Philips (Sequel to De Santa)

Chapter Eleven

"W-What do you mean she left you?" I asked as I carefully lowered myself down onto a bar stool.

"I mean she left me," Dad sighed. "I told her that she needed to lighten up on you and treat you with some respect. That it didn't matter who your mother was, no one should be treated that way."

"She didn't like that, did she?"

"Fuck no, she didn't. She told me that when she married me, she didn't sign up to take care of any bastards I had fathered. She even went as far as saying that she came first and told me to pick her or you."

"You can't be serious."

"As a heart attack. She actually thought I'd pick her."

"You chose me?"

"Of course I did, Chels."

"But...your marriage..."

"I can get remarried, but I can't replace you." Dad walked over to me and enveloped me in his arms. "I'm sorry she made you feel like you didn't belong here, Chels."

"I'm sorry she left you."

"I'm not." I pulled away from Dad and looked him over for a moment, trying to find any inkling that he was lying.

"Really?"

"I mean, yeah, it sucks, but it's not the first time she left me. She left me because of hormones first, and then she tried to leave me a few years back because my lifestyle was reckless, which is was. We worked those problems out, but I was only upset because I knew it was me who drove her away, my choices, my actions. This time, there's no working those problems out, all the problems are coming from her, not me, not you. She's the one who couldn't accept you as my child. She's the one who treated you like shit when all you've ever done was try to stay civil with her...for the most part," I instantly cracked a little smile. "She's got her own problems that she has to work on, I can't help her."

"What if she decides she can accept me?"

"Well," Dad sighed. "That would be a miracle." I quickly stifled a giggle. "However, if she can learn to accept you and treat you with respect, I might consider it, but that depends on how I feel by then." Dad looked around for a moment then turned back to me. "Besides, she thinks that she's gonna get a lot of money out of this divorce."

"She's not?"

"Fuck no! She married Michael Townley, who is dead. This marriage was never legal."

"Oh, you dog."

"Hey, the one time I have to thank Davey...speaking of which, he should be here soon."

"Wait, what?" I exclaimed, quickly jumping to my feet. "Dad, he can't be here!" I quickly lowered my voice. "Matt doesn't know about any of this."

"I know, and Davey knows this, he just needs to come over and discuss what is to happen with Amanda and he will be gone. I swear."

"He's not staying for dinner?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Good," I sighed. "It's bad enough that Matt took an embarrassing low blow, I don't want to spring a surprise fake uncle on him when he's already nervous as it is." The doorbell suddenly rang, causing Dad and I to jump. "Dad—"

"I'm sure everything's fine," Dad reassured. "He was probably just in the neighborhood. You go ahead and start cooking dinner, okay? I'll take care of this." Dad walked to the front door and I began cooking dinner, settling on my mom's spaghetti. Not only was it Dad's favorite, but I knew it would throw Matt through a loop. "Hey, Davey. I didn't hear—" I heard footsteps enter the house and mentally groaned. "Sure, won't you come in?"