Chapter 11:
It took Daphne a minute to register what her father had just told her.
"You mean I was--?"
"Conceived outside marriage? Yes," Mr. Blake answered her. "And I can tell you, your mother and I were just as scared as you and Freddie probably are now, if not more. Granted, we were older... you've just barely left your teenage years, and I was nearly fifty. But that just made the whole thing more shameful, because your mother had only just turned thirty. I was almost your age before she was even born. You can imagine the suspicions, and accusations that floated around after it was revealed that your mother was pregnant and I was the father. Not only was there an age difference, our positions were entirely different. Here I was, CEO and earning millions of dollars annually, while meanwhile your mother was merely another secretary amongst hundreds. The truth is, I barely would have known her ordinarily, but we met in a restaurant one day and if we didn't work in the same building most people probably wouldn't have seen a problem with it."
"Is... is that why Mother quit?" Daphne asked, desperate to know.
"It is," her father responded truthfully. "Obviously with my salary we didn't need the money, but I was still worried constantly. Then I married her, and two months later you were born... and suddenly I didn't care about what the company thought. I had a wife, and I had a healthy daughter. I didn't need anything else."
Daphne's thoughts drifted to the future. Would things be this easy for her and Freddie? After all, neither of them was a CEO making millions a year, and Daphne couldn't just live off of her father's money forever. At least neither of them would have to quit work. Although the salary from the CCC was decent, one person probably could not support a family on it. If they both worked, though...
Daphne shook the thought. What was she thinking? She and Freddie weren't getting married... at least, they hadn't talked about it. And it wasn't a "family" they were starting... it was one kid. Daphne had always imagined her family with maybe five children, at least one of which was a girl who would play dress-up and want her hair braided and ask for pink school supplies. The rest could be boys or girls; it didn't really matter. All Daphne wanted was that one little girl... she would name her Janice...
Daydreaming again. Cut that out.
"I... thank you, Daddy," Daphne told him. "I'll... try to be a good mother to your grandchild..."
A sad look crossed Mr. Blake's face. "Remember that, Daphne. I only hope..." He looked away.
"What do you hope, Daddy?"
Mr. Blake breathed. "Daphne, I can't lie to you. And if I told you that you telling me this last year or a couple months ago or even last week wouldn't have made me react any differently, then I would be lying. The truth is, I want grandchildren very badly. The truth is, I want to live to see them..."
Daphne looked up at his face, darkly.
"The truth is I have cancer."