Page 44 of Bringing Home the Bacon
“God, Bacon. I’m so sorry you went through all that.”
I try to make light of the situation. “I’m sorry that you have a baby daddy with daddy issues!”
She chuckles good-naturedly beside me, but I can sense her unease with everything I just told her.
“Hey.” I tilt her chin up to look at me. “I wanted to give you the whole story because—as you well know by now—honesty is important to me. But you have nothing to worry about.” I pause. “I saw this news story once. It was about these two brothers. They grew up in the same home. Same dad. This dad was bad news. Constantly in trouble with the law. You name a crime, this guy committed it at some point. Fast-forward a few decades and one brother grew up to be just like him—always struggling, always going down the wrong path. The other brother stayed away from drugs, studied hard, and got a good job. Eventually, that brother started a family and took excellent care of his wife and kids. This news segment interviewed the brothers separately and asked them the same question: ‘How do you explain the way your life has turned out?’ And the wildest thing happened. They answered the question in the same way: ‘How else could my life have turned out with the father I had?’”
“Hmm,” she says softly.
I could be imagining it, but I swear her expression goes cloudy at that.
“I need you to know I’m the second guy, Colleen. I’m going to be a great father not in spite of the bad example I was given but because of it.”
“Oh my god, we’re here,” she says, her spine going ramrod straight.
The bus pulls into a dirt parking lot beside a small gas station. Piles of snow surround the lot, and about a dozen cars idle, presumably waiting to pick up friends and family members like us visiting from the city.
We descend the steep steps and are immediately greeted by a young woman in red-and-white-striped pajamas and a fluffy green robe. It’s five in the afternoon, so either she’s very late getting her day started or she’s an early-to-bed kind of gal.
“Diane, what the hell are you wearing?” Colleen asks.
“Holiday jammies,” the woman says matter-of-factly. “Is this not something your family usually does?”
“Never, no.” Colleen shakes her head.
“Interesting.” Diane cocks her head to the side, then snaps back to the moment. “Hi! You must be?—”
“Yes, yes,” Colleen jumps into action. “Let me introduce you. Diane, this is my—This is Bacon. Bacon, this is Diane. Did I mention that Diane is dating my twin brother, Sam?”
“You did.” I smile and offer my hand to Diane. “Hi. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for the ride.”
She gives my hand a firm shake. “Nice to meet you too! And no problem at all! I think Colleen figured I was the most neutral party possible to greet you.” She bows slightly. “Consider me Switzerland.”
“Am I about to walk into a war zone?” I ask with a nervous laugh.
“Everything will be fine,” Diane says with a tight smile and pats me on the back.
Oh boy.
Here goes nothing.
Chapter 15
Colleen
When we pull up to Bedd Fellows Farm, my brothers’ trucks are all parked in a row. Every window in the house is lit. Sam stands in the doorway, then immediately disappears from view when we approach.
I pull Diane to the side as Bacon removes our bags from the trunk.
“What is this, an ambush?”
“Consider it a welcome,” Diane says diplomatically.
“They could at least wait for us to get settled before they descend.”
“Don’t worry. Gran gave quite a speech this afternoon. They will all be on their best behavior, and they know their only job is to offer you and your baby daddy encouragement and support.”
Bacon joins us with the bags.
