Justin’s POV

Brian lowered his lanky frame into the uncomfortable plastic chair next to mine in the waiting room.

“How do you feel, Brian? I know you’re glad it’s over. Now we play the waiting game. Are you ok,?”

 “I’m not certain, Sunshine. I keep expecting Jerry Springer to pop out of nowhere with that silly smirk on his tired mug and yell to the audience: Brian Kinney, you may or may not be the father!

Sunshine, you should have seen the look that cute little technician gave me when I sat down to have the inside of my cheek swabbed. She didn’t say a word but the expression on her face spoke volumes.

After she labeled the samples and tossed her gloves in the trash she just shook her head, smiled, and patted my shoulder.

‘Mr. Kinney… and didn’t hear this from me… you should have saved the money you just spent on those premium DNA tests to buy yourself a case of Cuban cigars and splurge on a couple of bottles of top shelf booze. That sassy young lady who was in my chair before you resembles her mom but, Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles…God bless the dead…can see that you are the one who spit that child out. What? I’m just saying.

 By the way, test results are usually available within 24 to 48 business hours but we will put a priority rush on your file to expedite the process. Feel free to contact this office any time after 10 a.m. Monday morning.  Have a nice weekend, Dad!’

“You can’t imagine how badly I wished I could’ve morphed into Rage and used his mind control powers to make her cluck like a chicken for the next few days. Nice weekend? Yeah, right.”

Justin gave Brian a brief peck on the mouth. “Yeah, I’m proud of you Stud, for not biting off her head and stuffing it into one of those specimen vials. People have been maimed for daring to go where she went. Do you know want to know what I think? You’re being so calm, cool, and collected because in your heart you already know the truth. Am I right, Brian?”

“I know that is what you believe Twat, but I say you’re jumping the gun. As for me, I need cold hard facts.” Brian dropped his face into his hands. “I can’t believe this is happening. I need to get out of here so can we just round up the other player in this comedy of errors and hit the road?

God, Sunshine is that really your stomach growling like that?”

I could feel the blush stain my cheeks and ears. “Bri, I was too nervous to eat anything this morning. Leilani went home already, but Bree is right over there in the lobby area feeding the vending machine.”

Brian and Justin watched as the slim figure dressed in a form-fitting head-to-toe black ensemble swayed to the beat of the music coming from her earbuds.

 “She’s beautiful, isn’t she? Congratulations, Brian.”

“Brian sighed exhaled through his nose sharply. “Twat, go round up your crony so we can all get some real food into our collective bellies. Snickers and Coke at ten in the morning is just unnatural and so wrong.”

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Brett’s driver, Mr. Palmer, suggested a really nice diner in the downtown area that served a great brunch. He dropped us off and insisted that we take our time and call when we were ready.

Bree and I were starving so we ordered orange juice, milk, coffee, and stuffed French toast with sides of bacon and eggs. Brian splurged by adding some fruit to his usual his dry toast, egg whites, and black coffee.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as Brian flirted with the totally hot waiter.

 Bree merely raised an eyebrow as she stared at Brian then back at me.

“Don’t mind him, Bree. He can’t help himself. Are you familiar with Pavlov’s dogs?”

“Woof!” Brian barked as he added half a cup of sugar to his coffee and winked at her playfully. “Seriously Bree’ahna, I couldn’t help but notice the tension and mild hostility between you and your mother. You resent your parents…your mom, mainly…for withholding information from you and she resents you for digging up the past…aka me…against her wishes. Do you mind if we talk about that instead of dwelling on where we went this morning?”

Bree nodded as she drained her glass of milk and blotted her full lips with the linen napkin. “Sure, no problem, Mr. Kinney.”

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BREE’AHNA’S  POV

“Now, I don’t want you or Justin to get me wrong because I don’t hate my parents. But I was and still am still very angry and…I don’t know…kind of disappointed and confused about all this.

Lani and I were like best friends. Most of the time she treated me like an equal and Tony…well, he called me his princess and he will always be my dad. But, look… this will make more sense if I go back to the accident my parents almost lost their lives in a little over a year ago. Before everything changed and tore apart our happy family.

I got the call at school to report to the principal’s office. I thought it was for cutting class and hanging out in the senior’s lounge which was off limits to underclassmen.

My grandma and my auntie were there to rush me to the hospital. A truck driver ran the stop sign and totaled my parent’s car. My mom was injured and shook up but my dad was unconscious and in critical condition. He had lost so much blood and there was extensive damage. He was on the verge of kidney failure and if things didn’t improve he would need a transplant.

I must have been in shock because I kept screaming that I wanted to help. Daddy and I had the same blood type and I wouldn’t hesitate to donate blood and a kidney if it would keep him alive.

I told the doctors to test me but, my mother kept saying no. She said that we should look into contacting some of his other relatives to reduce the chance of his body rejecting the transplant. I couldn’t understand why she refused to see that I was the best candidate because I was his only child. He had no siblings or close relatives other than his elderly mother.

Finally, Leilani just put her foot down and insisted that it wouldn’t work and she didn’t want to subject me to all those tests and procedures unnecessarily. They decided to put my Dad on an organ donation registry, I think it was called. The family hoped for the best and prepared for the worse.

After a few days, Dad had regained consciousness and began to stabilize. He wasn’t out of the woods yet but he was doing so much better.

One afternoon, after he was discharged from ICU to a private room, I decided to visit and spend the afternoon with him. I was still furious with my mother and I thought she would not be there. But I was wrong. My parents were talking but it was more like arguing. I don’t think I have ever heard them get heated about anything before.

You see, Tony worshipped the ground Leilani walked on. It would gross me out when he would declare to anyone who would stand still long enough to listen that he would gladly drink her bath water. Eeewwwww!

 But that afternoon as I stood in the doorway of his room, he stared my mother down. He said:

‘Lani, time is up. Bree is not ignorant and she knows when something is not kosher. Eventually, she is going to put two and two together and question why we gave her so much push back on her offer to help save me. So, either you tell her or I will. It is your choice. We are being unfair and deceitful to keep her in the dark. She deserves to know the truth about who she really is so…’

That is when they caught sight of me standing there like a mannequin. At first, I couldn’t make a sound but then all of a sudden the words came exploding from my mouth.

“Who am I? Are you two trying to say that I am adopted? That’s crazy because I look just like the two of you. So, what is going on?”

My mother reached out to me but I stepped away. “Bree, we need to discuss this but not here. Not now.”

 “Please Bree, listen to your mother and…”

“No, you two tell me what is going on right now. I’m not going anywhere. What is the truth I deserve to know? Why were you both so positive I wouldn’t be a good match to help you out, Daddy?”

 I was so upset I didn’t realize I was screaming and out of control.

“Bree, Tony has loved you and helped me to raise you from the time that you were six months old. But I am sorry Bree, Tony is not your biological father.”

I couldn’t think or breathe. “So the two of you have been lying to me for the past 15 years? How could you? Who does something like that? What kind of people are you?”

 “Bree, we are your parents and your mother and I are the kind of people who love you.”

 A nurse bustled into the room to record patient vitals. “Have you all forgotten that you are in a hospital? I could hear you down at my station. Listen, Mr. Frazier is in no condition for such a stressful confrontation. Mrs. Frazier, perhaps you and your daughter should leave for a while so that he can settle down and get some rest.” 

 “Bree, I know you’re upset, we all are. Please let your mom take you home so that you two can talk and get through this. I love you Princess, and I will call you later.”

 “Talk? You guys had fifteen years to “talk to me!” Right now, I can’t even stand to look at the two of you. I’m out of here.”

I tore out of the hospital as if something was chasing me. I knew that my life would never be the same.

Justin handed the teary-eyed girl some napkins from the dispenser.  “Bree, you don’t have to continue if this is too upsetting for you.”

“No, I need to get this off my chest once and for all.” Bree sat up straight in her chair. “I avoided my entire family for a couple days. I ignored calls from my grandparents and my aunt because they all were guilty by association.

Three days later I confronted Leilani and demanded the truth. She told me to go the safe in her office and locate a folder of information marked with my name. The same one I showed you guys yesterday.

I had never seen my Birth Certificate or Social Security card before. I was only fifteen so there was no need for me to have such important documents in my possession to lose or ruin. But there it was in black and white, my full name, my mother’s name, and the name of the boy who was my real father.

Then my mother showed me that picture of the two of you at the party. I remember shouting that you were just a kid who looked young enough to be my brother. When she flinched, I knew I’d struck a nerve. I kept bombarding her with questions.

I wanted to know if you were dead. I wanted to know if you just didn’t want me because you weren’t ready to be a dad. Did you not want to explain to the people in your life the presence of a biracial daughter? When I asked if she knew where you had been all my life, she told me the same story you shared with you and Justin.

When Lani was done, I told her I needed to be on my own for a while. I had always been an independent child because she and my dad had never babied me. I told my mom I wanted to be emancipated and had already looked into starting the process.

I had to prove to the state that I could support myself which wouldn’t be a problem because I already had a job that didn’t interfere with school. I also had a roommate lined up who would share the expenses of a household. And if that doesn’t sway the court, I told my other that I would find a guy who was willing to marry me.

Of course, Leilani wasn’t trying to hear any of what I was proposing. But I shut her down by implying that I would run away and she would never see me again if I didn’t get her full cooperation. So she caved.

It took almost five months before the courts decreed in my favor. I have never asked my parents for a red cent but they contacted Tony’s mom who had her attorneys release a portion of the trust fund she set up for me to help with my expenses.

I kept up my part of the deal by staying on the honor roll each semester since I have been on my own. And I don’t do a whole lot of partying on the weekend because I am usually totally exhausted. Sometimes I felt bad for leaving home, but I needed my space for a while. Do you know what I’m saying?”

For as long as I can remember, my dad he was there for me. Tony had a studio where he worked from home. He showed up for my concerts, arranged playdates and sleepovers for me and my classmates.  He was available every year to be my date for the father-daughter dance.

Leilani would go out of town for business but when she was home on the weekend, it was our time. We would spend the entire day shopping at the mall and eating crap from the food court. On rainy days, she would pull out all her cases of make-up, and we would dress up in her cocktail dress and pretend to be supermodels and stomp the runway. Lani is all about the shoes…fifty-four pairs and counting. Pardon me while I wipe away my drool. All my jealous little friends thought my mom was sooooo cool for pretending not to know that I would sneak into her closet and borrow them without her permission.  

To make a long story short, I like being on my own. I am able to come and go as I choose but it hasn’t always easy because I really missed the three of us and the way we were as a family. I’m just too petty and stubborn to admit it to the people who gave me everything. I’m getting there so, don’t judge me.”

Brian glanced at the display on his vibrating mobile. “Please hold that thought, Bree. I have got to take this call.

Cynthia, please tell me the reason for this interruption of my personal time is related to one of those matters of life and death we agreed on?”

“Yes Brian, it is. I am going to need for you to tear yourself away from Justin and apologize to him for me. You need to be back here in this office by 8:00 tomorrow morning.  Yes, I do know it is a Saturday but, all kinds of stuff is about to hit the fan courtesy of that pain-in-the-patootie multi-million sporting goods account. You are going to have to do some major damage control if that happens.

I am in the process of booking your flight now. Your plane leaves at six thirty this evening, Brian. Please be on it!”

Brian disconnected the call as he returned his attention to his companions at the table. “Sunshine, duty calls so I have to get back to my neck of the woods ASAP and that means tonight. However, as soon as I get a handle on things, I will be back. If any new developments arise, I promise you will be the first to know.”

Justin called for their ride, Brian took care of the check, and Bree was dropped off at her door with a kiss on each cheek from her companions. Then the two men returned to the bungalow in order for Brian to pack his bags, thoroughly ravish Justin, and get to the airport in time for his flight back to the real world.

   T B C