Chapter 7: The Father Nobody Wanted to Name
For several seconds, Simone couldn't seem to hear anything except the blood rushing through her ears.
She stared at Renee, searching her face for something familiar, something that might explain why a stranger was claiming to be her mother.
Then she turned toward Mrs. Carter.
“Tell her she's wrong.””
Mrs. Carter stood beside the hallway table, her fingers pressed against the edge of the wood.
“Simone, sweetheart—”
“Don't call me that. Just tell her she's wrong.””
Mrs. Carter opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Simone took a step backward.
“You raised me. You taught me how to ride a bicycle. You sat beside me when I had my tonsils removed. You were there when I graduated.””
Her voice began to shake.
“You held Ava the day she was born. You told me I was becoming the kind of mother you had always hoped I would be.””
Mrs. Carter's eyes filled with tears.
“All of that was real.””
“Then why can't you tell me who I am?””
“I am your mother.””
“Are you?””
The question struck the older woman harder than a shout would have.
Terrence stood near the study doorway, watching the family he had once considered predictable collapse under the weight of its own history.
Marcus had stopped moving entirely.
Denise sat in the armchair, the old folder resting on her lap. She looked smaller than Terrence remembered, as though every secret she had carried had finally become too heavy for her to hold.
Renee stood near the front door, clutching the brown bag against her side.
She looked at Simone with a mixture of longing and terror.
“I never wanted you to find out like this,” Renee said.
Simone laughed once, sharply.
“You never wanted me to find out at all.””
“No. I wanted to find you.””
“You knew where I was?””
Renee shook her head.
“Not until recently.””
“Then why didn't you come to me?””
“I tried.””
“When?””
“Three months ago, after Patricia called me.””
Simone stared at her.
Renee continued carefully.
“Patricia told me she had raised you. She said she was dying and couldn't carry the truth any longer. She gave me your name, your address, and a photograph.””
Simone's face twisted.
“My address?””
“Yes.””
“And you waited three months?””
“I was afraid you wouldn't believe me.””
“So you let me keep living a lie.””
“I wanted proof before I came to you.””
Simone turned away, pressing both hands against her temples.
Terrence had seen her angry many times.
He had never seen her so lost.
“Everybody keeps telling me they were afraid,” she whispered.
“You were afraid. Grandma was afraid. Denise was afraid.
What about me? Did anybody ever think about what would happen to me when I found out?””
No one answered.
Then Simone looked directly at Denise.
“You said my father was the reason all this happened.””
Denise nodded slowly.
“Your father was a man named Daniel Brooks.””
Renee closed her eyes.
Mrs. Carter grabbed the back of a chair.
Simone looked between them.
“Who was Daniel Brooks?””
Denise swallowed.
“He was Patricia's husband.””
The room seemed to shrink.
Simone's lips parted.
“My adoptive father's name was Daniel Brooks.””
“Yes.””
“He died when I was sixteen.””
Denise nodded.
Simone looked at Renee.
“You knew him?””
Renee's face had gone pale.
“I loved him.””
The words came out so quietly that Terrence almost missed them.
Simone stared at her.
“You had an affair with my father?””
Renee flinched.
“He wasn't your biological father.””
“But he raised me!””
“Yes.””
“He took me to school. He taught me to swim. He sat beside my bed when I had nightmares. He was the man who walked me down the aisle when I got married.””
Renee's eyes overflowed.
“I know.””
“No, you don't know!””
Simone's voice broke.
“You don't know what it was like to grow up believing that my father was the only man in the world who would never leave me.””
She wiped her cheeks angrily.
“And now you're telling me he wasn't even my father?””
“He was your father in every way that mattered.””
“Then why did you have to take me away from him?””
Renee's expression crumpled.
“I didn't.””
Simone froze.
“What?””
“I didn't take you away from Daniel. I didn't even know you were living with him until Patricia contacted me.””
Denise lowered her head.
Renee looked at her.
“Tell her.””
Denise's hands trembled against the folder.
“Your biological father was Terrence's father.””
For one terrible second, nobody spoke.
Terrence felt Marcus turn toward him.
Simone looked at Terrence as though she had never seen him before.
“No,” she whispered.
Denise nodded, tears running down her face.
“Your biological father was Robert Brooks.””
Terrence stared at his mother.
“Dad?””
“Yes.””
Simone shook her head.
“That doesn't make any sense.””
Renee took a hesitant step toward her.
“Robert and I were together before he married Denise. When I became pregnant, he promised he would help me raise the baby.””
“And then?””
“Then he changed his mind.””
Renee looked toward Mrs. Carter.
“Your grandmother told him the baby would destroy his future. She said his marriage would never survive the scandal. She convinced him that if he let Patricia raise you, everything could remain quiet.””
Mrs. Carter's voice rose.
“That's a lie!””
Renee turned toward her.
“Then why did you make me sign those papers?””
“I was trying to protect Simone!””
“From her own father?””
Mrs. Carter's eyes flashed.
“Robert was not a good man.””
Renee's face tightened.
“You didn't care whether he was good or bad. You cared about what people would say.””
Mrs. Carter slammed her palm against the table.
“I cared about what would happen to two young women if that man's wife discovered the truth!””
Denise stood abruptly.
“You didn't protect anybody.””
Her voice was so unexpected that everyone turned toward her.
“You told me to take the baby. You said Patricia would give her a good home, that Renee would eventually recover, and that Robert would stop asking questions.””
Mrs. Carter stared at her.
“I thought I was making the least terrible choice.””
“You made the choice for all of us.””
Denise's eyes filled.
“And when Robert found out what I'd done, he threatened to expose everything. He said he'd take the baby from Patricia. He said he'd tell Renee she had abandoned her child and let the family turn against her.””
Terrence felt his hands curl into fists.
“What did Dad do when you refused?””
Denise looked at him.
“He became dangerous.””
Marcus stepped forward.
“What does that mean?””
Denise hesitated.
Then she said, “He hit me.””
The words were barely audible.
Terrence stared at her.
His father had never struck him.
He had never witnessed Robert raise a hand to Denise.
But he remembered the locked bedroom door.
The long silences after arguments.
The mornings when his mother wore long sleeves despite the heat.
He had been a child. He had thought his parents simply didn't get along.
“Why didn't you tell us?”” Marcus asked.
Denise gave him a broken smile.
“Because I thought keeping the family together was the same thing as keeping it safe.””
Renee wiped her face.
“And I thought if I stayed quiet, Simone would have a better life.””
Simone shook her head slowly.
“You both decided what my life should be without asking me.””
“Yes,” Renee whispered.
“Grandma decided I should be raised by Patricia. Denise decided I should stay with her. My father decided I was a problem to be hidden.””
She pressed her hand against her chest.
“And now I'm supposed to be grateful because everybody had a reason?””
“No,” Renee said.
Simone looked at her.
Renee's voice trembled, but she held her daughter's gaze.
“You don't owe me gratitude. You don't owe me forgiveness. You don't even owe me a relationship.””
She took another step closer, then stopped when Simone stiffened.
“I only want you to know that I never abandoned you. I looked for you every year. Every birthday.
Every Christmas. I wanted you to know I was alive, that I loved you, and that I never chose to leave you.””
Simone's tears spilled over.
“Why didn't you find me?””
“I tried.””
“Why didn't you fight harder?””
Renee's face twisted with pain.
“Because I was twenty-two, broke, and terrified. Because the people who were supposed to help me told everyone I was unstable. Because every time I asked for my daughter, someone reminded me that I had signed a piece of paper saying she wasn't mine anymore.””
She drew a shaky breath.
“And because I believed that if I kept fighting, they would take the only chance I had of seeing you again.””
Simone looked away.
For a moment, Terrence thought she might reach for Renee.
Instead, she turned toward Mrs. Carter.
“Did you know Robert was my father?””
Mrs. Carter didn't answer quickly enough.
Simone's face hardened.
“You knew.””
“I suspected.””
“That's not an answer.””
“Yes,” Mrs. Carter whispered.
“I knew.””
Simone recoiled.
“You let me call another man Daddy while you knew who my real father was?””
“I loved you.””
“Then why did you keep lying?””
Mrs. Carter began to cry.
“Because Robert had a wife. Because Denise was terrified. Because Patricia loved you. Because I thought telling you would destroy everything.””
Simone shook her head.
“You didn't save anything. You just made sure none of us knew who we were.””
Ava appeared at the top of the hallway stairs.
She had been staying with Marcus's wife in the living room while the adults talked. Now she stood in her lavender dress, rubbing one eye.
“Daddy?””
Terrence immediately crossed the room.
“Hey, sweetheart. What's wrong?””
“Can I go home?””
He knelt and held out his arms.
“Of course.””
She climbed into them, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Then she looked over his shoulder at Simone.
“Mommy, are you crying?””
Simone tried to smile.
“A little, baby.””
“Did I do something bad?””
“No.””
“Then why is everybody sad?””
Simone's face crumpled.
Terrence held Ava close while Simone slowly approached them.
She knelt in front of her daughter.
“You didn't do anything bad,” Simone whispered.
“You told the truth. That's not wrong.””
Ava studied her mother's face.
“Are you going to stop being my mommy?””
Simone shook her head and pulled her daughter into a careful embrace.
“Never.””
Terrence watched them hold each other, and for a moment, the room seemed to settle.
Then Ava looked at Renee.
“Are you the lady who came to our house?””
Renee nodded, tears streaming down her face.
“Yes, sweetheart.””
Ava tilted her head.
“Why did you want the baby?””
Renee glanced at Simone.
Then she answered honestly.
“Because I lost my little girl a long time ago, and I wanted to find her.””
Ava thought about that.
“Did you find her?””
Renee looked at Simone.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I think I finally did.””
Simone closed her eyes.
But before anyone could speak again, Mrs. Carter suddenly reached into her purse and pulled out a folded document.
“There is something else you need to know,” she said.
Everyone turned toward her.
She placed the document on the table.
It was a copy of a birth certificate.
The name at the top was Robert Brooks.
Beneath it were two children listed in the same family record.
Terrence.
And Simone.
Marcus stared at the page.
“Why are both their names here?””
Mrs. Carter's lips trembled.
“Because Robert had another child before Simone was born.””
Terrence felt his heart stop.
“Who?””
Mrs. Carter looked at him.
Then she pointed to his name.
“You.””
For a moment, he couldn't understand.
Then the truth struck him with such force that he had to grab the back of a chair.
Simone wasn't simply the daughter of his father's secret relationship.
She was his biological half-sister.
And he had married her.
Ava was his daughter, yes.
But if Simone was his sister, what did that make their marriage?
Terrence stared at Denise.
“Tell me this is wrong.””
Denise couldn't look at him.
Marcus stepped forward, his voice shaking.
“Mom. Tell him.””
Denise began to cry.
“I didn't know when you met Simone. I swear I didn't know.””
Terrence looked at Simone.
She stood frozen, one hand over her mouth.
Their entire relationship rushed through his mind: the first date, the wedding, the birth of Ava, the nights they had spent planning their future.
He felt as though someone had taken every memory he owned and turned it into a stranger's life.
Then Mrs. Carter spoke again.
“There's a reason Robert wanted the first baby hidden.””
Terrence turned toward her.
“What reason?””
Mrs. Carter's face crumpled.
“Because Robert knew the truth about the hospital records before any of us did.””
She placed another paper on the table.
“This document proves that one of the children listed under his name was never biologically his.””
Terrence stared at the paper.
Then Simone whispered, “Which one?””
Mrs. Carter looked from Terrence to Simone.
May you like
“I don't know.””
And suddenly, even the truth they had uncovered wasn't enough to tell them who they really were.
