Justin
"How's everything going?" Dad asked as I hung up the phone.
"Jhondie hasn't killed off your other children yet," I replied. "But you might want to get home soon before they decide that nice is boring and turn into their usual selves."
Dad just smiled. He knows that I deep down, I do love them, but they are little brats when they want to be. The problem is that brat is their favorite state of being. Then again Britt loves Jhondie, and she thinks Kayla is "*SO* cool" and I wasn't about to mention that Bryan had a little bit of a crush on Kayla. I figured that one out when he asked if he could start working out with me after he met her for that first time. I guess the age difference didn't bother him, but I wasn't going to let him know that girls don't go for younger guys. I still let him start coming with me. Who knew if he would eventually get a girlfriend with a few deranged brothers? I didn't exactly have a great track record on that count.
"I'm going to have to go home tomorrow," Dad said with a sigh. "With work and the twins, I need to be in LA. All of this can probably be done from there if you want to come home so I can help you."
I shook my head. "I better get used to it as soon as possible since I don't think it's going away. I have your stuff from earlier, and I think I understand it. Enough of it at least. Besides, there's going to be enough stuff about the patents and I need to be here to talk with Steiner about what MedGen is going to be doing, and did Mom and Uncle Justin have an affair?" I didn't mean to say it like that. I really didn't, but it just sort of came out. I was far from naive, and that's certainly what it seemed like Justin had been saying. It was that or he had tried something with Mom. Either way, I wanted to know what the hell had happened.
Dad sat down heavily, blowing out a long breath. "No," he finally said. "They didn't."
"But you suspected." Dad didn't reply. "Something happened," I insisted. I was really a glutton for punishment right then.
"It happened years before you were born," he said. "By the time we had you, it didn't matter anymore. Justin and I had made up, and he was a different man. There wasn't any use in bringing up the past, especially in front of you kids. I asked you mother if anything had happened, and she said no, despite everything that Justin had said earlier. I chose to believe her. I never asked Justin later."
"But you wanted to," I said for him. "You wanted to, but didn't out of respect for her, even after she was gone. That's why he answered it for you."
He nodded slowly, as if trying to decide what to tell me. "Constanza said no. I looked into her eyes and knew that I could still let myself doubt and have suspicion, but that was going to tear us apart. Instead I chose to believe in the best that there was in her, and trust in that. I didn't regret it."
I could respect that. Honestly, it's what I had done with Jhondie and the things that she had told me. Of course, I knew for certain what she had done. I just trusted her not to do it again. "What did happen?" I asked.
Dad shook his head. "It's in the past."
I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair. "I thought we agreed that withholding the truth was the same as lying." Dad could only smile ruefully. That was his rule. He had said that if a direct question was asked, not giving the information was no different than a lie. I finally got him to regret that one. Took me almost seven years, but I did it.
"You know that my parents never approved of my marriage," he answered. "I think one of the nicer things that they called her was "that wetback looking for a green card"." His smile became bitter. I had no idea that they felt so harshly towards Mom. Her family was actually quite a bit better off than they were.
"I'm not going to go into all of the details," Dad said, and then quickly added, "and not to withhold information either. It's just too long, and too much I would rather not recall. Suffice it to say that Justin had gotten into an argument with our parents, and just to upset them became friendly with Constanza. She was glad that someone was accepting her, and they became friends. He...I guess he started to believe that he was in love with her eventually."
"You know it was over six years after we got married that you were born. We wanted to have children sooner, but it didn't happen. We went to a doctor about it, and..." he paused, his embarrassment obvious. "It was a little her, but mostly me. When Justin found out, he made an offer to, um, donate what was needed, but she refused. Your mother wanted children in a big way. We talked about adopting, but she wanted one of her own. This was about the time that Justin decided that she should be his wife, and not mine. She suddenly got pregnant, and Justin claimed it was his child, not mine."
My jaw dropped. Please don't tell me that Dad could be my uncle, and not my father. I had asked for the truth. Important lesson for a young journalist: not all truths need to come out.
"Your mother denied it of course, but because of some circumstances, I wasn't sure. Again, I am not going to go into all of the details, but suffice it to say, I wondered. Justin and I got into a huge fistfight over it all. Then...then Constanza lost the baby. Ironically, that's what brought my mother around. She heard the doctor say it was stress induced, and I muttered something about not wanting to raise my brother's kid, and she whacked me upside the head with her purse, calling me a few choice names. She didn't know it, but Constanza heard her. Said that I knew Justin had always had a problem with reality, and that I made a commitment before God, and I was going to be a man and take care of my wife. And if she ever heard me say again anything like what I had said, she would personally make sure I would never have any children."
"Constanza and I were separated for a few months, but eventually, we made up. When we got back together, I asked her if it was true, and she denied it. I chose to accept that answer, and I think our marriage was even better because of it. A few years passed, and then there was the accident and my parents were killed. It had a bigger impact on Justin than me, I think. He realized that he was alone, and all of the bimbos in the world didn't make up for family. The funeral was the first time I had seen him since our fight, and he was a changed man. He had lost that arrogance he always had since we were kids."
"He asked for my forgiveness, and Constanza's as well. It wasn't easy, but we both did forgive him. I didn't want to lose my entire family, and he had humbled himself. I wasn't at first, but your mom was the one that pointed out that he wasn't the man she had known. I didn't realize how much bitterness had festered until I was able to let it go. It eats into you, you know. And then we found out that your mother was pregnant."
I knew part of the story. Mom got extremely sick with some virus when she was about six months pregnant with me, and they were worried about the effect it would have on me. Her immune system was boosted and it was attacking her baby as well as this virus. They were going to have to induce labor early and take their chances that I was going to survive, but Justin showed up with his blood cleaner, and offered to try it. Mom was the first human trial in a real-life situation, and it worked. I was born normal, and that's what prompted them to name me after my uncle. I hadn't known about the rest of it.
"Hell of a lot more than just a thank you when named me after him," I commented.
"I didn't realize until yesterday how much he appreciated it," Dad replied.
As dumb as it sounded, I had to ask. "There's no doubt about me or the twins now, right?"
Dad grinned. "None in the slightest, even though those two surprised the hell out of me and your mother. Here you are, eight years old, and we're happy as can be with the one boy that we had. Then your mother, who's been sick the last few days, sits up in bed at three in the morning, wakes me up in a panic, and is babbling in Spanish and English, and I have no idea what she wants except that I supposed to go to a drug store. I'm halfway there when I call her and ask what the hell I am supposed to be buying. She tells me, and I almost hit a curb. Twenty minutes later, we're watching two little line appear on this stick. Ironically, that ended up meaning two more kids."
I almost fell out of the chair laughing. When mom got really upset, she would speak in both languages, and usually I was the only one that could make sense of what she was saying then. I remembered when they told me I was going to get a brother or sister. I said I would rather have a bike or a dog. When they were born I reminded my parents that a puppy would have been less trouble. I liked being an only child, but after the twins were born, I liked being a big brother even more. Little kids would do anything that you told them to, and the believed anything you said. If you knew how to work them, they wouldn't rat on you either. Not that I would admit it to a soul, but they were cool to have around.
"You ready to get some dinner?" Dad asked, grinning at me.
"What the hell," I said, barely getting myself under control. "Unless there's some other big family secret that you'd like to tell."
"Not today, my boy. Anything you need to tell me before we go?"
"Um, no," I coughed out. I actually had two secrets that he would be very interested in, but I wasn't about to tell him either. That was actually part of the reason that I wanted him back in LA. He was the dollars and cents man, but I knew there was more to the story than what was apparent. I was going to have to start doing what I did best, and Dad was going to find out more than he bargained for if he stayed in Seattle.
Although, in the end, I think we both ended up with a lot more than we bargained for.
"How's everything going?" Dad asked as I hung up the phone.
"Jhondie hasn't killed off your other children yet," I replied. "But you might want to get home soon before they decide that nice is boring and turn into their usual selves."
Dad just smiled. He knows that I deep down, I do love them, but they are little brats when they want to be. The problem is that brat is their favorite state of being. Then again Britt loves Jhondie, and she thinks Kayla is "*SO* cool" and I wasn't about to mention that Bryan had a little bit of a crush on Kayla. I figured that one out when he asked if he could start working out with me after he met her for that first time. I guess the age difference didn't bother him, but I wasn't going to let him know that girls don't go for younger guys. I still let him start coming with me. Who knew if he would eventually get a girlfriend with a few deranged brothers? I didn't exactly have a great track record on that count.
"I'm going to have to go home tomorrow," Dad said with a sigh. "With work and the twins, I need to be in LA. All of this can probably be done from there if you want to come home so I can help you."
I shook my head. "I better get used to it as soon as possible since I don't think it's going away. I have your stuff from earlier, and I think I understand it. Enough of it at least. Besides, there's going to be enough stuff about the patents and I need to be here to talk with Steiner about what MedGen is going to be doing, and did Mom and Uncle Justin have an affair?" I didn't mean to say it like that. I really didn't, but it just sort of came out. I was far from naive, and that's certainly what it seemed like Justin had been saying. It was that or he had tried something with Mom. Either way, I wanted to know what the hell had happened.
Dad sat down heavily, blowing out a long breath. "No," he finally said. "They didn't."
"But you suspected." Dad didn't reply. "Something happened," I insisted. I was really a glutton for punishment right then.
"It happened years before you were born," he said. "By the time we had you, it didn't matter anymore. Justin and I had made up, and he was a different man. There wasn't any use in bringing up the past, especially in front of you kids. I asked you mother if anything had happened, and she said no, despite everything that Justin had said earlier. I chose to believe her. I never asked Justin later."
"But you wanted to," I said for him. "You wanted to, but didn't out of respect for her, even after she was gone. That's why he answered it for you."
He nodded slowly, as if trying to decide what to tell me. "Constanza said no. I looked into her eyes and knew that I could still let myself doubt and have suspicion, but that was going to tear us apart. Instead I chose to believe in the best that there was in her, and trust in that. I didn't regret it."
I could respect that. Honestly, it's what I had done with Jhondie and the things that she had told me. Of course, I knew for certain what she had done. I just trusted her not to do it again. "What did happen?" I asked.
Dad shook his head. "It's in the past."
I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair. "I thought we agreed that withholding the truth was the same as lying." Dad could only smile ruefully. That was his rule. He had said that if a direct question was asked, not giving the information was no different than a lie. I finally got him to regret that one. Took me almost seven years, but I did it.
"You know that my parents never approved of my marriage," he answered. "I think one of the nicer things that they called her was "that wetback looking for a green card"." His smile became bitter. I had no idea that they felt so harshly towards Mom. Her family was actually quite a bit better off than they were.
"I'm not going to go into all of the details," Dad said, and then quickly added, "and not to withhold information either. It's just too long, and too much I would rather not recall. Suffice it to say that Justin had gotten into an argument with our parents, and just to upset them became friendly with Constanza. She was glad that someone was accepting her, and they became friends. He...I guess he started to believe that he was in love with her eventually."
"You know it was over six years after we got married that you were born. We wanted to have children sooner, but it didn't happen. We went to a doctor about it, and..." he paused, his embarrassment obvious. "It was a little her, but mostly me. When Justin found out, he made an offer to, um, donate what was needed, but she refused. Your mother wanted children in a big way. We talked about adopting, but she wanted one of her own. This was about the time that Justin decided that she should be his wife, and not mine. She suddenly got pregnant, and Justin claimed it was his child, not mine."
My jaw dropped. Please don't tell me that Dad could be my uncle, and not my father. I had asked for the truth. Important lesson for a young journalist: not all truths need to come out.
"Your mother denied it of course, but because of some circumstances, I wasn't sure. Again, I am not going to go into all of the details, but suffice it to say, I wondered. Justin and I got into a huge fistfight over it all. Then...then Constanza lost the baby. Ironically, that's what brought my mother around. She heard the doctor say it was stress induced, and I muttered something about not wanting to raise my brother's kid, and she whacked me upside the head with her purse, calling me a few choice names. She didn't know it, but Constanza heard her. Said that I knew Justin had always had a problem with reality, and that I made a commitment before God, and I was going to be a man and take care of my wife. And if she ever heard me say again anything like what I had said, she would personally make sure I would never have any children."
"Constanza and I were separated for a few months, but eventually, we made up. When we got back together, I asked her if it was true, and she denied it. I chose to accept that answer, and I think our marriage was even better because of it. A few years passed, and then there was the accident and my parents were killed. It had a bigger impact on Justin than me, I think. He realized that he was alone, and all of the bimbos in the world didn't make up for family. The funeral was the first time I had seen him since our fight, and he was a changed man. He had lost that arrogance he always had since we were kids."
"He asked for my forgiveness, and Constanza's as well. It wasn't easy, but we both did forgive him. I didn't want to lose my entire family, and he had humbled himself. I wasn't at first, but your mom was the one that pointed out that he wasn't the man she had known. I didn't realize how much bitterness had festered until I was able to let it go. It eats into you, you know. And then we found out that your mother was pregnant."
I knew part of the story. Mom got extremely sick with some virus when she was about six months pregnant with me, and they were worried about the effect it would have on me. Her immune system was boosted and it was attacking her baby as well as this virus. They were going to have to induce labor early and take their chances that I was going to survive, but Justin showed up with his blood cleaner, and offered to try it. Mom was the first human trial in a real-life situation, and it worked. I was born normal, and that's what prompted them to name me after my uncle. I hadn't known about the rest of it.
"Hell of a lot more than just a thank you when named me after him," I commented.
"I didn't realize until yesterday how much he appreciated it," Dad replied.
As dumb as it sounded, I had to ask. "There's no doubt about me or the twins now, right?"
Dad grinned. "None in the slightest, even though those two surprised the hell out of me and your mother. Here you are, eight years old, and we're happy as can be with the one boy that we had. Then your mother, who's been sick the last few days, sits up in bed at three in the morning, wakes me up in a panic, and is babbling in Spanish and English, and I have no idea what she wants except that I supposed to go to a drug store. I'm halfway there when I call her and ask what the hell I am supposed to be buying. She tells me, and I almost hit a curb. Twenty minutes later, we're watching two little line appear on this stick. Ironically, that ended up meaning two more kids."
I almost fell out of the chair laughing. When mom got really upset, she would speak in both languages, and usually I was the only one that could make sense of what she was saying then. I remembered when they told me I was going to get a brother or sister. I said I would rather have a bike or a dog. When they were born I reminded my parents that a puppy would have been less trouble. I liked being an only child, but after the twins were born, I liked being a big brother even more. Little kids would do anything that you told them to, and the believed anything you said. If you knew how to work them, they wouldn't rat on you either. Not that I would admit it to a soul, but they were cool to have around.
"You ready to get some dinner?" Dad asked, grinning at me.
"What the hell," I said, barely getting myself under control. "Unless there's some other big family secret that you'd like to tell."
"Not today, my boy. Anything you need to tell me before we go?"
"Um, no," I coughed out. I actually had two secrets that he would be very interested in, but I wasn't about to tell him either. That was actually part of the reason that I wanted him back in LA. He was the dollars and cents man, but I knew there was more to the story than what was apparent. I was going to have to start doing what I did best, and Dad was going to find out more than he bargained for if he stayed in Seattle.
Although, in the end, I think we both ended up with a lot more than we bargained for.
