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“Now, why would we leave before we clear this mystery up?” Shade says with a slight shake of his head.
“Please.” Mom folds before us. “Please, just go.”
Shade steps forward and snarls, “You want us to leave to protect your secret. You are once again placing your own selfish needs above that of your family.”
“Will somebody please tell me what the fuck is going on!” my father bellows and mom collapses into the nearby chair and places her head in her hands.
Shade turns to my father and says gently, “I’m sorry but your wife has been having an affair with your brother for the last twenty-five years.”
I almost can’t look at my father’s expression and stare with hatred at my mom’s broken figure.
“Meredith?” my father says in confusion. “What is he talking about?”
Mom shakes her head and I hate how weak she is. Even now she won’t tell him the truth and Shade says gently, “I’m sorry, Mr. Stevenson. It has come to my attention that both Allegra and Rafferty are…”
“STOP!” Mom jumps up and screams, “Leave! For God’s sake, just leave. Make them, Richard. Tell them to go.”
“Sit down!” My father yells and she stares at him in shock as he says to Shade, “Tell me.”
Shade turns to me with concern and whispers, “Are you okay, Ally?”
To be honest, I’m not sure I am, but I nod, frozen to the spot.
I’m touched when he gently pushes me down on the couch and sits beside me, holding my hand tenderly before turning to my father with a sympathetic smile.
“I’m sorry to be the one telling you this, but both Allegra and Rafferty are your brother’s children.”
To my surprise, my father sits down in the seat opposite and says gruffly, “I know.”
I stare at him in shock, and he glances at his wife and whispers, “We should have told them.”
“They’re yours, Richard.” Mom says with a break in her voice and dad says sadly. “When we married, I didn’t realize at the time, but I can’t father a child. We tried for many years and when we were unsuccessful, I sought help for my well, problem.”
He stares at me with a desolate expression and says gently, “I’m sorry, angel. We tried every avenue going, but it was futile. Then we were told of a way through IVF. My sperm wasn’t suitable, so my brother, your uncle Lucas, offered to help. At least that way we would be tied by blood. It was a great gift.”
I am stunned and stare at Shade in horror as we completely got this wrong. This is a disaster.
Shade shakes his head and squeezing my hand says roughly, “So he donated his sperm, and it was artificially inseminated.”
He rolls his eyes. “So, why has your wife been having an affair with him ever since?”
“You’re lying!” Mom yells and as my father glares at Shade, I flinch as he slams the evidence down in front of them and says angrily, “Explain these photographs. I’d love to hear another fairy story. They were taken years apart in various hotel rooms booked for one reason only. Their affair.”
Mom screams and tries to get to them first, but my father pushes her away and bellows, “Sit down!”
He grasps the evidence, and I swear he ages in seconds. He was once so strong and now appears vulnerable and broken.
“It’s true.” He shakes his head as he flips through the picture evidence no amount of denying can repair.
Then he turns to mom and sneers, “You lied to me.”
He stares at the photographs again and roars. “You fucking lied to me all these years. Those business trips, lunches with the girls, and charity work were all a front. Weren’t they?”
He is incensed and mom sobs in her seat, her head in her hands, broken beyond repair.
“I love him.” Her voice shakes as she finally confesses and the pain in my father’s eyes is too hard to witness, so I stand and say to Shade. “Take me home. I don’t want to be here anymore. It’s too painful.”
I can’t even look at my mother and instead, head toward my father and hug him hard, whispering, “You will always be daddy to me. I love you and this changes nothing. I’ll be in touch.”
