Paternity finally revealed.
Two days after the three angels paid a morning visit to a house in Maplewood, Santana found herself sitting in the Spotlight Diner at lunchtime, waiting on the arrival of her wife and their two guests. If truth be told, she had not exactly been happy at the idea of allowing two strangers to enter into their lives, but she could see how much the idea made Brittany happy, and as such, she really had no option but to agree to it, but only on her terms. She wanted to meet the pair of them first, and see if they passed her exacting standards, and were thus worthy to play a role in the life of her and Brittany's second child. She had toyed with the idea of having the Johnsons here as well, but she had heard a glowing report about Matthew from Beats, one that was then confirmed by Elliott, and she decided to trust their opinion on someone that would be a more distant figure in the child's life, all things considered.
Part of her had been hoping that the meeting would not take place quite so soon, but on the same day as they had talked the issue out with angelic help, Brittany had arrived home from work to tell her that she had arranged this lunch. It seemed that now she knew that Hilary was Seth's sister, she did not want to waste time. Santana checked the time, and saw that it was only seconds to the moment of truth. Almost as if on cue, the door to the diner promptly opened to allow a young man to cross the threshold. He was preppy in dress, and bespectacled, but he had facial characteristics that made him instantly recognisable to Santana. She was 95% certain that he was Barnaby, the brother that her wife was yet to meet…
For his part, he was glancing round the room, no doubt searching for a sight of his sister. Santana took a breath, and then, as cool as a cucumber, she rose from her seat and headed for the door. "Excuse me, are you looking for someone?" she asked as she stood beside him, and she noticed that the young man blanched the moment that she said those words.
"Yes, I am here to meet my sister, but she must be running late; she often loses track of time," he said quietly.
"Ah, my wife Brittany is the same; I think it is all of that Math that does it!" she replied, and at once the young man looked startled. "Allow me to introduce myself; I am Santana Pierce-Lopez, and unless I am very much mistaken, you would be Barnaby Richardson, brother of Hilary…"
Five minutes later, Brittany entered through the same door with Hilary right behind her. They were both a little out of breath, having hurried over from NYU. They had been absorbed in a math problem, and could now only hope that the other two guests at lunch had not already left. Hilary scanned the room, and soon caught sight of her brother, who was to her surprise talking to a woman that she did not know at the table they shared. "Well, Barnaby is still here, at that table over there, but I have no idea who…"
"Well, he is obviously as smart as you, because that is Santana. They did not have an idea what the other one looked like, and yet they found each other, which is really clever!" replied Brittany. Hilary could only follow her, but as she approached and saw the look on her brother's face, he seemed content enough. Proper introductions were soon being made, and as they ordered lunch, they began the small talk people make when getting to know each other. There was a look of shock on the faces of both brother and sister when Santana casually pointed out about the part share of the ownership of the busy venue in which they sat that she and her wife possessed. As they ate dessert, the conversation move on to the issue that united them, and that was Seth…
Santana had arranged with Brittany a signal that she would give her if she felt it was the right moment to reveal the identity of her child's father to their two guests, and she was only going to give it if she felt content with them. She had to admit that she liked them both, and their interest in knowing everything about him, and the sympathy they had for him and his suffering was enough for her to decide she could not stop them finding out…
Just as her wife was showing the last picture that she had taken of Seth, she gave that small sign. Her wife saw it and smiled, then spoke. "He was a really special person, and we actually became even closer in those last months he was here in New York. We had quite a few long chats, and we discussed a lot of things we both wished for. In the end, he agreed with me on something, and he gave me a very precious gift a few days before he left the city for good. He agreed you see to be my donor, and I was able to tell him that he was going to get his dream and be a father on the day that he died…"
There were moments when Santana loved the way that her wife was so honest and open about things, how she did not have the restraint that others did from speaking the truth…. And then there were those moments when she wished that she wasn't quite so honest and direct. This was one of the latter. No sooner were the words out of her mouth than there was the sound of a cup being set down on the table with a thud, but she guessed that was better than the sound of one shattering as it hit the floor. Looking up, she saw that it was Hilary that had set her cup down sharply, spilling her coffee in the process; her brother was frozen in place, his own cup halfway to his lips… And then she saw Elliott, standing behind him, who had just unwittingly overheard every word that Brittany had just uttered…
"I'm sorry, could you say that again?" stuttered Hilary then, as Elliott walked away, not quite able to believe what he had just heard.
Santana decided to speak up instead. "What my wife just said there is true, although I only found out about it the same day that she received the confirmation that the pregnancy was going well, and she was expecting his child. From what she says, Seth was only too pleased to agree to her request to be her donor as he was fond of her, and knew just how much she wanted a child of her own, giving us our second. There was a note left amongst his papers when he passed away, addressed to me, explaining why he had agreed, and reassuring me that he had done a lot of research to ensure it was safe. That was how he knew that he had two siblings, but he didn't even know your names. All he wanted to know was that there was no family history of MND. Had there been any evidence that his condition was hereditary, then he would not have agreed to being a donor. I think that he wanted, by doing this, to live on through the few strands of his DNA that helped to form a new life…"
"I think that it is wonderful," Barnaby whispered, surprising them all. He had tears in his eyes as he continued, "We might never have had the chance to meet our big brother, but if he has a child… Even the chance to meet them once would be so perfect…"
"Santana and I have talked, and if you wanted to be, you could officially be their aunt and uncle; be in their life from the day they are born. I know that in most cases the donor and their family are not involved in the child's life, but we would not oppose it if you wished to be…"
There was no immediate decision on that issue there and then; the news had come as a shock to both brother and sister, and their reactions to it had been quite different. It was all too clear that Barnaby wanted to be involved, but Hilary was obviously less able to comprehend the whole thing, unable to deal at once with the fact that her new colleague was pregnant by her late brother, that she had never met. Instead she allowed her professional side to show through; she checked her watch, and with a nod to Santana, reminded Brittany that they were due back at work for a meeting. She said goodbye to her brother, then waited whilst Brittany said her goodbyes, before they headed off back to work…
That left Santana alone with Barnaby once more. She smiled at him, and he once again looked as if he was about to sob. "I want you to know, that whatever my sister might decide, I want to be involved in their life. I can't help Seth now, I can't make his life better, but I can be there for his child, as much as I am allowed to be that is. They will be my blood relation, and after all, a blood relative can come in useful sometimes…"
"I have no problem with you being involved," Santana replied, "as long as you realise that we are their parents, and we will make the final decisions on everything for them."
"Of course. I would not expect it to be any other way. I would even accept being called Uncle by them because you told them I was a friend of the family; they need never know that I am the brother of their father…"
"We can decide on all of that later. In the short term, I think that we all need to get to know each other better; find out all the little details that true friends know about each other,"
"Agreed. Perhaps you and Brittany could come for dinner with us one evening? I can cook adequately, and between us, Hilary and I will soon be moving into a places of our own; we thought about living together at first, but in the long term we decided that we wanted to live alone. It would be a pleasure to have you as my first guests in my new home…"
Barnaby left soon after that, as he had a second interview for a job later. That left Santana to deal with the issue that had arisen quiet by chance. She headed over to the counter, and stood right in front of Elliott…
"My lips are sealed, because I quite like being alive," he said, and that made Santana smile.
"Well, that confirms to me just how much you actually heard," she replied.
"I won't repeat it, not even to Nate, unless I am told otherwise. Does anyone else knows the truth?"
"Skylar, Julia, Ollie and Thad; Seth spoke to them all when he was first asked and was considering his position. Then there is Trent, who might know. He was the person that Seth turned to when he wanted to do research into his family, and he was told it was because he wanted to see if his MND would be hereditary. Knowing Trent, he will have put two and two together, and reached four."
"You will never be able to find out if he does know, even if you used thumbscrews and torture. He is the most trustworthy and honourable of people. So, know I am going to ask you a question, because I know you; what do you really think about having Seth's brother and sister involved in your life?"
"Honestly? At first I hated the idea, and was only going along with it for Brittany's sake. Had Hilary not taken the job at NYU, then I would have vetoed this altogether. However, she seems tolerable enough, and Barnaby seems to be a complete sweetheart…"
"Of course, there is also the will to consider; I mean, what happens with that now? Won't the fact that Brittany is carrying Seth's child mean that they have a claim on the inheritance that should have come his way?"
Santana suddenly stared at Elliott, and he realised that he had stumbled on something that they had neglected. As she stared, she realised that he was right….
Thad was in class, teaching sophomore history, when he felt his phone buzz with the incoming message, and with one thing and another, it was only when the school day finally came to an end that he was able to check it. He read the message, then read it again, then realised that there were a lot of decisions that they needed to make. If what Elliott said was indeed correct, then the unborn child being carried by Brittany would be in line to inherit $10 million, and Seth's share would no longer be heading to charity as they had all imagined…
It was unfortunate in a way that nobody had been aware of the situation that could arise when Seth had been drawing up his will, as they could have made provision for this eventuality then, but at the time, the idea of him ever being a father would have seemed preposterous.. Now it fell to those closest to him to decided what course of action they should take. The obvious thing that needed to be done, had Santana not done so already, was to make Grace aware of the situation, but that would mean another person knowing what had been a secret until then to all but a few. True, she was the soul of discretion, and would never divulge what she knew, but that did not help with the bigger issue. Everyone knew about the will, and about the money that was due to head to Seth's estate. They would all expect the money to go from there to the hospice fund, and when it did not, questions would begin to be asked rapidly…
To that end, his first action was to return Santana's message with a call, apologising for the delay in getting back to her, and why it had taken him so long. As an educator herself, she immediately understood. After a few exchanges, he suggested that they should make a joint call to Grace to just see that all they were supposing was indeed true, but that they had to brace themselves for the fact that they were probably not going to be left with any other option but to go public with the identity of the father…
His words were met with a prolonged silence, and then a deep sigh. "That is exactly what I have been thinking since he said those words. For that reason, we need to have Skylar in on our conversation with Grace, and possibly the father-to-be himself, if the angelic realm will permit…"
Thad agreed that he would talk to Skylar, leaving Santana to call Grace and see when the lawyer would be free to talk to them. As it happened, she would be free in an hour's time, a client having cancelled a meeting at the last moment; she also agreed that they could have part of the consultation of Skype, to allow those in Ohio to take part, not that she was keen on the use of that medium for everyone…
Santana took that as a the broad hint it was, and realised that she and Brittany would be expected to go to her office. She called Thad back, and to her relief he was not too worried by the short notice; he explained that Skylar was working from home, and so it would be easy enough for the two of them to be online at the right time. "I also managed to speak to Wes, and he will have Seth at Grace's office at the right time; she can see him, so it makes perfect sense." Santana agreed, although she wondered if it was actually now necessary for the two in Ohio to now be at the meeting, given that Seth was going to be there in person, so to speak…
When Santana and Brittany stepped into Grace's office, she was still unaware as to why the two were even there, and part of her was hoping that the issue that they had was not a personal one; she could handle something related to the Spotlight Diner with ease for her friends, but if it was problems with their marriage, then she would have to send them elsewhere, as it would be too awkward. The presence of the two young men online from Ohio did help calm those fears a little, but then again, they were not tied to the Spotlight either…
They came online bang on schedule, sat at separate desks, and then, to add to the confusion, Grace felt a draught, and a thoughtful looking Seth was in the room. She smiled at them all, then said, "Well, this is an interesting assembly. I must confess that whilst I have some suspicions as to what this might concern, I have no firm notions whatsoever."
In the end, it was the angel that spoke up. "We are all here for an issue concerning the case that you are pursuing on behalf of my estate against my parents. I made a decision before my death, and not being a legal professional, I failed to realise at the time what impact it could have on my estate. I would have continued to be in blissful ignorance of this until by chance an event took place and someone else brought it to my attention. To be blunt, I actually have a descendant by blood…"
Grace had been sitting calmly until then, listening intently, but now she did a double take. "Wait, a descendant? As in a child, a bloodline heir, who is entitled to inherit? Someone that was definitely not mentioned in you will…?"
"Yes, that is the case, but to complicate matters further, they aren't actually here yet…"
"I am not sure that I understand…"
"I agreed to be a sperm donor; the process was successful, and I now have a child on the way. That surely makes the child my legitimate heir?" Seth asked.
Grace waited for him to say more for a moment, or even for him to say it was all a prank, but he didn't. And then, she remembered who else was in the room… "Oh, wait… You mean that you are…"
"Seth is the father of my baby, but I really don't need the money, or even want it that much," replied Brittany.
"Well, that is good to know, but it is still a major complication nonetheless. If people find out the truth, or worse, your child finds out the truth in the future and is not so minded, then it could cause major issue for everyone, particularly if the money, as has been intended, went to the hospice…" Grace replied with a look at Santana, who nodded. She sighed then, conscious now that the will case, which had seemed so simple, now had a major unexpected twist. "So, I am taking it that you all know that Seth was the father…who else does?"
"Julia, naturally," replied Seth, "and as of a few hours ago, my brother and sister…"
"That was my choice," said Brittany. "You see, Seth's sister Hilary is my new colleague, and I thought that they should know that my child was their niece or nephew. I didn't want things to be awkward…"
Grace smiled, whilst thinking that the whole thing had just been made very awkward indeed. Then Santana spoke. "That alone didn't bring us here; it was the fact that Elliott overheard, because we met them at the Spotlight. He was actually the one that pointed out the whole inheritance issue."
"Well, he was right to do so. Your child has a right to the money, and it will have to be held in trust for them to decide what they wish to do with it when they reach the age of majority," responded Grace.
"And that means we have no choice but to tell everyone that Seth is the father, because otherwise, people will start to wonder where the money has gone," added Thad.
"As much as I wish that it wasn't necessary, Thad is correct," sighed Santana. ""We need to warn them that his share of the family money will no longer be going directly to the hospice fund."
"I think that people will understand why that has to be the case, given the circumstances," said Skylar. "Whilst the loss of such a large sum of money isn't great, it should not actually affect the project too much, as we have been receiving so much support from the alumni, the local community, and from other external sources as well. I might be speaking out of turn here, but in my opinion the cash should go to his child, as it would have done in any other case. Of course, there is something else that will happen; the child will also be a beneficiary of the Dalton/Crawford scholarship scheme, as the child of an affected Warbler…"
Thad noticed that everyone's eyes seemed to be focused directly on his camera then, and he nodded to confirm what Skylar had said. He was glad when Grace was the next person to speak as he did not know quite what to say himself next. "I think that whilst all of that is true, we are all neglecting to ask the opinion of someone that is the most important factor in the case. We need to know what you think, Seth."
Seth shrugged, and said, "I really do not know what to think at the moment. This all really came out of the blue; had those two horrendous people not chosen to appear at my funeral, then none of us would have been any the wiser as to what happened with my grandmother's will, and we would not be having this discussion now! So yes, legally the money does have to go to my child, and that is not an issue at all. What is an issue for me on a personal level is the fact that everyone is going to know what is going on; they will all know that I made a donation, and I did not wish that to come out ever. People will always be commenting when they see my child that it is terrible that they never knew their father, and whilst they will be raised by two loving parents, there will always now be the spectre of me hanging in the background… So, we do have to let people know, that can't be avoided, but when they are told it is on the proviso that they do not tell my child anything about me unless they ask themselves. If my child doesn't ask, then they are never told."
"I have no issue with that," said Santana, and Brittany nodded too.
Thad found himself looking directly at Skylar's camera, and seeing the expression on his face, placed the rest of the group on mute, and said, "Your son can still know them and still be their friend. You will still be Uncle Skylar. They just won't know exactly who you are, and in the worst case scenario, them knowing everything might not be a good thing for any of us…"
"I will do anything that Seth asks me to," said Skylar quietly.
"And I concur," agreed Thad, having switched his sound back on.
"Right," said Grace. "I will add in the fact that there is an unborn child that is Seth's heir in the case arguments. It is a terrible thing to say, but this might actually help us; an adult missing out on an inheritance is nowhere near as emotive as a child missing out…"
The announcement of Seth's paternity hit the world of social media at 7pm that night, with simultaneous posts on Facebook by Santana and Brittany, and also Thad. The reaction of the circle of friends was naturally one of surprise, if not shock. There had been speculation as to who it was after all for a while. Ethan had laughed when he discovered that he was thought to be the hot favourite, but he had not denied it either, adding fuel to the flames. Seth being revealed as the father was welcomed by them all…
Of course, there were those that proceeded to do the math, knowing when Brittany's due date was, and a few eyebrows were raised at the knowledge that Seth had been in the hospital at the time. Some briefly thought with horror that it might even be possible that he had been in the coma at the time, during the days before Skylar had arrived to sit in vigil at his bedside, then dismissed the idea that Brittany would take such a liberty with the young man as patently absurd.
The enjoinder that they were not to share the knowledge of parentage with the child when they came along also made a lot of sense. They would be growing up surrounded by all the love that they would ever need in any case, so it made no sense to upset a happy life with revelations…
As for Grace, she went home that night a little floored by the events of the day. After a quick bite to eat, she headed for her study, and began to rewrite the submissions that she had already prepared for the court in Ohio; she was still hard at it when Cooper arrived home after another performance of Mary Poppins. He watched her for a moment from the doorway, then entered the room and sat down on the corner of her desk. "I would not have predicted this outcome in a million years. I am going to assume that the idea was all Brittany's, at least at first, and that Seth really just went along with it."
"In that you would be correct," Grace replied, "but he only went ahead with it after he had done his homework, and was as sure as he possibly could be that he wasn't leaving a legacy of potential problems for his child; he would not have done it had his MND been a family trait. I will admit that it has complicated matters a little, hence why I am having to do this rewrite; the timing could also have been better, as the papers have to be submitted by 5pm tomorrow…"
"And if this hadn't been brought up today, but next week?"
"Then there would have been a risk that they might not have inherited quite so easily, as there would have been challenges, and a plethora of DNA testing to prove the point. It might still come to that, worst case… In all honesty, had Hilary, Seth's sister, not been given the job at NYU which made her Brittany's colleague, then the chances are that we would have all carried on being blithely aware of the truth. The hard headed lawyer in me wishes that was still the case; then my heart kicks in…"
"And you think like the rest of us how nice it is that there is still going to be a little bit of Seth in the world? That was exactly what Mason said to me when we found out. We will all remain silent on the truth when they are born, but now that we know, I think we will all keep just a little more of an eye on them as they grow, for his sake…"
For Thad and Skylar, the truth coming out meant that they both had an interesting conversation with other people that had been as close to Seth as they had been. Thad had no sooner posted the news than he had a call summoning him to come over to the Carmichaels' house. There was no mention as to why he was needed, so he hastened over in case it was an emergency. Instead he found himself ushered into the sitting room, and then interrogated by the couple over the news that he had just revealed. Once he had told them all that he knew, he sat and waited for their reaction…
"I am not sure what to make of all of this yet," admitted Mrs Carmichael. "It is a joy to think that Seth will have left a child as his legacy on earth, but now that you have told me the young lady's due date, all I can think is that it must have happened whilst he was in the hospital. I'm sure that she did not take advantage of him being in that position, as he had been getting the research you mentioned done, but it all seems a little rushed nonetheless…"
"I think that Seth had made his choice, but realised that he no longer had the luxury of time, my dear," her husband said thoughtfully. "He had resigned himself to having to come back to Ohio, and the young lady in question was not going to be around much longer, so there was no other option. From what I can see, those two will raise his child to be as kind and loving as their father, and the fact that they will give them contact with their aunt and uncle is also welcome. I suppose that also means another cardigan being knitted just in case…"
"I will be doing one, just in case. Their child may not be being raised by one of the boys, but they will hopefully be aware of the Dalton heritage that exists in their life," his wife replied.
Skylar also had a call, but he did not have to travel anywhere, the distance too great. He realised on answering the call that he should have expected it. "This is just too wonderful," came the voice of Edward the moment that he spoke. "He is going to be a father, and if it's a boy, and it's like him, the world will seem a better place again!"
"Whether it is a boy or a girl, they will be Seth's flesh and blood, and I admit that will make them very special to me too. However, you have to remember what was also said in the message; there can be no dropping of hints as to who their father was, no showing of photos. They will be Brittany and Santana's child first, and Seth's second."
"I know, but it will be hard to resist the urge to tell them all about their father nonetheless."
"You would cease to be Uncle Edward to them if you did spill the beans, and I have the feeling that you would not want to get on the wrong side of Santana under any circumstances," Skylar reminded his friend. "I don't think Seth would be too pleased with you either."
"I will be able to control the urge, don't worry… I just want to pat Seth on the back right now and congratulate him…. Do you think that we would ever have been told if it hadn't been for his sister working with Brittany?"
"Honestly? No, it would never have gone beyond them and me. It would have stayed a secret, at Seth's request to be frank. He knew it had to come out, but he wasn't totally happy about it. Don't expect to have conversation about it with him."
"Understood. I won't raise it unless he does…but I am so pleased," replied Edward. Skylar had to admit that he felt much the same…