“What? It’s the truth. Dad promised you that he wouldn’t see other women, but he did anyway, and he did it until the day he died. I remember walking past your bedroom almost every night and hearing you cry yourself to sleep. How could you live like that? How could you want that life for me, your own daughter?”
Mary took in a sharp breath. “You put up with certain things when someone is your life and consumes you. I know Hunter loved you, and that’s why I didn’t tell you. You deserved to have a good man love you after what your father put you through.”
As I couldn’t comprehend where she was coming from, I blankly stared at her. “I have a question for you mother, and I want you to be honest with me… Are you on drugs?”
“Lillian Grace Gilmore! How dare you speak to me like that!” she spat in a loud enough voice that managed to turn a couple of heads.
“Lillian?” Luke smiled as he asked.
“I was named after my grandmother. Be warned that you are never to call me that!” I said sternly as I held up a finger to him.
The waitress walked over with our food and sat our plates down in front of us as I got ready to spit fire back at my mother.
“Brynn misses you; she’s torn up over everything that has happened,” she said calmly.
I finished the last of my wine, grabbed the bottle, and poured more into my glass. “She’s broken up? What about me? Don’t you even care how this has affected me? Why is everything about you and Brynn? What about my feelings and what happened to me? Jesus Christ, Mother, sometimes I think we aren’t even cut from the same cloth.”
She looked at me, and a single tear fell from her eye as she quietly spoke, “We aren’t.”
In that instant, every part of me froze. My pulse starting racing, and I felt my throat constricting.
“What the hell, Mary!” Luke said as he looked at her.
As I glanced at Luke, I got up from my seat. “I need to get out of here,” I said as I grabbed my purse and ran out of the restaurant.
I had only made it to the parking lot when I needed to stop to try and catch my breath. My legs felt like lead, and they didn’t want to move anymore. My stomach was tied in knots, and I wanted to vomit. Luke came up behind me, placing his arms around me, but I broke away from him.
“Don’t, because if you do, I’ll lose it, Luke, and I can’t lose it!” I started raising my voice.
Suddenly, I heard my mother’s voice in the distance. “She was only seventeen years old and a baby herself.”
As I started to take a few steps forward, I stopped and turned around. With sarcasm I responded, “Let me guess…you swooped in and saved the day!”—raising my voice—”Or better yet, her life!
“The two of you aren’t going to do this in the middle of the parking lot,” Luke snapped. “Get in the Jeep, and we’ll go back to the apartment where you two can talk about this.”
As much as I hated her at this moment, I needed to hear everything she had to say. I couldn’t spend the rest of my life wondering about the truth Mary had kept hidden all these years. As hard and painful as it was going to be, I needed some answers.
“Luke’s right. Let’s go back to my apartment; I want to hear about what a lie my life has been.”
The three of us climbed into the Jeep, and Luke drove us back to my apartment.
29
We walked into my apartment, and I immediately took out a bottle of wine. As I was taking a glass from the cupboard, my mother looked at me and said, “You seem to drink a lot. Do you have a drinking problem?”
I gasped as I set the glass on the counter. “Considering everything I’ve been through in my life, I should have one.”
She shook her head and sat down at the table. Luke sat down across from her, and I stayed at the kitchen counter.
“So, go ahead and tell me how my whole life’s been a lie,” I said.
She cleared her throat as she began to speak. “I had some problems, and the doctors told me that I would never be able to conceive a child. You have no idea how much that devastated me, because the only thing I wanted was a child with Johnny. I started drinking a lot, I stayed in bed all day, and I isolated myself from the world. One night, Johnny came home with this seventeen- year-old girl, Allison. He told me she was pregnant with his child, and that she’d agreed to give us the baby. Her mother was a prostitute and a drug addict, and her father had run off after she was born. She could barely take care of herself, let alone a child. So, Johnny paid for her medical care and after you were born, he gave her money to start a new life.”
Her eyes filled with tears as she continued. “I know you’re probably to going ask me why I stayed after that. It was because of you, Lily. I may not have given birth to you, but you were my baby, my daughter, and you were a part of Johnny, which made you even more special.”
I gulped before throwing back my glass of wine. I closed my eyes and Luke got up from the table and walked over to me.
“Lily, are you alright?” he asked as he put his hand on top of mine.
“I raised you, Lily. You’re my daughter, and you cannot say otherwise! I loved you and nurtured you. I took care of you when you were sick, and I was there for you when you cried, while your father was out playing his shows and having sex with any woman that looked his way.”
Luke tightened the grip on my hand. “Mary, I think Lily’s heard enough.”
As I removed my hand from his, I looked at him. “It’s ok, Luke. Let’s go sit down.”
I walked over to the table and sat across from my mother as I actually had a moment where I felt incredibly sorry for her. “Mom, please just tell me why you were going to let me marry Hunter if you knew about him and Brynn. All I want is an honest answer.”
Mary looked at me with pursed lips as she tilted her head. I could see the pain in her eyes as she spoke to me. “You seemed happy with Hunter, and I couldn’t ruin that for you. All I wanted was for you to be happy. I know I was wrong, and I should have told you when I first found out,” she said as she shook her head.
“When did you find out?” I asked.
“Does it really matter at this point, Lily?”
“Yes, Mother, it does. It matters to me.”
She took in a deep breath before spilling the words I didn’t want to hear. “I found out the day we went shopping for your wedding dress.”
My stomach instantly felt sick as I put my shaking hand over my mouth and my eyes swelled with tears. “But, Brynn was with us that day and she was trying on maid of honor dresses. How did you find out?”
“I received a text message from Mrs. Kendall with a picture of Hunter and Brynn going into a hotel room together. She said she saw them, and she thought I should know. Why do you think I broke down and cried when you came out in your dress? Part of it was because you were so beautiful, and I couldn’t believe you were getting married, and the other part was because I knew it would destroy you, and I couldn’t let that happen. So, one day, not too long after that, I confronted the two of them and warned them that they were to end it immediately.”
Luke walked over to me and clasped my shoulders with his hands, rubbing them gently. I took in a deep breath, and I buried my face in my hands. As I thought of something, I lifted my head and looked at my mother.
“If you couldn’t get pregnant, then how did you with Brynn?”
She looked at me and smiled lightly. “Brynn was a complete surprise. The doctors couldn’t explain it either; they just said she was a gift from God.”
“Yeah, a real gift,” I mumbled as Luke kissed me on the head.
Mary reached over, put her hand on mine, and I instantly froze. “Lily, what your sister did was wrong, and please don’t think that I’m defending her, but you also need to remember that you’re supposed to love your children unconditionally.”
As I slid my hand out from under hers, I got up from the chair and walked over to the window. There was a part of me that understood where she was coming from and why she didn’t
tell me. As I turned around and looked at my mother, I saw a weak woman who was scared and alone. I saw a forgiving woman who took in someone else’s child, as her own, because she so desperately wanted a baby with the man she loved. I walked over, sat down in the chair, and grabbed her hand.
“Our relationship is going to need a lot of work. It’s going to take time to get back to where we were before all of this happened. I just can’t instantly forgive you and pretend it never happened; I need time to process everything you’ve told me.”
She tilted her head and gave me a small smile. “At least it’s a start. I want our relationship back, Lily.”
“We’ll get there eventually, but you’re going to have to give me space, and as for Brynn, don’t expect miracles, because I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive her.”
As Mary and I got up from our chairs, she hugged me. “I’m going to go now and give you the space you want, but please keep in touch. You’re a very lucky woman to have such a wonderful man in your life. Even though I don’t know him very well, I can tell he’s a great man; and he’s very sexy too.” She winked.
As I smiled at her and walked her to the door, she turned to Luke. “I’m counting on you to take care of my daughter.”
“Don’t worry, Mary, I’ll take excellent care of your daughter.” Luke grinned as he winked at me.
Shutting the door behind her, Luke walked over and pulled me to him. “I’m so proud of you. It took a lot of strength to try and mend things with her; that’s one of the qualities I love about you, Lily.”
“Oh yeah?” I smiled as I nipped at his bottom lip. “Tell me what other qualities you love about me.”
His hands began to travel up and down my sides as he softly kissed my lips. “I love how soft your skin is,” he whispered as his lips traveled to my neck. “I love how perfect your ass is,” he said as he squeezed it with both hands. “I love how beautiful and firm your tits are.” He smiled as he pulled the strap to my sundress down and exposed one breast, taking it in his mouth and lightly sucking my nipple. “But most of all, I love how wet you get when I touch you,” he whispered as his finger dipped into me.
I moaned as I ran my fingers through his hair, threw my head back, and brought one leg up to his waist so his finger would deepen inside me. My body instantly knew pleasure when he touched me. Hell, it knew pleasure just by the way he looked at me. As he removed his finger, he looked at me and smiled. “Come on, babe, let’s take it to the bedroom this time,” he said as he picked me up, carried me, and gently laid me down on the bed.
30
Luke
As Lily and I were snuggled against each other in bed, I heard my phone beep. I reached over, grabbed it, and read a text message from Maddie.
“Adam just called and talked to Charley. He said that he’s sorry and something came up, so he won’t be able to come visit her. She’s devastated and won’t stop crying.”
I closed my eyes, and Lily asked what was wrong. I showed her the message from Maddie, and she instantly felt bad for Charley. I was relieved because I didn’t want him anywhere near her, but I felt sorry for Charley. I kissed Lily on the forehead and sent a message back to Maddie.
“Typical douchebag, Adam. I’ll be up there in a second.”
I sighed as I climbed out of bed and looked at the clock, which read 6:00 p.m. Lily and I got dressed and headed upstairs to Maddie’s apartment. As I opened the door, Maddie walked over and told us Charley was in her room. I could hear Charley crying down the hallway. As Lily and I stepped into her room, we saw Charley lying face down and crying into her pillow.
“Hey, peanut,” I said as I rubbed her back.
“Go away, Uncle Luke; I don’t want to talk to anyone,” she sobbed.
“Your mom told me about your dad, and I think it’s pretty crappy what he did, but he’ll come see you soon.”
“You don’t know anything!” Charley snapped at me.
Lily walked over to the bed and motioned for me to move down. “Let me try,” she whispered.
As she sat down on the bed, she began to tell Charley about her father.
“I know what it’s like to be disappointed by your dad, Charley. My dad disappointed me almost my whole life.”
Charley turned her head, looked at her, and sniffled. “Really?”
“Yeah, really,” Lily answered her in a soft, sweet voice.
“But he promised, Lily. He promised me that he would come see me,” she said with a pout.
Lily took her hand and started stroking Charley’s hair. “I know he did, sweetie, but sometimes when you’re grown up, things come up, and it can hurt the ones you love. My dad made me a lot of promises that he didn’t keep. Sometimes, he wouldn’t be home for my birthday, even though he said he’d be.”
“What did you do?” Charley asked as she sat up.
“I cried, just like you are right now, and then I got over it, because I had plenty of people at home who loved me, just like you do.”
“But I wanted to see him,” she whined.
Lily pulled Charley into an embrace and kissed her on the top of her head. “I know you do, sweetie, but sometimes certain things can’t be helped. You have to be a big girl and move on.”
As Lily looked at me, I smiled. Seeing her with Charley was incredible, and all I saw when I watched her was the mother of my children.
“Thank you, Lily.” Charley smiled as she looked up at her.
“You’re welcome, baby.”
“Hey, what about me?” I asked as I leaned over and began tickling her.
Charley giggled and tried to push my hands away. “Thank you, Uncle Luke.”
“How would you like to spend the night over at my apartment tonight? We can dance, eat a bunch of junk food, sleep on the floor and, best of all, we can watch scary movies!” Lily said with excitement.
“Really?!” That would be so fun! Can Uncle Luke spend the night with us?” Charley asked.
Lily looked at me; then she twisted her face as she looked at Charley. “Are you sure you want boys at our sleepover?”
“Only Uncle Luke.” Charley giggled.
Lily leaned over and kissed me. “I guess he can come, but he has to behave himself.” She smiled.
“Is that so?” I growled at her.
As Lily and I got up and walked out of the room, I told Charley to pack her bag. We walked into the living room, where Maddie was sitting on the couch.
“Charley is going to have a sleepover at Lily’s tonight, if that’s ok,” I said.
She looked up at me and smiled. “That’s great, Luke. Thank you, Lily. I’m sure that made Charley very happy.”
Charley came running down the hall with her bag. “I’m ready!” she squealed as she kissed Maddie goodbye.
***
The next morning, I rolled over and looked at Lily as she slept next to Charley on the floor. We had a great night, and Charley was happy. Before getting up, I softly kissed Lily on the head and walked back to my apartment to take a shower. While standing under the warm water, I kept thinking about Callie and how she’d be happy that I’d moved on. I grinned as I thought about Lily and how all I saw was my future with her. As I was turning off the water and wrapping a towel around my waist, there was a knock on the bathroom door.
“Bro, I have to take a piss! Can you hurry it up?”
“I’m done, man; relax,” I said as I opened the door and walked to my bedroom. After getting dressed, I saw Sam sitting on the couch, alone.
“Where’s Gretchen?” I asked.
“She had a photo shoot,” Sam said.
I walked into the kitchen and grabbed what I needed to make pancakes because I wasn’t sure if Lily had everything. “Dude, come over to Lily’s for pancakes; Charley’s there.”
Sam turned his head. “Why is Charley there?” he asked.
“Adam called her yesterday, said something came up, and that he wouldn’t be able to come visit her. She was upset and crying about it, so Lily as
ked her if she wanted to sleep over at her place.”
“I bet she loved that.” Sam smiled.
“We had a lot of fun,” I said as I headed towards the door.
“Hold on a second and let me throw on some clothes,” Sam said as he got up from the couch.
We walked back to Lily’s place, and I set the stuff on the counter. Lily wasn’t on the floor anymore, and Charley was up watching cartoons.
“Hi, Uncle Sammy.” She smiled.
“Good morning, darling.”
“Charley, where’s Lily?” I asked as I plugged in the griddle.
“She’s in the shower. Are you making pancakes?”
“I sure am.” I smiled.
As I measured out the pancake mix, Sam cracked the eggs and put them into the bowl. Lily emerged from the bedroom with a smile on her face.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you two were gay.”
I looked up and smiled at her as she walked over and kissed me on the lips. “Maybe I am, and you just don’t know it yet.”
She hit me on the arm with the back of her hand as she walked over and kissed Sam on the cheek. “Where’s Gretchen?”
“She’s at a photo shoot. We’re leaving tomorrow afternoon for San Francisco. I’m taking her home to meet my parents.”
“That’s great, Sam.” I smiled.
As Lily reached up in the cabinet, Sam grabbed her and hugged her.
“Dude, what the hell are you doing?” I said as I looked over at them.
“I’m just thanking her for moving in next door because if she didn’t, I never would have met the love of my life,” he said.
“Uncle Sammy! Lily is Uncle Luke’s girlfriend; you shouldn’t be hugging her like that.”
“Yeah, Sammy, hands off.” I chuckled.
“It’s ok, Charley; it’s just a friendly hug,” Lily said as she set the plates on the counter.
I made the pancakes exactly the way Charley loved them, and the four of us had a nice breakfast. As we were cleaning up, and Charley was gathering her things, my phone rang and my mom appeared on the screen.
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