Hearts Of Glass #AdultFiction

Chapter 53

Finally, Pete spoke. His voice was filled with the pain he had felt years ago. He smiled, ruefully. "Sarah is a very stubborn person. She is now and she was then. She was determined that she was going to have the baby and she wasn't going to tell Sam."

"She thought that he was having another baby with the girl he was married to." Shannon said.

"Yeah, at first she did." Toni agreed, then continued. "She found out later that there was no other baby. Sam was still married but he was living an entirely different life. Your mom knew she couldn't tell him."

"Maybe if she had told him, he would have settled down!" Shannon argued.

"Maybe, but then again, Shannon, maybe not." Toni said. "He was just starting out, he was living his dream. Who knows if he would have been as successful as he is, if he would have been tied down with a family? Your mom thought about it a lot." Toni sat at the table, reaching across for Shannon's hands, she held them between hers. "Sarah knows that it's important for you to know who your father is. But it won't make it any easier on her when she finds out that you know."

"What if she says that I can't see him anymore? Sam wants to see me again, he wants me to meet my family. I have a family that I have never even met!"

Toni squeezed Shannon's hands as she shook her head. "She won't deny you from seeing him."

"Shannon, just promise me that you will go easy on your mother." Pete came and stood behind her, his hand rested on her shoulder. "She only did what she thought was best for you. Promise me that you won't argue with her."

***

Now as she sat at the dinner table, Shannon wondered what would be the best way to start the conversation. She speared a baby carrot and stared out into space while she thought about it.

"Out with it, Shannon." Sarah picked up her empty plate and walked to the dishwasher. "What's bothering you?"

Shannon took a deep breath and decided the direct way was the best way. "I met my father today."

Sarah dropped the plate onto the door of the dishwasher. "What?" She narrowed her eyes at her daughter. "How do you know who your father is?"

"I heard you and Grandma talking the other night." Shannon looked at her mother, guiltily. "I went up into her attic and found the box that you were talking about."

Sarah felt her stomach churning, her dinner was threatening to come back up. She held a shaky hand to her chest to ease the pain that was burning inside. Somehow she made it back to the table and sat in her chair before her legs gave out.

"Do you want to tell me why you felt the need to go behind my back on this?" She said between numbed lips.

This is the day she had dreaded for eighteen years. Sarah had always thought she would be the one to tell Shannon about Sam. Now Shannon had found out on her own and Sarah was backed into a corner. She listened in shocked silence as Shannon told her about her visit with Sam.

"Mom, I didn't even know if he would believe me. I didn't want you to get upset." Shannon looked at her mother, anxiously. "I had to, Mom. I'm sorry but I didn't think there was any other way. I wrote him a letter and he called me. He was as excited to see me as I was to meet him!"

"Wait a minute!" Shannon jumped up from the table and ran back to her room, bringing back the box that she had hidden in her closet.

Sarah sat frozen in her chair as Shannon set the box in front of her.

"You never even looked at this stuff!" Shannon pleaded. "If you would have just looked at this, maybe things would have been different!"

Sarah shook her head. "Shannon, I couldn't! You have no idea how bad things were!"