Dr. Curtis's office
Julie's pov
"Well, uh, you know your mom was a nurse and Mike was a doctor so I, um, think they may have worked together at some point in time at the hospital." Shane swallowed hard and looked away as he rubbed the back of his neck. He was clearly unnerved.
Pointing to the picture, I argued, "Then why wouldn't anybody have told me that? Look at them, Shane. This isn't just a picture of two coworkers." I shook the picture at him as my frustration grew due to his continued silence. "If that's all this was, why would Dr. Curtis keep this from me? Why would you and Mike keep this from me?"
"Julie, it's not really my place." Shane looked nervously toward the door as if planning his escape route to avoid this awkward conversation.
I started to raise my voice as I became more impatient.
"THEN TELL ME WHOSE PLACE IT IS, SHANE? MY DEAD MOTHER'S? MY DEAD GUARDIAN'S?"
"Julie," Shane spoke my name in a way that conveyed not only his warning to watch my tone, but also his disappointment in the disrespectful way I referenced my mom and Mike.
"WHAT, SHANE?" My tone was sharp, which did not go unnoticed.
Perhaps merely out of reflex, Shane responded, "You watch the tone you take with me, young lady. You are not too old to be taken over my knee, Julie Elizabeth."
"I'm sorry, Shane," I apologized quickly, knowing full well he wouldn't hesitate to tan my hide, despite the fact I'm a full grown woman. "I'm just upset. I didn't mean to be rude." Several conflicting emotions culminated in the moment, bringing me to tears.
Seeing me so sad, Shane sighed and said, "Come here, sweetheart." He beckoned me into his open arms and I fully accepted.
I felt like a little kid again as Shane rocked me and shushed me, holding me firmly against his chest until I calmed down. After a few minutes, I was finally able to find my voice.
"I'm not stupid, Shane, I know what this means," I said, referencing the photo. "I just don't understand. Has he always known? Why did he leave my mom? Why didn't he tell me?"
"He didn't know he was your biological father until a couple months before your highschool graduation. He found out when he saw your birth certificate while he was applying for each of your passports for the cruise. I can't speak to the relationship he had with your mom, maybe Dr. Curtis can shed some light on that for you."
"Do you think he would tell me?" I asked Shane, honestly curious of his answer.
"That's something you'll have to discuss with him. As far as why Mike didn't tell you, well, he wanted to, luv, he really did but he was afraid of hurting your cousin and sisters. He loved all of you with his whole heart." Shane lifted my chin to meet his eyes before continuing, "Just like Dr. Curtis said at the funeral. Don't ever doubt that, Julie, I mean ever. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir," I replied, as fresh tears trickled down my cheeks.
Shane gently wiped them away.
"He was afraid if the four of you knew the truth, everything would change and not necessarily for the better. He couldn't risk damaging his relationship with you, your cousin, or your sisters, or your relationships with each other. Can you understand that, sweetheart?" Shane lovingly stroked my face with his thumb as he looked sadly into my eyes.
"I guess," I said, with little conviction.
"Julie, you were his daughter from the moment he laid eyes on you the very first day you came to the NJC. He didn't need any DNA test to know that. His love for you and your cousin and sisters knew no bounds. Don't ever forget that."
"He's right, Julie."
Shane and I looked up to see Dr. Curtis standing by the door.
"Admiral," he nodded in greeting, acknowledging Shane.
"Afternoon, sir," Shane replied respectfully. Knowing Dr. Curtis and I had a lot to discuss, he said, "I'll leave you two to speak in private," as he closed Neil's office door on his way out.
"I see you found the photo, Julie," Dr. Curtis said matter of factly, leaving me directionless as to his current state of mind.
"Dr. Curtis, I'm sorry, sir. I know I shouldn't have been snooping through your drawer. I just..." I let my voice trail off, unsure of how to justify my misbehavior.
"We'll discuss that later. As for now, I'm sure you have several questions for me." Dr. Curtis walked over to his wall safe and pulled out an envelope. Handing it to me, he said, "I was waiting for the right time to give this to you and I believe that time is now. Your cousin and sisters have already received their letters. I had the boys write them when they finalized their wills several years ago."
I took the envelope and looked up at him expectantly.
"Take it home and read it in private, Julie. Return to my office tomorrow morning and we'll speak further." He held his office door open, indicating I should leave.
Dr. Curtis was clearly upset with me. Hopefully he's just miffed I was snooping in his desk drawer.
"I really am sorry, sir. I didn't mean to make you angry," I mumbled apologetically, as I lowered my gaze.
Grabbing my chin, he slowly tilted my head up until our eyes met. Seeing the hard look he was giving me, I immediately but unsuccessfully tried to look away.
"I told you we would discuss your inappropriate invasion of my privacy later. Did I not?" Dr. Curtis held my chin until I responded.
"Yes sir," I replied humbly, hoping that was the correct answer. Now I know where Mike got his habit of asking convoluted questions with impossible to discern answers that would make the Riddler proud. God I miss him so much, it's just a constant ache in my heart.
"Now please do as you're told, Julie. We'll speak again tomorrow." Dr. Curtis briskly ushered me out, closing the door quickly behind me.
As soon as I sat in my car, I tore open the envelope. In it was a letter that read:
Julie, I'm sorry I couldn't share this revelation with you while I was alive. You have no idea how many times I wanted so badly to tell you I am your biological father. Your mother and I met at the hospital while I was on rotation for med school and she was on rotation for nursing school. I want you to know I loved your mother very much, in fact she's the only woman I've ever been in love with to this day.
Unfortunately, sometimes things just don't work out in a relationship, despite how much two people love each other. When your mother and I broke up, she moved her rotation to a hospital in another state. I had no idea she was pregnant with you at the time. We both moved on with our lives and I never saw or spoke to her again, even though I never stopped loving her.
By the time I learned you were my biological daughter, you had only a few months until your highschool graduation. I apologize if you're upset with me for not telling you at that time but I have no regrets, Julie. Would I have liked to have been there for the first six years of your life? Of course, but God had different plans for us, for Dr. Curtis, for Shane, for your cousin, and your sisters. Those plans brought the seven of us together as a family and for that I am eternally grateful.
Being a father to Stacey, you, Lisa, and Carrie has been the single most important, most fulfilling job I've ever had in my life and I wouldn't trade our crazy amazing wonderful family for anything. If I could go back and do it all over again, would I do things differently? You bet I would.
I would listen first and react second. I would yell less and hug more. I would praise often and criticize rarely. I would never let a day go by without telling each of you how special you are, how beautiful you each are inside and out, how proud I am to call you my daughters, how much joy and meaning you bring to my life, and most of all, how much I love you.
The four of you entering unexpectedly into my life is the best thing ever to happen to me. The one thing I want to make sure you take with you is that I love you, I always have, and I always will.
My beautiful girl, remember to take care of yourself and each other.
Your loving father,
Mike
Epilogue:
Dr. Curtis is still married to his beautiful wife Liz. This fall they'll be celebrating their fifty-sixth wedding anniversary. Neil is still the acting CEO at Salem General Hospital. Although he still holds the title of president of the Foundation, he leaves most of the supervisory duties to Shane, choosing instead to focus more on the NJC and its two sister centers: the MDH in Maine and the SED in California. Liz still helps out at the Foundation as an administrative assistant. She also spends a fair amount of time traveling with her husband.
Shane has been married to his on again off again girlfriend Kimberly for seven years now. They have a townhouse just five miles from the Foundation where Shane still works as head of the Technology and Security division in addition to being Dr. Curtis's right hand man as acting vice president of the company. Shane also volunteers as a mentor to train new guardians for the NJC. Kimberly works part-time two days a week as a paralegal. She recently stepped down from working full-time, choosing to devote most of her time to babysitting Shane's grandkids, especially since Lisa moved back into town.
Stacey and Sean have been married for fifteen years now. They now reside in California, having moved there seven years ago. Their daughter Maegan (18yo) is currently a freshman at UCLA, studying law. Their son Donovan (15yo) is a sophomore in highschool and starting point guard on the boys basketball team. Stacey was recently promoted to detective, she works in the homicide division for the LAPD. Sean and his former roommate Steve own an auto-shop in the suburbs, both work there full-time as mechanics in addition to sharing the managerial responsibilities.
Julie and Brian have been married for twelve years now. They live in a suburban neighborhood approximately twenty miles away from the NJC. Julie works full-time as a pharmacist at Salem General Hospital and Brian works 7 on 7 off as a firefighter in town. They have three children. David (10yo) is their biological son. He's currently in the fourth grade at the local elementary school. Edward (8yo) and Jonathan (8yo), fraternal twins they adopted as infants, are currently in the second grade.
Lisa and Penny have been together for nine years, married for six. They'd been living in Colorado for the past seven years but just recently moved back because Lisa wanted to be closer to her sisters and she and Penny needed some help with childcare. Lisa earned her master's degree in education and just recently accepted a position at South highschool to teach both anatomy and biology classes. Penny works full-time as a veterinarian at the animal hospital two towns over. They have five children and one more on the way as Penny is five months pregnant. Jessie (14yo) and Alex (13yo) are Penny's and Mark's (her ex-husband) biological sons from Penny's first marriage. Eve (7yo) was conceived through in-vitro fertilization. One of Lisa's eggs was fertilized by a sperm donor and implanted into Penny to carry the pregnancy. They used the same process and sperm donor for the baby Penny is currently carrying. Jax (5yo) and Amy (4yo) are biological siblings they adopted two years ago.
Carrie and Jason have been dating for five years, engaged for two. They both work at the NJC as guardians, which is where they met and fell in love. Shane is the one who trained Jason to be a guardian. Jason's first group of kids were four fifteen-year-old boys who are each now in their last year of university. Jason's current group of kids are three girls (ages 7,8,8,). Carrie's first group of kids were three twelve year old girls who are all in their twenties now and off on their own. The current group of kids she's fostering are three girls (ages 10,10,11).
Starting a new tradition after Mike's passing, the girls, their spouses, and children all get together with Shane and Dr. and Mrs. Curtis every Father's Day weekend in memory of Mike. They rent cabins at the National Park where Shane and Mike first took the girls on vacation over thirty years ago. On Father's Day after the kids retire for the night, Stacey, Julie, Lisa, Carrie, Shane, and Dr. Curtis have a glass of Macallan 18 and toast Dr. Michael David Horton as they share memories of the amazing man who played such an influential role in each of their lives.