Cassie watched him carefully. “What else did mum tell you? Or didn’t?”
“About what? I knew nothing of this…”Mum… Dad…struggling to grasp what he was hearing, that grief still just poised at the edge of his consciousness bathing in shock.
“About Maria?”
His eyebrows shot up in sheer surprise. “Maria? Nothing… What does she have to do with anything? I haven’t seen her there… maybe she went out shopping…”
“Maria… soon after your crash, we found out she was pregnant… and she told mum that the child was yours.” She quieted, watching him blanch. “You had an affair?”
“We fucked.” It just slipped out, and he bit his lip, watching that scowl on her brows.
“Dad…”
“Sorry… I mean, it’s the truth… I won’t lie to you. She didn’t mean anything… it was fun… I think…” Memories flashing in, washed over by his shame, so he shut up, not even looking at Gabe. But Gabe had left his hand, so he curled his fingers on it. Trying to breathe through that haze. His eyes went to Cassie. “Pregnant?”
“You weren’t careful.”
“She said she was on the pill… how the fuck…”
Cassie rolled her eyes. “Dad… ok… no matter… so, she told mum, and she threw her out. Sent her away on the spot. I was also mad at her, knowing she was going to have your baby… or have it taken away.”
Damian sighed. “Well, what does it matter now? She must have had an abortion… being a single mother would have been hell.”
“Except she hadn’t…”
Damian almost fainted, gripping Gabe’s hand. “What…?”
“Yes… she kept the baby and gave birth. I know because she wrote to mum and sometimes, mum forgot to throw the letters out and I took them and read them in my room. And I wanted to know this baby brother, so I wrote back to Maria and told her to send the letters to a friend’s house. And like this, I knew about my baby brother.”
“Brother…” That word, barely out of those frozen lips.
“Yes.” She smiled. “A boy.”
Damian leant back on the sofa, feeling weak. His eyes went to Cassie. “Boy… how old? And where is he now?”
“Well, she gave birth eight months after your crash, so he’s a bit over five.” She sighed, a bit grim. “After a while, no letters came, so I went to find her. I told mum I was having a weekend with friends, but I drove straight there. That was two years ago? Maria… she had ended it… I found the grandmother and the child… She told me, as best as she could, that she had been crazy… my Spanish sucks and she only speaks Spanish. So… I left her some money and told her that I’d write and visit. He lives with his abuela, but she is getting old, and had been begging me to get him… but I can’t, not now when I’m in college…” She quieted, a bit worried at his wide eyes, his shallow breathing.
Waiting a bit until he could focus again, Gabe just sitting quietly, holding that limp hand. “Dad?”
Damian just breathed, all his thoughts madness, birthed by that mind shaped to survive, to protect, and to keep alive. That primal instinct pushing all rational thoughts out. He looked at Gabe, only their eyes speaking, their hands finding the other’s. Gabe went for a hug then, feeling him sigh, relax a bit into that touch. Knowing what he had decided, wanting him to know too. That it was fine. That he would be with him. All the way. A quick kiss to his neck. Damian’s hand sliding down his back as he pulled back, turning to Cassie.
A new light in those eyes veiled with shock and grief. “So… let’s go and get him.”
Chapter 21
Cassieswipedherphone,nervous. “She doesn’t speak English at all… but we can call her… try to get something through.”
Gabe held his hand out. “I’ll talk to her.”
Damian’s eyes went wide. “You speak Spanish? You never said a word…”
Gabe shrugged with a small smile. “I have some Spanish. It’s handy when you are a glorified air waiter.”
“Jesus… you sure don’t forget…” But he was smiling, watching Gabe stand with Cassie as the screen flashed up, an old woman at the other end of the camera, waving. Cassie showed Gabe, and he switched to Spanish, stumbling a bit on the words. Explaining to her that the father was back, and they were going to take care of the little one, and her. She had broken down crying, that age-old woman, her white hair in a bun, and they reassured her they would be there soon.
Cassie cut the call, looking at her father. “So, what now?”
“We’re going back. I need to settle stuff with the board and the lawyer. We need to exist first before we can do anything… I’m calling the pilot, just get ready.”
