The coffee arrived and Jessica, Seth and Glen all sipped on a cup each, without saying a word.
Finally, Jessica stood up, "I think I'll head home I've got some research to do." She gave Seth a look that he should stick around with Glen.
"I'll see you later on, Jessica."
Seth sat on the edge of the bed while Glen continued to drink the coffee, looking relieved that the caffeine was starting to clear his head.
"Glen, why did you do this?" Seth asked, sympathetically.
Glen looked at Seth sadly, "I didn't mean to cause a scene in your town. I normally don't drink this much but it seemed like a good idea at the time."
Seth sighed. "Glen, I want to apologize to you for the way I acted yesterday." Seth got up and paced." I was hurt and angry and I responded irrationally." He turned and looked at Glen.
"So many memories got stirred up all at once and I tend to let my emotions get the better of me. I hope you'll except my apology." Glen looked up at him, "I'm sorry too. For this…and for not taking into consideration your feelings when I presented you with everything yesterday."
"You were looking for answers, and I want to give them to you."
Glen looked relieved. Seth spoke up, "first thing after a fresh cup of coffee, is a brisk walk along the beach. Salt air is good for you." The two men left the hotel for their walk.
Meanwhile, Jessica was on the phone with her good friend, reporter Haskell Drake. "Haskell, you've got some connections. I need to find a birth certificate for a Glen Monroe was born on February 11th, 1944 at St. Vincent's Hospital in Westchester, NY. The faster you can call me back the better, it's for a dear friend."
"Okay Jessica, I'll work my magic. Hope to hear something soon. Talk to you later."
Jessica always trusted her gut instincts. Looking at Glen, talking to him, she also found in him resemblances to Seth. It hurt her to think that Glen was Seth's son. Not that it made a difference at all. However, she knew how vulnerable Seth was and how hard he would be on himself for not being in his son's life, even if it was no fault of his own.
Seth and Glen walked along the sand, the sun was bright but not overly warm. "You know, your mother and I last saw each other at the beach. It was Memorial Day, 1943 and I was about to leave for basic training and then…onto jump school with the 82nd Airborne."
"I can't begin to imagine what it was like to parachute out of an airplane."
"Just as frightening as you'd think! Especially for someone like me, who's afraid of heights!" Seth mentioned.
Seth stopped in his tracks and looked Glen straight in the eye, "Glen, I want you to know that I swear on my wife's soul…I never knew about you."
"I need to know, for my sanity, what happened between you and my mother? I have so many blanks that need filling in. When I was a kid, she would sometimes mention the fun times she had with her friends Seth, Tim and Patty. Years later I found some photos with you and she pointed all of you out. When I asked her about the photos of you two together, she would just brush me off and say it was a long time ago. If I pressed her she merely said that you joined the army and never looked back. I will say she had a longing in her eyes whenever she talked about those days."
Seth closed his eyes in sadness, "Glen, I want you to know the truth…about everything that happened between Ellen and I."
The two continued their walk. "I fell madly in love with your mom when we met at school. We would often double date with Tim and Patty…it's as if the four of us were inseparable. That Memorial Day, when your mother and I were alone, I asked her to marry me."
"You did? She never said a word to me? Why didn't she accept?"
"She did accept. I was over the moon!" Glen was stunned. Seth once again stopped in his tracks and looked down at his feet, "and we figured since we were to be married and we didn't know when we'd see each other again we decided to make love that night."
"Oh, I never thought of my mom doing something like that"
"Listen to me, your mother did nothing to be ashamed of. I loved her and I meant that I wanted to marry her when I returned from the war.
She promised to write me every week while I was away. When I didn't hear for the first few weeks, I wrote to Tim to find out what was going on. He told me Ellen and Patty had gotten a small apartment and moved out of the dorm. I asked for the new address but my letters came back, return to sender."
"I'm confused, why would my mother do that if she loved you?"
"I can't give you that answer. I didn't know what to do, then I was transferred to several colleges for advanced training before finally heading to drop school. It was the three toughest weeks of my life, no time to eat or sleep.
I was then shipped off to Ireland where my unit prepared for D-Day. I wrote to Tim and asked why Ellen had been ignoring my letters. All he said was that she met a man and they went off together. She didn't even tell Patty."
"My folks married on the July 4th, 1943 in Rye, New York. I was born at the local hospital in Winchester and we lived in a nice neighborhood in Rye where I had the typical happy childhood. I couldn't ask for a better dad and he and mom were great together." Tim looked up quickly hoping Seth didn't take any offense.
"When I was about ten years old I asked my mom about the "discrepancy" between her wedding date and my birth and she just said she developed gestational diabetes and I was born premature. I never questioned it again."
"I assume she wanted to spare you…being so young and all," Seth suggested.
"When my dad died I was devastated. He had a stroke while at work. Luckily I was almost out of college so I could help mom with the bills. A few years later I got married and we had a daughter, Lisa."
Seth beamed as he thought of being a grandfather.
"Mom developed cancer a few years ago and my wife and I vowed to take care of her at home. Then, one day when we were alone, she sat me down and presented me with my birth certificate. I honestly never saw it before. It listed you as the father. I asked her to tell me why she kept this a secret but she brushed it off and said she was getting tired. It wasn't long after that she took a turn for the worse and passed in her sleep."
Seth looked off at the sun on the horizon and held back some stray tears.
"I don't understand why she wouldn't tell me I was about to become a father! I wouldn't have judged her for being pregnant and I sure as Hell wouldn't have changed my mind on marrying her. It takes two to Tango. Glen, I did everything I could to stay alive during the war. I meant it when I said I wanted to marry your mother. Had I known she was expecting you, I would have been right by her side…all the way through."
Glen got a bit choked up, "I don't know Dr. Hazlitt. I don't know why she wouldn't confide in me, I had the right to know. It's funny, I thought maybe YOU would be able to give me answers but it seems like we're both looking for them."
Seth smiled at this, still he wished he could have been there to watch Glen's first steps, to teach him how to ride a bike, drive a car, how to act on his first date. "Well, I'm glad you had such a wonderful childhood." Seth grabbed a pebble and skimmed it across the water. "I want you to know that it would have been a privilege and an honor to raise you as my son," and Seth handed Glen a stone which he proceeded to skim across the water. Seth chuckled at the attempt.