Page 18 of So Much More
“Yes.”
“What’s her name?”
Mom pauses. “Andrea.”
I suck in a breath.
“I know,” Mom says. “What a coincidence.”
When I was three, a little after my father left and it was just me and Mom, I had an imaginary sister named Andrea. I have two half-brothers now, and I love them dearly, but they’re teenagers. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have a sister or a sibling my own age.
I ask her, “Are you saying you want me to meet her? You’re not upset by this?”
“I’ll admit I was shocked when Jack told me, but I knew he wasn’t faithful to me.”
My jaw drops. “You did?”
“Yes, it’s why I kicked him out.”
My heart lurches into my throat. “What? I thought he left us.”
“I know, because that’s what I told you. I thought that would be easier on you. You were so little. There was no way I could tell you the truth. I know I should have done so later on, and your dad has always told me I needed tell you what really happened, but I just couldn’t. I was embarrassed and ashamed. I’m sorry I lied to you, honey.”
“Mom …” I grip the phone so tightly my hand hurts almost as much as my heart does from the knowledge my mom has lied to me my entire life about why my father left.
She sighs. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have sprung that on you like this.”
“No,” I say in a small voice, “you shouldn’t have.”
“I can come down there now to be there with you, if you need me to. Your dad can’t come because he’s in the middle of a big trial, but I can be there in a few hours.”
“No, I don’t want you driving here from Milwaukee late at night.” I might be angry with her, but I love her and don’t want her driving alone in the dark, especially when she’s upset because she knows I’m upset. “I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
No. “Yes.”
“All right. Call me tomorrow?”
No. “Maybe.”
“Honey, I love you so much, and I’m so sorry. I truly am.” I can tell she is by the sound of her voice. And I’ll forgive her, but I’m not quite ready yet. “But if you want to meet your sister, I need to tell you how to make that happen.”
I sigh. “I’ll call you, Mom. I promise.”
seven
“So is there a chance I’ll be an uncle in nine months?” Ash asks when I walk back into our apartment.
I ignore him and head into the kitchen to grab a Budweiser from the fridge. I take a long drink and then steel myself before going back into the living room. I don’t know how Ash is going to respond to my decisions. Not that he gets a say in them, but he’ll have a definite opinion.
When I re-enter the room, he mutes the TV.
“That’s the first thing you’re going to ask me?” I drop onto the couch and kick my feet up on the coffee table.
“You were gone several hours. That’s a lot longer than it takes to break up with someone. I simply assumed. Maybe I shouldn’t have.”
I hate that he assumed, but until today, that would have been an accurate assumption to make of me, so I can’t justifiably be annoyed with him.
