Ch. 11
1001 Words
"Momma?"
"Dom, I told you to wait inside for a few."
"I know. But is that my other dad?"
"Your other dad?"
" Dad told me. I am sorry. He told me we had to keep it a secret from you amd I know you do not like secrets but he made me promise not to tell you that I knew about him."
"What all did Dad tell you?"
"Is that him," Dom asked, pointing at Jake.
"Yes."
Dom walked over to Jake and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you. My name is Dominic Steven. This is for you." Dom held a book of some sort in his other hand and Allie stood there confused.
It was not something she had seen before and did not know where it came from or what it was. "Damn you, Steve," she muttered under her breath.
Jake took the album from Dominic, still unable to comprehend and form a sentence.
"Dom, come here. I want to talk to you." Allie led Dom off of the porch and around back to where they could have a little bit of privacy. They sat on the old swing, Allie not knowing where to start. "What all did Dad tell you?"
"Please don't be mad, Momma."
"I am not mad, baby. I promise I am not mad at you or Dad. What did you give Jake?"
"It was a book that me and Dad made. It had pictures of me when I was a baby and from my birthday and stuff like that. Dad told me that I was lucky. I got to have two dads. He said that the other dad was scared, so he asked Dad to take care of me for him for a while. So we took some pictures and some silly stuff and put them in a book, so other dad would get to see me when I was little. Dad made me promise not to tell you Mom."
"It's ok, love. I understand. I know it must have been really hard to keep that secret, especially after Dad died."
"It was. I wanted to tell you so that you could help me put the other pictures in it, but I did it by myself. It doesn't look as good as Dad's."
"I am sure that it is perfect and Jake will like really like it."
"Do you think that he will like me? Or do you think that he is still scared?"
"I know he will love you as much as Dad does when he gets to know you if he doesn't already. When you are a little bit older I will explain everything but for now the most important thing to remember is that I love you and Dad loved you so much. He would be so proud of you."
"I love you, Momma."
"I love you too. Now, let me explain. Jake and his family did not know that Jake was your dad. They just found out last night. That is why everyone was mad and there was some yelling. I want you to remember that you did absolutely nothing wrong in this. They are mad at me. They wanted me to tell them a long time ago but I didn't think that it would be good to do. I had to do what I thought was best for you."
"Okay."
"And I am not sure if there will be more yelling or not, but I do not want you to worry about it. If the adults start getting loud, I want you to get up and either go into another room or go in the house if we are outside. I do not want you to get involved in that at all."
"Okay. So, everyone on the porch is my family now?"
"Yeah. You have another grandma and grandpa and another uncle and aunt. I will introduce you to them properly once things settle down a bit. I am sure that they are going to be very excited to have you in their lives, since they do not have any other grandchildren. You would be the first and only right now."
"Are they nice people?"
"Yes, they are very nice people. Jake's mom is really nice. I know his dad can look a little scary but I promise you that he will not be mean to you. If anyone is mean to you, I want you to let me know right away. None of this is your fault and I do not want them to treat you like it is."
"Do you think that they will like me?"
"I am positive everyone will love you just as much as I do. You have nothing to worry about."
"I have one more thing to tell you. I have another secret. And I do not want you to be mad at me."
"Cross my heart, I will not be mad at you."
Dominic leaned over a little and pulled a crumpled envelope from his pocket. "This is for you. It's from Dad."
"What?"
"This was with the book. Dad told me that if I ever gave my other dad the book that I was to give you this letter too. Sorry it is so wrinkled."
"That is perfectly fine." Allie slowly took the envelope from Dominic and ran her fingers over her name in his hand writing. "Wait a minute! How did you know to bring these with you. Do you always carry this letter and book with you?"
"I kind of overheard you talking with Pop Pop and figured it out. Well, I kind of figured it out. I didn't know for sure if I was right but wanted to have it just in case I was."
"Okay, that is going to be another discussion for a later date about eavesdropping on conversations. Later on I want to know everything that Dad told you about Jake."
"I will."
"No more secrets, okay?"
"I promise no more secrets, Mom."
- Writer
