Page 85 of Grumpy

“He goes by Grumpy,” Kelly corrected Morris.

“Yes, your brothers told me.” His face scrunched in confusion. “They were also calling you ‘Gimpy’ and I wasn’t sure which it was, but I will call you ‘Grumpy’ if you prefer it over ‘Jesse’.”

Grumpy squeezed Kelly’s hand once. “He does,” she translated for him.

“May I?” Morris asked, indicating the seat next to Kelly.

“Please,” Kelly answered without needing Grumpy’s response.

He wasn’t entirely sure what to think about this stranger who shared half his DNA. Then again, he was on pretty strong pain and blood pressure medications. His heart rate and vitals were also on display for anyone in the room to see, though thankfully the insistent beeping noise had been silenced.

Morris waited for Kelly to sit again before taking a seat himself. At least the man had manners, Grumpy would give him that.

For several minutes, no one said anything. Then Morris cleared his throat. “I hope my being here hasn’t upset you too greatly. When your friend tracked me down, I was prepared to have to wait until you came to me, but when I heard about the tornado, I insisted on coming down. No one would tell me specifics. All I know is that you were hurt protecting your wife and pregnant daughter.”

Kelly made no motion or sound to correct the title Morris gave her. Good. They’d be married before they left for Mount Grove if Grumpy had his way. No fucking way was he allowing another day to go by without making Kelly his in every way possible. Maybe he’d have one of his brothers kidnap a rabbi or something.

He’d give Kelly her big celebration later.

“We’re shocked,” Kelly told Morris honestly. “You’re quite literally the last person we expected to walk through that door, Mr. Morris.”

“John,” he told her kindly. “I certainly didn’t expect to be walking through that door, my dear.” Turning his attention to Grumpy, he confessed, “I didn’t know you existed. Your mother never told me.”

Kelly and Grumpy exchanged a skeptical look. His mom was many things, but to hold back the secret of his existence like that…? Grumpy didn’t think she had it in her. Not when she could cause so much more pain to Morris by keeping Grumpy from his biological father.

“I’ve made many mistakes in my life,” Morris went on. “One of the worst was not being faithful to my wife.” To the man’s credit, his cheeks flushed. “In my younger years, I worked for an extremely large fishing company in Barrington, Nova Scotia. I traveled a lot, both in Canada and the northern United States, and despite the vows I made to my wife, I had a habit of finding female company when I was away from home. I’m ashamed of this, and nearly thirty years ago, my wife died of a broken heart after my betrayals were brought to light.” His dark eyes filled with tears. “You cannot possibly hate me anymore than I hate myself for my transgressions.”

If the man was hoping to gain sympathy from Grumpy for his story, he was sorely mistaken. Grumpy didn’t hate him or feel anything towards this man.

“I remember your mother,” Morris went on. “My company sent me down to Maine several times with the intent of acquiring the lobster fishing company she worked for. I never made your mother any promises, nor do I believe I led her on in any way. Around my third visit, though, I realized that she believed we were in a relationship. I set her straight, informed her that was not the case, and when she still didn’t let it go, I broke off all contact with her.”

Morris rubbed the back of his neck. “Your friend, the one with the glasses, told me he found evidence that Margery had come to Nova Scotia a few months after my last trip to her area. Our theory is that she came up to tell me about her pregnancy, saw me with my family, and left without talking to me.”

Grumpy still had a hard time believing his mother had just left without making a stink. But if Morris’ wife didn’t learn of his transgressions until thirty years ago, Grumpy would have already been a pre-teen by then. It was possible. Then again, maybe Margery hadn’t always been so cynical. Maybe this was what had made her into who she was now. It did fit when looking through the lenses of nature versus nurture. Margery believed that because Grumpy’s father had been a cheater, that Grumpy would be, too. Or perhaps that was just what she told herself, when in truth, she saw Grumpy happy in a committed relationship and she couldn’t stand to see her son having what she never got the chance to.

It might be the drugs talking, but honestly, Grumpy didn’t care. No matter what came of meeting Morris, Margery’s actions were her own and Grumpy would never forgive her for them.

“You have brothers,” Morris said after a minute or so of silence. “Three of them. Nieces and nephews, too. I understand I have a granddaughter⁠—”

Kelly, though, put up her hand that was hanging from her sling. She must have felt Grumpy stiffen at Morris’ mention of Maddie. “Mr. Morris, as nice as it is to meet you, we are not ready for a full-scale family reunion.”

Morris’ face fell slightly. “Yes, yes, of course. I got carried away. My apologies. And please call me ‘John’.”

“We’re going to need time, Mr. Morris,” Kelly pressed. “Grumpy’s got a long road of recovery ahead of him. I think taking a step back is for the best now. Why don’t we exchange numbers, and we’ll be in touch when he’s ready?”

God, Grumpy loved that woman. She was a hell of a lot more polite than Grumpy would have been if he was up to talking. He might never be ready to have his birth father in his life. Regardless of genetics, that was his choice and right. Being his sperm donor gave Morris no more say about Grumpy’s life than being his egg donor gave Margery.

Kelly knew this. Better than that, she understood it. Just because Grumpy couldn’t speak for himself right now did not mean she was going to push Morris or a relationship he wasn’t even sure he wanted onto him. The fact that she kept using the plural “we” only cemented how entwined their lives were now.

Grumpy fucking loved being a “we”.

Morris glanced at Grumpy as if hoping he would suddenly sit up and voice a different opinion. Instead, Grumpy just stared at the man whose face was identical to his own, regarding him as the stranger that he was.

Stiffly, Morris looked down. “I understand. Yes, I would very much like to remain in contact. Especially about your care. I know it won’t make up for forty years of missed birthdays and celebrations and holidays, but I took care of your hospital bill as well as the cost of bringing the specialists down to assist you.”

He handed Kelly his phone. She laid the device on the bed and used the pointer finger of the hand Grumpy still held to type her number into Morris’ phone. If Morris thought it weird, he smartly kept his mouth shut. Kelly’s phone on the nightstand beside Grumpy buzzed as she texted herself from Morris’ phone.

“We’ll be in touch,” she said dismissively. As she stood, so did Morris.