Epilogue
Nick.
Asense of dread filled me as I walked up the once familiar path. Not much changed in five years, at least not anything good. The house was a bit more worn, the yard slightly more overgrown, and any joy I once felt for the place had long since fled. Only Uriel’s presence kept me on point.
Other angels might see Uriel as a ruthless, cold, and aloof being, but he was still the kind, supportive man I'd known as Alex growing up.
If I asked, he'd have done this for me, but this was my job. It had been my dream to one day come home and free Mom, but now that it was happening, I wondered if it was more fairy tale than dream.
Uriel shifted and I realized I'd stopped on the top step. Did I knock or walk in? I doubted I'd be welcome, so best to knock.
Rapping hard on the door, I heard Jacob shout for someone to get the door.
Of course, he couldn't get up. Never mind Mom was probably cooking or cleaning, or doing laundry. Forget his wife was busy taking care of the kids. None of that mattered. His ass was no doubt parked on the couch, watching some sport he’d never played, and it wasn't his job to answer the door.
I heard someone approach and steeled myself. The door swung back, and standing in the opening, an older woman with mostly gray hair, watched us with weary eyes.
“Yes? May I…. Oh my God!” She put her hands on her cheeks.
She looked older than I remembered and more worn down. “Hi, Ma.”
“Nicky?” She glanced over her shoulder into the house. “Why are you here? It’s not safe for you.”
A flicker of irritation threatened to scuttle my hard earned calm. How bad had things gotten that she thought it was dangerous for me to show up? “Don't worry, Ma. I got this.”
Her skeptical expression answered my unspoken question. It didn’t matter, I could handle them myself now. Not that Uriel would let anything happen to me.
“Mom, this is Uriel Chandler.” I turned and he nodded. “He's my uncle.”
She'd followed my gaze toward Uriel, and paused with her mouth open.
“Laura!” The bellow from Kevin Fenton had struck fear in me as a kid. It still unnerved Mom. “Who is it?”
Mom held out her hands as if it would protect me from his temper. She'd done it enough when I was a kid, but I didn't need her help anymore.
“It's Nick,” I said, loud enough for everyone inside to hear. Mom grimaced, but I shook my head. “It's fine. Let's go inside. I need to talk to you all.”
“What the fuck?” Jacob shouted. “What's that faggot doing here? We told him to never come back.”
When we were kids, Jacob tormented me. His cruelty left me angry, scared, and feeling powerless. I used to dream of making him pay for everything. When I learned the other kids picked on Jacob, I couldn't feel sorry for, but I wouldn’t let my anger turn me into my brother.
“Actually, I left on my own and never came back.”
I stepped around Mom and into the house. The room hadn't looked so dingy when it was my home, but now I saw every flaw.
The TV was on, and as predicted, they were watching a NASCAR race.
Kevin stood in front of his recliner, and Jacob was coming toward me from the couch.
Time hadn't been kind to either. They'd both gained weight and had the sallow look of alcoholics.
They were so alike, I wondered how they co-existed.
“Leave.” Jacob pointed toward the door. “No fags allowed in this house.”
The first time he called me that, it cut to my core.
I didn't want or need his approval, but the vile word hurt coming from family.
Five years later, the taunt lost all its power.
Jacob's life was so miserable, he needed someone he felt was beneath him.
In every way that mattered, I'd always been better than him, and he knew it.
“Back off, Jacob, I’m here to speak to Mom.” I kept my voice firm but controlled. A tendril of power tried to escape—something that happened when my emotions ran high—but I reined it in, remembering Uriel's lessons about restraint.
Jacob looked stunned. I'd never stood up to him, and my refusal threw him off. Uriel followed me into the house, and his calming influence filled the room. Jacob and Kevin shifted their attention from me to Uriel.
“Who are you?” Kevin asked.
“The little faggot’s boyfriend, no doubt.” Jacob sounded pleased with his answer, but fear robbed the insult of its usual venom. Uriel was an unknown. Jacob didn’t pick fights unless he thought he could win.
“I thought Nick exaggerated, but I was wrong,” Uriel said, staring a hole in Jacob. “You really are an asshole.”
Satisfying as it was to watch Jacob get humiliated, I came for a different purpose. “No, Jacob, this is my Uncle Uriel. My boyfriend’s in my Maserati parked out front.” Okay, that part was satisfying.
“What the fuck are you on?” Kevin stared at me with nothing close to fatherly affection. “This guy isn't part of our family.”
I'd worried I'd flounder trying to explain things, but they made it easy. “You're right, he's not related to you. He's related to me.”
“Now I know you’re on drugs,” Kevin said. “Saw that coming a mile away.”
I took a breath to steady myself. This wasn't my father, so I didn’t really care what he thought. “Do you remember when I was eight and you demanded a paternity test because there was no way I could’ve been your son? You were right, Kevin. You're not my father.”
Mom gasped, but I didn't give Kevin a chance to turn on her. “And she’s not my birth mother.”
“How dare you insult your mother like that!” Kevin yelled. “Get your perverted asses outta this house before I call the cops.”
Considering the topic, I knew they’d be skeptical. But it didn’t matter if Kevin believed me, I came to convince Laura. “The day I was born, the nurse handed the baby boy to you. After a minute or two, something went wrong, and the doctors whisked him away with no explanation.”
“How did you know that?” She glanced at Kevin. “I never told anyone, not even your father.”
The snarky side of me wanted to say, “Of course you didn’t; you never met Eliakim Grant,” but she didn’t need another man treating her poorly.
“At the same time you gave birth to your son, I was born in a nearby room.
My mother was Ariel Chandler. She'd checked into the hospital as Jane Doe so her family couldn't find her.”
Uriel and I kept it as close to the truth as we could. “Ariel died giving birth to me. Nicholas died before they could save him.”
I stumbled because it still bothered me that I caused Nicholas Fenton’s death.
“We're not exactly sure what happened next.” Uriel moved in without missing a beat. “What we know for sure is the staff switched your son for Ariel’s. She’d listed no family or anyone the hospital could contact.
Her son would’ve been an orphan and turned over to the state.
The staff must've thought it a kindness to both you and the surviving child. Switching the two babies prevented you from having to deal with the death of your child, and they thought it would give Ariel’s son a good home. "
Uriel somehow kept a straight face, but I struggled not to laugh at characterizing the Fentons’ as a ‘good home.’ If Uriel had known how bad they were, I doubt he’d have given me to them.
“That's bullshit!” Kevin waved his hand dismissively. “I took a paternity test. Unfortunately, the little shit is my son.”
Henry had been right about Uriel’s ability to spin a believable story. “You took me to the hospital where I was born. They had a note in the family file in case you ever showed up. They lied.”
“Right,” Jacob said, drawing it out for maximum sarcasm. “Even if we believe this fairy tale, how did you figure it out?”
“First, it doesn’t matter what you believe,” Uriel said.
“My family’s convinced he’s Ariel’s son, which means we accept him as part of our family.
As to how; I have significant resources at my disposal.
I never stopped looking for my sister. About a year ago, my lawyer suggested I take a DNA test. It worked.
The results said I had a nephew. Since I only had one sister, it had to be her child. ”
At the mention of Uriel’s wealth, Kevin looked at me, his eyes opened wider. If I were a truly evil person, I'd offer him a million dollars to accept me and disowned Jacob. Knowing Kevin, he’d toss Jacob out in a heartbeat to get the money.
“I took a DNA test in college for a school project. The company only had my school email, but I don’t use it anymore. A few months ago, I checked it and found the match request from the testing company and contacted Uriel.”
“Is that why you're here?” Kevin asked, looking at me and then to Uriel. “To pay me back for all I did for your nephew?”
My story might be bullshit and he hated me, but if it meant he’d get free money, Kevin would happily accept I wasn’t his biological son.
“Pay you back? You were a terrible parent. Worse than terrible. You let Jacob torment and beat me to satisfy your sadistic streak. The only way to pay you back would be to stoop to your level and I’m better than you.
I’ve always been better than you, which is why you let Jacob bully me. ”
I should’ve toned it down, but they were awful people. Kevin’s suggestion that he’d done anything worth compensation, needed to be discredited.
“That’s enough.” Jacob bunched up his fists. “Get the fuck out, faggot.”
Part of me wanted him to attack me so I could pummel the person who’d been so nasty to me as a kid, but that was my anger talking. It also wouldn’t help me convince Mom to leave. “I didn’t come here to fight, Jacob, but if you come at me, I promise I’ll put you in the hospital.”
Uriel moved closer. I didn’t need protecting, but it sent the message it would be unwise to fight us. Jacob tried to act tough, but he stood rooted in place.