Chapter 50
Josh’s goal was to make it through lunch before spilling the news.
But they were only halfway through the meal when his sister aimed a look his way and interrupted the conversation. “What’s
up with you, Josh? You’ve hardly said a word since you arrived.”
Owen spoke around a mouthful. “And he’s had a creepy smile on his face.”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Patrick pinned a napkin down as the wind tried to snatch it away.
“I don’t have a creepy smile. I was going to wait until after lunch to tell you, but—”
“You and Maggie are back together!” Erin’s eyes sparkled with hope. “I knew it.”
“We’re not, actually, but thank you for the reminder.”
Her expression wilted. “Oh. Sorry.”
“I so hoped she would change her mind and come today,” Mom said. “I thought after you invited her yesterday she might.”
“Let it be, honey,” Dad said. “It’ll work itself out.”
Mia chimed in, “I wanna show Aunt Maggie how I can get in the ocean now.”
Mom offered Mia a smile. “You can show her next time she comes, sweetheart. She’ll be so proud of you.”
“If anyone’s interested,” Josh said, “I still have some news to share.”
“Go right ahead, honey,” Mom said. “The floor’s all yours.”
Josh took a breath, his gaze sweeping around the table. He’d given a lot of thought about how he’d deliver the news and decided
he’d cut right to the chase. “It’s good news, but you might want to brace yourselves because it’s a doozy.”
Dad’s eyes flared with curiosity. “What is it?”
“Tell us.”
“Stop teasing already.”
Josh leaned on his elbows and made eye contact with each one of them. “Mom, Dad, everyone... I have a son.”
Dad’s fork paused midair. Mom’s mouth dropped open. Erin blinked. Patrick frowned in thought.
“Whoa, dude,” Owen said.
Dad lowered his fork. “That’s... that’s not possible. Is it?”
“Honey... how can that be?”
“I know it’s a lot to take in. Let me explain. I’ll start at the beginning.” He told them about the mystery man Maggie spotted
at the carnival. “He was the spitting image of Ethan. I’ll show you.” He pulled up the photo Maggie had taken of Will and
showed it to them. Mom gasped. Erin covered her mouth.
“The resemblance is uncanny,” Dad said.
Josh took them through the ups and downs he and Maggie had experienced as they tried to figure out who Ethan’s doppelganger
actually was.
When he got to the part where they visited Ethan’s friend in Rock Hill, his mom’s eyes turned glassy. “You actually thought
Ethan might still be alive? And you didn’t tell us?”
“We just had to rule it out, and we didn’t want to put you guys through that.”
He told them about finally finding Will working at the carnival and about adding him to his crew. Told them about the DNA test he’d taken weeks ago. Along the way they stopped him for questions.
“This was going on all summer?” Erin said. “I could’ve helped you guys.”
“We didn’t want to get your hopes up. It was hard enough having our own hopes up.” He turned to his parents. “And we didn’t
want to ruin your big trip. We knew you’d fly home.”
“Who did you think he was, once you knew he wasn’t Ethan?” Mom asked.
Dad gave Josh a knowing look. But there was no reason to go into that part of it. “We thought he must be Ethan’s. Given Will’s
age, he would’ve conceived him when he was away for his first year of college.”
“Ethan was with Maggie then,” Mom said. “He never would’ve cheated on her. He loved her to pieces.”
Josh shrugged. “We just didn’t know what else to believe.”
“This doesn’t explain how he’s your son,” Dad said.
“I’m getting to that. So yesterday I got a call from Will’s mom, asking if I could come over and talk. Maggie was there. She
told us that Will was conceived through artificial insemination and later found out the cryobank had accidentally switched
up the sperm samples.”
Mom gaped. “Yours?”
“Mine.”
“What’s sperm, Mommy?”
All eyes darted to Mia.
Erin cleared her throat. “Um, that’s a good question, sweetheart. We’ll talk about it later.” She shifted her attention to
her son. “Owen, can you take your sister inside, please?”
“Oh, man.”
“Now, please.”
He got up. “Come on, Mia. We’re going inside.”
“I’m not finished eating.”
“We’re gonna have a great big piece of apple pie—with all the ice cream you want.”
“Yippee!”
Owen shot his mom a disgruntled look before he slid inside the house, but Erin was too involved in the revelation to notice.
Josh handed Mom and Dad the DNA results he’d printed off this morning. “This is from My Legacy DNA, the company where I sent
my sample weeks ago. These are my matches.”
“‘Parent/child.’” Dad’s voice was full of wonder.
Mom covered her mouth as she met Josh’s gaze. Tears pooled in her eyes. “It’s really true? You have a son?” She jumped up,
dashed around the table. “You have a son!”
Josh stood and enveloped her in his arms. “I do, Mom. And he’s pretty amazing.”
“Oh, honey, it’s a miracle. A precious miracle.”
“It is that.” Josh’s voice wobbled.
“This is unbelievable,” Erin said.
“I talked to him for a long time yesterday. He’s such a good kid: kind, helpful, hardworking, and so smart. He was very curious
about me, about all of you.”
Mom turned loose of Josh and wiped her face. “Well, we need to have him over. We need to meet him. Can you call him?”
“ Now? Mom... don’t you want to let this sit a minute? Take some time to digest it?”
“What’s to digest? We have another grandson. We’ve already missed nineteen years of his life and we’ll not waste another minute.”
Dad flashed Josh a grin. “What she said.”
Erin nodded emphatically. “The sooner the better.”
“No time like the present,” Patrick added.
From the other side of the screen door, Owen smirked. “’Bout time I had a male cousin around here.”
Josh breathed a laugh. Well, Will might as well know what he was in for. “All right then. Guess I’ll give him a call.”
***
Will put the mower back in the shed, thoughts of a cool shower drawing him toward the house. Of all the days to mow, he’d
picked the one with hades-like temperatures. But it was a holiday and he had to take advantage of his day off. Plus, he’d
wanted to stay busy and mowing was good thinking time. He had a lot to ponder—he’d already reviewed yesterday a million times.
Over the past twenty-four hours, he’d spent hours chatting with Addison on the phone. She’d been amazed to learn that their
boss was his father. She’d helped Will sort out his feelings.
After he grabbed a shower he dressed in casual clothes. Mom was baking—cinnamon rolls, judging by the delicious scent wafting
through the house—a sure sign she was troubled. And likely still feeling terrible about the way she’d handled Maggie’s first
visit. He should probably put her out of her misery.
“Something smells good,” he said as he entered the kitchen.
She pulled a pan from the oven and his mouth salivated at the sight of the golden-brown, pecan-glazed rolls. “You’re just
in time.”
It really didn’t matter that lunch had only been an hour ago. “Bring it on.” He sat at the island and watched Mom sweep around the kitchen. She was always busy, his mom. She’d worked two jobs since the divorce and never complained.
She served up a roll on a small plate and set a fork and napkin beside it.
“Thanks, Mom.” Josh dug in, savoring the sweet and yeasty combination. He didn’t come up for air until he was finished.
“Is Addison coming over today?”
“No, she’s got plans with her family.”
Mom turned off the tap and leaned against the counter. She studied him for a long moment. “How are you doing with all this?
Are you okay? You’ve been kind of quiet.”
“I’m good. Just taking it all in, I guess.” He glanced at the cupcakes sitting in a carrier and a fresh loaf of bread nestled
inside a paper bag. “I’m not sure about you, though. You’ve been baking up a storm.”
Her eyes turned down at the corners. “I just want you to be okay, honey.”
“Mom, I am okay. I finally got to meet my biological father and he’s awesome. Are you worried about, I don’t know, losing me or something?
’Cause you don’t have to. You’ll always be my mom.”
Her eyes teared up. “Thank you for saying that, honey. I am kind of used to having you to myself. I guess I’ll have to learn
to share.”
“You’re the one who taught me that particular skill, so I’m sure you’re up to the task.”
She approached the island and grabbed his hands. “I can handle anything as long as I know we’ll be all right.”
“Aw, don’t get all sloppy on me.”
“I can’t help it. You’re my baby and—”
“I always will be. I know, I know.” He gave her hands a squeeze as his thoughts sobered. “You don’t have to worry about us, Mom. We’re good. I understand why you got so rattled when Maggie came knocking. And you eventually told us the truth. That took courage.”
“I’m planning to call your dad tonight and tell him the news.” They’d decided she should be the one to do it.
“I wonder how he’ll take it.”
“I don’t know—but that’s not your problem.”
Maybe he’d be relieved. He hadn’t seemed very interested in parenting since he left. And his version of parenting only made
Will feel misunderstood and insecure. “It’s kind of a sticky situation.”
“Speaking of sticky.” Mom winced as she pulled her hands from his. “Did you even use that fork I gave you?”
Will smirked, then licked his fingers for good measure. His phone vibrated in his pocket—and he did use his napkin before
withdrawing it. He wasn’t an animal.
The name on the screen made his heart skip a beat. “It’s Josh.”
Mom offered a smile, then went to the sink to wash her hands.
His nerves jittered. It was just Captain Josh. Your biological father. He accepted the call. “Hey, how’s it going?”
“I was just gonna ask you that.”
Will smiled at the familiar voice. “Going well. Mowed the lawn for Mom and I just helped myself to one of her fresh cinnamon
rolls.”
“Sounds great.” A pause ensued. “Hope you don’t mind my calling. I was, um, wondering if you had plans this afternoon.”
His chest lightened. “Not really. Why?”
“Well, I’m at my parents’ house—most of the family is actually here—and I just told them about you. They’re beyond excited
to meet you and wondered if you’d want to come over now. I know this is quick, so if you need some time to—”
“I’d love to.” Will couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face.
“You sure? There’s no pressure.” Josh lowered his voice. “My family can be kind of a lot.”
Will chuckled. He was just excited to have a big family. Grandparents. And cousins! He apparently had three of them. “I’m
stoked to meet them. Can you text me the address?”
“I’ll do it right now.”
“Then I’ll be right over.”
He disconnected the call and jumped from the stool, energy zinging through his veins. He was about to meet his extended family.
“Josh told his family about me. They want to meet me.”
Mom dried her hands on a towel, beaming. “Of course they do. They’re gonna love you.”
“I sure hope so.” Will swiped his keys from the counter and his gaze caught on the cinnamon rolls. “Can I bring a roll for
Josh?”
Mom’s expression softened. “You can take the whole batch for his family. Let me find a nice plate to put them on.”