Unavailable {S.S}

13

>>>>

I found the last line I had left off on, and continued to read,

Your father and I have kept this from you for so long and we think it's finally time you found out the truth. You see, the truth is, your father, isn't really your father. When I found out I was pregnant I was overjoyed and so was your father, but as the pregnancy went on, I began to question if your father really was the father. You see, I had been unfaithful to him, and the timing of the pregnancy didn't add up with my time spent with your father, but with the man I had been seeing behind your father's back.

This ate me up for months and months, and eventually, I told your father the truth. We had some blood tests done and low and behold, he wasn't your real father. He forgave me, but he never let me forget what I did. We're so sorry we kept this from you for so long, but we just didn't know how to tell you. This has been a secret between your father and I for over twenty-four years, since the day you were born.

Your father loved you and still loves you as if you were his own, and I don't want you to ever forget that. I'm so sorry you had to find out this way, but the secret is out.

Love, Mom

I finish reading the letter as my heart drops. My hands begin to tremble violently as I collapse to the floor, my face becoming pale. I was nauseous, and sick to my stomach. The tears came flowing like a waterfall, and I was unable to calm myself down as I began to hyperventilate. My tears burned my eyes as they blocked my vision. The man who I thought was my father wasn't my actual father. My whole life had been a lie. The man who raised me, who claimed to be my father, was a con. A fake. And my mother played the role perfectly. She convinced me that this man was my actual father, but he wasn't. I had been calling a stranger my father for the past twenty-four years and I didn't even know it.

I struggled to breathe as I continued to hyperventilate, my head spinning in circles. I gripped onto the wall as I tried to calm myself down but nothing seemed to work as little black spots came into view. I slide down the wall as my limp body drops to the floor with a thump, my eyes fluttering shut.

***

"Dani?! Daniella? Dani, please wake up. Oh my god what happened?", I hear someone scream. My head was pounding as I try to open my eyes. "Daniella, please open your eyes", I hear someone sniffle. I pry my eyes open as the blurry face above me begins to clarify; Jessica. She pulls me up so I'm sitting up straight, as she hugs my body close to hers, "Don't you ever scare me like that ever again!", she cries into my hair as she rocks me back and forth, "What happened?!"

"The letter—mom—dad!", was all I could mutter as my eyes tear up again. I cry into my sisters shoulder as we sit there for a good hour and a half. She let me cry, not once asking me questions. "The letter", I sniffle as I point towards the crumpled up paper on the floor. She looks at me in confusion but follows my finger and picks up the letter on the floor. She reads it to herself as I watch her. I knew she got to the part where my mom revealed that our dad wasn't actually my dad because her eyes widened and she let out a small gasp. "He's not? But how? How could mom do that to him, to you! How could they keep this from you", she yells as she drops the paper back onto the floor. I shrug my shoulders, too tired and distraught to answer her.