“But you two never knew each other, right?” Lorenzo asks.
“Why all the questions?” I ask him.
Lorenzo looks at Cillian and I see him nod at him.
“It’s me. I’ve asked Lorenzo to look into who my father is. He left my mam and me when I was one. Then I lost my mam when I was sixteen. So I threw myself into hockey even more and eventually got drafted by the Chicago Redhawks. But I’ve always wondered. So Lorenzo, Sebastiano and Francesco are looking into it for me.”
“My faither left us when I was one too.” I frown.
“That’s an odd coincidence. You two have the same last name, and you weren’t born that far apart. I know I don’t have to point out that your first names are similar too,” Sebastiano says as joins us with Francesco, Celestino and Domenico.
I start to think that maybe I need to have them look into my faither too. But I need to talk to my mam first. I don’t want to dredge up any bad memories for her. If she decides that she doesn’t want me to look, I won’t.
“I need to talk to my mam first, but would you be willing to look into mine too?” I ask them.
“Of course. Just let us know what you need.”
“Wouldn’t it be crazy if you two are actually related?” Celestino asks us.
Growing up, I always wanted siblings. I asked her once when I was older why I never saw her go on dates. She said she just never met anyone worth dating. I still hope that one day she’ll find someone. I hate thinking about her living alone.
“We could be like, distant cousins. I’ll talk to my mam today and let you know. I appreciate the help.”
“Of course. I can’t guarantee that we’ll find what you’re looking for, but we’ll do our best,” Sebastiano says to me.
The question is, do I really want to know about my faither? He chose to leave my mam and me. He hurt the one person who’s done everything for me. I step outside to call my mam.
“Hello, my favorite son.”
I chuckle.
“Hi, Mam. How are you doing?”
“I’m good. I’m headed back to Saltcoats tomorrow. What’s going on?”
“You remember Cillian McGregor?”
“Aye, I do.”
“He’s having some of the family look for his faither. I know I always say that I don’t care. And part of me still doesn’t. But I wanted to know your thoughts on having them look for mine.”
“You mean your faither?”
“Aye. But if you don’t want me to, I won’t.”
“Sweet boy, it’s up to you. If you want to try, you can. I tried to find him, but after a year of him not returning my calls, I had to give up. We had only been together for two years.”
“Did you ever meet his parents?”
“No. I talked to his mam on the phone a few times. I did try to call his parents after he disappeared. But their number was disconnected. So I now wonder if they were even his parents. I’m sorry that I didn’t change your name, but I didn’t have the money at the time.”
“It’s okay, Mam. You have nothing to be sorry for. This is all on him.”
“I still feel like I should’ve done more for you.”
“Mam, I had you and that’s all I ever needed. You raised me to be the best man I could be. There’s nothing that man could’ve given me that you didn’t.”
I hear my mam sniffle as I’m talking. I hate making her cry, but she needs to know that she’s an incredible person.
