Chapter 4Only Time Will Tell
Jes and Dan looked at each other, neither of them daring to speak. Finally, Dan broke the silence "Jes, will you please come sit down and at least let me try to explain?" Jes stood for a second, she could feel the tears forming in her eyes. After what seemed like an hour, but was actually only a minute, she forced herself to walk over to the chair that sat across from his desk. She looked at her father, they had the same eyes. In fact, all of the Scotts had the same eyes. "So, I guess you heard the conversation your mother and I had earlier." Jes tried to speak but found that she was unable, so she instead settled for nodding her head. "Jes, I didn't know that your mom was pregnant, I honestly didn't know. It was something that just happened one night, and then I never heard from her again. But I knew that you were mine when you first walked into the dealership with Sam." Jes looked at Dan, almost as if she was trying to judge his sincerity. Jes spoke softly, all the while looking at her hands "I knew too." "Jes it's late and I think we might both be just a little overwhelmed right now. How about we have dinner together tomorrow night, just the two of us. We can talk and get to know each other, figure out what this means for both of us." Jes finally lifted her head and gave him a slight smile "That sounds nice." The father and daughter said good night and each went to their respective homes.
At the Scott House
Dan walked through the door to see Deb sitting on the couch watching some television. Oh boy, he thought, this not going to be easy. Dan and Deb had been trying to patch up what was left of their relationship, and it wasn't going very well. This in fact might be the last straw. Dan knew this but somehow he could force himself to hide Jes and he had hid some many other things in his life. "Deb," he said "We need to talk." Deb looked at him with concern on her face. "What is it Dan, is everything alright." Dan stared at Deb for a few seconds and then said "Deb, I found out today that I have a daughter." The words hung in the air and the tension grew thick. "You what? Please tell me that I am mistaken Dan, that I am imagining what I just heard you say." Dan looked down at the floor and then raised his head back up "No, Deb you didn't hear me wrong, I have a daughter. Her name is Jes and she is 18, just like Nathan and Lucas." Deb sat for a moment trying to get these words to process in her mind. "Are you talking about Sam's daughter, the one our son has been hanging out with? Actually scratch that Dan, How is she the same age as our son?" "To answer the first question, yes that is the girl, my daughter, and for the second...we were on a break and her mother and I hooked up once when she was here visiting the campus. We had been friends when we were younger and she already had a daughter and it just happened." "Dan, I'm not quite sure what to say right now, except that I am going to need sometime to think about this."
At the Langley House
Jes walked through the door of her house happy, sad, and confused. It was quite an odd combination, but the fear didn't hit her until she was past the entry way and she heard the yelling from the fight that had already began. "You're telling me that my best friend is Jes' father and you didn't tell me?" Sam screamed from the other room. "I didn't think it mattered, and I was going to tell you soon, but Dan just came over here today and suprised me. He didn't know about Jes, I was young and scared..." Jes could hear the tremble in mothers voice, even from this far away. "That's just great, just great in ten years of marriage you just happened to neglect that my best friend is the father to the child that I have treated like my own." Jes gathered up her strength and walked into the room just in time to see Sam raise his hand as if to strike her mother. It wasn't the first time and she was sure it wouldn't be the last. "Don't do it," Jes said in a warning tone that suprised even herself. "You stay out of this girl." "Sam I said stop. She was scared to tell you because she loved you." Sam spun around towards Jes, his hand still raised. "Fine, I'll hit you then." Jes' eyes widened in suprise, he wasn't serious was he? Jes didn't have time to decide, the next thing she felt was the smack of his fist connecting with her eye socket. Jes grabbed the side of her face and made a run for the stairs. Sam laughed and said "Why don't you call your daddy and see if he will come rescue you." Jes made her way to her room. What was she going to do, she couldn't stay here and she definitely didn't want to call Dan. Instead she grabbed her cell phone and pressed a number on her speed dial that she had become very familiar with in the past couple days. The phone rang four times before she heard his voice on the other end "Nathan, it's Jes, I need help."