Diesel drove beside her in a prickly quiet that was making both of them uncomfortable. Sonya wanted to scratch her skin then Melanie’s eyes out.
Chapter Four
Who’s Your Daddy?
It was snowing and Sonya was biting her nails. She was in her knee length socks and an old sweatshirt that had belonged to her father. She took the phone and a mug of hot chocolate and waddled to the back porch. The snow melted on her face but she didn’t mind. Her body temperature was so high the entire winter had been a very pleasant affair.
She sipped and considered what she was about to do. Diesel’s birthday was in three days and she needed to get this done now if she wanted Diesel’s father at the party. She stiffened her shoulders and dialed. She bit her lip, her eyes screwed in concertation.
“Hello?”
“Hi, may I talk to Andrew Wake please?”
“Speaking,” the voice was self-assured and deep.
“Oh,” Sonya felt stupid calling up a man and asking him, hey did you have sex with Martha Cousins in the late 70’s?
“May I ask who’s calling?” Andrew asked politely.
“My name is Sonya Blackpaw,” she said.
“And how may I help you Ms. Blackpaw?” Andrew sounded friendly enough and Sonya felt encouraged.
“I’m a relative of Martha Cousins of Albany,” Sonya paused. Usually at this point the men had professed they hadn’t known any Martha, or if they had she had been an aunt, a second cousin or their third grade teacher.
“Oh,” the man said in guarded tones. “And how is Martha?”
“I’m sorry,” Sonya had to take a minute to tamp down the flood of feelings that was erupting somewhere in the region of her groin. “You knew her?”
“Well, yes, Martha Cousins and I dated for a while in ’79. Why is she trying to contact me after so long?”
“She isn’t,” Sonya said and had to kick herself for sounding like such a fool. “I mean she didn’t ask me to find you, her son did. Mr. Wake, I’m afraid Martha wasn’t very honest with you.”
“She had a baby?” he asked.
“Yes,” Sonya said carefully, “A Shifter.”
“She wouldn’t have liked that,” the man laughed grimly.
“She didn’t,” Sonya said.
“So what is this regarding?” Andrew asked, “My son wants to see me now? How can I even be sure he is my son?”
“I can’t say,” Sonya said. “None of us can because Martha has long severed ties with Diesel and he is too afraid to find you,” Sonya bit her lip.
“So he isn’t trying to find me,” he said.
“He’s too afraid,” Sonya said quickly. “If you had been rejected by your mother would you be open to other parental relationships or afraid of them?”
Andrew Wake sighed at the other end of the line.
“And who are?” he asked finally. “Are you his wife?”
“His girlfriend,” she said. “We’re having a baby and I just felt that Diesel needed to connect with his father as well.”
There was a longer pause then he finally said.
“I have a family now,” he said. “Grown men. A grandkid too. I have a wife and she won’t be pleased that I had an illegitimate son tucked away somewhere.”
“I understand,” Sonya said, disappointed.
“Let me talk to them,” he said. “Give me your number. Let me talk to them and I’ll get back to you.”
“Okay,” Sonya said eagerly. She recited her number, confirmed that he had the right one and hung up. She hugged the phone to her ample chest thinking about the birthday three days from now and if Andrew came… she shook her head to get it out of the clouds.
~*~
Melanie clambered up the hillside to stand beside Diesel at the summit. She observed him looking at the track marks in the sodden earth. It had been snowing all day. The Tyler family had lodged a missing report. Their son, Henry, had gone shifting last night but never made it home. He was a WereWolf and still new to it. His father usually accompanied him with every shifting but had been out of town last night and Henry had gone on his own.
Melanie was bored. She stifled a yawn but followed Diesel deeper into the woods. The wood smelled of pine and snow, the smell pure and fresh in her nose. The sky was stark and grey and the gloom got deeper as they progressed. If the Tyler boy was alive he’d soon be dead of exposure.