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Royce is turning out to be far more attentive than I ever imagined. Besides text messages throughout the day, he always calls and gives me some random number of minutes until he’ll be here.
I lean toward my mirror to apply the mascara to my left eye when I hear a loud knock coming from downstairs, and let out a sigh, relieved I didn’t smudge either eye.
Closed, means closed, people.
Crossing my front room, I peer out through the new window and look down to see a group of familiar faces standing on the sidewalk. Flint is standing closest to the curb and looks straight up at me. What is going on now? I wonder to myself.
Holding up my pointer finger, I turn from the window. Hastily twisting my wet hair into a knot and pulling on the jeans I was planning on wearing tonight, I hurry downstairs.
In a flash, I’m opening the front entrance to see Bree, Roy, Mack, Flint—and just beyond him, Jasper is pulling up on his motorcycle.
“What’s going on?” I ask as they all enter.
“What are you doing here?” Roy asks Jasper once he shuts down his bike and follows everyone else inside.
“I heard there was a party,” he drawls out, shrugging as he pulls a chair off one of the tables and maneuvers it to sit backwards facing the rest of us.
I feel slightly overwhelmed with everyone towering over me in the small seating area, and look at each of their faces as I wait for someone to say something.
“Not that it isn’t nice to see y’all, but is there something you need?” I repeat the question I had asked when they all first jammed themselves inside.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake, sit down, the lot of you!” For the first time since I’ve met her, Bree comes close to raising her voice.
It looks like a game of musical chairs, but the three men that are still standing instantly comply. Swinging chairs off of different tables, both Roy and Mack offer me a seat, as Flint pulls one down for Bree. Once we’re all seated, he stands next to Bree, his hand resting on her shoulder.
“Molly,” Bree says, looking across the room to me; in fact, I can feel everyone’s eyes on me, but I focus on her. “Mack, Roy, and Flint recognized your mother from that photo you have. In short, they allknewyour mom.”
“You remember my mom?” I ask hopefully, looking to where Roy and Mack are sitting next to each other. They’re both looking at the floor, so I swing my gaze over to Flint.
It’s the mildly apologetic look on his face and the way that he seems to be massaging Bree’s shoulder that brings her words into context for me.
“Wow. You all knew,kneeewher,” I whisper, standing up and unconsciously positioning my chair between myself and the group.
I’m hardly surprised at her meaning, based on comments that my uncle had made about my mom over the years. My stomach still twists up like a pretzel and somehow my eyes land on Jasper.
He holds his hands up. “Before my time,” he deadpans. I almost smile, knowing he can’t be much more than a dozen years older than me.
“The three of them would like to submit to a paternity test for you, but a private one as they don’t want their results added to any databases,” Bree continues, calmly explaining their plan to me. “Dr. Forsythe can administer it, if you agree.”
“Oh, Tabby,” I exhale after a second. With the weight of the news, the formality of her title threw me.
Looking at the men, then down to Bree, I realize Flint’s hand is there to comfort her and not to steady himself.
My emotions get the best of me and Bree stands as I fling myself across the space to wrap my arms around her.
“Are you alright?” I ask her quietly. As hard as this is for me, I have to wonder how she’s feeling right now. Flint’s jaw tightens at my words, increasing my nervousness.
“You were born long before I met Flint,” she reassures me, even though I notice that her eyes are shinier than usual. “There are no guarantees that any of these men are your father, you understand? Proceeding with the testing has to be your call. It may be too soon to ask this, but how are you feeling about it?”
“I’d like to check,” I say after a few minutes slowly tick by. When I finally look at each of the men again, I’m glad that I have Bree to hold onto for added strength.
“Thank you all for coming to me with this,” I add after a moment.
Flint looks hesitant and from the time I’ve spent with his wife, I know that he has children that are older than me, which adds a whole other layer to the possibility of his paternity. Was he still married when I was conceived?
It’s the almost identical expressions of hope on Roy and Mack’s faces that set my heart racing.
From what little I know, neither of them have children. Considering they must be in their fifties or sixties, I imagine the idea of finding out they have a child, without having to deal with diapers, must seem either daunting or attractive.
