Divorced! Now what?

Chapter 54

Bethany POV



Drake and Saun were at the restaurant I had stopped at to buy takeaway dinner for Dad and me. They were chatting and laughing happily. While I waited for the food to be prepared, I headed over to them.

'Hey guys, how is your night going so far tonight? It is good to see you out and about,' I said with conviction. Seeing them here together made me feel so good inside that they were no longer hiding who they were. I do not know how many know they are together, and I really did not care. They were a cute couple, and I was going to enjoy watching their love bloom.

'Hi Bethany, do you want to join us?' Saun offered with a cute smile. He was genuinely happy to see me, and I could see Drake was a little shocked he had offered me to join them. He was not unhappy about the offer; he was just surprised a little.

'Nah, I am here to get some takeaway, having dinner with my Dad. I just had to come over and say hi.' I smiled at them.

'Can we catch up tomorrow? I have some new ideas for promoting the heart. I want to include the monkey operation and how that is going.'

'Sure, come to my lab in the morning; I will be there most of the day.' My name was called, and I answered Saun.

'Sounds good. I can be there at around ten.'

'Catch you then. Have a good night.' I left them to have their night together. I had a huge smile on my face as I walked the rest of the way to Dad's place, thinking how good they looked together and hoping they would become an official couple. 

Even though I have had a bad hand so far in my love life, when I think about it, all the signs were there, and our love had slowly faded away, as Bret spent less and less time with me and stopped being intimate with me long before I found out why. I still believe in love and togetherness and love to see couples in love. I hope Saun and Drake's love grows into something beautiful.

'Hi, Dad.' I called out as I let myself into his apartment and headed over to the kitchen. Dad and I would eat in the lounge in front of the television. Tonight, recaps of the weekend sports were on, and Dad loved finding out who was out due to injury and who was back. 

'In here, I have everything set up.' He called back, and I changed direction and headed over to the lounge. Dad had plates, napkins, and coffee on the table; all he needed was food. I placed the takeaway boxes on the space on the table and leaned over to give my Dad a hug and kiss.

We ate and talked about our days so far, how well Dad was now enjoying life again, and in a job that was rewarding and using his skills as a detective, he was adjusting to the changes in his life and wished he had taken the step, years ago, instead of staying in a dead marriage because of us kids, he was also feeling a little guilty for not speaking up when he thought something was not right but the relationship between Cynthia and Bret, hindsight is a wonderful thing, letting guilt flood you were not.

'Come on, Dad, you know as well as I do that carrying guilt or blaming yourself helps no one.' I tried to convince him there was nothing he could have said or done that would have changed a thing. They may have just hidden it better in the future, and I could still be stuck.

'Yeah, Yeah, I hear you, and it will take me a little time to put it behind me.' We agreed to drop the subject, and then my phone rang. It was Theo. When the call ended, Dad burst out laughing and took a while to calm back down. I cleared the rubbish and plates while he made more coffee, breaking out into little chuckles as he did.

'I like Hank, he is a good man.' Dad said, suddenly breaking the silence that had developed. It was a good silence, and we never felt the need to fill it with idol chatter.

'You come to my place, and we can all go together. I will grab a couple of cases of beer.'

'Nope, beer is my task. You can make some of the pies, and I don't care if it upsets them; I need to have at least two of the pies, or it is not sports day.' Dad argued, and I was okay with that.

'How about I make extra, and you can put some in your freezer for when you need a pie fix.' I patted Dad on the shoulder as I sat back down and looked at the screen.

About an hour had gone by, and a thought occurred to me.

'Dad, how do you feel about this wedding stuff that the detective was talking about, and that he said Mum was involved too? Did you have any idea? Or is this all new to you, too?' Something about this wedding stuff was grating on me, and I could not put my finger on what was annoying me the most about it all, or was it something about my sister that made me feel something was odd?

'Your mother used to go on holidays with her girlfriends all the time, and I never had a clue that she was playing the same game as Cynthia.'

'Never?' I was shocked. Would I have gone through years of never knowing?

'Something else I need to share with you, and I am not sure how you feel about this.' Dad started cautiously, and whatever he was about to divulge had hurt him. I nodded for him to continue.

'When I heard about your mother having done the same, I had some DNA done; Sorry, Bethany, but I had to know. The results came back today.' He looked sad, and my gut hit the floor. Was he going to say he was not my Dad? I could not handle that.

'You have my looks, hair, and eyes, but your sister does not. She may have her mother's hair and eyes, but she does not have the same complexion or facial shape as either of us. I had in the past looked into our family, trying to find who she looked like, as she was so different. Beautiful, yes, but different.'

'Dad, tell me, am I your daughter? If it proves I am not, you are still my Dad, and I don't care if the DNA says otherwise.' I was almost in tears, thinking I could lose my Dad in all of this.

'Oh, Darling, I did not mean to upset you. You are my daughter. However, your sister is not. You may have shared the womb, but according to the doctor who reported the DNA results, he said you are Heteropaternal superfecundation twins. So you are my daughter, but Cynthia is not.' Tears are running down my cheeks now. At least Dad is still my Dad. Being a doctor, I knew what the DNA was saying: that Mother had an affair with another man during the same menstrual cycle as she had been with my Dad and somehow ended up having two eggs fertilized, which became twins. Two different Dads are not unheard of, which explains why Cynthia does not have a face like any of us. It also meant that while she had those marriages with another man, she had been with them, too. That had to hurt Dad; he may deny it, but it had to hurt.

'How do you feel about that, Dad?' I was here for my Dad, regardless of the results.

'At first, I was shocked, but once I had time to think about it, I was surprisingly okay with it; I was not responsible for her. Her behavior is all because of her mother, who is the only person who would know who her birth father is. I am relieved, too. I had always wondered why, no matter how hard I tried, I could not bond with her like I did with you. It was as if I knew inside she was not mine.'

'I am glad you are my Dad.' The commentator on the television started to talk about our team, so I lowered my head onto Dad's shoulder; he put his arm around me and pulled me close, kissing my head, and together, we watched the telecast. I am happy my Dad is all mine, and I don't have to share him with that spawn of mine called a sister. I may have shared the womb with her, but that is only because my Dad needed me, and I had to survive just for him.

I wondered when Mum started to teach Cynthia about having all those weddings. I do hope all this is put behind us soon.

Chapter 55 - Divorced! Now what?