⚠️ TW: Brief mentions of abuse⚠️
"Please don't be an asshole when we see her," I tell my dad while I drive us to the cafe we're meeting her at.
"What the hell are you talking about?" He asks with a bewildered expression.
I don't know why he's so shocked?
He's a fucking asshole.
"Just say you won't!"
"Fine! Whatever."
God, he's literally a fucking child.
"Do you even feel bad for how you've treated her?" I ask.
I'm genuinely curious.
My dad has never shown remorse for anyone and even though Alyssa isn't his actual daughter, there were moments when he was a good dad to both of us.
Of course, that wasn't many times but there were moments.
"I never did anything to her."
"You're kidding right?"
"I didn't do-"
"How about the times you allowed your whore of a wife to talk down at her or how you barely glanced in her direction after mom died. Do you know how hard it is raising someone when you yourself are still a child?" I ask, my voice beginning to raise in the process.
"Shut the hell up Asher, you act like you were the only one who ever took care of her." He rolls his eyes.
"That's because I was! You were always busy working and Macy was traveling to a new place every fucking week! Don't you think there's a reason why Alyssa has more respect for me than you and why she always defends me in every situation? I was at every one of her tennis matches! I always dropped her off at her friends' house! I spent my money throwing her a birthday party because you forgot! You're a shit father and you know it! So stop acting like you're some god damn saint and just accept the fact that you're a deadbeat dad." I yell.
That shut him up.
Fucking finally.
For once this asshole was left speechless.
Our awkward drive continues for another 15 minutes until I finally park my car in front of the cafe.
We both just sit there for a moment.
I'm confused...is he nervous?
I spent all of last night talking to Lina planning what I was gonna say to Alyssa but it all suddenly flew out of the window.
What if she doesn't forgive me?
What if she wants nothing to do with me?
I feel my hands begin to sweat and my breaths grow ragged.
For fucks sake.
"Let's go," I say and get out of the car.
He quickly trails behind me like a lost puppy.
When we walk in, we both freeze.
In a corner booth, we see Alyssa speaking to a waiter.
She looks different...happier.
It kinda makes me sad knowing that she's happier without me in her life.
She's glowing.
Her skin seems darker, her hair is cut shorter, her smile is wider, and she certainly doesn't need me anymore.
We both head over to the booth and her smile immediately drops.
Great.
"Hi," I whisper.
"Hey." She says back, her voice cracking a bit.
"Say hi." I nudged my dad in the ribs.
"Hello, Alyssa."
"Jonathan." She nods in acknowledgment.
"So...what did you want to talk about?" I ask.
"I want the truth. I'm sick of all the fucking lies. I don't care how much the truth will hurt me, Just be honest with me...for once." She says.
"Of course, I'll tell you anything you want to know," I say.
"I was mainly talking to him." She says while glaring at my dad.
He glares back thinking she would break but she never does.
She stands her ground.
I'm proud of her.
"Alright." He cracks.
1 point Alyssa.
"Good." She says with a small smile.
"Why did you never tell me about my real dad?" She asks my dad.
"The last thing I needed everyone to know was the fact that my wife was screwing around with another man. I was at the prime of my career and something like that would ruin my reputation so I lied." My dad shrugs.
"Right...like you didn't cheat too," Alyssa mutters.
"What?" I say and my dad just glares at her.
"Dad started an affair with Macy while he was still married to mom," Alyssa says.
"What the fuck!" I yell which causes some of the people around us to glare at us.
"How did you know that?" He asks her.
"It doesn't matter because you're just as much of a cheater as she was. In fact, you were worse." She replies dryly.
If we weren't in public, I would have strangled him.
"Next question, how did you find out about my dad and when?" She asks me.
"I found your real birth certificate while going through dad's files a couple of years ago."
"You did what?" My dad yells.
I just shrug, he has no right getting mad at me after all the shit he's done.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asks.
"I was planning on it, honestly. But, after losing mom, I didn't want to lose you either. I was afraid that you would meet him, grow a bond with him and leave me. I just couldn't afford to lose someone else." I murmur.
When I look up at her, she looks at me with sadness in her eyes.
"Oh." She whispers.
"I'm not asking you to forgive me but I also want you to know that me hiding this from you was never meant to be malicious," I confirm.
"I know you would never purposely try to hurt me." She says with a small smile and I let out a sigh of relief.
"How did you find out about mom's affair?" She asks my dad.
"When I first held you, I knew you weren't my kid. You had dark hair, and dark eyes, and you looked nothing like Asher but I didn't want to jump to conclusions yet. So, I paid a doctor to run a DNA test and they confirmed you weren't mine. I was angry but more at the fact that you weren't my kid. As surprising as this may sound, I was actually pretty excited to have a daughter, I always wanted one of each. So you could probably imagine how upset I was finding out you weren't mine. However, even though you weren't mine, I still wanted to raise you as my own. So, once I had your mother tell me who your father was, I threatened him to tell me everything about the affair and told him to never step foot near my family again." He explains.
What the fuck.
I'm shocked.
When I look at Alyssa, she doesn't even look phased.
"I understand that it must have been hard for you to find out the truth. However, you had no right keeping this from me for this long. Were you ever gonna tell me?"
"No." He answers truthfully.
"Why didn't you divorce mom if you knew she cheated and your marriage was failing?" She asks.
Honestly, I've been wondering about this too.
"Your mother and I had a lot of problems and if I'm being honest, I treated her very poorly in our marriage. No matter how bad our marriage got, I still couldn't get myself to let her go. Your mother was like a drug, she was addictive in every way possible however as you know, when you use a drug too much, you get addicted. I was addicted to her and I just couldn't get myself to divorce her even if it was what was best for both of us." He explains.
I think this is the first time I've seen dad vulnerable.
I mean this is probably the most he's talked about mom ever since she's passed away.
"What did you mean when you said 'you treated her poorly'?" Alyssa asks.
I watch as the color drains out of his face and he struggles to swallow his coffee.
"There were times where I can home drunk and I-"
"You abused her." She finishes.
"Yes..." He whispers.
I feel my throat tighten and Alyssa looks like she's about to throw up.
"Why?" I ask.
"I was mad she wanted a divorce. I didn't want her to leave me and I just did the first thing to come to mind, I hit her. And I kept hitting her until I wasn't angry anymore.
"Fuck..." I groan and hide my face in my hands.
If Alyssa weren't here, I would have pounced on him.
I don't even care that we're in public.
"You're a horrible person. You treated me like shit for most of my life, you have slut shamed me, you're the reason why I have a hard time trusting people, you were a shitty father figure to not only me but Asher as well, oh and Macy is cheating on you." Alyssa blurts.
"What?!" My dad and I yell at the same time.
"Yep, for the past few months, she's been bringing home a man. That man being Dr.Moore and she's fucking Julie and Jade's dad."
"Macy is fucking Carlos Ramirez?" I ask.
I knew she was a whore.
"You're lying." My dad says.
"I figured you would say that." She says before pulling out her phone and showing us a bunch of explicit photos of Macy with Dr.Moore and Jesse's dad.
Fuck, does Jess know?
"Unlike you two, I don't lie." She says before putting her phone back in her pocket.
I watch as my dad's face turns red but he remains silent.
"How?" Is all he manages to say.
"I caught her a couple of months back and she threatened me."
"She did what?!" My dad barks.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask.
"Oh I don't know, maybe because you were going through all your shit with Madison and Catalina, then you just disappeared and ended up in the hospital. IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO TALK TO YOU! BOTH OF YOU!" She yells.
Shit now I feel bad and by the looks of it, so does my dad.
We all remain quiet for a few minutes until my dad starts bursting out crying.
Uhhhh...
"I'm so fucking sorry! To both of you. I know I am a shit father and I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. It's just, that seeing you both always reminds me of your mother and every time I think of her, I just think about all the shit I put her through. I should have told you both the truth a long time ago but instead, I pushed you guys away and ruined any chance we had of a normal father-child relationship. And to make things worse, I married a gold digger who doesn't give a shit about any of us. I don't deserve either of you." He says between gasps.
Alyssa and I both look at each other in shock.
My dad has never cried before...ever.
Wow, today has been full of a lot of firsts.
Shit, what do we even say?
"I uh- I don't know what to say," Alyssa says.
"I'm glad you finally acknowledged all your faults." She adds.
I still have no idea what to say.
"Alyssa, I know that I'm not your real father, but I would still like to be a part of your life." He says.
Oh lord.
"I reached out to my real father and I am meeting with him soon and in all honesty, I'm not sure if I want you a part of my life. Not only have you hurt me, but you hurt the ones I love most, Asher and my mother. You are toxic and unreliable and frankly...someone I don't want to be around. Let this be a lesson to fix things with Asher before you lose him too." She says, her voice sounding confident and strong.
2 points Alyssa.
Good for her.
"I understand." He nods sadly.
He slowly gets up, places some money on the table, and leaves.
"I'm so fucking sorry Alyssa." I cry.
I watch as she gets up, takes my father's seat next to me, and wraps her arms around me.
I immediately hugged her back.
"I forgive you but please...no more lying." She mumbles into my side.
"I promise." I stick out my pinky.
She lets out a quiet laugh before wrapping her pinky around mine.
"God, I missed you." I wrap her in another hug.
"So did I. As great as staying with Xander and Axton is, I missed my real brother."
"So you're meeting your dad?"
"Yeah...tomorrow actually."
Tomorrow?!
Wow...that's so soon.
"I'm happy for you!" I say genuinely.
"Thanks. I'm excited but also really fucking nervous." She groans.
"Don't be. He's gonna love you!" I reassure.
"I hope so."
Suddenly two people take the seats on the other side of the booth.
Axton and Xander.
"What are you two doing here?" I ask.
"We wanted to make sure she was okay." They say.
I told you, they're her other brothers.
"Thank you guys...for taking care of her."
"No problem man, she was great," Xander says before reaching over and messing up Alyssa's hair.
"Xander! I hate when you do that!" She groans while reaching up and fixing her hair.
"So what happens now? Do we lose our roommate?" Axton asks.
"Sadly yes, I think I'm ready to go home." She laughs.
Thank god.
"Oreo is gonna miss you like crazy," Axton says.
"You could always give him to me..."
"Not happening." He laughs.
"Ugh. It was worth a shot." She says and we all laugh.
Finally, after months, my life feels normal again.
----------Author's Note----------
Good for Alyssa standing up for herself!
That's some queen shit.
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!
-Pradabagg
Word Count: 2147