Lexi was a little fussy on the airplane and Claire was exhausted, "Can we go straight to my parents house, I'm exhausted and need a little time to rest."
Jeff was hoping to go straight to his parents house, he was anxious to find out the details of the baby his mother had given away all those years ago.
"I can drop you off so you can get the rest that you need, but I'm going to head out to my parents."
He cringed at the look she gave him and he prepared himself for her outburst.
"What the hell!" Claire screamed, not caring that the cab driver was listening to their argument. "You think to dump me and take off?"
Jeff exhaled a harsh sigh, "Ok then, we can visit your parents, leave Lexi their for a nap and the both of us can go to my parents house."
"It's always what you want!" Claire complained, "how about we go to my parents house and stay the entire day and go to your parents tomorrow!"
Clamping his mouth tightly shut, and not in the mood to cause a fiasco in front of the poor cab driver who looked like he was very uncomfortable, Jeff said, "That's fine."
Satisfied, Claire closed her eyes and reminded herself not to raise her voice again for fear that Jeff might be sick and tired of her outbursts.
**************
Claire's parents were elated, they fussed over Lexi and played with her the entire time.
"I need to rest mom," Claire admitted, "I'm exhausted."
"Go to your room dear, it's just as you left it." Her mom said, "I'll come get you for lunch."
"I'll go up with her if you don't mind watching Lexi," Jeff said, and lifted himself off the couch.
"It's our pleasure watching Lexi," his mother in law admitted, "you go upstairs to your wife."
Jeff took the stairs two at a time, he was tired and wanted to rest alongside his wife. Claire was already laying on the bed with her clothes on, and her husband lay besides her and pulled her close to him.
They napped for a few hours and Claire was the first to wake up, "Jeff?"
"Yeah." He said groggily.
"I love you."
"I know."
"I'm sorry."
"I know."
"Want to go to your parents house now?" Claire asked.
"Let's do it." He said, and kissed her cheek before he pulled himself off the bed.
Claire lifted herself up and followed Jeff out of the room. Downstairs they found Claire's parents sitting on the wooden floor playing with their granddaughter
"Mom, dad, we are going to go and visit Jeff's parents now, we will hang out later."
"You guys go ahead, we can watch Lexi." Claire's mother said.
"My parents want to see Lexi too." Jeff explained, as he reached for his baby daughter.
"I was hoping to have lunch together, I can prepare some sandwiches and..."
"No we need to head out," Jeff informed her, "but we can eat together for dinner tonight."
"That's fine son," Claire's father said, as he helped his wife to stand up, "you can take my car the keys are on the kitchen counter."
"Thanks." Jeff said, and with his wife and child they left.
*************
Jeff's parents were very nervous, last thing they wanted was to explain to Jeff what had happened all those years ago. They both thought all that information was better left unsaid, but they knew that their son would not let it go.
Pulling the curtain to the side, Jeff's father said, "They're here, remember let me do the talking."
His wife nodded and sat herself on the couch dreading the confrontation that was sure to come.
When the doorbell rang, Jeff's father opened the door and smiled, "Welcome!"
Jeff and his family walked into the house and his father closed the door. Claire hugged Jeff's parents and took Lexi out of Jeff's arms.
"This is Lexi." She said.
"She's darling!" Jeff's mother cried, and wiped a tear from her eyes. "She looks just like you Claire, beautiful child!"
"Thank you." Claire smiled.
"Lexi is tired and needs to nap," Jeff announced, "Claire why don't you take her upstairs and lay her down."
"Come on dear," Jeff's mother said, "we can visit with Lexi later, after she is rested."
Claire followed Jeff's mother up the stairs and only then did Jeff turn to his father and said coldly, "I had better get the truth today father!"
Minutes later Claire and Jeff's mother came back downstairs and sat quietly on the couch. Jeff and his father sat down also and then silence draped around them.
"Speak!" Jeff demanded, "and I better get the entire truth!"
"Your mother was on her way home from her friends house one evening," Jeff's father explained, "and a boy from her school attacked her."
"You mean raped her!" Jeff corrected.
His mother started crying, and Jeff's father yelled, "Be easy on her son, your mother has still to get over what has happened all those years ago."
"Who was this boy that raped my mother?" Jeff asked angrily, "and what happened to him, did he go to jail?"
"Son, back in the day no one spoke about rape, times were different back then and people were never sympathetic with the girls," Jeff's father said, and then reached for a tissue paper on the side table and handed it to his wife, "your mother was young and beautiful and people were suspicious of her, they blamed her for the mishap."
"What!" Jeff blasted.
Jeff's father nodded, "Yes, they blamed her and told her to hush up the entire incident or else she would be branded a whore."
"And so the boy got away with it!" Jeff snapped.
Jeff's father nodded, "That's right."
"Oh my God," Claire was flabbergasted, "that's not fair!"
"Fair or not that's what happened, and when she found out she was pregnant she couldn't tell anyone except her parents and me." Jeff's father explained, "I loved your mother and decided to stay with her regardless of the pregnancy."
"So how did you hide the pregnancy?" Jeff curiously asked.
"We waited until your mother was about four months pregnant and then we left for New York where no one knew us. Your mother gave birth five months later and then signed the baby up for adoption and then we returned. No one was the wiser."
"And now I have a bother out there that I haven't ever met!" Jeff concluded, "does my brother and sister know anything about this?"
"No honey and for now we prefer to leave it this way." Jeff's mother said, "it's been hard for us Jeff, and we were young and didn't know what to do, now it seems complicated and we don't want to open up a can of worms!"
"Aren't you even the least bit curious what the baby you threw away looks like?" Jeff jumped to his feet, "that's my brother mother and I'm very upset that you have lied to us all these years!"
"Don't you go yelling at your mother!" Jeff's father snapped, "she has been through a lot!"
Jeff turned to face his father, there was a disgusted look on his face, "How can a mother just give her child away!"
"Your mother was young and at the time it was our only option!" Jeff's father snapped, "times were different back then!"
"Jeff stop yelling at your parents," Claire told him, "I'm sure they did the best they could under the circumstances."
Jeff sat back down and raked his fingers through his hair, "I want to find my brother, and I want want you to talk to my siblings and explain to them the truth, they have every right to know, and if you don't tell them I will!"
"Please don't rush to do anything Jeff, this is a delicate matter and must be handled in the right way or else the shit can hit the fan!"
"Is that all you care about?" Jeff snapped, "you want to save your ass, no matter that there is a man out there who is my brother." Jeff yelled, "I could pass him up in the street and not know he is my sibling!"
"I'm sorry!" Jeff's mother cried and dropped her face in her hands.
"You have nothing to be sorry about!" Her husband told her, "you didn't do anything wrong, you were an innocent victim!"
***************
After they had a quiet lunch, and chit chatted small talk, Lexi woke up and Jeff grabbed his daughter and wife and headed to the door, "We will pick up where we left off tomorrow." He told his parents.
"That's fine son." Jeff's father agreed.
"It was such a pleasure honey." Jeff's mother told Claire and kissed her on the cheek, "and Lexi is such a darling. Please say hello to your parents, maybe tomorrow we can all dine together."
"Yes that's a good idea, I will tell my parents." Claire agreed as she followed her husband out the door.
When Jeff's father closed the door, he turned and stared at his wife, "We need to talk."
Nodding, Jeff's mother went back to sit on the couch and was joined by her husband.
"It is crucial that Jeff doesn't find out the entire truth," and when his wife just stared at him, her husband said quickly, "do you understand what I am telling you?" When his wife nodded, he continued, "if Jeff finds out the entire truth he will never speak to us again and we will lose him!"
"I know."
"Swear you will never tell him!"
"I swear it!" His wife said adamantly, and he pulled her into his arms and squeezed her tightly.
***************
"Mom it's complicated," Abby told Jennifer, "they went home to find out the truth, Jeff is having a really hard time about this."
Jennifer closed her eyes tightly, and exhaled a deep breath.
"Mom are you all right?" Abby asked.
Jennifer was devastated, the past came to haunt her again, and she couldn't handle it. She had swept all those memories under the rug years ago and forgot all about them and now they were being rehashed and she was trembling with fright.
"Yes honey I'm fine." Jennifer reassured her daughter, "I'm just feeling a little under the weather. Do you mind honey we end the call, I might be getting a headache."
"Sure mom, hope you feel better and please call me later."
"I will dear." Jennifer said, and ended the call.
George who had overheard the conversation couldn't help but ask, "What's going on honey?"
"I really don't want to talk about it now," Jennifer admitted, "I think I will go rest for a while?"
"Go ahead I will try to finish a few files that need attention and we can talk later."
Jennifer was grateful for the alone time, she went into the guest room and lay on the daybed. Her head was pounding and the past was slowly creeping up in her mind.
"God please help." She whispered as the tears flowed down her lovely face, "I can't take anymore of this!"
Her thought tortured her and sent fear in her heart. What if the truth comes out, what would happen to Abby and her children?
For many years Jennifer had hidden the truth inside her heart and forced herself to forgot about it, but when Steven and Abby got together the past came to haunt her all over again.
She was walking on eggshells not knowing what to do, secretly glad that Steven and Abby hadn't married yet and scared out of her mind that one day they might just do so. The fact that those two were together had Jennifer crazy out of her mind.
Always smiling and acting as if nothing was amiss, Jennifer had played the role of her life in pretending that she was happy, and every time the past entered her mind she would shove it away in a deep dark place and pretend it didn't exist.
*************
"Honey are you all right?" George's voice was full of concern, "you've been sleeping for many hours."
Jennifer fluttered her eyelashes and opened her eyes, "why what time is it?"
"Dinner time," George smiled, "You don't have to cook anything, we can go for dinner at the steak house or we can even order pizza." Feeling overwhelmed, Jennifer looked like she wanted to be sick to her stomach, "are you alright?" George walked to her side and pulled her into his arms possessively, "you seem sick!"
"Yes I'm sick George, but not the way you think." Jennifer admitted, "I have to confess something George and I'm afraid of what you will do once you know the whole truth."
George narrowed his eyes, "I thought we spoke of everything, what else is there to say?"
Embarrassed, Jennifer lowered her head and started to cry.
"Why do you need to cry." George asked her, "nothing you confess will change the way I feel about you, however I did believe that there were no secrets between us."
"I had forgotten all about this George, shoving it in the back of my mind for years and not wanting to remember ever!"
"What is it?" George urged, "you can trust me Jennifer."
"I know George, it's just that it's so horrible that I'm ashamed."
Releasing a harsh sigh, George insisted, "Tell me I won't judge you I swear it."
Feeling suffocated and overwhelmed, Jennifer lifted herself to her feet, "I need some fresh air, can we sit outside in the patio please and I promise I will explain everything to you."
They both walked through the family room and to the back yard, where George pulled out a seat for Jennifer and then sat himself down next to her.
"I'm all ears." He said.
"One evening a long time ago when I was a young girl, I was walking home alone and ......I ....was ....raped!"
"What?" George was blown away by her admission.
Jennifer nodded, "Yes George I was raped by Henry and I ended up getting pregnant."
"Did you go to the authorities?"
Jennifer shook her head, "No George, my family wanted to save us the embarrassment and then they forced Henry to marry me."
Eyes wide open, George yelled, "That bastard!" And then a sudden realization struck him and he asked, "wait a minute, I thought Henry wasn't Abby's father."
Jennifer started to cry hysterically, "she isn't Henry's child."
"Then what are you talking about, I'm confused."
"Henry and Mr. Colber back then were monsters. They had ......"
Shocked, George asked, "Abby is Colber's daughter?"
"Yes." Jennifer cried.
"Are you telling me that Abby and Steven could be ....."
Jennifer nodded her head and a rivulet of tears streamed down her face.
"Are you positive of this?"
"Henry and Colber raped many women back then and one of the woman that they both raped was Jeff's mother. Steven's father is one of those two men, they never took paternity tests wanting to keep it under wraps."
"Jesus!" George said hoarsely, "what a mess! So let me get this straight, Abby is Colber's daughter, you know that for sure?"
"Yes, because years later I went and had her tested and it was confirmed, but I never told anyone."
"And Steven is the bastard son of either Henry or Colber."
"That's not everything George, Steven has a twin brother, Jeff's mother was raped by Colber and Henry and had twins. She couldn't keep them so Colber took one baby, because at the time he was newly married and Mrs. Colber was having a hard time getting pregnant, but the other baby was given up for adoption."
"What a fucken mess Jennifer," George told her, "too many lives will suffer over this if the truth ever comes out, and how is it that you know the secret about Jeff's mother?"
"She was my best friend back then and we confided to each other." Jennifer admitted.
"This his horrific and if the truth comes out it may destroy many lives Jennifer. Maybe it would be better to take it with you to the grave."
"And what if Abby and Steven are siblings?" Jennifer asked, "what then."
"Jesus." George said hoarsely.
*************
His heart hammered against his chest, throwing himself against the wall of the mansion, Steven tried to breath. It felt as if the world was closing in around him and he couldn't breath. Everything spun before him and he wanted to vomit.
Sweat beaded across his forehead and his eyes were blurred with tears, as he quickly hightailed it back to the limo that was parked outside the mansion. Sliding into the limo, he instructed John to drive him away from here and John obediently did as he was told without asking questions, but looking in the review mirror, John witnessed fear on his boss's face.
Steven had gone to the mansion to have a talk with George and get some advice on a few things that were bothering him, never in his wildest dreams did he expect to overhear what he did.
He was devastated, his whole world had turned upside down and he wanted to scream out loud to release all the pain in his heart. His entire life was a lie, but that was not what killed him.
If Abby was his sister he would end his life, for he couldn't live in a world without her. His hands shook as he raked them through his thick mane of hair.
Oh God, he thought, end my life now for I can't go on this way anymore!