Chapter 45: Preparing

Jordan left work early so that he could shop for ring with Frank. They met outside the jewelers store and then proceeded inside to browse the merchandise. "I like this one," Jordan said as he eyed a gaudy looking ring beneath the glass.

"Right," Frank said sarcastically, "I bet she would love to have that monster ring on her finger," he rolled his eyes. "Think elegant and dainty."

"This one?" Jordan asked, picking out another god awful looking ring.

"I swear Jordan, you are the most inept cowboy I've ever met," Frank said and asked the clerk to take out one that was more subtle and elegant, "This ring is more like Angel."

Jordan grabbed the ring from Frank, "Let me see that." It appeared to be a bit more like what Angel might like, but somehow Jordan felt it still wasn't the right ring for her.

Frank shook his head and turned to the clerk, "May I look at that one," Frank pointed to a ring beneath the glass that he had been thinking of buying for Amanda for over a week now. "What do you think?" Frank asked Jordan after the clerk allowed him access to the ring.

Jordan twisted his mouth up and took it from Frank's fingers to look it over, "This is what you call tasteful?"

Frank snapped the ring from Jordan's fingers, "Yes, as a matter of fact."

The clerk knew it was going to be a long night. By the time the clerk had educated both of them about diamonds and what the clerk referred to as the four C's, it was becoming late. Cut, clarity, color, and carat, those were the four C's of diamond shopping.

Finally in desperation after a long and lengthy process, the clerk pointed out a very nice platinum setting for Jordan to consider. The clerk knew who the ring was for because it was a small town, and in the clerk's mind the ring suited Angel very well.

"I thought rings were supposed to be gold," Jordan insisted.

"You're a moron," Frank rolled his eyes.

"Platinum is a white metal," the clerk informed him "and many women prefer it." At the end of a long ring shopping session, Jordan managed to pick out a very tasteful platinum setting with a very expensive diamond. Somehow he hoped it would suit Angel.

"I will need to have the diamond you've chosen set and the ring and sized," The clerk informed him. "Do you know what size her finger is?"

Jordan pictured Angel's delicate hand and thin fingers. He looked at the various ring sizes that were cast in the cheap metal circles attached to a larger ring. He pictured her hand in his and made his best estimate of what ring size she would need.

"If it's the wrong size, we can always resize it," The clerk suggested.

When all the paperwork was completed it turned out that the ring wouldn't be available for several days in order for the diamond to be set in the ring. Those few days would give Jordan time enough to talk to Martin about asking for Angel's hand in marriage. He shook his head at the notion, but he was willing to try anything if Angel would agree to marry him.

After dinner, Mia was helping her grandma clean up the dishes and Martin stopped them. "I would like to talk to both of you for a minute."

Mia whirled around in alarm. Whenever he wanted to talk to her it was usually when she had done something wrong. "What did I do?"

Martin shook his head, "You didn't do anything wrong, don't worry."

Mia had been stressing all afternoon about how to tell her grandpa about the mall date and she knew she couldn't put it off any longer. She had promised Carly she would ask about it tonight. She wasn't sure how she was going to ask him, but she had to find a way.

"Let's go into the living room," Martin suggested and Claudia and Mia followed him as he motioned for them to sit down on the couch. Both of them looked up at him expectantly.

"I spoke with Angel today," Martin managed. "She agrees it's best for Mia to continue living here for now. Even though Angel's back, she's not ready to jump into motherhood just yet."

Mia breathed a sigh of relief. Was that all? "That's fine," Mia said quietly, she had pretty much expected that would be the case.

"I know I'm not the easiest man to live with," Martin muttered, "But I'm afraid you're stuck with me."

Mia knew in her heart that her mother was not ready to take care of her or be a mother and probably would never get there before Mia became an adult. Plus at this point they barely knew each other. She stood up and hugged her grandpa, "I'm fine with it Popoff," she said sheepishly and then she looked down. "I know you're my grandparents," she said slowly, "But you've been more like parents to me and I'm grateful. I realized how much I think of you as my parents when I found out that Coach Bills might be my father. It doesn't matter who gave you life, it's who is with us every day taking care of us that matters. Thanks for all you've done for me."

Martin's heart swelled with pride. She was very grown up for fourteen-years-old and to hear her talk like that warmed his heart. He realized it was also time to tell her about the test results he had received earlier that same afternoon. He handed Mia the envelope that Detectives Lloyd and Berger had delivered to him. "These are the results of the DNA test," Martin explained. "It's official. Coach Bills really is your biological father."

Mia swallowed and carefully opened the envelope and looked at the papers. She didn't understand them. "Probability 99.9 percent," she read aloud, and seeing it written like that made her heart race and a lump form in her throat. Coach Bills was definitely her biological father, the report left very doubt. This meant that everything her mother had said about the rape was probably also true.

"Don't let it bother you Mia," Claudia said and she pulled her granddaughter into her arms, "Angel is our daughter and she will always be your real mother, but I wouldn't dwell much on Coach Bills being your real father. I doubt you will ever have a relationship with him and we don't want you to go near him right now because he seems rather unstable and dangerous at the moment. He is holed up in his house and he seldom comes out for anything. I hear he does nothing but drink from morning until night."

Mia felt bad for Riley when she heard her grandma's description, but she didn't feel bad for herself. In Mia's mind she had never thought of Coach Bills as her father. Knowing the truth about who her father was had changed things for Mia over the last several weeks, but not necessarily for the worse. There was a lot of comfort in knowing the truth rather than being in limbo or in the dark. Mia had already managed to come to terms with the truth before reading the test results, so seeing it on paper didn't seem to affect her much. "Don't worry Gram," Mia hugged Claudia, "I know who my family is and Coach Bills isn't my family."

"You will always be like a daughter to us, even though you are our granddaughter," Martin said and he put his arms around her for reassurance. Mia felt very close to her grandparents at times like these.

Martin handed Mia another envelope, "Your grades came in the mail today too."

Mia reached out and took the envelope from him and pulled out the paper with her grades. It was a mid-term report card and not her official grades. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that her grades were a lot higher this time than they had been last time.

"You're doing very well," Martin smiled proudly.

Mia swallowed; she knew it was now or never. It was time to ask. "I want to ask you something Popoff," her hands began to sweat and she shuffled around nervously.

"What is it?" Martin sensed her apprehension.

"I um," Mia hesitated, "Carly wants me to go to the mall with her on Saturday." Part of her wanted to leave it at that and not tell him the rest, but she had promised herself she wouldn't lie to him anymore.

"You can go to the mall with Carly," Claudia smiled, wondering what the big deal was.