Ten thought about it for a minute. “I never had a carefree day after I realized I was gay. Not until I came to Salem and could finally be myself. I suppose if I could go back, I’d pick the day that my parents kicked me out of the house. I cried all the way to the Greyhound terminal and, when we got there, begged my father to let me stay. I even told him I’d got to conversion camp and pray the gay away.” Ten shook his head.
“What would you say in that situation now?” Cope asked.
“I’m not sure. I know I wouldn’t be crying or begging.” Ten took a shaky breath. “I never could have been the real me back in Union Chapel. The further east the bus drove, the more certain of that fact I became. In all the years I’ve been in Salem, I never called my parents once.”
“Too much pride?”
“Not just that, but when I left, my father said I was dead to him, and I decided to let that decision stand. Mom and Dad had no idea I’d met Ronan, or that I married him, or that we had a babyon the way. I suppose if my father hadn’t died, they still wouldn’t know.” There were times when Ten wished his parents would have reached out. His birthday or Christmas, or even when the Michael Frye case was featured onDateline. They never picked up the phone.
“Damn.” Cope shook his head. “Have you and River had a chance to talk about David?”
“A little.” Ten sighed. “Before he goes back to Florida, I want to see if we can get our father to appear. I want to see where he stands on River and find out if Dad has learned anything or if he’s still the same stubborn goat he’s always been.” Ten already knew the answer to his question. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know David’s hearthadn’tsoftened toward his oldest son.
“If he’s anything like my father, the answer is a resounding no.” Cope shook his head.
“Have you spoken to him since he died?” Ten asked, wondering why they’d never talked about this before.
“Not even once.”
“Are you okay with that?” Ten could see from the look in Cope’s eyes that he wasn’t.
“It is what it is. Did I hope he would have realized his mistakes from the other side? Yes. Am I surprised that he didn’t? No.” Cope was quiet for a few seconds. He sat back and watched Wolf bowl his next ball. It sailed down the land and picked off two pins on the right. “Do you think this will be our kids in twenty-five years? Sitting here with their kids talking about all the things we’ve done wrong as parents?”
“That thought’s crossed my mind more than once. Is letting Everly work on our cases scarring her for life? Would it scarher more if Ronan and I said no? The possibilities are endless. I just hope that in the end, she can look back and say she had a happy childhood, even if it involved folding her own laundry.” Ten snorted. Everly got so angry when he’d dumped her basket of clean clothes on her and told her to fold them last week. She looked like she was about to stage a mutiny, but Ten offered her a special treat if she got it all done. Fun-sized Snickers bars were only going to get him so far.
“You’re doing an amazing job raising a child with remarkable abilities. Everly will always remember how you helped her with her gift instead of ignoring it and shaming her for it like your parents did.”
“Thanks. It means a lot to hear you say that.” Ten offered his friend a grin. “You’re doing an amazing job too, raising a man who’s going to be kind and respectful of women. We need more boy dads like you and Jude.”
“What I worry about is when Lizbet gets older and wants to know who her birth parents are.” Cope took a shaky breath. “Things were so chaotic when she was born, with Jude almost dying at the hands of that maniac.”
Ten remembered the night Lizbet was born very well. Jude was on the hunt for a serial killer who was stalking his prey in Salem Mercy Hospital. He offered himself up as bait, with Ronan hiding in his hospital room’s shower, ready to leap into action when the killer made his appearance. Ronan got his man, but not until after he’d stabbed Jude with enough propofol to kill him. When Ten had reached the hospital room, it was to find Jude half-dead on the floor, with Ronan performing CPR and screaming at Jude to wake up. Thankfully, Jude was saved, and a little while later, Cope had gotten a call asking him if he’d like to foster a baby girl who had been born in the maternity ward thatsame night. “Are you going to tell her she’s adopted like you did with Wolf?”
Cope nodded. “When she’s old enough to understand, I’ve got books to read to her. The same ones Jude and I read to Wolf. The difference with him was that his parents were dead. I never had to worry about Wolfie searching for his birth parents, but Lizbet is another story.”
“Did you get to meet her mother?” Tennyson couldn’t remember that part of the story.
“I did, briefly. I wanted to thank her for taking excellent care of Lizbet. She was only eighteen years old and had her whole life ahead of her. She wanted to be a nurse. I anonymously donated money to her GoFundMe page, which was set up to pay for nursing school. Thanks to her, I have one of the greatest gifts of my life. I had to do something to help her along.”
“I understand completely. In your shoes, I would have done the same thing.”
“The adoption was closed, and she assured me she doesn’t want to be part of Lizbet’s life, but a part of me wonders if she’ll change her mind about that in the future. I also wonder if Lizbet would welcome her mother into her life with open arms.”
Ten took a deep breath. He reached out with his gift but was only able to see an adult Lizbet sitting at a table with a large manilla envelope in front of her marked confidential. “I absolutely think she’s going to ask questions. Any child would. Your answers to those questions will shape the rest of your relationship with her.”
“That’s what scares me.”
Ten set a hand on Cope’s shoulder. “When the time is right, you’ll know exactly what to say. I’m sure of it.”
“From your lips to God’s ears.” Cope grinned.
“Daddy! Look at me!” Wolf shouted. He held a red ball in his hands and was about to take his turn.
“I’ll be back.” Cope pulled his phone out and was set to record Wolf’s turn.
Ten was going to join Everly and Brooke, who were sitting together and giggling, when his ringing phone stopped him. Looking at the caller ID, it was a number he didn’t recognize, but his gift told him instantly who it was. “Hey, Baxter. How are things?”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. “How did you know it was me? I’m calling from the park on a private line.”
