Chapter 15

Ben placed the shopping bags on the bed and put his arms around his wife.  He knew the phrase, we need to talk, always made her anxious, yet how else was he supposed to initiate this conversation?  He wanted to soften her angst as much as possible.

He kissed her.  “I love you.  Did you have a good day shopping?”  He said as he sat on the chair near the bed and pulled her onto his lap.

She nestled her head against his shoulder.  “Yes, I got a couple of things to tide me over.  Of course, I’ll need serious maternity wear before we know it.”

He stroked her hair as he kissed her forehead. “There’s something I want to talk with you about.”

“Is it Jamie?  Has something else happened?” She was unable to mask the worry from her voice.

“Everyone is fine.  It’s a sort of story that I want to tell you.” He kissed her cheek.  “Just listen.  Eighteen years ago, while I was a student at Creighton, I used a fake ID to go out with friends and one night I met a woman.  We spent the night in a hotel room at one of the casinos in Council Bluffs.  The next morning, while she was sleeping, I got up and went to find some aspirin and breakfast.   When I got back to the room, she was gone.  I waited in the room until checkout time thinking that maybe she’d had the same idea, but she never returned.  I spent the better part of the next week in a failed attempt to find her.”

Lane sat quietly on his lap as he talked; her head still nestled on his shoulder.  He stroked her hair and kissed her head as he told his story.  When he began talking, she first wondered why he was dredging up stories of old girlfriends.  After all, when they first became engaged, she’d told him she didn’t need to know about any of them.  As he continued, though, the pieces began to fall into place and she realized the story was about her, about them. She leaned back to look at his face.

“That’s an interesting story.  I have a similar one. Shortly after Philip left me, I was out with friends at a bar in one of the casinos in Council Bluffs.  There was a group of guys there.  We drank and danced.  I got very drunk, and the next morning, I woke up naked and alone in a hotel room. I felt abandoned and ashamed.  I quickly got dressed, took my embarrassment and shame, and went home.”

He kissed her.  “I’m so sorry.  I should have left a note, but I didn’t want to disturb her.  You, I didn’t want to disturb you.  You were sleeping so soundly, and it seemed like you really needed the rest.”

She looked at him.  Knowing both sides of the story explained so much, but she had no idea what bearing it had on anything today.  “Ben, why are you telling me this?”

He shifted her and stood.  Holding her hand, he walked toward his closet and the safe that held the paternity results. “I have something I need to show you.”  He entered the combination into the safe, pulled out the test results, and handed the paper to her.

She read the words on the page, read them again slowly, and then, looked at Ben.  “You’re Jamie’s father?”  She whispered in bewilderment.

After the confessions they’d both made, she knew that he was the man she’d spent that one night with all of those years ago.  He was the man who had helped her forget about Philip and feel desirable again before leaving her alone to deal with her embarrassment.  She’d chosen to believe she hadn’t had wild and crazy sex with a stranger all night, but the proof was in her hand.

Ben pulled her into a loving embrace, and kissed the top of her head.  “So it seems, and now, we need to figure out how we’re going to tell him.”

They stood in Ben’s closet, Lane with her head against her husband’s chest, as the gravity of this new reality sank in.  Apparently, this man had the most potent sperm on the planet.  Twice now, she’d gotten pregnant from one instance of unprotected sex with him. And, the instance eighteen years ago meant that Jamie was not Philip’s son, but Ben’s.  She often worried about Jamie.  He was such an easy child to raise with his pleasant, happy, agreeable temperament; but she worried that beneath the surface there was an ember of anger just waiting for something to cause it to erupt.  Learning that his whole life had been a lie just might be the match that would light the fire.

“I’m open to suggestions.” She finally said as she gave the report a shake.  “Tell me, when and why you had this test run.”

He shook his head.  “It wasn’t me.  We can thank Jess for this.  Apparently, when Joey was doing protection detail last month, she noticed that he and Jamie had the same eyes, Bellini eyes she said.  She stole our toothbrushes and sent them to a lab for testing.  She told me she’s been sitting on the results for a couple of weeks.”  He held Lane close. “So, how and when do we tell him?  He’s got a lot on his plate right now, but maybe this will distract him from the football situation.”

Lane leaned into Ben, putting her head on his chest as she wrapped her arms around him.  “The report came from Jess; do we want her with us when we talk to him?  It might make things easier.”

Ben smiled and kissed her cheek.  On the other hand, it might make things more difficult, he thought. “Sure. Do we want to wait and include Jake too, or should we just get this over with now?”

Lane smiled; the Parkers had a saying, ‘What are the three fastest methods of communication? Telephone, telegraph and tell-a-Parker.’ She knew that Jake would soon know whatever they talked about with Jamie and Jess.  She looked at her watch.  Jake’s office probably closed early for the Thanksgiving holiday anyway.  “I’ll give him a call and ask if he can come by.”

Thirty minutes later, Ben, Lane, and the Parker Kids assembled in the hearth room. Jess, who knew why they were assembling, had forewarned her friend and guest Gabe Greer that he might want to stay away from the room.  Of course, she hadn’t told him why, and Gabe, having grown up in Hollywood as an only child, wasn’t about to miss the show, whatever it was.  He chose to hover in the kitchen.  His spot gave him a clear view to both the sights and the sounds in the hearth room, yet allowed him some seclusion and the family a feeling of privacy.

Ben stood and paced as though he were in a courtroom and the Parker Kids were the jury.  It wasn’t much of a stretch; he and Lane were about to be put on trial.  “Your mother and I have something we need to talk with you all about.  While it concerns all of us, it’s mostly about Jamie.”

Ben stopped pacing, sat on the arm of Lane’s chair and took her hand in his.  Ben glanced around the room, sizing it up as if he was about to deliver opening arguments.  Jamie sat in the chair next to his mother. Jess and Jake, sat on the sofa adjacent to Jamie’s chair.

Jamie sat, frozen in his seat.  Whatever this is, it can’t be good. Maybe someone else is dead.  Maybe I’m about to be arrested, he thought.

Lane reached over to touch Jamie’s hand and as though she’d read his mind she said, “It has nothing to do with the football team.”

She took the paternity report from Ben and held it in her hand. “This is a report.  Before I give it to you, I want to tell you all a story.  Just after Philip left me, I went out with friends who were trying to cheer me up and get me over being dumped by your fath… by Phillip.  We went to a bar where I had a little too much to drink and spent the night in a hotel room with a stranger.”  She gave a half smile in Jamie’s direction.  “I always believed that Philip had gotten me pregnant the night he left, but that’s not what happened.”

Ben stood, took the paternity report from Lane’s hand.  God, they weren’t handling this very well, but then how did you go about telling someone that what he’d believed his whole life was a lie.  An unintentional lie, but still a lie.  He approached Jamie and held out the report.