He barked a laugh. “Doesn’t change the fact that I’m going to redden your ass when you get home for this.”
“All right, hornball, I just got here and I need to talk to Nathan. I love you, but I really don’t have time for this right now.”
“It’ll be fine, Annabelle. He loves you and he’ll understand. Just be honest with him.”
We said our goodbyes and I sent a text to Nathan to let him know I had arrived and what room I was staying in. He knocked on the door a few minutes later.
“Mom!” he exclaimed while picking me up and swinging me around.
“Holy crap, Nathan! You’ve gotten so much bigger in just a few short weeks. How is that even possible?”
He chuckled. “It’s very possible when you spend all day five days a week working out and training. Now, you want to tell me what you’re really doing here? It’s not like you to schedule a trip at the last minute.”
“You’re right. I do have a reason for coming out without much notice. Um, are you free all afternoon? This is probably going to take a while.”
“I’m free all day today and tomorrow,” he replied.
The room I was staying in had a little sitting area when you first entered. I led him over to the sofa and gestured for him to sit while I remained standing. I knew I would need to pace as I got farther along in the story. I didn’t waste any time beating around the bush. I launched right into the story, starting with Phoenix.
I told him everything. It took several hours to get through the entire story. There was yelling, crying, long periods of silence, and ultimately, forgiveness and acceptance.
“I understand why you did it, I really do. Mom, please don’t be so upset,” Nathan pleaded with me.
“I’m not crying because I’m upset, sweetheart. You have no idea what a relief it is to finally have it all out in the open. I hated lying to you. I thought about it every day, but I didn’t have a choice. I had to protect you from that evil bastard,” I explained.
“Mom, I’m glad you lied to me. I don’t know how I would’ve handled it if I had known when I was younger. I could’ve grown up with an unfounded anger against you or I could’ve grown up scared and always looking over my shoulder. Instead, I grew up happy, always feeling safe and secure,” he said.
Despite who his biological father was, my son was a good man. I was so incredibly proud of him and the way he was handling this information. “So what made you decide to tell me now?”
I cleared my throat. “Your sister. That sounds weird, doesn’t it? Anyway, your sister is getting married in two weeks and she really wants you to be there. She waited to have the wedding until they found me. Now that she knows about you, she said she would postpone it again so you could be there.”
“In two weeks? I’ll still be at training camp,” he explained.
“I know. Do you think you could fly out Friday night or Saturday morning and fly back on Sunday? Like I did this weekend?” I asked, hoping his answer would be favorable.
“I don’t know. We have the weekends free, but the trainers didn’t say anything in regards to leaving the area. Most of us are too damn tired to get out of bed on the weekends. I’ll have to ask.”
“Not to be pushy, but can you do that now? Ember and Coal want us to video chat with them this evening. I was hoping we would be able to tell Ember one way or the other about your attendance during the call.”
Nathan nodded and placed a call to whoever was in charge and explained the situation. He was told that, normally, the team members had to stay in the city during the day and were to be back at the hotel at night on the weekends. Since this was a special circumstance, he granted Nathan permission to fly out Friday evening after practice. He had to be back by Sunday evening.
With that settled, we placed a video call to Ember. She was in her office at the farm, with Coal sitting right beside her. “Hey, Mom. Is he there?” she asked excitedly.
“Yes, he is. I’m going to set my phone on the table so you can see both of us. Just a sec.” I fiddled with my phone until Nathan and I were both visible on the screen. “Okay, can you see us?”
Ember was bouncing in her chair. “Yes! Hi! I’m your sister, Ember, and this is our brother, Coal. We’re so happy to meet you!”
Nathan laughed. “Hi, I’m Nathan. It’s nice to meet both of you, too.”
We were all silent for a moment, then Coal spoke, “So this is a weird way to meet your siblings, right?”
After that, the conversation flowed. At one point, Phoenix came in and joined the conversation. I wasn’t sure how Nathan would take his presence. I didn’t want him to feel like he was an outsider in our little family, much the way I did when I first met Ember and Coal. Leave it to me to worry about nothing.
“So, Phoenix is the man you modeled my pretend father after?” Nathan asked, while we were still talking to Ember, Coal, and Phoenix.
My cheeks were on fire. “Um, yeah, he is,” I muttered.
“What was that?” Phoenix asked.
