"Dad," I called out as I walked into my apartment. I walked into the living room. He stood up to greet me. "Hey Alyssa," he said kissing me on the cheek. I gave him a hug. "Hey daddy. Kevin called and told me you were here. Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine," he said waving me off.
"Daddy come on. You never pop up unannounced unless you want to talk about something. What's up," I said sitting down on the couch.
Kevin gave me a quick glance and excused himself from the living room.
"Why something gotta be up?"
I cocked my head the side. "Daddy who you think you foolin'? I know better," I grinned.
He laughed and grabbed my hand. "Can't I just stop by and spend time with my daughter? We haven't hung out in a while." He looked around the living room. "You got this place looking good."
"Daddy come on; you're deflecting."
He looked at me and sighed. "Well there is something that's been weighing on me for a while now and all of a sudden I felt the urge to come and tell you. I would have said something sooner had I known that I'd be going through all of this on account of your mother."
"Okay," I said slowly. "What's on your mind?"
"Alyssa," he started, "I love you with all of my heart and I want you to know that the moment I laid my eyes on you, no one could tell me that you weren't mine. That's why it pains me to say this." My dad grabbed my hand as his eyes welled up. "I'm not," he uttered slowly, "your biological father." He searched my face anxiously waiting for a response.
I took a deep breath and nodded my head. "I know."
He gave me a confused stare. "What do you mean you know? How?"
"Mommy told me the day you were admitted into the hospital. Wait," I paused, "after she told you, she didn't mention that she told me?"
My dad cocked his head to the side. "Alyssa. She didn't tell me at all."
I sat with a bewildered look on my face. I took a deep breath. "Are you telling me that all this time you knew that I wasn't your daughter?"
"Yes."
"Oh my God," I gasped in a whisper. I held my hand up to my face and looked away from him for a moment. A tear rolled down my cheek followed by another. I quickly wiped them away and turned around to face my dad.
"I think I can understand why you didn't tell me, but why haven't you told mom that you know? Why conceal that from her unless," I took a brief pause, "you're hiding something too?"
My dad opened his mouth then closed it. He was searching for the right words. "How much did your mom tell you?"
"Just that you two got into a big fight, she ran off, went to some bar, and had a one night stand with an old friend, three weeks later she's pregnant."
"She tell you his name?"
"Yeah. Dominick Moreno."
My dad nodded his head. "Well we had an agreement that changed the trajectory of my life forever...and I never wanted your mom to know about it, because despite everything I didn't want it to change the way she saw me."
I shook my head. "I don't understand. What was the agreement?"
"One evening in an art museum I ironically bumped into Nicky, that's what we called him then, after not seeing him for months. He told me that throughout five countries he struck a deal with several art galleries who wanted to display my work. Of course I was thrilled to hear that, because I was thee definition of a starving artist, right," he smiled, "ya know, with four kids and a wife to take care of." He shook his head. "Nonetheless, I was still upset with him for what he had done. So I refused the offer, because I didn't want him to think that it excused him from what he did. He immediately went into agreement, but proceeded to assure me that he didn't do this to absolve himself."
My dad started getting teary-eyed. He swiped his nose.
"He said that this was in the works for a long time. I later found out that he had been negotiating deals with art galleries for my work for almost two years, which was longer than the affair lasted." His voice cracked a bit. "He said he really believed in my gift. When he explained to me the extent of the offer it just seemed too big to accept. I was completely overwhelmed. I told him this doesn't make any sense. You must want something in return. He said he wanted nothing and reminded me of the promise he made to help me two years prior. That still didn't stop me from asking him one final time just before he left, 'what do you want?' He turned back around and said 'is she having a boy or a girl.' Not knowing what this had to do with anything, I said 'it's a girl.'"
My dad ran both hands down his face and sniveled.
"His eyes lit up," he trembled. "I'll never forget it. He rushed back up to me with tears in his eyes and said to me 'I want you to promise me that you'll take care of my baby girl and make sure that she wants for nothing.' I gave him my word and we shook on it. That was the last time I saw him."
I gave a voiceless "wow" as I wiped away the tears from my eyes and mouth. I sniveled.
"The moment I saw you it was all over for me. I fell in love with you instantly. Your mother knew it too. I was all about you. It wasn't until a few weeks after you were born that my career really took off and we've been living good ever since. I have your father to thank for that."
"Wow," I said dabbing at my face again. "Um. Dad," I said looking at him. "I have to tell you something and that just made it harder for me to say it, because I don't know how you'll feel about it."
"Oh. I already know you're pregnant."
I slowly looked up at him with wide eyes. "How did you---"
"Your mother told me."
"Great. Now I don't have to tell her," I shrugged.
"It would have been nice to hear it from you though."
"I actually had a pregnancy announcement all planned out for your birthday, but mommy ruined it, so."
His mouth hung open. "Wha---"
"You only have your wife to blame," I shrugged. "Wow. She seems to have a recurring theme here doesn't she?" My dad tried not to laugh. "Stop it. That is still your mother."
"Yeah and she won't let me forget it," I mumbled.
He smiled. "So what's on your mind babygirl?"
I took a deep breath and swallowed hard. "I met Dominick Moreno tonight. That's who I was with when Kevin called me."
"Ah. I see. That explains the dress." He took a moment. "So was he just in town and decided to take a chance on reaching out to you or what?"
I inhaled to speak then stopped. "Well, um, not exactly." I rested my hand on my face. "About two weeks ago I told mommy that I wanted to meet him and a short few hours later she managed to get in contact with him and arranged for us to meet tonight."
"Is that right," my dad said nodding his head slowly and stroking his chin. "So uh, how long have they been seeing each other?"
I drew in a sharp breath, my mouth fumbling for the words. "Daddy I don't think---"
"How long," he fretted.
"A year."
"And you knew about this? The affair I mean, not Dominick."
"I just found out about the affair not too long ago, but tonight I found out how long and with who."
My dad looked up at the ceiling. "When did you find out about the affair," he asked, his voice shaky.
I sat uncomfortably. "The day you and mom told us about the divorce. I sort of figured it out on my own and confronted mommy about it."
"Figured it out, how?"
"This is really a discussion that you and mommy should be having right now."
"If she was gonna tell me she would have told me by now," his voice cracked. "You're mother has never been the type to hold water unless it served her in some way. So please, humor me."
I put my head down and looked away. I began to fiddle with my hands. "Um. When me and Kevin came in that day mommy was visibly upset with me and wanted to speak with me privately about an incident that happened earlier. As a result she alluded that someone was pregnant and I asked her who it was thinking that, you know, maybe it was Keyona or Mya."
My dad started to tear up. It was incredibly hard seeing him so broken up over mom.
"She just kind of waved me off. Mommy was out of sorts that day. If I didn't know any better I would have thought it was because of the divorce. She seemed so on edge. It baffled me, because I had never never seen her that way before. She's always so put together, ya know? Anyway, I started piecing our conversation together and just asked her if she was pregnant. She didn't say anything, but her face gave her away. Once y'all announced the divorce and said that it was mutual on both sides mom looked stricken. Suddenly I realized that she had been having an affair and," I paused, "that the baby was someone else's."
I touched my face and it was wet. I wiped the tears from underneath my eyes.
"That's why I followed her out of the living room; to confront her. I told her that she needed to tell you. I stayed on her about it to, because I felt that the only one you needed to hear it from was her. Daddy I'm sorry."
He sat silently as the tears trickled down his face. He stared at the wall across the room. I held his hand and squeezed it tight. "How could she do this to me a second time," he nearly whispered.
When his heart broke mine did too.
"Daddy. You're more than welcome to stay here for the night if you're not ready to go home."
"I certainly appreciate the offer, but I don't want to impose."
"Are you sure? I don't mind."
"Yeah. I think I'm gonna head on home." He stood up from the couch and straightened himself up. I stood up too.
"Well let me at least walk you to the door."
"Okay," he said as he grabbed his keys and his phone off the coffee table. When we got to the door I wrapped him in a hug. "Please drive home safely and let me know when you get in."
My dad mustered up a smile. "Okay baby girl. I love you so much."
"I love you too daddy. Call me if you need anything, okay," I said as he headed out the door. He shooed me away and chuckled, mostly to himself. "Will you stop worrying about me. I'm gonna be fine."
"Okay," I smiled as I leaned against the front door. I didn't move from my post until he got onto the elevator. When he was gone I headed back inside and locked the door behind me.
In the living room my phone dinged. I questioned who that might be and went to pick it up. It was a text message from an unknown number. I opened it as I headed back into the bedroom.
Hi. I got your number from my dad. I hope that was okay. I just wanted to say hey and that I can't wait to meet you. Hope to hear from you soon.
-Dom
"Everything okay," Kevin asked when he noticed me standing in the doorway staring at my phone. I looked up at him and walked over to the bed.
I plopped down next to him. "I just got a text from Dominique," I said in a state of shock.
Kevin looked confused. "I never heard of a Dominique? Who's that?"
I looked over at him. "My sister."