Page 61 of So Much More
She finally asks, “How do we want to do this? Do you want to ask me questions? Do you want me to ask you questions?”
“How about we take turns?”
“That sounds good. You want to go first?”
“Sure. Can you tell me about Emily, or is that too personal to start out with?”
“No, that’s great. I’m glad you want to know about her. She’s six and just finished kindergarten. She loves to read and play with her friends, and she does gymnastics. The girl is a ball of energy, and gymnastics helps channel that energy so I don’t lose my mind.” She chuckles.
“Does she have red hair?” I ask.
“Strawberry blonde.”
I smile as I try to picture the little girl in my mind.
Andrea says, “Jack told me you have two brothers, but he didn’t tell me anything about them. Are you close to them?”
“Their names are Daniel and Ryan,” I explain. “Daniel is nineteen and just finished his freshman year at Marquette University in Milwaukee, and Ryan will be a senior in high school this coming year. I love them to death, but we’re not especially close, since I left home for college when they were very young. Do you have other siblings?”
“No, it’s only been me and mom until Emily came along. Mom doesn’t have siblings, and when her parents died when I was a baby, she left Wisconsin for Little Rock because a friend hooked her up with a job here. While she built a good life and we have friends, it’s not the same as having family.”
“I understand that,” I say. “Do you mind telling me how you found out about me?”
“I don’t mind at all. My whole life, my mom told me my father died while she was pregnant with me. In fact, she told everyone that. But I now know I was the result of my mom’s affair with your married father. As I said before, when Mom’s parents died when I was a baby, she left Milwaukee for Little Rock. It was partly for the job, but mostly because she wanted to get away from the memories of her parents and what happened with my—our—father. She broke things off with him when she found out she was pregnant, and she never told him, since he had a family. She didn’t want to cause any trouble. Mom says she didn’t know he was married when she first met him, but she did find out about you and your mom before she knew she was pregnant.
“Then about a month ago, she sat me down and told me the truth. She knew about you, but she didn’t know whether Jack was still married to your mom or had other kids or not. She left it up to me to decide if I wanted to find out.”
When she takes a breath, I say, “Do you know why she decided to tell you after all these years?”
“She knew how much I was struggling with not having family and realized that when she’s gone, I’ll have nobody but Emily. This was her way of trying to provide a family for us.”
“Is she …” I’m not sure how to put this delicately. “Is there a reason she thinks she might not be around much longer?”
“I wondered that, too, when she told me, but she swears she’s not sick or anything.”
“Good. So how did Jack respond after you tracked him down?”
“I can’t say he was delighted to hear from me, but he was willing to talk to me and tell me a little about himself and about you. From our conversations, I gathered the two of you aren’t close.”
“No,” I say. “We’re not. He left when I was two. Actually, let me amend that. That’s what my mom always told me. In reality, she found out about his affair and kicked him out. I’ve only seen him a handful of times, and my stepfather adopted me when I was ten. He’s who I consider to be my dad, not Jack.”
“So your mom lied to you, too?” Andrea asks.
“Yes, and I only learned the truth when she called to tell me about you.”
“Shetold you about me? Not Jack?”
“I haven’t spoken to Jack in ten years.”
“Oh.” She sounds disappointed.
“You didn’t miss out on anything by not knowing him. Take it from me.”
“I don’t know if that makes me feel better or not,” she says.
“Are you mad at your mom for not telling you until now?”
“I am. We’re not estranged or anything—we love and depend on each other too much for that—but things are strained between us.”
