Chapter 12 - The First Christmas Morning He Had With Them
Christmas morning did not magically turn us into a family.
That was probably why it mattered.
Nobody pretended.
Conrad slept in the guesthouse.
I stayed with the children upstairs.
Felicity left before breakfast after saying goodbye to Margaret and Conrad privately.
There was no screaming.
No villainous exit.
Only sadness.
Sometimes a relationship ends because the truth arrives before the wedding does.
At seven in the morning, I woke to Sophie's voice.
"Mom."
I opened my eyes.
"What?"
"Dad doesn't know our Christmas rule."
I groaned.
Our rule was simple.
Nobody opened gifts until everyone had hot chocolate.
Apparently, Conrad had already been downstairs for an hour.
When we entered the kitchen, he stood beside the stove wearing an apron over yesterday's shirt.
Four mugs sat on the counter.
The hot chocolate was terrible.
Miles took one sip and whispered:
"It tastes burned."
Conrad heard him.
"I know."
For the first time, all four children laughed around him.
Something inside my chest shifted.
Not healed.
Shifted.
After breakfast, Conrad gave them no extravagant presents.
He hadn't had time.
Instead, he handed each child an envelope.
Inside was a handwritten promise.
One day chosen by them.
Anywhere within reason.
No phones.
No work.
No excuses.
Noah chose an observatory.
Ava wanted a bookstore and lunch.
Miles chose a chess tournament.
Sophie said she wanted to visit an animal shelter.
Conrad wrote every choice down.
Then Noah surprised him.
"We got you something too."
Conrad looked at me.
I shook my head.
I didn't know about it.
Noah handed him a small box.
Inside were four school photographs.
Current ones.
Not stolen by investigators.
Given willingly.
Conrad stared at them for a long time.
Then Ava said:
"Mom says photos belong to people who show up."
I had said that once when she asked why we didn't send school pictures to Conrad.
I hadn't expected her to remember.
Conrad blinked rapidly.
"I'll show up."
Noah corrected him.
"We'll see."
Conrad nodded.
"Fair."
Later, Margaret asked me to walk with her.
Snow covered the fields behind the lodge.
She carried a small wooden box.
"I owe you an apology too."
"You didn't forge the emails."
"No."
"But I let Howard frighten me into silence."
She told me that after her letter disappeared, she confronted him.
Howard warned her that interfering would destroy Conrad's career and drag my children into a public legal fight.
Margaret believed him.
"I should have called you again."
"Yes."
She nodded.
"I know."
No excuses.
Another honest apology.
She gave me the wooden box.
Inside was the pearl brooch she had worn to my wedding.
"I always intended this for my first granddaughter."
I looked toward the house.
"You have two."
Margaret smiled through tears.
"Then I'm already behind."
Before we returned, she gave me something else.
A business card.
Warren Pike.
My old divorce lawyer.
On the back, Howard had written:
PIKE KNOWS ORIGINAL PATERNITY TEST.
I stopped walking.
"What paternity test?"
Margaret looked confused.
There had never been a paternity test.
Not that I knew of.
When I confronted Conrad, his face changed.
"What?"
I showed him the card.
He stared at the words.
Then remembered something.
Before leaving me, Howard had persuaded him to give a blood sample for what he claimed was an executive health-insurance policy.
Conrad never questioned it.
I felt suddenly cold.
Howard had arranged a secret paternity test.
Before the children were even born.
Which should have been impossible.
Unless he had also obtained a sample from me during pregnancy.
And I knew exactly when.
At fourteen weeks, my obstetrician had ordered additional genetic testing.
The clinic later told me one vial had been misplaced.
It hadn't been misplaced.
May you like
Howard had taken it.
And somewhere, there was a test result proving Conrad was the father months before he abandoned me.
