. Things were getting strained between them.” Grandma shakes her head. “I heard this from your uncle Roddy. Apparently, they went for some tests, and the chances of her getting pregnant is very low. The only way to guarantee a successful pregnancy is to have IVF, but Kevin doesn’t earn enough for that, and Megan’s salary would barely make a dent in it, either.”
I can see where this is going.
“You think if Megan finds out that I got pregnant around the same time they started trying while she’s struggling, that she might end up targeting me for some reason?”
“We were concerned that she could go crazy towards you, and you don’t need that. We just did it to protect you.” Grandma nods at Amy, who is now on the swings. “If you don’t want Amy to meet him, we’ll carry on as normal. If you do, we’re on your side.”
“I’m really touched, Grandma. You didn’t need to do any of that.”
“Yes, we did. Your mother wasn’t the only one betrayed by your father. My idiot son chose to ignore his own family for a squeeze who is causing all sorts of problems. That’s on him, and if you want nothing to do with him, that’s absolutely fine. We’ll do what you wish.”
I don’t know what to say to that. After bumping into Luke today, my head is in a mess. I don’t want Dad coming around me and pestering me to let him see Amy. That was a headache I didn’t want right now. Not when I already had one from Luke, and from Ben behaving like he’s been done a disservice due to Amy’s biological father coming back out of nowhere.
Things just seemed to stack on top of each other today. It is getting too much.
I squeeze Grandma’s hands.
“Thank you for sticking with me, Grandma. You’re awesome.”
Grandma gives me a smile and puts her arms around me, giving me a hug.
“Of course I’m awesome.”
“And not modest at all,” I laugh.
“That as well.” Grandma sits back. “Now, once Amy’s worn herself out, we’ll get something to eat. And you can tell me what’s going on with you right now. I can tell you’re not yourself today, and it’s clearly eating at you.”
Sometimes I wish that she wouldn’t do that. It makes me feel like I can’t hide anything from her. Then again, I don’t want to hide anything from Grandma; she always knows what to do.
I sigh and nod.
“Okay. But I’d rather tell you now. Because I’ve got to figure out how to tell Amy.”
“Tell her what?”
