KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Father: part 6

"I don't see what you could possibly say that would make any of this okay."

She felt tears springing to her eyes again. Keefe let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her waist.

Steadying her.

And even in her anger and pain, she felt a rush of gratitude for Keefe. She'd been so right about him—he was a very good boyfriend and he was being so supportive now that she'd found out who her father was.

But did it have to be Elwin?

This was so much worse than Oralie being her mother.

She had liked Oralie, but her interactions with her had been limited.

She'd trusted Elwin. Relied on him.

She owed her life to him several times over.

He'd always been funny and kind and supportive and helpful and...

How she would expect a dad to be.

Ugh.

"Please just listen, Miss Foster. I promise I won't push you to reconcile with him, though he hopes that'll be possible eventually. I admit when I chose him to donate his DNA, I had no reason to think you'd be spending so much time in his presence. You know that we ended up having to bring you to the Lost Cities years earlier than we intended. If things had gone according to plan, you'd have already entered adulthood and wouldn't have attended Foxfire, and therefore would not have regularly needed the Foxfire physician. I...well, my brother and I, we...never intended you to have an emotional connection to your biological parents. I'm sorry for that."

Sophie nodded, but didn't say anything.

He continued. "And in the case of your mother..." he glanced at Keefe.

"Keefe knows," Sophie said dully. "But he's the only one."

"And I swear, these secrets are safe with me," Keefe added.

"I believe you, Mr. Sencen, and I appreciate it. Well...in Oralie's case, she believed she was doing the right thing, and knew—and accepted—that she wouldn't have a relationship with you. It was enough that she would know she had a daughter and that that daughter would be likely to be the change our world needed. She did have a harder time with that once she actually saw you—she does care for you more than you know—but with Elwin, it was different. It took a lot of convincing in the first place. He couldn't imagine having a daughter and not being the one to raise her. Ultimately he agreed, partly because he agreed we needed a change and partly because he has not married and thought this may be the only way he could have a child."

He paused, studying Sophie's face.

She wasn't sure what he found there, and briefly wondered if he was also searching her thoughts.

It wouldn't be the first time.

But if he was, he didn't acknowledge it. He simply continued.

"When Mr. Vacker found you, Alden naturally contacted Elwin to come examine you, since Elwin would be able to continue to check on you at Foxfire. When he left, he contacted me straight away. And he told me you were afraid of him. I had told him a few tidbits of what was happening in your life--because truth be told, he asked about you constantly through the years--so he wasn't surprised that you were afraid of seeing a physician. But he was determined to get you to trust him and not be afraid of him. I advised caution, fearing what would happen if he formed too strong an attachment. He merely asked me to let him tell you the truth. In fact, he also asked if he could be the one to adopt you. He said it was a chance to get to raise his own daughter after all. I told him no."