Chapter 9 – Painful Realization

I got up and just stared at her.

"Emma? My name is Parker. Parker! And my mother is dead."

Christine looked down at her folded hands then got up and looked at me.

"I see he hasn't told you then. I'm sorry you had to come out here."

She walked over to Hannah, who had begun to cry, and picked her up.

"What is going on? Is there something you're not telling me?"

"It's not my place to tell you. I shouldn't even have had outburst like I had. Parker listen to me--"

"I've got to go. My dad's probably worried about me."

"Parker-"

"I'm sorry. I have to go."

I sprinted to the door and slammed it shut as I left.

What the hell going on here? There's something wrong here. Something terribly wrong and I'll be damned if I'm left in the dark on this one.

I walked into my apartment and slammed the door shut. I found my father sitting on the couch, reading his newspaper as usual.

"Hey honey! How was school today?"

"Why didn't you tell me!" I screamed.

Dad looked at me confused and sat his newspaper on the table infront of him and got up.

"What are you talking about? Did something happen at school?"

"No. Nothing happened at school. I went and saw Christine today, dad!"

His eyes widened, but he said nothing.

"What? You didn't think I'd check it out? You forced me out of a restaurant and what... expected me to forget about it?"

"No, I just-Did she say anything to you?"

"What kind of question is that? She called me Emma and said that you would have to tell me. I'm here now, so tell me! What the hell is going on?"

"I didn't want you to know. I didn't want to hurt you."

"Hurt me? Dad, my whole life has been nothing but pain. So tell me, dad. What could hurt me any worse than I have!"

He slowly walked over to me, put his hands on my shoulders, and looked into my tear-stricken eyes.

"You're not my daughter," he said in a solemn whisper.

What?

"Excuse me? Dad, if this is some kind of sick joke-"

"No. Listen to me! What I mean is... you're adopted."

I thought my heart had stopped. All my life I had wished that my family really wasn't my family. And now it's true?

"And Christine?" I asked.

"She's your birth mother. You're her birth daughter...Emma."

I knew in his eyes that he was telling the truth, but I refused to believe it. I pushed his hands off my shoulders and ran into my bedroom, slamming the door. I leaned my back on the door, and slowly slid to the floor and held my knees to my chest.

All this time-all my life- has just been this huge web of lies. My 'father' lied to me most of my life about my mother's condition. And the worse thing about this whole thing is, she isn't even my real mother. I'd have to lie to my friends about them coming over to my house because I didn't want them to see how terrible she had become. At one point, I even began to believe my own lies.

He knocked on my door and begged to come in and talk to me, but I kept telling him to go away.

"You don't know the whole story!" He yelled.

"There's no story to tell! I know now that you two couldn't have your own kids, but you had to drag someone else's child into your mess? How could you?"

"Parker, please. That's not what happened. Parker, talk to me. Please!"

"I refuse to talk to you! Now go away!"

"Parker! I am ordering you to open this door right now! I am your father and you still have to obey me! Parker!"

"You're not my father! And my name isn't Parker... it's Emma."

A/N. Ok, so my plan was to not release this chapter til I had others written, but my mind has been farting lately. LOL. I thought I'd release this chapter to you all since you have been waiting patiently. I hope you like this chapter! Don't forget to review! Ciao.