Page 30 of A Bossy Surprise

“What about him?” Dad asks. “I thought you said you couldn’t remember who he was.”

“That was a lie,” I admit.

“Well, we figured as much,” Mom says.

“What?”

Mom shrugs. “We’ve discussed it a couple of times. There’s no way you don’t know who the father is. We are your family. We know you. We know you would never go to some party and get so drunk and sleep with some guy and not remember who it was. You didn’t want to tell us so we decided to respect your wishes.”

“I don’t know how to feel about the fact that you guys are talking about me behind my back.”

Kathleen rolls her eyes. “We weren’t talking about you behind your back. It’s come up once or twice.”

I shake my head. “Okay, whatever. The point is, I want to tell you who it is.”

“Okay… Who is it?” Sammy asks.

“It’s Adam.”

They’re all silent for a moment before Dad says, “Adam. As in Adam Grant? Lucas’s best friend?”

“Yes,” I confirm.

“I had no idea you had been seeing each other,” Mom says.

“We weren’t seeing each other. It was just one ill-advised night.”

“And Lucas has known about it this the whole time?” Kathy asks.

“No, he found out by accident a couple of days ago. Long story short, Adam’s company bought my station. That’s how Adam found out. Then Lucas came to visit and caught us arguingabout Brady. So that’s how he found out. Lucas lost it and punched Adam in the face and almost broke his nose.”

Mom gasps and her hands go to her mouth. “Lucas punched Adam?”

“Yeah, he did. There was so much blood.” I shudder.

“So Adam had no idea about this either?” Dad asks.

“No, I didn’t tell anyone. Not even Adam.”

Mom sighs. “Well, I’m glad it was Adam.”

“What?” Dad and Kathleen say in unison as the rest of us I have questioning rocks on our faces.

“I never said this out loud because I was afraid it might be true…I worried you had been attacked at college and didn’t want to tell us,” Mom explains. “So I’m glad that’s not what happened.”

“That did cross my mind,” Sammy says. “And although I’m glad that’s not what happened, I can’t believe you did this. Brady has grown up without a father when he didn’t have to.”

“Hindsight is 20-20. I know now that this was probably the wrong thing to have done, but I made that decision with the information I had in front of me at the time. Adam was a thrill-seeking, womanizing, party animal. I didn’t think he would want anything to do with Brady or me, and even if he did, I wasn’t confident in his ability to parent.”

“Honey, he wasn’t the most responsible, but Adam has never been a bad person. I’m sure he would have risen to the occasion,” Mom says.

“Maybe, but I didn’t want to take that risk. When I found out I was pregnant I became so protective of Brady. I didn’t want to risk whatever a relationship with Adam would mean. Then there’s also the issue of his family. I hadn’t heard good stories about his dad and I worried that I would be accused of trying to get to his money through Brady.”

“That is a valid point,” Kathleen says.

“When I took everything into consideration, it just made sense to me to leave Adam out of it,” I say.

“Okay,” Mom says. “Lucas has brought Adam back home to visit a couple times over the years. He seems to have mellowed somewhat. Are you more comfortable with letting him be a part of Brady’s life now?”