An Innocent Thanksgiving

I could completely understand why my parents would be upset. In my shoes, I certainly would be. I knew that there was no way they would just accept this and be happy about it, so couldn’t we wait and have a little happiness for ourselves before we ruined it by telling them what was going on?

Cal shook his head. “I’m sorry. I understand where you’re coming from, Maggie. I really do. And perhaps… if your parents weren’t who they were, to me… but your father is my best friend. I’m close with both of them. I can’t let such a big secret stand between us. I feel like the world’s biggest asshole keeping this from him.”

He reached out and took my hands, and I had the stupidest urge to burst into tears. I swallowed hard, reigning it in.

“I know it’s going to be tough.” Cal rubbed soothing circles into my hands with his thumb. “But if I’m going to be in Fern’s life, then everyone needs to know the truth. We can’t ask her to keep a secret from her grandparents, can we? Or from anyone? She’s going to know I’m her father and if she knows then it’s only fair that your parents know.”

I understood the logic, but… maybe we could hold off on telling Fern, too? Even as I thought it, I knew that wouldn’t be right, either.

Cal released my hands and brought his up to cup my cheek. “The sooner that the truth comes out, the sooner that they can start accepting it.”

Damn him for being so soothing. Damn his stupid charming face. In a way he was right, but…

God, what was I supposed to do with this?

23

Cal

I could tell that Maggie was torn. And frankly I couldn’t blame her. I knew that Mark was going to go absolutely ballistic on me. In all my time of knowing him, I hadn’t seen Mark ever lose his shit, but I also knew he was very close to Maggie and was protective of her, as all parents were of their children.

When he heard that I’d fucked his daughter, been his daughter’s first sexual encounter, and that we’d then hidden it for five years—that I was the father of his granddaughter, even—I had no doubt that he’d unleash on me. I wasn’t altogether sure that I didn’t deserve it.

My only hope was that once Mark saw how much I loved his daughter, how much I loved his granddaughter, that I was determined to be in their lives and to be good… that he would accept the situation. That he would accept me as family in a new way from before.

Maggie sighed and pulled away from me, gathering her clothes and muttering to herself. It was adorable, honestly. Even with her irritated and upset, even with my own thoughts swirling, I couldn’t stop myself from just watching her, feeling completely besotted.

I tugged her back into my chest, and kissed her neck. “You are just so damn cute.”

“Because I’m upset?” Maggie asked. “Because if that’s the case once you tell my parents about us, I’ll become fucking adorable.”

I laughed and kissed her once more before releasing her. “I love you,” I reminded her. “And I love Fern. I’m not going to let anything separate us. I’m not saying that it’ll be easy, but we’re going to make it work. Even if it takes a lot of time.”

“Like five years?” Maggie replied dryly.

I snorted, but it was a bit sardonic. It was a joke but it had a ring of truth to it, after all. We couldn’t erase the time that we’d lost between us, and while we were making up for it… that didn’t mean that we wanted to go through that again with my best friend, and Maggie’s parents.

But I had to tell them the truth. Like ripping off a band-aid. The sooner we dealt with this… the sooner we’d heal. Besides, I knew that if our positions were reversed, I would appreciate being told as soon as possible. I didn’t know that Fern was my child until a few weeks ago. Telling them after a few weeks, after not seeing Maggie for five years, was far different than telling them after secretly dating Maggie for months.

“Do you trust me?” I asked her.

I knew it was a lot to ask, after how I’d treated her before, but Maggie nodded. She even smiled bravely. “I just hope that you know what you’re doing,” she said.

Yeah, I sure as fuck hoped that I did, too.

We got dressed and cleaned up her bedroom. Even with Mark and Violet knowing the truth, there was no reason to be rude. I wasn’t going to make it obvious that I’d fucked their daughter in her childhood bedroom, of all places (hot as that had been). We were just heading down the stairs when I could hear it: the distinct sound of a car pulling up.