After mom told me that dad was really leaving, I kind of broke down. I just wanted to cry and not do anything else. I kind of felt like someone had just shot me in the chest. I really didn’t want to believe her because both mom and dad once told me that they believed if you got married you should stay with that person for the rest of your life. Now they were both going against something they believed in and it hurt.
I wasn’t really blaming my mom for anything though because she didn’t have anything to do with it. It was all my dad’s fault.
The next day, I was in my room thinking, and my phone started ringing.
“Hello?” I sniffled into the phone.
“Lexi? Is that you?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, it doesn’t sound like you. This is Meagan.”
“Yeah, I know. Caller ID is a wonderful thing. You should try it sometime.”
Meagan never used caller idea. She told me in 8th grade that she didn’t use it because she liked guessing who was calling and Caller ID took all the fun out of it.
“Yeah, whatever. Hey, you know that mover guy who I thought looked familiar?”
“Yeah, what about him?”
“Well, I was looking through that photo album of my mom and I saw him with my mom while she was pregnant.”
“Huh-uh. You’re not serious are you?”
“Yeah, I’m serious. Well, anyway, I didn’t really know who he was. I thought maybe he was like, an uncle that I had never seen before or something. So I pulled the picture out thinking maybe there was something on the back of the picture because my mom always wrote dates and who was in the picture on the back.”
“And? Was there something?”
“Yeah. It said, ‘Me and Devin waiting for our beautiful baby girl to be born.’”
“What?” I was shocked by what she said.
“That’s exactly what I said. I think that man was my father.”
“I don’t know. I mean, that seems kind of weird seeing him yesterday and then just happening to see that picture. Are you sure it was him? He was 15 years younger there. Maybe you just want to know who your dad is so bad that you made yourself believe it was him.”
“I’m almost positive it was him. Yesterday, when he came in, he told me and your mom that his name was Devin. What are the odds of that Lexi? Do you still think it’s just my mind playing tricks on me?” Her voice sounded somewhat mad.
“No, I’m sorry. Maybe you aren’t just imagining things. Are you gonna do anything to find out if it was actually him?”
“I’m gonna call the moving company that my aunt used and ask for him. Then, I’m gonna start asking him questions and hopefully I’ll find out if it really is him or not.”
“That’s good. I’m happy for you.” My voice dropped a little bit.
“Is there something wrong with you? You’ve seemed depressed ever since I got on the phone with you.”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
“It’s something Lexi. I can tell by the tone of your voice.”
“Ok. Well, you know how there were boxes in the living room yesterday?”
“Yeah?”
“They were my dad’s. After you left, my mom told me that he’s leaving.”
“Leaving? As in, your parents are getting a divorce?”
“I don’t really know if they’re getting divorced, but it kind of seems like that is what’s going to happen.”
“What happened? I thought they were fine.”
“Well, a while ago, my mom suspected my dad of cheating but they seemed to work it out and then my mom said that my dad came in and got really mad at her for no reason and said he was leaving.”
“I’m so sorry Lexi.’
“It’s ok. There’s nothing you can do about it.”
“I know, but I know how much you’re going through and now you have to deal with this. I’m just sorry that I can’t be there to help you through it like you helped me.”
“It’s ok. I’ll be fine.”
“Ok, well, I gotta go. I need to unpack some of my stuff.”
“Ok. Call me when find out more about Devin.”
“I will. Bye.”
“Bye.”
I went downstairs to watch some TV and noticed my dad’s car in the driveway. I figured he was still in the car because I never heard him come in or go to their room. I sat down on the couch and heard the door start opening.
“Hi Lexi.” Dad said.
“Hi.” It barely came out a whisper.
“Look Lexi, I know you’re mad at me but you have no reason-”
“I don’t want to hear it dad. I do have a reason to be mad at you. You left me and mom at the worst time possible. I’m almost 7 months pregnant. Did that ever occur to you? Oh, and what about when you and mom said you believed in staying with the same person once you’re married? Did that just happen to slip your mind too? Do you have any idea how much stress you’re putting us through? Neither of us needs that. We can be mad at you when we want for as long as we want.”
“Lexi, after what you just said, I don’t want to argue with you about any of that because you’re right. Everything you said is right. But, your mom and I have just decided to take a break from each other.”
I interrupted him. “Yeah, well I don’t think mom really wanted to take a break.”
“Please Lexi, just let me finish what I’m trying to say.”
“Fine.” I crossed my arms.
“Now, I know this wasn’t your mom’s idea. It was all mine. I think we just need to take a break from all the stress.”
I interrupted again. “We need to take a break from the stress?” I emphasized ‘we.’ “I think you’re only thinking about yourself dad. You’re leaving, therefore, your stress levels go down and in turn, mine and mom’s stress levels go way up. You’re so clueless and insensitive dad.”
“Lexi, please. I just need to take a break from all this right now. Your mom and I are not getting a divorce. I just want you to know that.”
“Dad?” I said, with a little bit of concern in my voice.
“What?”
“Are you seeing another woman?”
He started coughing. “What? Did you just ask me if I was seeing another woman?”
“Yeah. I did. And, I want an honest answer. If you are, tell me. I can handle it even though you might think I can’t.”
“Ok, I am kind of seeing another woman.”
“Kind of? You can’t be kind of seeing another woman. Either you are or you aren’t.”
“Ok, I am. Are you happy?” He was starting to raise his voice.
“No, I’m not happy. But thanks for being honest with me,” I stood up, went over, and hugged him.
“What was that for?” He asked.
“Because I still love you no matter what.”
“Thanks Lexi. I love you too.”
I started walking away but he stopped me.
“Lexi?”
“Yeah?”
“Please don’t say anything about this little conversation to your mom. I don’t want her to get worked up about me seeing someone else.”
“Doesn’t she have the right to know? I mean, she is still your wife.”
He sighed, “No, she doesn’t need to know about this. That will just make things worse. Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”
“Whatever dad.”
Dad went up to his room to pack some more things and I went back to the couch and watched TV.
The next morning, I was awakened by my mom shaking me.
“What mom? I’m tired. I wanna sleep.”
“You have a few guests. I don’t really know who they are though. The lady said she knew you.”
“Who is it?” I said, not hearing mom’s previous statement.
“Lexi, I just told you I don’t know who they are. Now get up and brush your hair so you look somewhat presentable.”
I shoved her away.
“I’m checking on you in five minutes if you don’t get up. I’ll drag you out of bed if I have to.”
Once she left the room, I forced myself to get up. I looked at myself in the mirror and just ran my fingers through my hair figuring that that was close enough to combing my hair.
I walked down the stairs and saw people on the couch. I immediately recognized the adult by her hair.
“Tiffany!”
She turned around. “Lexi, you remember me.”
“Of course I remember you! I couldn’t forget you even if I wanted to! How did you know where I lived?”
“I asked Brandi and she told me.”
“Oh.”
She stood up and I noticed that she wasn’t pregnant anymore.
“You had your baby?”
“Yep, I had him just a few days after I saw you. He’s lying on the couch if you want to see him.”
I walked over to the couch and saw him laying on a baby blue blanket that had light brown bears on it.
“He’s adorable, what’s his name?”
“Jasper.”
“Cute.”
“I brought my other kids. Your mom insisted on giving them a snack so they’re in the kitchen.”
“She’s a chef. She likes to show off her talent.”
“Do you wanna go meet them?”
“Sure.”
Tiffany lifted the baby off the couch and we walked to the kitchen.
“Look mommy, she gave us cake!” One of her twins said.
“I see that. Is it good?”
“Uh-huh.”
All four of them had cake all over their face.
Tiffany stood behind the oldest one.
“This is Hunter,” she moved to the older girl, “This is Scarlett,” she finally moved to the twins, “and these two are Rose and Violet.”
“Very nice names. I love all of them.”
“Thanks. All of them are named after colors.”
“Wow. That’s so clever. I never would have thought of that!”
“Well, thanks.”
“So, is there any reason you came over?” I asked.
“I just wanted to see how you were doing and I thought I’d let you see Jasper.”
“Oh, that’s nice of you. I figured you would have completely forgotten about me.”
She tilted her head and gave me a half-grin. “I would never forget you,” she laughed, “you reminded me too much of myself at that age to forget about you.”
I half-heartedly laughed.
“Do you want to hold Jasper?”
I looked at mom thinking she would answer for me.
“That’s up to you Lexi,” she said.
“Yeah, I’ll hold him. I need to get used to holding babies anyway so I’ll just start now.”
“Let’s go into the front room that way you can be more comfortable. Kids, I’ll come back to clean you up.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that, I can get them cleaned up,” mom said.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive!”
“Thank you so much!”
“No problem.”
Tiffany and I went into the living room and I slowly sat down.
“It’s hard to sit, isn’t it?”
I groaned. “Very much.”
She handed me Jasper.
“He’s so little.”
“I know. I love them at this age,” she paused, “but this age can be hard too because depending on the baby, they might wake up every hour to be fed. It gets old after a while.”
“I bet.”
“So, how are you and the dad?”
“John? We’re doing better.”
“His name is John?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Isn’t that the name of Brandi’s son?”
“Yeah, that’s who the dad is.”
“Oh my gosh. I can’t believe I didn’t put two and two together. She told me that her son was going to be a dad but I didn’t even think of you being the mom.”
“Yep, that’s me.”
“Well, I’ve met John and he seems like a nice boy. I think you got yourself a good one.”
I paused, “I sure hope so.”
“Are you married?” I asked.
“Yeah. For five years now.”
“That’s good.”
We sat silently for a while just looking at Jasper.
“Why did you decide to name your kids after colors?”
“I don’t know. When I was little, I was fascinated with art and all the beautiful things around us and then when I was twelve, my parents starting having some troubles with their marriage. That was really hard on me and eventually it became hard for me to see all those colors that I had come to love so much. They all just seemed to blend together and it was almost like I was seeing black and white everywhere I went. Then I found out that I was pregnant and things seemed to get even worse in my life and I actually started painting to help me relieve some of the stress in my life. I became fascinated with colors again and my favorite color at the time was hunter green so I decided to name my first kid after what brought me the most joy and that’s how his name became Hunter. When I got pregnant with Scarlett, I told myself that I wanted to name every kid I would have after a color and that’s what I did.”
“It sounds like you’ve had a rough life.”
“Not compared to some people, but I look at my life now and I’m grateful for what I went through. It definitely made me a much stronger person.”
We sat silently again.
“My arm’s getting kind of tired. Do you wanna take him?” I asked.
“Sure. He’s probably getting hungry anyway.”
Tiffany started taking Jasper out of my arms. “Are you ready for two of these little things?”
I thought for a second. “I am.”
Scarlett came into the living room. “Mommy, can we go home? I’m tired,” she rubbed her eyes and yawned.
“Sure honey. Where are your sisters and brother?”
“They’re still in the kitchen wiping their faces off.”
“Ok, well you just stay here and I’ll go get them.”
“Ok.”
After Tiffany and her kids left, I went up to my room to check my phone and saw that I had a voicemail from Meagan.
“Hey Lex, it’s Meagan. I just had something to tell you. Call me back whenever you get the chance. Thanks. Bye.”
I called her back immediately.
“Hi.”
“Hey, sorry I didn’t answer when you called. Tiffany came over with her kids and we talked for a little while.”
“Oh, that’s fine. I figured you were still sleeping and had your phone on silent or something.”
I laughed, “So, what did you have to tell me?”
“You aren’t gonna believe this.”
“Just tell me. I really want to know.”
“I’m moving back to town.”
“What?” I almost yelled into the phone.
“Yeah, I’m moving back.”
“Wh-How?” I was almost speechless.
“You’ll never guess!”
“Tell me!”
“So, remember yesterday when I told you that I was gonna call the moving company that Devin worked for?”
“Yeah…”
“Well, I called them last night just as they were getting ready to close and asked for Devin. They caught him just as he was walking out the door. I talked to him and started asking him a bunch of questions about me and my mom.”
“And?”
“He said that he remembered my mom and getting her pregnant and that he left her right before I was born.”
“What did you say after that?”
“I said, ‘I knew her too. She was my mom. I’m your daughter. Hi daddy.”
I smiled but didn’t say anything.
“Lexi,” she said, crying, “I found my dad.”