The Oddest of Set-ups

When Erica / Rickie saw me, it was like she had been startled out of a nightmare.

Letting out a scream, the plates and utensils on the tray she was carrying almost toppled to the ground. Her eyes were glued to mine. Her mouth made movements like that of a fish out of water.

"Rickie, are you alright?" the matriarch of the family asked in a semi scolding way.

"No, I'm not alright. Why in the hell is a Volunteer in our house? This is Tiger and Bengal's turf."

Well, I guess she recognized me.

Senior laughed. "Rickie, you're the only Tiger fan. Junior and I are both Golden Bear fans."

"And you guys are proud of that? Little victories I guess." Amanda was trying to help her sister. "At least Tennessee is competitive, and Rickie, I told you he was coming with me."

"Yeah, yeah. Cut the shit Amanda. Why is he here?"

Elly gave a "Rickie, watch your language", to try and restore some order. Everyone in the room was moving their head from person to person, almost like we were at a murder mystery party, and we were trying to see every expression, so we could get a read or sign of what was about to happen.

"Well, not that this is the best time for an announcement, but I'm too excited to hold it in, so here it goes. Auston and I are in love. But that's not the only reason why he's here."

I tried to get her attention. Maybe now was not the time, but there was no stopping her.

"We are so in love, that we married in a small ceremony at city hall a little over a month ago." With a smile, she added, "And, we are hoping to have a family get-together that's a little bit more formal, here, sometime in the summer."

The tray didn't topple. No, it fell straight to the floor, scattering the contents in every direction. I was the only one looking at Erica, everyone else in the room, including the idiot Antonio, was staring at Amanda.

The gasps of air that filled the room were not those of excitement. No, they were the kind of sounds made when people are trying to suppress shock and surprise. Mumbles and confused noises filled the air in the Smyth's den. To think that their daughter and sister had snuck off and married behind their backs was not very good news.

Leaning forward, I ran the words I was about to say through my head. I was editing them as I went. I was about to apologize for being shady, but I was not going to apologize for being in love with Amanda. I had it down. It sounded perfect in my mind. Standing before the jury that was Amanda's family, I started, but before I could get it out, and hopefully smooth things over, Erica pissed all over my parade.

"Everyone always says Christmas is the time for giving, so if that is truly the case, I don't want to be a one upper, but I guess it's only fair to let Amanda know that her new husband, is Jackson's father. How's that for a shocker Amanda?"

Every fucking single eye in the house was glued to me. Even asshole Antonio looked at me in disgust and shock. Elly's hands were covering her face in shock. Both David's looked like they were plotting my "unfortunate" death, but the one that bothered me the most was the hurt on Amanda's face. I should have shut up and left, but I asked anyway.

"Who's Jackson?"

*****

Jackson Smyth. Born August 4^th, 2019. Mother Erica aka, Rickie Smyth. As all the documents would say, "Father unknown". Unknown to everyone but Erica.

The reason I hadn't seen the child, was because, before arriving at her parent's house, Erica and Antonio dropped the little guy off at his great grandmothers for a haircut. Elly's mom had apparently been cutting hair for decades and wanted some time alone with her great-grandson.

Amanda had had enough. She was no longer able to hide her tears. Unlike her sister, she didn't drop her tray. Instead, with the same grace and dignity she always displayed, she set it on the table and excused herself from the room.

The room was silent. No one seemed to want to start a conversation that would lead to questions they didn't want answers to. Amanda had made it to the stairs when I moved to follow her, she turned and lifted her finger. A simple, "please don't", stopped me in my tracks.

"I bet you're really proud of yourself."

The question exploded into the air. I wasn't sure who it was directed at, but I knew who said it, and when I turned my head and saw him staring in my direction, I knew that he meant me.

"What?"

Antonio straightened himself up and asked me again.

"I said, are you proud of yourself?"

I should have followed my wife and left a bad situation, but that's not who I am.

"Proud? How stupid are you? Do you think I planned to come into these people's home and disrupt it with a soap opera? What happened between Erica and I, was a mutual thing. It happened four years ago, and we knew nothing about one another. Also, just for the record, I had no idea about Jackson. Erica had my number. She wouldn't give me hers. So, if she wanted me to know, she could have reached out at any time. I still have the same number. I would have been there."

I was starting to get agitated.

"Not that it's any of your business, but what happened between us, happened more than three years before I met Amanda."

Everyone was still staring at me, waiting for me to continue.

"Amanda knew I was with other girls before we met, but there was no way for her to know it was her sister. I didn't know. I love Amanda. She is my everything, and without her, my world would never be the same."

Upstairs, I pleaded outside her door, but there was no way she was about to answer. I knocked and knocked, but she wouldn't open the door. Finally, I put my tail between my legs. It was time for me to leave. It was over. I gathered my things and loaded the truck.

Putting on a brave face, I went inside to say my good-byes to my in-laws, but I didn't make it to the front door. David senior was standing on the front step with his arms crossed. He looked like a soldier guarding his family's home against vile reprobates like myself.

"Follow me." His tone let me know that it wasn't a request.

*****

Senior lead the way around the side of the house. He stopped and opened the door to what looked to be an addition to his garage. He hit a series of switches and the lights lit up within the room. In the corner, a large gas fireplace roared to life. I assumed by the manly leather furniture, the huge slate pool table and the vintage metal signs hanging from the walls, this was David's mancave.

Reaching beneath a bar that displayed not a single bottle of booze, David pulled up a bottle of Jack Daniel's Sinatra Select and poured a pair of well filled glasses. I had very little experience with any Jack products and had certainly never tasted this.

"Sir, I..."

"I heard you the first time, but I truly believe there will never be a better time to forego the 'no drink' policy."

He lifted his glass and to my surprise tipped it and his head to me. The dark amber liquid gave a sweet, smokey burn all the way down to my toes. When David put his glass on the bar, I noticed his was significantly lower than mine.

"Is it true?"

"Which part sir?"

"Well, I don't suppose I want to hear any of it, but I need to hear it all."

Honesty is and was the best policy. I told the story of the first time Amanda went on a date, right up to our wedding night and the first time we had sex. I nodded when I told him that getting married was my idea, and how much it hurt his daughter to keep the secret from her family. He kept watch when I told him how deeply I loved his daughter. David grimaced a couple of times and had to refill his glass once, but he listened intently to every word I spoke.

"What about Rickie?"

"What about her sir?"

"Is it true?"

"At least half of it is."

David lowered his head for the first time. He took a huge breath and exhaled it very slowly.

"Normally, we would have never met. One of my friends, another freshman, grew up in Auburn. Some of his buddies were having an early party. He invited me to tag along. That's where I met Erica. We started talking about football to begin with and, later, I walked her home. It was all very innocent right up until it wasn't."

His hand covered his face. A father's shame. Using his thumb and forefingers, David massaged his temples in hopes that it might lend him an answer or at the very least alleviate some of his pain.

"I'm sorry sir. It was four years ago. I don't want to blame it on youth, but I was young and didn't understand any of the consequences of my actions. She is a very beautiful girl and the first to pay attention to me outside of my hometown."

Nothing I could or would say helped David with his pain. A religious man who had an unwed mother for a daughter, and a wed daughter, who had gone behind his back to do it.

"You weren't her first."

"No sir, I believe that..."

His arm extended and his hand pointed at me palm up... the international sign for, "Shut the hell up".

"It wasn't a question, son." Tipping the crystal glass back, his lips pressed the edge, he took another hard swallow of Jack. "We know what Rickie is capable of. She gets that from my side. Amanda's a lot more like her mother, and Junior, well, we really don't know very much about what he's like. He's been with Amber since... well forever."

There was a very long pause. He was evaluating me from the other side of the granite bar top. Topping up both of our glasses without even asking if I wanted more, he squinted. "Didn't you use birth control?"

It was my turn to have a drink.

"No sir. I'll take full responsibility and blame, but I honestly was surprised at my luck. Like I mentioned to you earlier. I found myself in a situation I was very unaccustomed to."

"Amanda?"

"Protected, sir."

David picked up the bottle by the neck and motioned me over to the pair of big leather chairs. The heat coming off the fireplace comforted me to the point where I was becoming sleepy.

"I don't want to sound like I'm trying to be a father to you but let me pass down a little bit of advice. You can never truly undo the things in your life once they have happened. Especially the unfortunate things. Believe me, I can see in Amanda's eyes how much she loves you. I know my daughters very well. Amanda will forgive you for this, but she will never forget it.

"She also knows her sister. What happened between Rickie and you, will always be in the back of her mind. Every time we have a family function, she will always be looking at you, making sure you and Rickie aren't sneaking off somewhere. It's not because she doesn't trust you. It's because she doesn't trust her sister. Never has. And just so things are put to rest, I suggest you have a paternity test. Jackson is an innocent bystander in all this drama. Do the blood work and put everyone's mind at ease. If he's your son, own it. If he's not, count your blessings and be a good uncle to him."

Senior tapped his glass against the bottle a couple of times as if trying to conjure up more words. When words escaped him and he failed to find what he was looking for, he asked one last question.

"You play billiards?"

I remember playing. I remember more drinks. I don't remember laying down on the oversized couch, and I don't remember covering myself with a vintage wool horse blanket.

With only the light of a few dim neon signs, I could see snow falling on the yard outside. The branches of the tall blue spruce hung low with the burden of the weight from the frozen flakes. The ground was well covered. It would be the white Christmas everyone had wished for. What should have been a happy and beautiful event, wasn't.

I stood and looked around the room. It was filled with treasures collected by a man with taste and money. For him not to kick me to the curb, spoke volumes about his demeanor. It was regrettable that I might never really get to know him. I found his refreshment fridge and drank three bottles of water. Found the restroom, then made my way back to the couch. I would have left, but driving was still not an option.

*****

I stretched out on the leather and closed my eyes. I tried to force myself back to sleep, and at some point, I succumbed to sleep, and in what felt like a dream, a warm body curled up next to me.

Everything about my "dream" was vivid. I could smell the scent of her body, her soap, her light perfume. The touch of her soft hair on my chin, and the way her hand pulled my arm over her stomach, allowing me to hold her, allowing me to be her protector. I knew by the way her body formed perfectly to mine, it was meant to be.

"Baby, I'm so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Not yet." Her arm held mine. She didn't say another word, but she didn't have to. Just having her there, at my side, was all I needed.

*****

The sound of a door opening and closing, accompanied with a cold rush of wintery wind, woke me. The sky outside was no longer dark, but the snow continued to fall. Amanda had stayed the night in my arms. With her there, on the big leather couch, fireplace in the background heating the room to a comfortable level, I never wanted to leave.

"Auston, my mother wanted me to tell you that breakfast is in fifteen... awe, man, come on, Amanda. What is it with this shit? Am I the only freakin one in this family who does things the right way? I do, and yet I end up sleeping by myself. Are you kidding me?" David stomped snow from his slippers as he looked at his sister and pouted.

"What David?" Amanda said as she stretched her torso like a cat.

"Really, you are really asking what? I'm engaged and Amber and I still have to sleep in separate rooms when we come here."

"Well big brother, I beat you to the punch. I've been married for a couple of months. Plus, mom and dad told me to sleep out here. And don't give me all the high and mighty crap. Amber and I are friends on Facebook, so in case you didn't know, we talk."

"That's bullshit. It's all bullshit." He was fighting a lost battle, so he spewed out his last sibling shot. "And Rickie's not married either."

"Does it matter? We all know she lives in sin. We just pretend she doesn't."

"You know what? You and Rickie really suck as sisters. Sometimes I wish I was an only child."

"Well Junior, the way dad talks about you, it sometimes sounds like you are."

He smiled at me and gave me a wink. He wasn't nearly as upset as he let on. It was just that he wanted the same thing as everyone else in the house had, and he knew his sisters envied the bond he had with his father.

"Fifteen minutes. I swear to God, don't keep her waiting." He headed back into the snow and left us on our own.

*****

"Amanda, I swear on everything I am, I had no idea. I told you everything, about every single girl. Man, I might have even mentioned her name. I'm not proud of it, but it is the past. Something that..."

Amanda put her hands to my mouth to stop my words.

"She knew."

"What?" I was shocked.

Rolling so that she was facing me, she allowed me to embrace her.

"The day of the Mississippi game. I was wearing your jacket. I posted the picture with me and the other girls. Rickie texted me and asked who's jacket I was wearing. I didn't tell her, but she bugged me for three days straight. When I told her, I said that we had just started dating and she seemed giddy, she was so excited for me. Turns out it was only because she wanted yesterday to happen. She wanted the show."

"Amanda, you have no idea how sorry I am. I feel like I've let you down in the very worst way. Your family was... I mean, we... everything was going... and then. How can I ever make it up to you?

"You can't. We'll just have to learn to live with it."

"What if Jackson is mine?"

"I already love him, so that won't change. He will just become a larger part of our lives."

*****

I entered the kitchen like I was a Dead Man Walking. Take me to the gallows. The only thing that stopped me from running was the smell of breakfast. It reminded me of good family times, and the fact that I hadn't eaten last night. No snacks. No family dinner. Just half a bottle of hard liquor. With my father-in-law.

Everyone was seated, and waiting, including Jackson. Not that I ever really paid much attention to what kids looked like, but when I looked at this kid, he looked a lot like Erica. Same dark hair. Same dark features. I couldn't help myself. I stared at the poor kid the entire meal and thought what it was going to be like when I introduced him to my family, as my son.

The food was over the top good. Lots of different dishes, including breakfast casseroles and bacon, so I was hooked up. We ate in silence. No one wanted to be the first to start. I caught senior looking at me, and he gave me the "say something" nod.

"Mrs. Smyth, breakfast is incredible." She smiled at the compliment but didn't speak. "So... about last night. I just want to say again how..."

"Oh Jesus Christ. Just shut the fuck up. Nobody gives a shit how you feel, nobody." Well, now everyone knew where Erica stood.

"Rickie, I honestly don't care how you act in your own home, but when you're here, although it is the home in which you grew up, you are a guest, and you will act accordingly." I was impressed that senior hadn't raised his voice and he spoke in a manner that his grandson didn't even realize he was upset.

Senior continued to speak, and his words had each of our attention. "We are putting and end the this tonight. As of tonight, it will be the last time we argue or fight over what has happened in the past, so if you need to, go into the den and beat the hell out of each other, get it out of your systems, because Parth Bhardwaj, is on his way over here this morning. He runs the DNA Diagnostics Center, right here in Cincinnati. Junior and I have made quite a few contributions to a charity organization he runs, and today he is doing our family a favor."

The favor was DNA testing. The Jackson daddy dilemma was going to be cleared up once and for all, and when Parth arrived, he was going to do three swabs on each of the nine people in the house. He would then take the swabs to his lab and have them tested by three different technicians. From there, we would get the results.

In a show of hands, everyone except Erica and Jackson wanted to do the tests. We were all quite certain that Jackson raised his hand to mimic his mother.

The guys cleaned up the kitchen. Loading the dishwasher, I tried to speak to Antonio, but got a "Don't fuckin talk to me asshole", for my efforts. By 11:00 am, all the tests were in sealed tubes, with only numbers written on stickers indicating the DNA it contained. The only thing that had changed from the original plan was that Elly did the swabs, handed them over, and Parth's assistant put a number on the vile without knowing from whom it came. That way Parth and crew were unsure of what DNA was whose, maintaining anonymity.

Elly called all the girls into the kitchen once again, and Senior rounded up the guys. I was shocked when Jackson sat on my knee as he listened to his grandpa. Like any good coach, David told us what needed to be done, without making us feel like idiots. He told us in no uncertain terms that we "would" play games and enjoy ourselves, and there "would not" be any more arguing or harsh words. It was the law, and although we couldn't hear Elly, we assumed she had relayed the very same message to the girls.

Eventually music and some laughter filled the air. Elly brought out a punchbowl filled with spiked eggnog and filled glasses. Everyone joined in the playing games, even if they didn't want to. Once again, Jackson made the rounds, finally coming to rest. Once again, he was perched on my lap, showing me a box containing his treasured race car. He stayed in that position until it was time to pick things up and prepare for dinner.