Chapter 50
"Detectives, this is Keith Partridge and Dina Firmly." Reuben said by way of introduction as soon as they walked in the room.
"Good evening, I'm Detective Russo and this is Detective Durant. It's a pleasure to meet you." The taller of the two said as he extended his hand.
Keith just took his hand and nodded. He didn't want to lie by saying it was a pleasure to meet them too; he didn't want to start their conversation by not being truthful.
"Would you like to go somewhere a little more private?" Detective Durant offered.
"Not really. They're all family and I'd just have to tell the story all over again once you left. Why don't you ask what you want to ask me?" Keith decided to cut to the chase.
"If you're sure." Russo watched Keith nod and then just glanced down at his notes. "We were made aware of a connection you may have with a recent murder by the evening edition of the paper. Though we don't suspect you of actually having committed the murder, we think you may have some information for us. However, we would like to just confirm your whereabouts on the night that Carlotta Lopez was killed."
"I had a performance in Fontainebleau just outside of Paris. I would have been with my bodyguards all day, until at least two hours after the show. It was a relatively long drive back to our rental house." Keith easily explained. His alibis would be airtight while on tour. He was never alone. "After that, I would have been back at the house…..with Dina." Keith brought her hand to his lips.
"That's what we thought. No possibility of your having anything to do with her murder. We just had to be sure, you know?" Durant assured him while still making notes. His superiors would want to know the specifics and that they covered the question even though they'd already suspected the answer.
"Sure." Keith said easily. So far this was pretty easy. Now, if they would just leave.
"Now, about the missing child." Durant went on to the next set of notes.
"What missing child?" Keith had jerked back in surprise. This was a totally new one on him. He surmised it was in the newspaper article, but he'd had no time to read it. Besides, what did a missing child have to do with him? He simply was not putting the pieces together. He did not connect the dots – the missing child was none other than the child Carlotta Lopez had been so certain he'd fathered. "Reuben?"
As soon as Keith turned to Reuben he realized that Reuben had been blind-sided by that question too. No one could feign that much surprise. Reuben's face had completely dropped in shock. He glanced beyond him to see his mother bite her lip. "Mom?"
"Keith, I just found out myself tonight. It's why I'm here." Shirley quickly explained and wished she'd pushed a little harder to see Keith before he came down to talk to the detectives. She'd hoped to avoid this shock.
"Found out what?" Keith's eyes drilled her with questions.
The detectives smartly just sat back and listened. They knew they'd find out more this way than asking questions. If you don't ask the right questions, you don't get the right answers. If you don't have to ask any questions at all, you just might get ALL the answers you need.
"Maybe I should explain." Millie was getting a bit tired of this, but realized it had been her tight-lipped approach to this whole matter that had caused all of these problems.
Keith's grip on Dina's hand tightened in dread. Now what was he about to find out? He steeled himself for the words he could feel coming.
He couldn't brace himself enough for what he heard.
"She kidnapped her own child?" Keith asked in shock. "Is that even possible?"
"Her parental rights had been terminated over a year ago. She's not a fit mother as you well know." Millie defended herself. "Keith, she thinks it's your child. It's why she took him. She thinks she can get you to come to her, stay with her, if she has your child."
"It's not mine." Keith said again. He felt like he'd said it a million times.
"Are you sure?" Shirley asked quietly from right next to him. She'd moved closer as she'd watched the horror wash over his face during Millie's explanation.
"What do you mean, am I sure? Of course, I'm sure." Keith's eyes had flown to his mother's when she'd asked the question. "Are you calling me a liar?"
"No! Keith!" Laurie jumped up at that one. Of course their mother wasn't calling him a liar. She couldn't. She wouldn't. Ever.
Shirley reached into her pocket and pulled out a picture. "Keith, this is Joey Howe."
Keith looked down at the picture and his face turned pale. It was like looking at one of his own baby pictures. It couldn't be.
It wasn't possible.
"He's not mine." Keith whispered as he let the photo drop to the carpet as if burned. "How many times and in how many ways do I have to say this. I did not have sex with Olivia in order to escape from that cabin. Why won't you believe me?"
"You told me yourself that you would lie to me if you thought it would protect me. Keith, did you lie to protect me?" Shirley asked just as quietly. Their very intimate conversation was taking place in a room full of people.
Keith looked at her with more hurt in his eyes than she'd ever wanted to see. She had truly wounded him by doubting him.
"Detectives, I have nothing else to say. If you have more questions, arrest me." Keith said before dropping Dina's numb hand, turned from his stunned mother and walked out of the room.
"Mom, how could you?" Laurie went to follow Keith.
"Laurie, wait. Just look at the picture." Danny stepped in front of her and then went over to pick the picture off the floor.
"No." Laurie said as she looked down at the damning evidence. "I'll believe Keith before I believe any stupid old picture. Everyone has a twin somewhere in this world, right? Well, Keith's was born exactly 19 years after he was."
"To a girl he may or may not have had sex with around the time of conception?" Danny quietly asked the question they were all thinking.
Dina turned from the room and hoped against hope that she could find Keith.
xoxo
He was standing on the second floor balcony of their room. It had, thankfully, been the second place she'd looked right after their bedroom.
"Don't jump!" She said softly and tried to infuse her voice with humor.
"Why not?" Keith surprised her by answering. She thought for sure he'd ignore her.
"Because, you'd only end up breaking a leg or something. Either way, what just happened would still be there." Dina said truthfully.
"Yeah, I see your point. So I won't jump. Happy?" Keith's tone hadn't changed, but at least he was talking to her.
"Happy might not be the right word. Relieved is closer to the truth." Dina walked up next to him, but didn't try to touch him. She didn't want to be rebuffed.
"Why relieved?" Keith sighed not sure why he just didn't ignore her.
"Well, for one, you're talking to me." Dina admitted easily. A few months ago he'd have pushed her away as hard as he could as soon as life got difficult. She figured they'd come a long way if she was still standing next to him.
"Why are you talking to me? Why aren't you pissed?" Keith figured she'd believed all that bullshit from downstairs and that she must be hating him right about now.
"I guess it bears repeating if you're going to forget it so easily. I love you, you big dope." Dina gave him a soft smile and then turned back to look straight ahead of them.
"So, do you think I'm this kid's father too?" Keith turned toward her and leaned his hip against the railing.
"The resemblance is uncanny, but I believe you before any picture." Dina turned toward him and mimicked his stance. She was happy to let him see the honesty in her eyes.
"So, why doesn't my own mother believe me?" Keith reached out to grab one of her hands. He needed the comfort of her touch. He was feeling betrayed.
"Well, this is only a guess, and you'd be better off asking her yourself, but I'm guessing it has to do with the fact that you told her you'd lie to her if it would protect her. She's assuming that you're protecting her from this. She's probably almost as scared of your answer now as she was three years ago." Dina was telling him how she would have felt in Shirley's shoes. She wanted so badly to believe Keith, herself, and would unless he told her that he'd lie to her to protect her too. If he did that, then all bets were off. She knew how badly he wanted, needed to protect her. He'd been trying to get her to leave to keep her safe for weeks.
"I need her support now more than ever and she's turned on me." Keith said the words so softly, that Dina almost couldn't hear him. It was as if he was afraid if he said them out loud, they'd definitely come true.
"Keith, you need to talk to your mother about this. She loves you, possibly more than I do." Dina tried to infuse a little humor to get Keith to accept what she was saying. She was rewarded with a slight smile. "Keith, she's your mother. She doesn't doubt you lightly. She wouldn't. She couldn't. You're a part of her. She'd rather cut off her own arm than doubt you, yet your own words are causing her to wonder. Only you can set her straight."
"You think so?" Keith leaned his forehead against hers.
"I'm just telling you how I'd feel if you'd said the same thing to me." Dina brought her hands up to his face. "The rest comes because I love you so much that I'd believe anything you told me. Even if you told me the sky was orange."
"It is, you know." Keith was amazed at how easily Dina could pull him from a bad mood. "As orange as Danny's hair."
"You're downright crazy; you know that, right?" Dina kissed the slowly growing smile from his face.
"Yeah, but you love me anyway." Keith pulled her closer and kissed her again.
"True." Dina absorbed the feelings that she knew were love but that Keith still refused to label and then gently pushed him away. "Go talk to her before she comes looking for you. She's interrupted us doing this once already and if I were her, I'd be tearing this place apart looking for you."
"You'll wait up for me?" Keith let her push him further away.
"Oh yeah. You officially owe me one." Dina informed him.
"Didn't know we were keeping score." Keith grinned as he gave her one last kiss.
"We are. Hurry back before you owe me two." Dina gave him a shove.
"If I stall for a while, can we make it three?" Keith teased as he backed away from her.
"Keep this up and you won't have any sleep before you have to get up in the morning." Dina laughed.
"Don't make promises you can't keep." Keith said just before walking through the door.
Dina turned back to the view and thought about their conversation. It took her a moment to realize that Keith had never admitted or denied what had happened downstairs. Of course, she'd never come out and asked him either. So, was he the father of Olivia's child?
She rested her hand on her stomach; a stomach that was starting to feel just a little more taught than normal. Well, one thing was sure, he was most definitely the father of the baby she had just found out that day she was carrying. How to tell the father that he was going to become a father, when he was so vehemently denying fathering another child? What made their baby any more deserving of his love?
Would he hate her and the baby because she'd gotten pregnant when he'd warned her time and again that he wasn't looking for a commitment? Would it look like she was trying to trap him?
She quickly brushed the tear from her cheek. She could not look like she'd been crying when he came back to their room.
xoxo
Keith had asked Laurie and Danny to leave the room with just a look. His mom didn't know he was there just yet. She was crying softly into the wad of tissues Laurie had stuffed in her hand.
Shirley was too upset to notice Laurie and Danny leaving. She also missed the soft sound of the door closing behind them.
"You know things are bad when your own mother doubts you." Keith said quietly from slightly behind her. He knew he had to play this one just right.
"Oh, Keith!" Shirley stood up and turned quickly toward him. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want you to think I didn't believe in you."
"I guess I can see why you might have doubts." Keith grudgingly admitted. "I didn't exactly tell you outright what had happened. And, I did lead you to believe that I might have lied to you."
"Keith, no, it's all my fault. I should have known. No matter what you said. A mother should know these things." Shirley wanted so badly to wrap him in her arms, but he had yet to move any closer and she wasn't sure of her reception. Her guilt was tearing her apart.
"Mom, stop. Let's not try to place blame here, alright?" Keith waited for her to nod her acceptance of his terms. He was uncomfortable with his mother's need to take the blame. He knew where it should really lie. Everything associated with Olivia was his fault. "Dina made me see why you might have gotten the wrong impression."
"She did?" Shirley knew she liked Dina, but that was now cemented. If she could bring her son closer to her, then the girl was squarely in the 'keeper' category.
"Mom, I admit I didn't tell you everything that happened at the cabin. I don't know if I ever will. I know I can't tell you now. I just…." Keith stumbled to a close.
"No, Keith it's alright." Shirley moved around the sofa and pulled him into a hug from which he quickly pushed her away.
"No, it's not. If it were, you wouldn't have doubted me." Keith wasn't quite sure how to make her understand yet still not tell her what he just could not bring himself to tell her.
"Keith, just answer me one question." Shirley had frozen when he'd pushed her away.
"Just one?" Keith joked.
"Is there any possibility that Joey is your son?" Shirley held her breath.
"When this is all over, I'll take a blood test. Good enough?" Keith tried to gauge her reaction.
"Good enough. You will never hear one more word of doubt from me." Shirley assured him never realizing that he'd not answered her question. "You know, it was Laurie that had me doubting myself as soon as you left the room. She refused to believe it even with what many would have assumed was insurmountable proof. That little boy looks very much like you did as a child, but your sister reminded all of us that uncanny resemblances have been known to happen quite often."
"Laurie defended me?" Keith wondered where her blind faith had come from. He had thought with her desire to become a lawyer that she'd convict him on the evidence presented before anyone else. After all, even to Keith, the picture had been quite damning.
"She did. She's always been your staunchest defender, you know that." Shirley reminded him. "Just like you'd defend her to the end."
"True." Keith could feel another smile tugging at his lips. Who'd have thought that this night could end so well? He'd been sure that he would have the break-up of his family to lay at Olivia's door and instead he found that he felt even closer to them than ever.
And Dina – well, she was simply amazing him at every turn. He knew he didn't deserve her, yet he couldn't make himself push her away any longer.
Her birthday on Sunday would be the day she found out how he really felt. She deserved it.
Keith pulled himself back to the present. "Mom, thanks for believing in me."
"Thanks for giving me the opportunity to prove to you that I do." Shirley approached him once again and pulled him into a hug. "I love you, Keith."
"I love you too, Mom." Keith assured her and held her tight.
xoxo
Keith had sought out Laurie and Danny before heading upstairs. He explained to them that he would be taking a paternity test once they found the child. Until then, he'd appreciate it if they simply took his word for it.
"I never doubted you." Laurie assured him.
"I know. Mom told me that you defended me. Thanks." Keith gave Laurie a hard hug of appreciation for her blind faith. When he let her go, a little misty eyed, he turned to Danny who was looking a little uncomfortable. "And you. Now I know you didn't believe me and probably won't until after the paternity test."
"Oh, now, wait a second. I never actually said you fathered the kid. I just said it was a possibility." Danny started backing away from his approaching brother.
"A very strong possibility." Laurie added helpfully and with a big grin on her face. She already knew that Keith was teasing him. He'd winked at her as he'd pulled back from their hug.
"What, I suppose you already sold the story to the tabloids." Keith accused with a mock frown on his face.
"I wouldn't do that. You gotta know that." Danny defended himself, but then dug the hole a little deeper. "Besides I haven't had enough time. I just found out tonight."
"So, you're saying that if you'd had the time you'd have sold the story?" Keith had cornered Danny.
"I didn't say that. I learned my lesson years ago when you guys paid me back for the fake story about you and mom. No selling any stories to the papers. Ever." Danny crossed his heart while he said the last.
"Alright, fine, I believe you." Keith let him off the hook a little more easily than Laurie had hoped, but it had been fun to watch for the short while it had lasted.
"Gee, thanks." Danny sagged in relief.
"Go take Mom back to Millie's. And make sure you keep her safe." Keith reminded him that he had a big responsibility while they stayed away from the rest of them.
"I will." Danny assured him. "So will we see you tomorrow?"
"I doubt it, I have a full schedule. Why?" Keith turned back to Laurie and gave her a sly smile watching her fight to keep the answering smile from her lips. He knew exactly what Danny was digging for. Tomorrow was his birthday.
"No reason. I just thought….well, it was nothing." Danny quickly left the room and missed the smile that soon came over Laurie's face too.
"Won't he be surprised." Laurie could only shake her head at Danny's sad exit.
"That is a fact. See you tomorrow at the party." Keith quickly left the room before he gave away his secret. The only one who knew about it was Reuben. They'd all be surprised. That was the plan.
xoxo
"Go back to sleep." Keith suggested to Dina as he rolled out of their bed the next morning.
Dina didn't bother to answer him. She was too busy trying to stop herself from throwing up all over the bed. She concentrated until the bed stopped moving from Keith's departure.
She soon drifted back to sleep.
"Dina, we thought you'd died up here." Angie said as she came into the room to find her friend still sleeping peacefully.
"Angie?" Dina woke slowly and then suddenly made a break for the bathroom before throwing up what little was in her stomach.
"Here, you might need this." Angie handed her her robe while she filled a glass with water. She turned back around to find her friend wrapped in the robe and huddled miserably on the floor. "Did you get the results back yet?"
"No, I'm supposed to call this morning." Dina barely breathed the words afraid her stomach hadn't settled yet. She felt the guilt wash over her for lying. But, if she couldn't tell Keith, it didn't seem fair to share the news with their friends first.
"Well, unless you're suffering from the strangest food poisoning the world has ever seen, you are most definitely suffering from morning sickness." Angie pointed out.
"Please, don't say anything to anyone else. Not even Gordy, alright?" Dina feared that the rumors would spread amongst the travel group faster than she could possibly stop.
"I won't. I know how worried you are about this." Angie had almost given in to the urge to spill the beans last night, but she knew how close Keith, Skizzy and Gordy were. She also knew that given the chance, they gossiped as much as they accused the women of doing. She figured Dina deserved the right to tell Keith first. Now, if she would just get confirmation – of course, she'd also have to have the guts to tell him. Angie wondered if she'd be able to do it herself. Especially given the fact that Gordy would be a whole lot more likely to be happy about such unexpected news than Keith would. Keith's popularity partially hinged upon his single status.
Dina's next comment pulled Angie from her thoughts.
"Do I look fat to you?" Dina pulled her robe flat against her stomach.
"Hardly. You're still thin as a rail." Angie assured her.
"I feel thick." Dina whined.
"Dina, it's too early no matter what." Angie laughed at her friend's recent change of heart.
"Oh, god, Angie. What am I going to tell Keith?" Dina wailed and then made a mad scramble for the toilet bowl once again.
"First things first, Firmly. Let's get your head out of that toilet bowl, get some tea and crackers into you and then call the clinic. Until you're positive, you aren't telling anyone anything." Angie reminded her.
"Maybe I won't have to say anything for several months. I mean, Keith's never around when the morning sickness hits. And, maybe I'll be lucky and not show until I'm almost due." Dina dreamed big.
"Mhhmmm….and you're going to give birth to a baby the size of a peanut. Dream on Dina. You'll be showing before too long considering how tiny you are now." Angie popped her balloon.
"Kill me now." Dina moaned as she leaned over the toilet bowl one more time.
"Hell no. I'm dying to see Keith's reaction. Do you promise to tell him in a very public place?" Angie grinned.
"Angie, get out." Dina commanded and then threw up again.
"I will. But only long enough to get you that tea and crackers. Try to be off the floor before I get back, hmm?" Angie laughed as she walked out the door.
"God will pay you back for making fun of me you know." Dina used what little strength she had to yell that after her friend. "Just wait until you and Gordy have kids."
All she got was Angie's laughter trailing behind her.
xoxo
"Millie, Keith has said he'll take a paternity test when Joey is found. I think we can all put our fears to rest and be assured that Keith is not the father. However, we have to hide that fact from the press and from Olivia until Joey is found." Shirley bit into her dry toast. She had to fit into a formal gown for the fund raiser on Sunday night.
"I'm not sure if I'm glad to hear that or sad. I would have loved to have actually had a tie to your wonderful family." Millie truly was saddened to know that young Joey wouldn't know this family that she'd grown to love.
"Millie, you're our honorary Aunt already. That'll just have to do." Danny assured the woman that no matter the outcome, she would always be a part of their family.
"Oh Danny, thank you. That means more than you'll ever know. I'd be honored to be your honorary aunt." Millie grinned back at him.
"Good. I expect Christmas and birthday presents. In fact, it's my birthday today – not that anyone in my family remembered. I could really use a new car, but if that's too much a new stereo would do." Danny immediately pushed his own agenda.
"Daniel Partridge." Shirley said no more. Millie was already laughing merrily.
