Page 14 of Born To Be My Baby

Sean stared at her for a moment, then leaned back slightly and looked at Mina. She stared at her father for a few moments and took a deep breath. "Mom's right. It's time to turn the narrative to what we want it to be." She swiped away the tears on her cheeks and looked up at Boon and Dylan. "You guys ready to get the real story?"

Boon smiled. "You know I am."

Mina nodded. "Let's move this settee to where the interview chairs are. Boon, move the camera around so it's facing all of us. We're going to sit together, the three of us, and tell the world who we are. And anyone who wants to make this a tawdry, nasty thing can go fuck themselves!"

"Mina!" Gloria gasped.

Sean laughed. "Yeah, she's my girl!"

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Sean grinned as Mina prepared everything the way she wanted it for the interview. He was certainly willing to let her take the lead on this. After all, he was a rock musician. There wasn't much they could do that would cause any career loss.

She was a young lady who didn't deserve this to come out in any way other than the way she wanted it. So he stood by and let her direct how this narrative was going to be disseminated.

He glanced at Gloria a couple times, and nodded. He even grinned and he saw the pride in her stance too. She grinned a few times at Mina as they watched her move. This girl was something. She was professional. She was poised, and she was not going to take any crap.

He loved that.

"Okay, Sean, Sammy." Mina looked into his eyes and cocked her head to the side. "What do you want me to call you?"

A smile grew on his face. "I'd like you to call me Dad."

She nodded. Her lips turned up in a smile. "Okay, Dad, you sit here." She pointed to the end of the settee. "Mom, you sit on the other side, and I'm going to sit between you. The settee is big enough for all of us, so we're going to sit together and we are going to tell the world who we are."

She sat down between them, and Sean put his arm around her shoulders. He'd sit there with her, but he was not going to pretend that he was unhappy by this.

And it was fun watching her in her producer role. She was a natural, was comfortable in this role, and she knew what she wanted out of this interview.

She looked at Boon and nodded. "Okay, Boon, count us down."

Boon held up his fingers, "Four, three, two, one." He pointed to Mina.

She started, "My name is Mina Adams. I'm twenty-five years old and the producer of Violet Slyk's television show, Chart Toppers in Music. Today I sit here with you because a very private, unexpected thing happened to us, and we're still dealing with it. It's a strange situation, one that none of us expected to happen. The host of Chart Toppers in Music, my mother, Violet Slyk, has been a single mother my entire life. She's taught me everything I know. She's helped me out in this business. She's helped to train me to be the best producer I could possibly be, and I love my job, and my mother. One thing I didn't know was who my father was. Mom chose not to tell me as I was growing up, an issue that is hurtful, and one that we will be working through from this point forward.

"But today, as my mother and I walked into an interview with the fabulous Sammy Fender, our worlds all changed. You see, I found out today that Sammy Fender, which is his stage name, is my father. My mom and Sammy dated in college for three years. They were in love. And after they broke up, my mom found out she was pregnant. She was angry and hurt by the breakup and chose not to tell my father that she was pregnant.

"Today, a spiteful, hateful, small-minded individual broke this secret publicly, not giving us the chance to do it in our own way and in our own time. But here we are, and we've decided to set the record straight. Also, I'd like to add, that said hateful individual should think back to last week when she signed a confidentiality agreement to get this job. Our attorneys will be contacting you shortly, Debbie."

Mina turned and smiled at him. "Dad, do you have anything to say?"

Sean grinned. She called him "Dad" - and she called him "Dad" on camera. And it felt weird and surreal and so fucking good. He grinned at his daughter, looked her in the eye for a long time, and nodded.

He turned to the camera and said, "While I'm not happy that I didn't know Mina existed all these years, I can tell you how proud I am to meet her and to know her today. And I can tell you that I will be spending as much time as I can with her to get to know her and to make up for lost time. While I'm disappointed in how the news came out and how egregiously our privacy was ignored, I'm not at all embarrassed or sad to tell you, to tell the world, that Mina is my daughter."

He grinned at Mina and the smile on her face was beautiful, simply beautiful. His heart beat so fast he felt slightly dizzy when he looked into her face.

She nodded and then turned to Gloria. "Mom, do you have anything you want to say?"

Gloria smiled nicely for the camera. She was in reporter mode. She nodded once, and she said, "I do. While my reasoning for keeping Sammy in the dark about the birth of our daughter is hurtful to him and to Mina, the news is out now and I'm happy that they are together. And I'm happy that they will be developing a relationship with each other. Mina is a wonderful woman, and yes, I can say that because I raised her, but I had help along the way. My parents were enormously helpful when Mina was a baby. They helped me through everything, including while I was starting my career. There were long nights in bars and nightclubs interviewing musicians, and my parents were always there. Mina was never left unattended, and she was always well taken care of. And she has grown into a fantastic daughter and top-notch producer. And yes, she produces my show, and she does a smash up job with it."

Gloria inhaled deeply and swallowed. "I'm also publicly apologizing to both Sammy and Mina for my silence all these years. That's an issue that we all will be dealing with privately, we hope. After all, can any of you imagine having something like this come out in public without having any time to prepare or think about how you want this to be presented? I would hope that you would give us our privacy as we deal with this. But also, I would hope that you will understand that life happens, and life happened to us today. And don't read and believe the nasty, awful comments made online.

"Yes, I have looked at them. Yes, I have read them. Yes, they are hateful. Look at this beautiful woman that we've created and know that she's loved beyond belief, and she's done nothing to have this type of hate tossed upon her like this. Today her circle of love grew by another whole person and those Sammy has in his life. And I second Mina's comments. Debbie, we'll be in touch."

Gloria turned and looked at him and smiled. His emotions were all over the board. He was enthralled with her presence and her poise. And damn it, she was still a beautiful, beautiful woman. When she smiled at him and looked into his eyes like she was doing right now, he was transported back to all those years ago, all the fun they had, all the love that they made, all the times they spent together.

Mina grasped their hands and held them up for the camera to see. They were united. She froze for a few seconds, then said, "Cut."

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