Chapter 14 - Emily decided who Dad still was
At nine, Emily asked a question Victoria knew would eventually come.
“If Marcus is my real dad, was Dad Evan fake?”
Victoria put down the laundry she was folding.
“No.”
“But Marcus made me.”
“His DNA helped create you.”
“And Dad Evan?”
“He was there when you were born. He raised you. He loved you. He was legally your father and emotionally your father.”
Emily frowned.
“So which one is real?”
Victoria sat beside her.
“Both facts are real. But they’re different kinds of facts.”
Emily considered that.
Then she said something Victoria would remember forever.
“Evan is Dad because I remember him being Dad.”
“Yes.”
“And Marcus is biological father because the test says so.”
“Yes.”
“Can Marcus ever be Dad too?”
Victoria did not answer for her.
“That would be something you decide over time based on the relationship you actually have.”
Emily seemed relieved.
No deadline.
No loyalty test.
No adult demanding a title.
Later that year, Emily agreed to one therapist-supervised meeting with Marcus.
Victoria was nearby but not in the room.
Marcus entered slowly.
Emily sat on one end of a sofa.
He did not approach for a hug.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
Silence.
Then Emily asked:
“Did you really hate me because of Dad Evan?”
Marcus swallowed.
“No. But I acted like someone who did.”
“That’s confusing.”
“I know.”
“Did you know I was your daughter when you hit me?”
“No.”
Emily watched him.
“Would you have done it if you knew?”
Marcus gave the only answer he could honestly give.
“I want to say no. But I don’t think I get to make myself look better with an answer nobody can prove.”
Emily looked surprised.
Then nodded.
“That’s fair.”
The meeting lasted twenty-three minutes.
No hug.
No forgiveness scene.
No declaration of new fatherhood.
When Emily left, she told Victoria:
“He’s less scary when he doesn’t act like he knows everything.”
That was progress.
Small.
Real.
May you like
Enough.
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