Chapter 3

Frank's POV

I can't believe the soldier named Lester Santos is my son. Lester looked different from the child I once knew. He was one of the top recruits for Ranger training. Manoso beat all previously set records while Santos was a close second. I was impressed with the men in the training group. Sherman, Brown, Ramos, Hobbes and Ramsey were among the top ten.

We grouped the men who passed the requirements into teams of seven to form teams Alpha and Beta. The other recruits who passed the training regiment got assigned to teams Charlie and Delta. They would remain in the groups provided they worked well together. Otherwise, we shift them until we find an appropriate combination.

Manoso was a born leader. His friends, Santos, Sherman and Brown, readily followed his command, proving him to be a great commanding officer. They met during basic training when they first joined the Army. When I ran their names through the military records, I never made the connection between Lester Basil Santos to Maria Lopez. My son's name was Pedro Mateo Lopez. Maria must have changed his name when she moved. I should have known she'd change his name to Lester.

After checking to ensure Helen was asleep, I logged onto my military computer to access the remaining files. I could access birth records for my children. When I searched for Seraphina Celine, Annabella Lucia and Isabel Maria Lopez, no records showed. It frustrated me that Maria had changed all of our children's names. Looking through Lester's files, I found Luisa Rose, Elena Violet and Juanita Iris Santos. I had named all my daughters.

Learning that Maria filed the birth certificates with the other names angered me. She had lied about her identity and our children's names, yet she was furious to learn I was married with two girls. I never lied to her. She knew about my marriage and daughters. Maria was a hypocritical bitch. I thought Helen was horrible, but Maria took the cake. She should have been honest with the man she claimed to love. Maria was the love of my life. When I track Maria down, she has a lot of explaining to do.

I wondered how Lester knew to compare our DNA records in the Army database. He's an intelligent man, but someone had to provide him with my information. I retired after training the Ranger recruits five years ago. Stephanie was always fascinated with my dog tags. She's the only person who could have provided the intel to Lester. My only question was, when did she meet Lester?

"Hey, Daddy," Stephanie cheerfully answered when I called. She was too happy for 10 pm.

"Hi, Pumpkin. Can I take you to lunch tomorrow? I can meet you at Pizzano's on Main at noon," I offered, giving her the name of her favourite Italian pizza shop across the road from E E Martin.

"Oh. Um. I have the day off work, so I'll be in Trenton," Stephanie replied. I could tell she wasn't telling the truth, but I didn't want to call her on it. I wondered if the CEO of E E Martin stupidly refused the "protection" from the mob. It would force them to sell the business or permanently close their doors. I hoped Stephanie wasn't out of a job. I'll have to keep my ear to the ground to see if anyone in Trenton was looking for help.

"Would Shorty's do?" I asked, knowing this conversation had to stay outside the Burg.

"Sure, daddy. I'll meet you there at noon. Is something wrong?" she asked. Stephanie was always the intuitive one.

"Nothing, pumpkin. It's been a few weeks since you came over for dinner," I replied. I could picture Stephanie rolling her eyes. Stephanie agreed to meet me in the back parking lot.

I wondered if Stephanie would figure out why I wanted to meet with her for lunch. Unlike Valerie, Stephanie's mind simultaneously processed many things. Her teachers never understood her thought process, but it was a remarkable thing to see. The military special operatives programs could use her latent skills.

When she was in high school, I often set out my game of Risk, placing potential Ranger teams in strategic locations. Many nights, I caught her moving the men to other countries. I asked, "Why did you move the troops?"

She giggled before replying, "In my current affairs class, Mr. Barnham said there was unrest in Croatia, but he said that some countries stir the pot to divert attention from the real issue. A week ago, our president announced he would send troops to Iraq. It makes sense for your guys to breech the border through here. Risk is just a game, daddy. There's no right or wrong answer, but someone always wins. In the real world, nobody wins. However, if there's already a military presence, you may have better luck arriving under the cover of darkness."

"I'm never going to win now. Your uncle Joe would know I cheated," I said, anticipating her response.

"Daddy, stop pretending you're playing a game. I know you are an Army Ranger," she surprised me by saying. She pointed to the board. "This is an exercise for you to place your team."

"Why do you think that?"

Stephanie rolled her eyes before stepping closer to me. She wrapped her arms around me, resting her head on my chest. I moved my arms around her and pulled her tight. "Every time you leave for a Post Office Convention, some major world crises got temporarily resolved. When you come home, you're exhausted. I didn't miss that your ribs and shoulder got injured last year. Unless you're doing some kind of Post Office Olympics, there was no reason for you to suffer physical trauma. I put two and two together," she explained. "Don't worry, daddy. I won't tell mom or Valerie. I doubt they would understand."

"You're too smart for your own good," I replied.

"Daddy? Are you still there?" Stephanie asked, pulling me out of the memory. I knew both Valerie and Helen preferred to hide in denial land. It made me smile as I remembered when Stephanie watched the movie, Gone With The Wind. Whenever something bothered Stephanie, she simply pretended it didn't exist until whatever bugged her vanished. Stephanie is very resilient because she always confronted the issues once she could manage the fear and stress.

"Yes, Pumpkin. I'm still here," I replied. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. Good night, daddy. I love you," Stephanie quietly said. It's been a long time since she uttered those words. The last time she said that she loved me was before she started dating that asshole attorney, Dickie Orr. I should never have let Helen push those two together. It was one of my many regrets.

I prayed that Stephanie wouldn't think differently of me when she discovered I had a nine-year relationship with another woman. Granted, I thought Maria was my soulmate, but my recent discovery of her actions proved how delusional I had been. Maria hid in her version of denial land by pretending Helen, Val and Steph didn't exist, though she didn't know my daughters' names. You could call that a lie by omission since I didn't talk about them.

Maria wore my engagement ring. It was easier to keep her on the line, thinking there was a possibility of marriage. I should have divorced Helen and risked losing Valerie and Stephanie, but it's beyond too late.

My past indiscretions crashed around me as I thought about Stephanie's reaction to Dickie's affair. She was devastated and betrayed by the one person who swore to love her. Stephanie didn't appreciate Helen inviting random men over for dinner. Helen wanted Stephanie to get married and have children. Her primary goal was to show the Burg that she was a perfect mother with perfect daughters.

Stephanie was perfect the way she was. She didn't conform to the Burg rules. I prayed one day that Stephanie would find a man to love her for the person she is, not the woman they expected her to become. It would be a disservice to the intelligent, loving, kind and generous woman to get her wings clipped. My second daughter needs to fly.

Stephanie's POV

"Crap! Daddy knows," I shouted after hanging up the phone. Lester warned me that the supervisors would notify dad. I wanted to call Lester back, but he needed his sleep. Daddy called seconds after I hung up from Lester. I thought it was my mom, but I was mistaken. Dad usually called me from his cell phone, not the house landline.

I figured I should get some sleep to handle the shitstorm I was about to face. Hopefully, daddy isn't mad that I know his secret. I wondered how many times he stepped out on my mom. He seemed devoted to her, but maybe his silence regarding child-rearing was indicative of another issue. It made me wonder how many mistresses my dad had while married to my mom. I formulated a list of questions to ask dad. He better be honest, or he'll lose me forever. Cheating and dishonesty were two things I did not tolerate. I had never expected my dad to have an affair. A few more questions jumped into my mind. Did grandma Mazur know? Is that why she gave dad a hard time?

With the help of Benadryl and Gravol, I fell asleep. My dreams combined everything I learned during the past few days with memories from my childhood. I could forgive my dad for his indiscretions, but only if he was honest. How he could remain married to my mom after such an act was shocking. Dad sided with me when I divorced Dickie after his affair. I mistakenly assumed he would never be unfaithful to mom. Possibly, he was atoning for his lack of judgement, but there had to be more to the story.

Sure, mom and dad shared the same bed, but I can't recall a time when they went to bed together. I never saw them hold hands or display affection. Valerie and I assumed it was the proper behaviour of a married couple. It goes to show how much we didn't know. Though the Benadryl and Gravol concoction should have kept me asleep, I was wide awake at 1 am. I do not know what woke me up, but I knew I had to speak to Valerie.

"Hello," Valerie whispered when she answered the phone.

"Oh. Sorry for calling so late, Valerie. I forgot it's 10 pm there," I said. "I forgot you were three hours behind us."

"It's fine, Steph. Mary Alice had a nightmare. I'm in her room waiting for her to fall asleep," Valerie said. "She just closed her eyes, so I have time to chat."

"Doesn't she need the room to be quiet?" I wondered.

She chuckled before saying, "You're thinking about Angie. Mary Alice needs to hear me talk or sing to fall asleep. It's why I read to her every night."

"Ah. That makes sense." I wasn't sure how to start the conversation, but she needed to know about our other siblings.

"Stephie, you never call unless something's on your mind. Is everyone okay?" Valerie asked.

"Yes. Mom, dad and grandma are fine. I'm sorry the late night call scared you." I took a few minutes to collect my thoughts before ripping off the bandaid. "Please, don't be mad or shoot the messenger. I found out that we have a brother and three sisters. They're younger than me, but I wanted you to know. I'm sorry for blindsiding you."

Valerie gasped when I shared the news. I could hear quiet sobs from my sister. "I always wanted a brother," she said, surprising me.

"Me too."

"Have you met them?" Valerie asked.

"Only our brother. His name is Lester Santos. He has blond hair and green eyes. Lester is in the Army special ops. He's half a foot taller than me and muscular. If he wasn't our brother, I'd drool over his body," I replied.

Valerie snuffled. I heard her gently blow her nose into a tissue. "Give me a second," she said. Valerie put the phone down. I heard the shuffle of blankets and the kiss on Mary Alice's forehead. "Sweet dreams, sweetie." I waited a few more minutes and heard the soft click of the door closing. "Okay, I'm in the kitchen. Spill."

I told Valerie everything I learned about Lester and the results of the paternity test. She asked about the accuracy of the results when I cut her off. "Val, I'm one hundred percent sure he's our brother. They compared their DNA profiles in the Army. Unless someone swapped the original files, Lester is our brother. His DNA comparison to daddy was a ninety-nine point nine percent match. There is no doubt in my mind that he's related. I don't know much about our sisters, other than the youngest girl's name is Juanita. They still live in Florida. When we can get away, we should find them," I suggested.

"I don't think we should spring this on an unsuspecting family, Steph," Val protested.

"Val, they know about us, but not our names. They've known for years, according to Lester. We were the only ones left in the dark."

"That certainly changes my opinion. I'll see if Steve will let me get away for a week. He'll need to watch the girls. Thanks for telling me, Steph," Val said. "Can I tell mom?"

"No. It's dad's story to share," I replied. Valerie reluctantly agreed before ending the call. I was too wired to sleep. The sense that something would go wrong filtered through the back of my mind. I prayed that Lester and his Rangers teammates would be safe from harm.

Sleep didn't come easy, but I still managed to sleep a few hours before meeting my dad. I heard a knock on my door at 11 am. Luckily, I was showered and dressed for the day. Dad and I agreed to meet at Shorty's, so I knew it wasn't him. When I opened the door, I saw Eddie Gazarra holding a bag of donuts and a tray with coffee. "You are a god among men," I said, grabbing the donuts.

Eddie laughed and followed me inside my apartment. His pale blue eyes assessed me as he sat on my secondhand sofa and placed the coffees on the table. "I thought you could use a wake-up call," Eddie sheepishly said.

I narrowed my eyes, wondering who asked him to drop by this morning. "It's not that I'm ungrateful for the coffee and donuts, but why are you here?" I asked as I finished pulling my hair back into a ponytail.

He loudly exhaled before saying, "I got an interesting call last night from Lester Santos. Does that name mean anything to you?"

"Nope," I lied.

"Steph, he's worried about you," Eddie said. "Who is he?" Eddie and I have been friends since grade one. I knew I could trust him with my secrets. Sighing, I decided to tell Eddie the story after swearing him to secrecy. It didn't hurt to have someone watching my back. Lester made an effort to reach out to keep me safe. I hope I didn't make a mistake in judgement by airing my dad's dirty laundry. "Wow. I don't know what to say," Eddie said when I finished the story.

"I had a week to get used to the idea. I'm meeting my dad for lunch," I added.

"Do you think he suspects that you know?" Eddie asked.

"I'm positive he knows that I know. It's not a conversation I'm looking forward to having with my dad, but I can't turn back time to unlearn that I have more siblings," I honestly replied. Eddie knew I was feeling more than I displayed.

"You should go before the parking lot fills. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Thanks, Eddie. You're a great friend." Eddie kissed my forehead before taking the garbage to toss into the dumpster out back.

I grabbed my purse and keys. My red Mazda Miata got parked beside the dumpster. I hated that I always got stuck parking in the worst spot in the lot. The elderly residents occasionally had trouble tossing their trash into the container. I often removed banana peels or apple cores off the soft top of my convertible. Luckily, I always remembered to raise the top.

The parking lot at Shorty's was nearly packed. I managed to find a spot… next to the dumpster. "Why me?" I muttered before exiting my car. Daddy was leaning against his car, parked beside the back entrance. He waited for me to approach before opening the door. We got into the booth at the back. Dad sat on the bench with his back against the wall. "Why do you always sit with your back to the wall?" I asked.

"To keep an eye on my surroundings," he replied. I was expecting a different answer. Dad smiled at my shocked expression. "It's part of the military training. We can't protect ourselves efficiently if we're partially exposed."

"Huh. I guess that makes sense," I replied.

Dad waited for the waitress to take our order and place our drinks on the table before asking, "You know about my other family?" It wasn't so much as a question as it was a statement.