The girls look intrigued and I can tell they’re curious about what I want to talk about, but they know better than to ask.
“Come on, Matthew,” Emily says, taking her brother by the hand. She steers him out of the room, with Erika tagging along behind.
“Erika,” Desi says, “check on Ethan please and make sure he’s ready.”
“Will do.” The girls leave, shutting the bedroom door behind them.
I turn to Desi and tell her to sit down.
“Whoa,” she says. “This sounds serious.” She sits on the edge of her bed, her hands folded in her lap, her eyes on mine.
“I need to tell you something,” I start. “I’ve been debating whether or not I should, but after giving it some thought, I decided you should know.”
“Know what?”
“The truth about Mom’s deception. She’s not coming today, in part because of her phobias, but also because I spoke to her last night and told her I knew the truth and planned to tell you.”
“Okay,” Desi says hesitantly, trying to keep a smile on her face and failing miserably.
“I told you about my father and the trouble he got into thirty years ago and how he ended up in witness protection. I also told you that Mom decided she didn’t want to go. She said it was because she didn’t want to start over again, and because she was mad at my father for lying to her about his involvement with his family, but I discovered some things that made me think she had other reasons for her refusal.”
“Such as?”
“I found some other stuff in that trunk in the basement, stuff I didn’t tell you about yet, like a marriage certificate for her and your father. They were married a full year later than what Mom has always led us to believe, and over a month after you were born.”
Desi looks away, her face scrunched up in thought. “Are you saying I’m a bastard . . . that I was born out of wedlock?”
“Well, that’s how it looked, yes.”
She shrugs. “These are modern times, Mattie. It’s no big deal. I’m sure Mom lied about the wedding date because it wasn’t as accepted back then to have a child out of wedlock. But I’m fine with it.”
I chew my lip, bracing myself for what I have to tell her next. “Except, as it turns out, you weren’t born out of wedlock. Mom was still married to my father when you were born. Their divorce wasn’t finalized until weeks before she married your father.”
Desi looks confused.
“And your father . . . isn’t . . . well . . . he isn’t really your father.”
Desi stares at me, her mouth hanging open. “What do you mean? Did Mom get pregnant by someone else?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes. When my father went into hiding and was trying to convince Mom to go with him, she discovered she was pregnant. With you.”
“So . . . what?” she asks, her face scrunched up in confusion. “She was having an affair with someone at the time? Is that what you’re saying?”
I shake my head. “No, she wasn’t.” I wait, and let it sink in. It doesn’t take Desi long to figure it out.
“Oh, my God,” she says. “You and I have the same father?”
I nod.
Desi lets out a huff of disbelief. She looks at me, then looks away, then looks at me again.
“And to make matters worse,” I add, “he has a comb-over.”
Desi lets out a near maniacal laugh. After a few seconds, she sobers. “Did my father know?” She winces and shakes her head. “I mean, the man who I thought was my father. Was he in on it?”
I nod again. “Mom admitted as much to me last night. He was someone she knew, someone who had flirted with her, and she went to him and told him everything and asked him if he’d be willing to stay with her, to marry her, and to go on record as being your father. She felt that if anything happened, if the people who were after my father . . . our father, figured out who she was, they wouldn’t come after you. She and I would have been at risk, but you, at least, would have been safe.”
Desi leans forward and stares at the floor.
“I’m sorry, Desi.”
She huffs a laugh, but there is no humor to it. “Well, aren’t we just a Jerry Springer show?” she says.
“I have some more of those little vodkas if you want one.”
“No, not now anyway. Though I might take you up on it later. This is going to take a while for me to digest.”
“You realize this means we’re true sisters, not half sisters, but whole ones.”
She looks up at me with a warm smile. “The blood connection never mattered,” she says. She gets up, walks over to me, and gives me a big hug. “You’ve always been my best and only sister, and my best friend.”
“I love you, Desi.”
“I love you, too.” We hold one another for a few more seconds and then Desi releases me and steps back. She glances at her watch. “I think we’re on,” she says. “Let’s do this.”
We leave the bedroom and make our way through the house to the back patio. Emily and Erika are waiting there with Matthew. At the end of the white carpet, I see Hurley standing under the arch with Izzy at his side. The guests are all seated in the white wooden chairs; there aren’t many of them. Several cops are here: Bob Richmond, Junior Feller, Brenda Joiner, and Patrick Devonshire, along with the day dispatcher, Heidi. Dom is sitting in the front row with Juliana in his lap, and behind him are Cass, Laura, Arnie, and Jonas, all of them seated together, with Laura sandwiched between Jonas and Arnie. Also present is Syph, my nursing buddy. Standing off to one side, camera in hand, is Charlotte “Charlie” Finnegan, the PD’s videographer, who kindly offered to step in and manage the picture-taking duties Alison was supposed to handle.
Lucien is also standing off to one side by a podium that Desi informed me is rigged up to play music.
Noticeably absent are my mother and father—Desi’s mother and father.
“Where’s Ethan?” Desi asks the girls, zeroing in on another missing party.
“He’s looking for Hissy,” Erika says. “He got out of his cage.”
Hissy is Ethan’s three-inch-long Madagascar hissing cockroach, one of his prize bug possessions and, other than Fluffy, his tarantula, the only living specimen.
Desi shakes her head and rolls her eyes at me. “Ready?”
I nod, and Desi gives Lucien a nod. The “Wedding March” starts to play, the music emanating from speakers Lucien has set up around the yard.
“Go,” Desi says, giving Erika a little push.
Erika and Emily take off down the aisle with Matthew, who is carrying a ring pillow, walking between them. Desi leans over, gives me a kiss on the cheek, and follows them, carrying a tiny nosegay made up of blue hydrangeas and white baby’s breath. I grip my own bouquet, a slightly larger version of the same thing, take in a bracing breath, and set off down the aisle.
I’ve gone three steps when I see Matthew plop down on his butt. The procession halts as the girls try to pick him up and get him walking again, but he’s having one of his little temper tantrums and he refuses to budge. He throws his ring pillow aside and lies down flat on his back, crying.
The girls look at me for help. I wave them on, and they leave Matthew where he is and continue down the aisle to the front row of seats. Desi reaches Matthew and tries to cajole him into getting up, but he kicks his feet and cries louder. She steps over him and walks up to the arch.
I reach my son and stop, squatting down beside him. “Matthew, can you please stop crying and get up off the ground? Mommy and Daddy want you to be up front with us.”
Matthew gives me an exaggerated shake of his head and starts sucking his thumb in between angry sobs.
“Very well,” I say, stepping over him. “Have it your way.” I walk the rest of the aisle, stumbling once when one of my shoes slips off my heel, until I’m side by side with Hurley.
“Should I go get him?” Hurley whispers.
I shake my head. “Leave him be. I suspect he’ll stop crying when he
realizes it isn’t getting him the attention he wants.”
I shift my attention to Izzy, smile at him, and he winks and smiles back. He looks good, and it gives my heart a boost.
“Shall I go ahead?” the justice of the peace asks us.
“Please,” Hurley says, and the ceremony begins.
We’re only a few lines in when Matthew stops crying. I sneak a look over my shoulder and see him sitting in the middle of the aisle, sucking his thumb, watching us.
We get to the part where we are supposed to say our vows and I get to go first.
“Hurley, I knew from almost the first instant I saw you that you were going to be a significant part of my life, and not just because I was a suspect in the murder we were investigating.” There is a ripple of laughter behind us. “It’s been an interesting and rocky journey to get to where we are today, but I realized not long ago that every decision I made in my life, every fork in the road I took, and every action I’ve ever taken, they were designed to bring me to this moment. To you.” I pause and look back at Matthew, and then at Emily. “To our family. Regardless of what the road ahead is like, regardless of how many more hurdles are tossed in front of us, I know I can handle it as long as I have you at my side. You are my strength, my happiness, my soul mate, my everything. You make me a better person and I can’t imagine my life without you. I love you.”
It’s Hurley’s turn and he stares at me, a wet sheen in his eyes. His Adam’s apple bounces up and down, up and down, and he clears his throat. When he finally speaks, his voice cracks.
“Mattie, you are the most amazing woman I have ever met. You are strong, you are smart, you are kind, you are loving, and you are beautiful. I love your wit, your tenderness, your laugh, your sense of right and wrong, your devotion to those you love, and your determination to always see the glass as half full. I don’t know what brand of insanity convinced you to hitch your wagon up to me, but I’m glad you did. You are my best friend and the one person I want to spend the rest of my life with. I love you with all my heart and soul.”
I’m so glad Hurley didn’t go first, because if I had to follow his speech, nothing would have happened. The lump in my throat aches and my eyes burn as I try to suppress my tears, but they’re tears of joy. And as the JP declares us husband and wife, I swear my heart will burst with all the happiness inside it.
As Hurley and I kiss, I hear Matthew behind us say, “Mama, poo-poo.” I laugh, breaking the kiss, and then Heidi, the day dispatcher, lets out a blood-curdling scream. She bolts from her chair and runs down the aisle.
Brenda Joiner, who was seated next to her, suddenly jumps up from her seat, knocking it over backward. She is staring at the ground as she sidles her way to the end of the row.
“What the hell?” Hurley says.
“It’s okay,” I say, heading down the aisle toward Matthew. “It’s just Ethan’s missing pet. And so our life journey together begins!”
Dead in the Water Page 32