Chapter 1: A Passport to Honesty
It was a bright sunny day in Sydney, Australia when a 2016 Sedan pulled up to the curb of the downtown mall.
"Got everything you need sweetheart?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah Dad," replied Grace pushing open the back door.
"Got your cell phone, your wallet?"
"Yeah Dad."
"And you've got your…"
"Yes Dad, I've got everything," his daughter interrupted.
"Alright sweetheart. Now Aaron is going to pick you up at eight. Okay?"
"Okay Dad," she replied while kissing her father through the window.
"Love you sweetheart, and no talking to any boys!" Charlie shouted as she walked away.
She simply waved her hand behind her as a way of saying she heard.
As Charlie closed the window, his son muttered from the passenger seat, "Dad, you know, she's still going to talk to…"
"I know Aaron," Charlie sighed as he pulled away from the curb. "But a father can only try."
As they traveled down the highway, Charlie turned up the radio to find Geronimo Jackson playing. His fingers tapped to the beat of "Dharma Lady" on the steering wheel as Aaron was trying to focus on reading in the car. Seeing as the family of four only had one car, they had to carpool a lot, and one example of this was seen with Charlie having to pick his son up from work.
Five miles down, Aaron looked up from The Two Towers and turned down the radio. Charlie looked up at him (seeing as his son was now five inches taller than him). "What's wrong Turnip Head? Something happen in your book?"
Aaron smiled at the old nickname. "No, it's not that, even though Merry and Pippin did just meet a gigantic talking tree. It's just… I've got to tell you something."
"Sure son, what is it?" Charlie started to get worried, even though he knew he shouldn't. It was probably something about school, or the band, or Ji Yeon. Most definitely nothing to worry about.
"Well, me and the guys, we were thinking of taking a trip to Berlin."
Charlie sighed. He knew it was something simple like that. "Sounds great, what for? The band get a gig?" he inquired.
"Well, yeah," Aaron replied. "We have a couple of gigs at a few pubs, but more important is that there's a University there that's worth looking at. And I've been practicing my German and everything. What do you think Dad?"
"Sounds great Aaron. When were you thinking of heading out?"
"We thought during vacation. Probably January."
"Wow, sounds like you'll have a great time. Of course we'll have to talk to your mother about this. But, Berlin's a great city. Your uncle Liam and I went there one time, and there was this pub with this curry sausage, and…"
"Dad, is this another band story?" Aaron asked, slightly bemused.
"What? I thought you liked my band stories."
"Well… there not my favorite," Aaron smiled. And Charlie smiled as well, which made the skin around his eyes crinkle. It was a running joke between the two of them of Aaron's annoyance of the band stories, and Charlie didn't mind. Aaron's band always came second to school, which was probably best. Charlie had been down the road of music first, and he wouldn't have recommended it to Aaron.
They soon drove into the driveway of their three-bedroom home in the suburbs of Sydney. It wasn't much, but it was their home, and they loved every inch of it.
"Honey, we're home," is what Charlie cried out into the house as he opened the door for both Aaron and him.
Charlie found Claire in the kitchen, loading dishes into the dishwasher. "Afternoon, love," he said kissing her on the cheek.
"Hey Charlie. Grace got to the mall okay?"
"Yep, pretty sure she'll have a great time." He leaned up against the breakfast table and grabbed an apple when Aaron walked into the room.
"Hey Mum?" he asked quietly.
"Yes sweetheart?"
Aaron then told Claire about his plans to go to Berlin and about the college (which made Claire happy), and the band, and how he'd pay for all of it out of his own pocket. "I just need my birth certificate," he finished with.
Charlie stopped mid-bite of his apple and Claire nearly dropped the plate she was holding. "Why would you need that sweetie?" Claire said with the steadiest voice she could manage."
"Well, I need to get my passport renewed since I haven't renewed it in five years."
Charlie looked at him funny, trying to do the math. "No way Aaron, we got your passport renewed… when you were fourteen, thirteen at the youngest."
"Dad, I was twelve, it was five years ago. I need my passport renewed."
"Alright Aaron, we'll go get your passport renewed, and then we'll…"
"Um… here's the ting," Aaron interrupted his mother, "I'm seventeen now, so I can go and get my passport without parental permission. So if you could just give me my birth certificate, I'll head out tomorrow to the post office and…"
"Oh, but we don't have your birth certificate," Charlie put in rather quickly.
"What do you mean?" Aaron asked. "How could you lose my birth certificate?"
Claire stared at Charlie, wide-eyed, not really sure what to do. Finally, she said, "Well, I guess it's just gotten lost amid all the files up in the attic. But I'm sure we'll find it. We'll find it for you sweetheart, don't worry."
"Okay Mum, thanks." He then leaned down to kiss his mum on the cheek, right before looking at the clock. "Wow. It's two fifty-five. I promised Ji Yeon I would skype her at three. If you need me, I'll be in my room." He then left his two parents alone in the kitchen.
As soon as they heard the bedroom door close upstairs, Claire whispered urgently to Charlie, "What the heck are we going to do?"
Charlie sighed. He was thinking the same thing himself. "Well, we knew he'd have to find out eventually."
"I know," Claire said, putting her hands up to her face. "But I didn't expect to happen so soon. We should've told him when he was younger. Oh gosh, I've done to him what my mother did to me. Oh no, this can't be happening. I'm a horrible mother." Tears were starting to form underneath her eyes, and Charlie quickly came over to wipe them away.
"Claire, don't worry. When he finds out about his real father, he won't be upset at you. I'll have to worry about him being upset at me. I mean, at least you didn't have a face that connected with the word 'dad'. He's thought I've been his father this whole time. Claire, we'll figure this out okay," he then kissed her forehead just to try and prove it.
Claire nodded, and wrapped her arms around him. "We'll tell him tomorrow then, right?"
"Most definitely," Charlie replied. "We'll give all of us one more day."