Chapter 53
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
Liam
One of those mail-in DNA kits altered my entire life.
Winola bought a bunch as a fun Christmas gift a few years ago. I swabbed the inside of my cheek and mailed it in.
When it came back, I read the results.
They didn’t mirror the results that Nicholas had received back from the kit he’d sent it months before.
Not one damn thing matched.
I took that to my mother, but she laughed it off as a hoax.
“How can you trust something like that?” she asked. “They must mix up samples all the time.”
It’s plausible.
So I took it a step further.
When Sebastian crashed at my place for a weekend before he met Tilly, I tossed the toothbrush he used into a plastic baggie and dropped that off at a DNA lab in Manhattan along with another swab from inside my cheek.
A trained professional took that sample.
Our DNA didn’t match.
Another visit to my mother followed along with another denial.
She pulled out a photo album filled with pictures of her pregnant with me.
She showed me the dated ultrasound image.
I accepted it all until I went to the doctor for a routine check-up and mentioned the shortness of breath I experienced when I worked out.
He ran tests, and then more tests.
The diagnosis was devastating.
I had a heart condition that was likely inherited.
The fact was that both my parents never had an issue. I asked.
It wasn’t until I got my dad alone and shitfaced drunk that the truth spilled out of him.
The baby they were expecting died during childbirth.
My brothers and sister were waiting at home for their new baby brother to arrive, so when the teenager in the bed next to my mom mentioned that she was going to put her newborn son up for adoption, my parents stepped up.
It was all handled quietly with a lawyer that my dad had gone to high school with, and a check meant to help the teenage mother start over.
She and her boyfriend did just that after they kissed me goodbye and placed me in the Wolfs’ arms.
They went to college, got married, and eventually had another son.
I look over at where Athena is asleep in the chair in my hospital room. She thought her parents fucked up. She has no idea.
“Lilac,” I call out to her, knowing that it’s cruel to wake her.
She stirs.
The hospital gown and mask are gone.
I’ve been cleared to touch the people I love. I’ll be out of the ICU by tomorrow and home by the end of the week.
“Come here.” I lean forward, but the tubes keep me in place. “I want you beside me.”
She stretches. The T-shirt she’s wearing rides up, revealing the barest hint of her smooth stomach underneath.
I can’t fucking wait until I’m given the green light to make love to her.
I’ll keep her in my bed for days when that happens.
“I can’t believe I fell asleep.” She pushes to stand. “When did you wake up?”
I have no clue. I don’t know what time it is or what day. All I know is that she hasn’t left my side.
She told me a day or two ago that her assistant has taken the reins at Wild Lilac. Leanna is her name, and she’s brought in two retired florists to help fill orders. She wanted Athena to stay here, so she’s doing what she can to make sure she has a business to go back to.
She smiles as she approaches my bed. “Your mom and dad went home a few hours ago.”
I nod. They’ve been through the wringer since I landed in this place. I’ve never doubted their love for me. I’m their son in every way that matters.
“There was a man at the nurses’ station earlier.” She tugs on the bottom of her shirt. “Gareth is his name.”
I didn’t see that coming.
Her eyes zero in on mine. With a finger over her bottom lip, she smiles. “He has the same lips as you. The same color eyes too.”
She’s spent most of her life looking for a face like hers, so I’m not surprised she found mine in Gareth’s.
“The nurse told him that only immediate family are allowed to see you.” Her gaze darts to the door of the ICU. “He knew a lot about your condition because he has it too.”
Her hand finds mine. “He’s your biological father, isn’t he?”
I nod, unable to form the words.
I knew it as soon as I locked eyes with him on the basketball court.
Gareth Quillan is my birth father. My birth mother, Deidre, died before I had a chance to thank her for gifting me with a life with the Wolf family.
“I told him I’d text him with an update.” She sits on the bed next to me. “I hope that I didn’t overstep.”
I don’t know if there’s a relationship to be had between Gareth and me, but I want to find out. If he’s open to it, I want Rhys to know that I’m his brother.
“You didn’t,” I assure her with a squeeze of my hand on her knee.
“We’re more alike than I realized.” She reaches for my hand. “Our parents aren’t perfect.”
“We’ll do our best to do right by our kids.”
Her head tilts. “Our kids?”
“I didn’t think I could be a father.” I pat my chest. “I didn’t know how long I’d live before I met you.”
Her gaze falls to the bandage on my chest.
“I knew I needed the surgery, but it was a risk I wasn’t willing to take.” I swallow hard. “The night before I collapsed, I had decided to go through with the surgery. I was set to book it, but fate stepped in and made it happen sooner rather than later.”
She looks to the ceiling. “Thank you, fate.”
“Thank you, fate, for bringing this woman into my life.”
She leans forward to press her lips against mine. “I love you.”
“I love you,” I say to her. “Forever, lilac. Forever and a day.”