Page 72 of This Is Love
Our girl’s face flushes beet red. “Sorry. I didn’t tell him. Just told him it’d be okay.”
My gaze shifts, connecting with my mother’s, seeking out answers. Because I have a feeling there’s something big that I’m missing. “What’s going on?”
“I think it’s time you knew… Eric—” She stops, then shakes her head, distress pouring from her. “He’s not your biological father, Jaxon.”
I sit very still for a count of five, maintaining eye contact. Finally, I rasp out, “Are you joking?”
Her face pales. “No.”
Rya’s hand squeezes mine. Logan meets my gaze over her head, pale eyes studying me but waiting on my reaction before offering an opinion. Smart fucking guy.
But this time, everyone is worrying for fucking nothing. A laugh bubbles up from my chest. “Are you fucking kidding me? This is great news.”
Mom exhales hard, covering part of her face with her hand. “Oh, thank god. I thought you might take it badly, but I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case.”
“Not a chance.” I swallow, letting it sink in. All those times he made me feel less than. All those times I wasn’t enough. Fuck. It’s going to take some time to process, but I don’t think I’ll feel much differently than I do now, especially knowing he’s aboutto get what’s coming to him. “It’s a relief. Can I ask a question, though?”
“Of course.” She looks at me expectantly, a hint of anxiousness crossing her features.
“Why?” I rasp. “Why wouldn’t he admit I wasn’t his instead of making me feel like shit for so many years? Like”—I swallow past the lump in my throat—“like I was nothing but a fucking disappointment.”
Her face falls, her shoulders drooping. She drags in a ragged couple of breaths. Jamie places a hand on her back. That gesture tugs at my heart in a way I wasn’t expecting.
“It’s okay, Mom. I just really wanna know.”
She nods, wetting her lips. “First, he knew you might not be his when we got married. And he said he was fine with it. The older you got, though, the more I think he suspected. But it wasn’t until you had your tonsils out as a teenager that we knew the truth. They drew blood so they’d have a compatible type on standby in case anything went sideways. Your dad saw your blood type listed on the paperwork.”
My teeth grind. I remember hearing some sort of argument while I was still loopy from the surgery. “And that’s when things went from bad to worse.”
“He didn’t want anyone to know. Said it would be an embarrassment if it got out. But I think at this point, we can be done hiding it.”
I nod, lowering my gaze and staring at the grass as I absentmindedly pluck at it with one hand. I’m aware they’re all waiting for me to say something so they know I’m okay.
“Jaxon,” Rya’s soft voice grabs my attention, “it’s okay if you need time to know how you feel.”
I shake my head, exhaling hard. A grin works its way back onto my face. “I’m good. Can I meet him?”
My mother’s gaze snaps to mine. “Your biological father? You’d want to?”
“Yep.” If for no other reason than to know the man I’m actually related to, rather than the asshole who’d torn me down and made me feel unworthy.
A soft smile forms on her lips. “We can definitely talk about that. He’s a nice guy. Just a friend now. But I bet he’d like to meet you.”
Energized, I get to my feet, then turn to offer Logan a hand up. “Sounds good. How about we get dinner to celebrate the team win, all the good news, and Rya’s performance tomorrow?”
Still nervous to pull too hard because of her shoulder injury, Logan and I each take one of Rya’s hands and gently help her from the grass. She laughs, tugging us both into a group hug. “I won’t break, I promise. If I were going to, Millie most assuredly wouldn’t have me dancing tomorrow.”
EPILOGUE
RYA
I’m elatedto be on stage again. It’s the final set of performances for the year, and earlier, we had a big ensemble I was involved in. Right now, though, it’s just me and the spotlight and my pointe shoes.
I never doubted that Millie would allow each of us who were affected by Hazel’s trip to Psychoville the chance to perform, I simply didn’t think it would fill me with such joy.
Drawing in a deep breath, I pirouette, jeté, chassé, and arabesque. It’s all muscle memory at this point. I thought when I was finally allowed to begin practicing that I wouldn’t want to dance this choreography ever again, but I was wrong. It’d called out to me, and I couldn’t help but slip right back into the gorgeousness that I’d first put together and auditioned with so many months ago.
Really, I need to follow through with it. Prove to myself that I was always worthy. That Millie chose me for a reason. So now, I’m back on stage, right where I was always meant to be, dancing with all my heart, and feeling so incredibly light.
