Chapter 7
"David? What are you thinking about?" She asked as she was getting dressed.
"What?" he asked half dazed, handing her shirt to her.
"You're distracted. You've been distracted since we left the house." She said taking the shirt from him.
"I am? I am."
"You're thinking about Joe aren't you?"
"When I looked at that monitor, at Dylan, all I could think was that he was a Martin." He said shaking his head back and forth.
She laughed a little bit and tried to recover. "Well technically he is."
"What if I don't want him to be? Just hearing the name makes me ill." She laughed again, louder and less controlled this time.
"Well if it makes you feel any better, his name won't be Martin."
"Ugh, I just wish this never happened! Why the hell did Jake have to shoot me? Everyone would have been better off if we never knew."
"Well we do, so we're just going to have to make due. Get along and co-exist as best we can."
"Or we could just move to another state and put this all behind us."
"We're not going anywhere, David."
"I love you, but this isn't easy for me. What if you found out Brooke was you're mother?"
"That's impossible David, we're the same age."
"But you hate her, and if you found out that Mona wasn't your mother, that Brooke was. It would suck."
"Suck is such a light word. I would go with horrific."
"Just imagine that. I know Joe is a good guy, as I'm reminded fairly often, but I don't like the man. I don't know if I ever will. Father or not." He made clear as they walked down one of the halls in the hospital. They just happened to be going around the same corner that Joe Martin himself was walking around in the opposite direction.
"David?" Joe said first.
"Joe." David responded, not liking his current situation.
"There is something I wanted to talk to you about."
"I think I can guess what it's about?"
"Yes I'm sure you can. I just got the results of the paternity tests a few hours ago."
"And it says we're a very good match? And that we have better matching DNA than Kirk and Michael Douglas. Yeah, I got the results from Dimex Labs. The independent lab I used."
"I really don't know where to go from here, but David I really had no idea that you existed and for that I will be eternally sorry."
"I don't hold that against you. My mother isn't exactly a prize. This is exactly something I could imagine her doing."
"I keep thinking that I am an awful person for letting you grow up with Vanessa. From what I understand she wasn't mother material."
"Joe, really I don't blame you for any of this. Vanessa is my mother and nothing you did or didn't do could change that. Look I want to get Erica home and off of her feet."
"David, I'm fine. I think maybe you and Joe should talk."
"Erica Dr. Clader said that you're blood pressure isn't where he wants it. That means rest, so we're going home."
"Erica I think you should let David take you home. You don't want to risk anything with yourself and you're son."
"I don't think sitting down and having a snack here is going to have any more effect than me doing the same at home."
"Erica, please just let me take you home."
"Fifteen minutes, okay? You can take me home then. You two have some things to talk about."
"Fifteen, not a second longer. You get something to eat and park yourself down in one of those chairs in the waiting room. If I'm not back in fifteen, you come to my office and get me." He directed, not happy she was forcing the issue with Joe. "Promise?"
"Promise."
"My office Joe?"
"That's fine." Joe agreed, the two men walking down the hall.
Both of them walked into the office, David closing the door behind them. "So I don't know how this is supposed to go."
"Neither do I. I've never don't this before."
"No kidding." David laughed.
"Well, why don't you start by telling me what this means to you."
"This is already starting to sound like a therapy session."
"David, please."
"Okay Joe. When I received the call earlier today, let's just say I was more than a bit angry with the woman giving me the results. I tried to convince myself that they were wrong. Erica convinced me to let myself know it was true."
"If it makes you feel any better Jake threw a fit when he read the results. I couldn't even bring myself to open the file."
"That doesn't surprise me. I'm not thrilled I'm related to him either."
"So let's be serious here David. What if anything do you want out of this?"
"I actually though about moving out of town, but after talking with Erica, she suggested it would benefit our son if he had more family. I guess it all depends on what you want Joe."
"You would think of me as your sons' grandfather?"
"He would be your biological grandchild. He won't know any different. Besides he has no other grandparents."
"Of course I'll take the job. I'd love the opportunity to have another grandchild."
"What about Ruth? Do you think she'd be open to being a grandmother?"
"I don't see why not. I'll talk to her about it. What about us?"
"We'll, I already had a father, one that I loved very much. But I do accept that you are my biological father and won't ignore that fact."
"We should at least be friends. I would like to get to know you better. I don't expect to be best friends or anything, but we haven't even liked each other."
"Well my birthday is November 19th. I thought you should at least know that much about me."
"November 19th, I figured it was somewhere around then."
"Right, you would know." He said not trying to think about why he knew that.
"Just so you know, I don't think I'll ever be to the point where I'll call you 'dad'."
"That's okay, I didn't expect that you would. But I might call you son. Not for the reason you think."
"I was totally expecting that, but because you already call me that. Alright, I need to get Erica home."
"Yes, please. That's my grandchild she's carrying. I'll give you a call sometime?" The older man asked hesitantly.
"That's fine. See you later Joe." David said before leaving the office. Both men a little more at ease with the situation.