Page 85 of Heartache & Playdates
“I already knew her. She’s one of my new interns.”
“Holy fuck!” Nick exclaimed again.
“Shh,” I hushed him again.
At Nick’s second outburst, Penelope stirred, and Alex patted her back to settle her as he asked, “Did she know you were her father?”
I nodded. “She found out a few months ago. She left a job at Google to apply for the internship. She didn’t say anything in the interview or the first day she was there. I figured it out on Tuesday and went to see her after work.”
“Wait. Start from the beginning,” Alex instructed.
I explained the entire story to them, from the beginning. I told them everything, including Peyton seeming upset at me that I’d spoken to Lina without her and that the two of them were having dinner tonight. After telling her, she’d been quiet and I could tell that she wasn’t happy that I’d gone to see our daughter without her.
“Is Peyton still mad at you?” Nick asked, after I finished.
“I don’t know.” I shrugged.
“She’s just scared. And hurt,” Alex explained.
Nick shot him a look. “How do you know?”
“All anger is just hurt and fear.”
Nick just stared at Alex like he was full of shit. “Okay, Yoda.”
I sighed. “If that’s the case, I don’t know what she’s scared of. Lina isn’t upset at us for not keeping her. She had a great childhood and was honestly just curious about meeting her birth parents.”
“She’s probably scared because for all these years she’d had this secret. And even though that was a burden, it was still hers. Now, it’s not just hers anymore. That’s got to feel scary,” Alex hypothesized.
“When didyouget so fucking wise?” Nick threw another piece of popcorn in the air and caught it.
“I went back to counseling.”
After Alex lost his wife and son tragically, he’d gone to a few sessions with a therapist, but stopped. Nick and I had both encouraged him to continue, but he’d been in a dark place and hadn’t wanted to get help.
Our faces must have shown our surprise because Alex kissed Penelope on the top of the head before explaining, “I need to be the best dad and husband I can. That means dealing with my shit.”
“Good, man.” Nick smacked the back of his shoulder. “I’m glad.”
“Yeah, that’s great,” I agreed.
“Speaking of dealing with your shit,” Nick pivoted toward me. “Does this mean that you and Peyton can finally be together? She said the reason why she’d kept her distance was because of the secret. Well, secret’s out.”
I couldn’t deny I’d thought the same thing. “When I went to go see her yesterday to tell her I’d found Lina, Trent was there.”
“Who’s Trent?” Nick asked.
“The guy that she’s been seeing for ten years,” Alex explained before turning his attention back to me. “You met him?”
“Sort of.”
“So they’re still together?” Nick clarified.
“Yeah, I think so. She introduced me as a ‘parent of one of her students’ and told him we had a meeting.”
Nick sucked air through clenched teeth as he cringed. “That’s brutal, bro.”
“Well, you are a parent of one of her students,” Alex reasoned.
