I picked up my phone and dialed a number I should have dialed much more often. He answered on the second ring, “Phoenix, my boy! How are you?”
“I’m good, Pop. Sorry it’s been so long since I have called you and Gram. Things have been busy lately and I’ve got a lot on my plate at the moment.”
“You sound stressed. You need my help with something?” That was my Pop, always looking out for me and willing to lend a helping hand without knowing the need first.
“Maybe. I have a few questions I want to ask you, but first, I have some news to share with you and Gram. Is she around?”
“She is, but before I get her, I need to know, is this going to upset my love?” Another reason why I loved this man, the way he loved my Gram.
“I don’t think it will upset her, but it will come as a shock to you both. Probably should be sitting down for it. I almost fell on my ass when I found out.”
“Oh, hell, did you knock up one of those club whores? You’re Gram has been waiting on babies from you for a long time, but she won’t like that this is how they’re coming to be.”
“No, Pop, nothing like that. Just get Gram, put me on speakerphone, and both of you take a seat,” I instructed.
Moments later I heard my Gram’s sweet voice. “Phoenix, my sweet boy, how are you?”
“I’m good, Gram. Got a lot going on right now, but it ain’t all bad. That’s part of the reason I called,” I paused and cleared my throat, “I have some news to share with you and Pop.”
She squealed with delight. “Oh, please tell me I have a great-grandbaby on the way!”
It was harder than I thought it would be to tell them about Ember. I’m a grown ass man. It’s not like I was going to get in trouble for having an 18-year-old kid I knew nothing about, but I was worried they would be disappointed in me. I’ve always wanted to make them proud and I wasn’t sure this would.
“Phoenix?” Pop sounded worried, “You still there?”
“Yeah, Pop, sorry, this is just hard for me to say,” I rasped out. My mouth was suddenly dry. Grabbing the bottle of whiskey sitting on my desk, I took a huge pull and relished the burn as it went down.
“You can tell us anything boy. You ought to know that by now. Man up and spit it out,” Pop ordered.
“I recently found out I have an 18-year-old daughter. DNA tests confirmed she’s mine.” Silence. Nothing but silence from the other end of the phone.
Finally, I heard a sniffle. Damn it, Gram was crying. Pop softly asked, as if he already knew the answer, “Who’s her mother?”
Pain stabbed at my chest. It always did when I thought about her. It had been 18 years and it was just as sharp as it was the first time I realized she was gone. I choked out, “Annabelle.”
I heard gasps and more sniffling from the phone. I knew Gram was gearing up to fire off 50 questions before I could even answer one, so I quickly spoke again. “Let me tell you what happened and how I found out about her. I think that will answer most of your questions.”
“Sure, son. Go ahead.”
I spent the next 30 minutes filling them in on how I found out about Ember. Gram interrupted here and there with random questions about her physical appearance, her personality, etc... It was Pop’s silence that had my nerves on edge. I’d left out the parts about the suspicious activity at the dairy farm, the tracking device in Ember’s neck, her getting shot, and how she was hidden away in the hills with three of my men for protection. Gram didn’t need to know about all that right then, if ever.
Gram sounded like she was about to explode with glee. “When can we meet her? We can come there. I can book us a flight for tomorrow or the next day. Do you have a picture of her? Send it to your Pop’s phone for me. Oh and what…”
“Gram,” I interrupted, “now’s not a good time for you and Pop to visit. Like I said, she came here with her friend looking for a job; she wasn’t looking for her biological father. She needs time to accept that her whole life was a lie and we need time to build a father/daughter relationship before I go throwing more unknown family members at her. I’m sorry, Gram.”
“No, no, sweetie. You’re absolutely right. I’m just so damn excited about this. I can’t wait to meet her. Please tell her that and even though we haven’t met her, we love her already.”
“I will, Gram.”
“Send that picture to your Pop. I’ve got to go. I have to call all of my friends and tell them I’m finally a great-gram! Love you, sweetie!”
“Love you, too, Gram.”
I heard rustling and then Pop’s voice filled my ear, “It’s just you and me now so cut the bullshit and tell me the truth.” And that’s why my Pop was one of the best lawyers in the United States. He could smell bullshit from a mile away and he got straight down to business.
“That orphanage where she grew up, it’s owned by the man that owns the dairy farm on the far side of town. It’s located on the same land as the farm, just on the other side and surrounded by other buildings. She didn’t come here looking for a job. She came here looking for help escaping from that place because she found out she was being sold on her 18th birthday.”
Pop pulled in a large breath and slowly blew it out. “You gotta be shittin’ me.”
