Present Day...
I need a plan, a way to find my real dad. I sneak into my mom's room while she's showering and look in the cabinet below her bedside table where she keeps things that are special to her, like photo albums and special gifts from family. I dig around, then take out the photo album labelled 2015-June 2018, perfect. Then, hearing the water shut off, I run with it back to my room.
Sitting inside my walk-in closet with the door locked, I open the album. The first picture is of my mom, not even 23 years old, smiling on the front of a magazine. The cover advertised an article about Dilmer (Demi and Wilmer, I'm assuming). I wonder where the actual magazine went. Then there are pictures advertising for her skincare line, pictures of my mom and Wilmer, pictures promoting her old album Confident, music video ideas for Cool for the Summer, and some pictures of my mom that I definitely could have lived without seeing. Then the Wilmer photos stopped and pictures of a new guy, one I'd never seen during my research popped up, including a love letter from him to my mom signed: Love, James. James who? I'd never heard of James, the media had never heard about this James having a relationship with my mom. Who was he? Then there was a picture of a pregnancy test and slowly all the pictures of this James guy disappeared. Most likely, he was my father. I continued looking through the images of me as a baby, promotion for her album Tell Me You Love Me, and other pictures from photo shoots. Then the album ended. Who is this James and how did the media never find out about him? I hide the album in one of my drawers and walk into my mom's room.
"Mom," I start, "Who is James?"
The look on her face is priceless as she answers, "Who?"
"You know who James is; he's my dad..."
"Baby, listen to me..."
"No! You lied to me, Wilmer isn't my dad, this James guy is! How could you?!" I storm out of the room angry and ready to escape, time to find James.
Mom comes into the room obviously a bit mad, "Jaz, you listen up right now! I only never told you to protect you; James is a jerk! He's been arrested multiple times. He never cared about you! I couldn't have let you grow up knowing someone like that was your father. It just wouldn't have been fair to you, me, or him. Please forgive me, baby," She reaches out and pulls me into her arms.
I nod; I guess she could be right. I love her too much to leave her anyways.