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“Yeah, well, that was before. Your mother and I have been going to a marriage counselor for the past few years and…” He shrugs. “I might buy into some of her touchy-feely stuff.”
“You’re seeing a marriage counselor?” I ask, my shoulders tensing at the thought that my parents are having problems.
“Calm yourself, calm yourself,” my dad tells me, tapping my hand gently with his. “We’ve been together 40 years, Cappie. Any sane person could assume we’d have a few things to hash out that might work out better if someone helped us.”
He pauses for a second.
“You know, when I was in my twenties, I always thought sexual compatibility was the most important part of a relationship, the ability to get each other hot. And your mom and I are lucky, because we can still manage to—”
“Alright, alright, I don’t need to hear about whatever you manage.”
My dad chuckles. “Well, my point is that sexual chemistry is a great thing, but even more important is communication. There’s a lot that goes into a relationship. A lot of time and attention and support, being there for each other when things are hard, and all of those things are so much easier if you can talk about it with each other.”
At that, my lips turn up at the edges. “Yeah, I can see that.”
“So what I’m telling you,” he continues, “is that you can’t just look at a woman like Emily and say, ‘Yeah, let’s do this because we’re sexually compatible.’ You need to take your time and find someone you can talk to.”
I snort. “From the man who told me to get my dick sucked.”
He shrugs. “What can I say? Sometimes I’m old school, sometimes I’m woke.”
Shaking my head, I can’t help the laugh that falls out of my mouth, the pain of the past two days momentarily gone at my father’s outrageous comments.
“You’re totally ridiculous, you know that right?”
My dad shrugs again and then winks at me. “Your mother sure does like it.”
At that, I belly-laugh again.
***
A little while later, my mom comes back into the living room, and it’s clear by the look on her face that she doesn’t have anything that can help us.
“The good news is Dr. Bridges was happy to be very forthcoming,” she begins. “But the bad news is he doesn’t remember her talking about anyone she had been unfaithful with prior to their meetings.”
I nod, not entirely surprised but somehow feeling incredibly disappointed just the same.
“So the options are to give in to Verona and move to Charleston, or refuse and wait for this to go to court?”
When nobody responds, I turn around, catching the two of them eyeing each other.
“What? What did I miss?”
My father sighs and makes a face at my mom before turning to look at me.
“There is a third option, Colton. One that can resolve everything immediately.”
My hands go wide at my sides. “Okay, and why haven’t we talked about this yet?”
“Because I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
“How could I not like it?”
“Because it’s you going to get a DNA test now. Voluntarily. Without cause or court obligation, to find out the truth.”
I cross my arms. “Absolutely not.”
“Colton, it’s your best option.”
