Chapter 4

"But I knew we would face it always together," I said. I tore my eyes from Lisa's face and looked to her mother, Amanda. This was our last chance.

Twelve, almost thirteen, she was falling in with the wrong crowd. Getting into fights. There was even rumors that she was sexually active.

And I knew whom to blame. Father. I was going to end up killing the sonofabitch. He never showed her enough love. She was trying to get the attention she needed. So in council together, Amanda, Andy and I decided to tell her the truth. Maybe if she knows that I am her dad then we can win her back, we thought. So I told our tale.

(I left out the graphic sex, you perverts; I was trying to help her, not scar her for life.)

"What are you saying? That you had an affair with my mother? That you are my biological father?" I could tell that Lisa thought we were lying.

"Lisa Hon," Andy broke in, "It was never an affair. It still isn't. And yes it's still going on. Alex fathered not only you but your three siblings... and the baby that your mother is now carrying too."

Well, I wish that Andy or Amanda had told ME that before we came in here.

I sat back on the coach in my home office as Andy pulled out a stack of folders and continued.

"Here look for yourself. We had DNA tests done every time. And not just on Amanda's children but mine as well. You are my husband's daughter." She motioned to our eldest son, Michael. "You two are not just cousins but brother and sister."

Michael. No one could ever read him. Right now he was leaning back in my chair, just taking it all in. What did he think? Did he feel betrayed? Hurt? I knew I had to talk to him but Lisa was the worry right now.

"Baby," it felt so good to finally be able to call her that, "I know that you are going through a bad time. But we had to let you know that you have a real parent, not just that bastard 'Father' of yours."

"Alex--" Amanda started but I cut her off.

"What? Look what he has done to her! You should have left him long ago. But I let you talk me into letting you stay. But he's killing her! His is supposed to be her Daddy not 'Father'," I spit the words out. "Even the Hayes's adopted kids call Eddie Daddy. 'But I must be respected!' Fuck him! And fuck his perfectionist bastard opinions and his entire fucken life. You should have let me go when I wanted to beat him into a pulp after the recital Andy, that would have fixed all of this."

"Recital?" Lisa's question stopped my rant.

"Remember when you were 5, honey?" responded Andy. "Your first piano recital?"

"Yes. Father said that he was wasting money on me because I couldn't get the piece right." Lisa looked at me, and then her eyes went wide. I guess my anger was coming to the front.

"Get the piece right? Get the piece right! YOU WERE FIVE! God who cares if you are a concerto at five! I didn't! All I cared about was how proud I was of you!"

"You were proud of me?" This girl could keep me in line, my rants cut off with just a whisper of her sweet innocent voice. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the sisters give each other a knowing look, but I had to press on with Lisa. I had to let her know.

Grabbing her hands in mine I looked Lisa directly in the eyes, hoping my joy and pride would be evident.

"Oh yes baby! You were just five but you took that stage! When I watch the DVD I have of it I just well up! Here is my daughter. She just marches up on that stage and announces--no DECLARES--what piece she is going to play. You owned that stage! You were so confident and commanding!"

"They never sold DVD's of that concert Dad," Michael broke in. His voice calm and cool. He's going to be a lawyer, if his baseball dreams don't pan out.

"Alex hired several videographers to record it Michael." Amanda said. "Just like he does for your games, and Lisa's"

"You recorded my softball games?" There was something in Lisa's voice. I hoped that it was some joy, but I couldn't tell.

"Oh yes he did, and he had started to record your basketball games too. He collects all the trophies and little prizes from all his children," Andy responded, waving at my treasure wall full of the achievements of Michael and his 'full' sister Kathy.

"Nothing of mine is up there." She was still fighting us. She knew that the papers said what we said they did. She was my child.

"Alex, open the safe" Andy said. She looked at me. I could see that she thought we had her.

I went to one shelf and moved it back, revealing a wall safe. A converted gun safe, I kept my 'treasured' items in there.

I opened it and took out one neatly packed crate of stuff. I came back to the sofa and sat next to Lisa. Then I started to pull out what was inside.

"I have copies of all your report cards. And that award letter you got in the first grade for that drawing you did. And here are the DVDs of your sports games and your recitals and--"

"What's this?" Lisa asked, holding up softball in a protective case.

"Your first homerun, Lisa. We were there. Remember? After you all left, and after I calmed Alex down from wanted to kill Thomas over the chewing out he gave you for 'losing' his ball, we went back to the field. Alex searched there all night until he found it off the left side."

"It wasn't a homerun, just a miscall in a game," piped up Michael. Yeah, he'll be a high-class lawyer, I thought.

"Hey, she ran the bases and got the score. That's all that I cared about!" I chuckled, remembering that night. "I remember you, Andy, explaining to that cop that I was going to find my kid's first homerun ball if it was 3am or raining or what."

"No that wasn't a rain, it was a deluge! But you still searched. And you found it. You were so happy! And Lisa you DO have a place on the wall. Notice how there are some strange gaps in the awards? Look." Andy took the ball from Lisa's hands and placed it among Michael's awards. It filled the hole perfectly.