“I’m not overreacting, Maeve. His selfish actions left a young girl a single mom for nine years, now he thinks he can swoop in and be a dad? That’s not how fatherhood works.”
“That’s exactly how fatherhood works,” Mom corrected. “That’s how it worked for you. You stepped up when you learned you were a father. He didn’t know, Michael. We raised him better than that.”
Dad muttered something else, and Mom sighed heavily.
“Calum has always been so much like you; I think that’s why this is hitting you so hard. Be easy on him. He’s missed a lot more time than you did, and you remember how broken you were over that.”
“That…was an entirely different situation.”
“Not really, Michael.” Mom sounded tired—tired and hurt. “You didn’t know about Calum either. The moment you found out; you were a changed man. Can’t you see that’s happened here too?”
I stood, frozen in place. What had Mom meant by that? Had she kept Calum a secret at first?
I wanted to keep listening, but I knew it was rude to eavesdrop. Frankly, I was afraid of what else I’d hear so I made a lot of noise hanging my coat and kicking my shoes off. Then I walked quickly up the stairs, disappearing into my room. I grabbed some clothes from my dresser and went to the bathroom to shower.
I blow-dried my hair and applied a light layer of makeup. When I was finished primping, I looked at my reflection in the mirror, Dare’s words on repeat in my head. I was so used to hiding that having someone see me completely was disconcerting. I was tired of hiding everything, so I decided to flip my septum down and finally face that music. I dressed before making my way back downstairs.
I wasn’t quiet about it either; I wanted to make my presence known. But when I got downstairs, it was just Mom in the kitchen, and she wouldn’t be fazed.
“Morning, Mom. Where’s Dad?”
“Morning, sweetie, he just went to the shop for a little bit. He’ll be back after lunch.”
“Is Cal still sleeping?” I asked, pouring myself some coffee.
“As far as I know he is. He hasn’t come down yet. We’ve all had an eventful few days.” She offered me a small smile. “Speaking of…did you have a good time at Michelle’s?” she asked, a knowing look in her eyes. I shrugged, feeling guilty, and looked away. I didn’t want to have to lie anymore, and it was Mom.
“I didn’t go to Michelle’s,” I admitted, sitting down across from her with my coffee. It was time I started being a little more honest. Time I started unplugging the drain that’s been backed up for years with my secrets.
“So where were you really then?” Mom teased. “With that mysterious boy you’ve been seeing, I take it?”
“How do you know I’ve been seeing someone?” I asked.
“There are signs,” Mom said, lifting her shoulder in a shrug. Her emerald eyes connected with mine, a smile tempering her lips. “Are you going to tell me about this mysterious boy?”
I shook my head, my brows furrowing. “Not yet. Things are still new. But soon.”
“Okay, that’s fair enough,” Mom replied, a nostalgic smile gracing her lips. “I remember when I first started dating your father, I hid it from my parents as long as I could.”
“Why?”
“He was considered a ‘bad boy,’ if you know what I mean. Rode a motorcycle. Got into fights for the hell of it. Hated authority in every sense of the word. I figured your Gramps would clash with him and wouldn’t give him a chance to see the man I saw underneath it all.”
“What happened?”
“I got pregnant. I had to come clean, and since we were expecting a child…my parents had to get on board with the idea. But I was wrong about Gramps. Sure, he was disappointed we’d gotten pregnant so early on, but we were adults. It was our life to live.”
“Gramps didn’t know about Dad until you guys were expecting Calum?” Something flashed across my mother’s face—like pain—but she masked it quickly and stood, moving toward the sink to put her empty coffee mug in.
“No. I…I was pregnant with a baby I lost before…we had Calum,” she said this with her back to me, like she couldn’t face me when she told me. Like it hurt too much.
I stood up, going over and giving her a hug. “I’m sorry, Mom.” I rested my head on her shoulder, not knowing what else I could say. But Mom’s confession didn’t make sense, as they got married when Mom was three months pregnant. She had a swollen belly in all the photographs, and Calum came six months later. Of course, this baby she lost could have been older…before she got pregnant with Calum.
Either way, my mother had suffered an unspeakable loss.
“It was years ago, but it still stings sometimes,” she admitted, hugging me back. “But enough about that. Do you have any plans?”
“Mystery boy wants to take me out for the day.” I shrugged. “I’m not sure if I’m going to go though.” I glanced at her, but she was showing no outward signs of the grief that had flashed across her face moments before.
