Family

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize I'd been in here so long."

Matty shook his head, "No, that's not what I meant. You've only been in here 10 minutes max, so no worries there. I just wanted to come check on you."

Mallory smoothed out her slacks and started toward the door.

Another week passed and Mallory was beginning to feel like herself again. She sat at her desk finishing up the last bit of work before leaving early for dinner with Matty. Filing the last bit of paperwork, she gathered her things and rushed out the door.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late. I completely lost track of time." Mallory said as she slid into the seat opposite Matty. He'd gotten a booth toward the back of their favorite diner, their preferred spot.

Matty grinned, "I never expect you to be on time. I don't know why you bother apologizing."

Mallory rolled her eyes, "I hope you know I mean well."

Matty nodded, "So, I had an ulterior motive to inviting you to dinner."

Mallory looked over her menu at him. "Yeah? And what's that?"

Matty began wringing his hands. "Have you ever wondered who your dad is?"

Mallory folded up the menu, trying to find the most delicate way to approach this. Matty's father had walked out on him when he was born and hasn't bothered to reach out to Matty despite his many attempts. Matty was, and Mallory assumed always would be, obsessed with finding his father and demanding to know why he'd left. "I don't have a 'dad'. Someone donated their sperm to Mama, but that never made him my dad."

Matty leaned in, "But you have a chance to have a relationship with another parent."

Mallory sighed and reached for his hand, "Matty, that person, whomever they may be, will never be a parent to me. That's not how it works. I was blessed to have two of the most amazing mothers a girl could ask for and now they're gone. No one will ever replace them."

Matty leaned back, "What if they want to meet you and were never able to?"

Mallory smiled weakly, "They donated sperm. It wasn't a one-night stand or like Mama found out she was pregnant after being in a relationship with someone. They most likely know a baby exists, and that's even assuming they think about the sperm they donated over 25 years ago."

Matty sighed again, "I just think that it would be silly to squander a chance to have someone now that Mom and Mama are gone."

"I have you, and Bri and Tammy. I don't need or want anyone else," Mallory held up a hand to stop Matty from arguing, "I don't want to think about this now. I just want to be here with you and eat too much and go home and watch movies until morning."

Matty nodded, "You're right. You're right, I'm sorry. I shouldn't pry, it's not my business."

Mallory opened her menu again, despite knowing she was going to order the same thing she always does.

Back at her apartment, Matty and Mallory collapsed onto the couch and watched hours of bad horror movies together. Mallory snuggled into the couch with her favorite blanket. Her eyelids felt heavy and she let herself drift away.

Mallory woke to the sound of clacking. She sat up and saw Matty typing furiously into a computer.

"Is everything okay?" Mallory shoved her hair out of her face and looked around, confused about what time of day it was.

"Did Mama go through an agency to get pregnant?"

Mallory gaped at Matty, "I thought I asked you to drop this?"

Matty stopped typing and finally looked at her, "You did, I just thought,"

Mallory held up a hand, "Drop this. Now."

They both turned to the sound of the door creaking open, "Knock knock!" Brian rounded the corner, "Hey, kid, I've got some things I've been meaning to drop off." He saw Matty and waved. He set the box down on the coffee table and dropped a kiss on Mallory's head as she sat down.

Matty darted over to them with a look in his eye Mallory had seen more than once. She sighed, knowing he wouldn't drop this. Also knowing she wasn't going to tell him the truth.

"Brian, I have a question for you."

Brian nodded, "Shoot."

"Matty." Mallory warned.

Matty started at her, a tear in his eye, "What if you have a chance to have a dad? What if he's been wanting to reach out all these years but he didn't know how?"

Mallory ran a hand through her hair.

Brian looked between them, "I think that's Mallory's decision to make."

Matty started pacing, "You won't even consider this?"

Mallory stood, "I'm not having this conversation again, Matty. I want you to leave, take some calming breaths, smoke a joint, whatever and then we can have a discussion. I will not change my mind." She walked to the front door and opened it for Matty. He grabbed his things and ducked his head as he left. Mallory shut the door and walked back into the living room.

Brian really looked at Mallory now. He chuckled, "You know."

"Of course I know."

"How long?"

"Mom and Mama sat me down when they were teaching me about my body and they explained to me how I was born." Mallory walked over and sat next to Brian. She held his hand as she spoke, "They told me about how much they wanted a baby and they weren't able to adopt. That Mama's best friend in the whole world donated his sperm without even a thought."

Brian's eyes watered as she spoke, he swiped at a rogue tear. "I didn't know that they planned to tell you. Did it bother you?"

Mallory shook her head, "I think I was a little confused when I started school and everyone had a dad but Moms' were always very open and honest with me. They helped me understand the difference between those dads and you. Plus, no dad could ever measure up to my moms'." She grinned and pulled Brian her in for a hug.

"I hope you know I've always loved you."

Mallory nodded, "And I love you."