My Daughter

Chapter 1 - Memories

~~~ Max starts working on the house

Max kept a pleasant smile on his face though he was angry. He had a feeling the reason Jessie had vanished was because she was pregnant. She didn't have the right to do that damn it. If Emily was his daughter he should have been told. Even if they hadn't ended up together he would have helped support the two of them. For the moment, he wasn't going to say anything to her about it since the little girl was there, "I am going to be in town for a week or two. Mom finally agreed to move into an assisted living place near my sister. I am here to clean the house up and consider selling it."

With this he might end up staying for a while. The house was paid off so there wasn't any mortgage payment. He would probably consider paying some rent to his sister since they were to divide the money from the sale in half. Max might consider taking a loan out and purchase his sisters half off her. Since he was medically retired and considered 100% disabled he didn't need to worry about income for the rest of his life. If Emily was his daughter, he would stay here for the time being.

Jessie winced slightly when he told her that, "I am sorry she needs to move into an assisted living place but it is good she is moving near your sister." She had heard about it though she hadn't considered Max coming back. If she had thought about it she would have expected his sister to come back. Very little had been mentioned about Max since he'd joined the Navy. Once he had left town it was almost like he had vanished off the face of the earth. All she had known was he had joined the Navy and that was about it.

"Thank you." His voice showed he did appreciate the thought, "I am sure you have things to do but I would like to sit down and talk about the last few years and catch up." In other words, she would have time to tell him if this was his child. If forced he would consider legal options but he really hated the idea, "Have a good day Jessie and you as well Emily." He turned and headed to his car and climbed in. Now was not the right time to face her though he wanted answers from her.

After he pulled away and started down the main street he was trying not to fume at her. He was going to have to burn off some of this anger or he would say or do something stupid. The frustrating part was he couldn't really engage in many of his pastimes such as running or heavy exercising. If he pushed too hard his chest would let him know and it could be really painful. Max would be forced to take the heavy pain pills and he hated the half out of the world feeling they tended to cause.

He finally pulled up to his parent's house and parked in the street in front of the house. The old truck his father had driven for years was parked. The yard was overgrown and he was going to have to wash the house to get the buildup of dirt and dust off. It had been several years since he had been inside and he had to wonder what sort of shape it was in. When he had left the house was old but in good shape. Chances were that it was still in decent shape even if there were minor repairs needed.

He finally climbed out of the Mustang and pulled his bags out of the hatchback. He hadn't brought a great deal of stuff since he hadn't been expecting to be there all that long. That was probably going to change. Max walked to the front door and after unlocking it walked in. He had to stop and look around since very little had changed since he had left.

The family pictures were on the wall as they had always been. There were a few additions including some of him from his time in, his sister and her family, and one of Jessie and a much younger Emily. It looked like his mother might have known. He would have to ask once he had the truth. So many memories came back to him that all he could do was to set his stuff down. He took his duster off and hung it and his hat on the coat rack before slowly walking around the house, "Damn it, this is going to be harder than I expected."