“No, please Natasha, don’t tell anyone I am here. I’m alright,” she whispers.
“I am not with Joshua. He is out with the boys. I will come alone. Actually I’m with Adrian. We are coming over, so give me the address.”
She thinks for a moment. “I will text you the address. Please don’t say anything,” she begs.
“You have my word,” I reply.
Chapter 17
Joshua
I sit in the restaurant surrounded by my family—the men in my family. We are eating before we make our way to the Lakers game. There’s an elephant in the room and its name is paternity. Wilson and I have not spoken at all about the news that we are not Stantons. If we acknowledge it… then we have to believe it. What does that mean for the only family we know? Wilson and I are on either side of our father and Scott and Cameron are seated opposite us at the round table.
“Boys, I want to talk to you about this news that has just come to light,” my father replies.
My eyes drop—I don’t.
“I do too,” Cameron adds.
Both my eyes and Wilson’s meet across the table and he instantly tears up. My father grabs our hands. “This doesn’t change anything between us. The four of you are all my sons and you will stay my sons. We have been dealt a situation that is… not ideal… but it will only hurt us if you let it.” My eyes rise to meet Cameron’s across the table.
“Fatherhood is not semen… or sex. I think it is raising a son who is a good person, a son I love.”
I drop my head again as I listen.
“Can we just try to forget this news and carry on as if we don’t know it?” he asks. “It doesn’t change anything so why acknowledge it?”
Cameron and Scott nod their heads.
“I’m choosing to ignore this news. I have four sons and nothing at all has changed and I want to know if anything has changed for any of you?” he asks. “And if it has, how can I help you?”
Cameron shakes his head. “Definitely nothing’s changed,” he replies. “It could have been any of us. In fact I wish it was me instead of you two because I think I could have handled it more easily.”
My eyes meet Cameron’s over the table and I smile softly. He would definitely have handled this better than me.
Scott shakes his head. “Of course it doesn’t change anything. You two are still fucking annoying.” He smirks.
We all smile.
I nod. “I would like that,” I reply softly.
“Me too,” Wilson replies.
My father raises his glass in the air. “To the unbreakable Stantons,” he toasts.
I feel my eyes well up as I raise my glass.
“To the unbreakable Stantons,” we all reply.
Natasha
We drive up the street, way off the main strip, and I frown at Adrian.
“Are you sure it’s down here?” Adrian asks the two guards in the front seat.
Max shrugs as he turns to look at us. “That’s the address Tash gave me.”
“Huh,” I mutter as he pulls over to the side of the road.