Amethyst Purple Pt. 04

"OK, see if the clinic has an opening today then, if you don't mind." Ted asserted

Several hours later, the Technician at the Fertility Clinic explained that Ted should expect his test results within two days.

While Ted and his kids sat eating dinner that night, Rachel was watching her despondent dad more closely than the other two, although they all had recognized that something was wrong with his demeanor.

"OK, dad, what gives? You've looked like you've had something on your mind all weekend and you're not eating, you're playing with your food like it's a Matchbox car in a sandbox."

Ted lay his fork on the table beside his plate and raised his head to look at her then at the other two who had now stopped eating mid-bite and sat watching at him.

"There's a lot I need to discuss with you three. I wasn't ready to do it yet but I suppose I might as well throw it on the table. Let's finish dinner first then go to the livingroom where we'll be more comfortable."

"Did we do something wrong, daddy?" Riley muttered timidly.

"No, Sweetheart, none of y'all have done anything to be concerned about, you're not in any kind of trouble. I just found out somethings last week that we need to discuss."

"You mean you found out at the Doctor's office, right, dad?" Matthew asked, fear trickling into his voice.

"Yes, I found out at the Doctor's office, but don't worry, it isn't that serious, I'm OK. Everybody's OK."

"Dad, I'm scared." Riley was visibly trembling now.

Recognizing the unnamed fear the three siblings were sharing, that they'd lost their mother and now something was wrong with their dad, Ted felt a hammer blow to his gut and immediately castigated himself for ever considering the possibility that they'd turn their backs on him in favor of a stranger or strangers because their DNA didn't match.

"Sweetheart, I promise I'm not going anywhere for some time now. Look I've messed this up already. Let's clean all this mess up first and then we can go to the livingroom and talk."

After the table was cleared and the dinner dishes were quickly washed, dried and put away they moved to the livingroom for their conversation. Before they began, Ted poured himself and Matthew a glass of bourbon. The girls both looked at one another in shock when he poured and offered each of them a glass of white wine but no one said anything.

Ted turned his recliner and sat facing the sofa where the kids were sitting and remained silent for several seconds looking at the glass in his hand.

"Where do I begin?... OK, Growing up, I was never very athletic, I had asthma and I got tired a lot quicker than all my friends. I had trouble keeping up with even the least athletic of the rest of them. I never played school sports, that's why I've always enjoyed being able to share y'all's extracurricular sports, I guess I've lived vicariously through you three for that. I was always thankful that none of you had asthma or the same problems I had as a kid and you were always fit and strong."

Ted took a sip of the amber liquid and continued.

"Once I got to college none of that mattered, I was an academic star even if I could never be an athletic star. I met your mother, quit 'tomcattin' around we spent every spare minute together. As I've gotten older, my asthma has gotten worse and the week before last I was having such a difficult time breathing. In fact, I passed out while addressing the Jury in the middle of a trial. The doctor ran some tests and they've determined that I have a mild case of Cystic Fibrosis that does something to make the fluids and mucus in my body thicken and clog up the tubes and things. It's treatable and I've already started treatments so I'll be fine and nothing will change health-wise other than, hopefully, the treatments will help me breath better than I have in a long time. The most devastating news is that this disease makes me infertile, I can't have children."

"So, you aren't married now, do you really want any more kids, dad?" Riley asked.

Ted glanced back at his nearly empty glass.

"Dad," Matthew began slowly. "How long have you had this disease?"

Ted, recognizing his wise son's dawning realization, looked at him. "I've always had it, all my life."

"So, that means..." Rachel began and Ted saw the same realization on her face.

Only Riley had failed to drop the last puzzle piece into the correct position yet. "What are y'all talking about?"

"I'm not taking the test, dad. As far as I'm concerned its bullshit and doesn't matter." Matthew asserted.

"What are y'all talking about?! What test?!" Riley's fear was turning to anger.

"Dad can't have children, Riley." Rachel said. "He's never been able to have children."

"That's ridiculous, he and mom had us!..." Riley paled as she finally realized the ramifications of what had been said. "You mean... mom cheated on you?"

At that statement all six eyes trained on their father's in shock.

"Now, don't start judging your mother or thinking badly about her." Ted began.

"But she cheated on you!" Riley reacted.

"Maybe so, but I was no saint myself. I cheated on her as well, twice actually. Your mother knew about the first one, I couldn't hide the guilt I felt and she recognized it for what it was. I'm sure she suspected the second time but I don't think she ever knew for sure. I never went out of my way to hide it but I never spoke of it, either and I never followed up on it again."

"Why, what happened, dad?" Matthew asked, more calmly.

Ted explained their mother's severe bouts of postpartum depression and the fact that she tried to set their babysitter up as a sex surrogate to take her place until she was ready to have sex again and her myriad out of town trips. Over the weekend he had drawn up a timeline and while they always thought he got her pregnant with Matthew when he joined her in St. Louis, the more likely scenario was that she had already gotten pregnant one of the nights before his arrival. The other most likely time she got pregnant wasn't as obvious, the best he could decide is that it was on her trip to Savannah. He had also decided that finding the biological fathers would be a daunting task that he really didn't care to undertake and he was relieved to hear that all three of the children agreed with him.

"I won't take a test either, daddy." Rachel declared.

"What test are y'all talking about?" Riley questioned.

"A DNA test, to prove he's our dad. But I don't need any test to know the answer to that question. I don't have but one dad and I refuse to believe or acknowledge any test that says otherwise." Matthew asserted.

"Oh. Me either. I won't take one either" Riley boldly added.

"It's settled then. DAD. None of us are going to take some stupid, unreliable test to prove what all of us already know. You're our dad and we're your children. You were when we were born and you will be when we're all dead and have been replaced by our own kids. That's the only important thing there is about the whole situation." Matt exclaimed.

With that the three siblings surrounded their father and the group melted into a mass hug.

Epilogue

Saturday, June 15, 2024

Rome, GA

"Who presents this woman to be married to this man?" The phrase echoed off the stone walls and floor of the small stone church on the side of a mountain just north of town.

"I do. I'm her father." Ted beamed at his second born daughter, the youngest of his children by less than ten minutes, as she stood in front of the Altar, dressed in a flowing white gown, a veil covering her face and holding a large bouquet of purple, pink and white flowers.

Ted's pride glowed like an aura around him and the beatific smile seemed to have been etched on his face with stone masons' chisels. He turned and walked back to the front pew where an obviously pregnant Rachel sat with her husband to her left and Matthew to her right beside his wife, who was holding their two-year-old daughter on her lap. Riley was the last to leave home, now Ted was officially an 'Empty Nester' and he couldn't think of anything that would make him any happier other than Marti sitting beside him, holding his hand through the ceremony. He still felt the hurt and betrayal of her cheating but in the same breath he was grateful that she had because otherwise he'd never have had an opportunity to raise his three treasured children and see them as responsible adults building their own relationships.

When he looked from Riley's ecstatic expression in front of the crowd congregated for her benefit to Rachel's and Matthew's, he had no doubts that he knew true happiness and satisfaction with his family and the future held no fears that could touch him.

THE END