Page 31 of Fractured Destiny

The answer has been percolating quietly inside me for months. “I think it’s time. For Levi. He deserves to know his father and his father deserves to know his son.”

“I think you’re wise to want them to know each other.” Ingrid secures Minnie in her car seat as I do the same with Levi. “Do you see a future with him?”

I look toward the water and the Seattle skyline hiding beyond Alki point. Somewhere, Lake is living a life I couldn’t have imagined the morning I walked out of his apartment. “I don’t know what happens between him and me. They’re separate questions.”

Ingrid shuts the car door and hugs me. “What a healthy and mature thing to say.”

“Therapy is expensive,” I laugh.

“Worth every penny.” She waves as she gets into her car. “Same time next week?”

“Absolutely. I wouldn’t miss it.”

By the time I pull into my parents’ driveway, it’s started raining.

Mom meets us at the back door. “There are my favorite people.” Levi doesn’t stir while she kisses his forehead. “How was Alki?”

“Good.”

She smiles for a second longer than usual. “You look happy.”

“I am.” The words come without effort. “Where’s Dad? There’s something I need him to help me with.”

She gestures toward the house. No questions. “He’s here for another hour. In his home office. I’ll put Levi down.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I hand my son to her and exit to the pathway leading to their house.

Dad looks up from his desk before I knock. “Hey, sweetheart.” He closes the folder in front of him. “What can I do for you?”

I don’t sit. “Dad…”

He waits.

“I need your help finding someone.”

His expression changes. Careful. Attentive.

“Who?”

I hold his eyes.

“Levi’s father.”

nine

Present Day - Six Months Later

The chair slams into the wall behind me.

I don’t remember kicking it away from me.

The sound echoes through the room, amping up the tension.

I could give a fuck.

The photograph stays in my hand, pinched hard between my fingers. A little boy in a yellow raincoat sitting on a driftwood log stares back at me. Green eyes looking straight at the camera with the same kind of determined stubbornness I’ve seen in every mirror throughout my life. One tiny fist is wrapped around a rock. Dark curls are plastered damp against his forehead. His smile is huge. Unguarded. There’s a gap between his little teeth.

My son.