“That was explained in her diary too. She was considering an abortion, but she’d met this guy who had a bunch of money right after she left me. He was into her and she thought she’d hit the mother lode. Only she found out, he wanted kids. She decided she’d have Tarin and tell him she was his. When she was born, she told him she was premature. The sucker believed the baby was his, and he married her.”
“Jesus Christ, did she ever tell him? Or did Tarin when she found out?” Tank asked him in disbelief.
“He’s dead. He died a few years ago. However, he was no longer with Carol. He divorced her when Tarin was ten. I have no idea why he never saw the damn birth certificate. Knowing her, she probably forged one with his name on it. He paid his child support and alimony and wasn’t a part of their lives after that. She didn’t tell me a lot, but I get the impression life with her mother wasn’t a good one.”
“Okay, I feel for her and I’m pissed off for you. That was a damn ugly, spiteful thing to do, but you don't know for sure. If what is in that diary is true, she might have just written it, so Tarin would find it when she died. She might not be your daughter. Explain how she found you?” Payne added as he frowned.
“Tarin said when she found the diary and her birth certificate, she hired a private investigator. She has money from her dad, or the man she thought was her dad. Apparently, this PI is the one who found me and gave her my address. She came here to talk to me. She thought I should know. She told me she has no expectations. She just wanted to meet me. As for whether she is my daughter, she came here to the hospital on Sunday and we had our DNA taken. They’re going to run a DNA test to show if she is or not. She insisted on it since she didn’t trust her mom not to have lied. Zara told me it will take a week to get the results if they rush it.”
All of us were slumped in our chairs and were shaking our heads and muttering. Finally, Bull looked at Bear. “I don’t know what to say. That's beyond fucked up. I’m sorry, Bear. I know how much you’ve always wanted a family. Now, you find one with Ilara and Hope, then this happens. Man, tell us what we can do to help.”
“I don't know. Just help me convince Ilara not to leave. I need time to convince her of the truth. She won’t even talk to me so I can explain. She’s shut me out, and it’s killing me. I need you to keep searching for Hamilton. We can’t forget about him. He’s still a threat to them. I’m not going to let him touch my family,” he growled.
We nodded our heads. He was interrupted from saying more by a knock on the door, then it opened. Zara was standing there. She looked pale and her eyes found Bear’s. He jumped to his feet and went to her. “What’s wrong?”
“Bear, I need you to come with me. Ilara needs you. We need to talk about Hope,” she told him softly. We strained to hear her. Her face had such a serious look on it. She took his hand, and they stepped outside. We all got up and followed them. “She’s going to be upset. She told me not to involve you, but she’s going to need you. She might yell and get physical. I need you to stay strong. Okay?”
“I will. Tell me what’s wrong with Hope.” He practically begged her.
Zara took a deep breath then answered, “She has leukemia, Bear. That's what’s causing her fever and abnormal white count. I’ve been praying that wasn’t it, but I suspected. I didn’t want to worry you both unnecessarily because it could have been something else.”
I saw his knees go weak, and I grabbed him from behind to hold him up off the damn ground. “W-what does that mean for her? Does she need chemo or something else? What’s her prognosis?” he whispered. I was afraid to hear what she’d say.
“We’re about to talk about that. Come on, let’s go in. Are you ready?” After a couple of seconds, he nodded and followed her into Hope’s room.
The rest of us stood there in shock. Bull gestured for us to go back to the conference room. He shut the door, walked over to his chair, and slumped into it. “Jesus Christ, that’s fucking unbelievable. This makes this even more important that they get their issues behind them. They’re going to need all the help they can get.” He kept talking, but I zoned out.
I was stuck on the news about Hope and Tarin. On the one hand, the thought of little Hope having leukemia seemed surreal. She’d have to have chemo and there was no guarantee that it would work. I wondered what the stats were on kids recovering from it. I thought that was a fucking cruel joke for God to play. After all these years, Bear found someone. He was going to have a family and be a father, something he’d always wanted. We knew his story. He’d given up on that ever happening.
I knew God wasn’t always the loving spirit people liked to think he was. God could be cruel and vengeful. I’d learned that early and the hard way. Praying didn’t always get you what you wanted. Sometimes, you had to go the distance on your own. To have this happen to anyone, let alone Bear, was not a loving God in my book.
Then my thoughts went back to what Bear had told us about Tarin. She could be his daughter! I hadn’t seen that one coming. Thinking about it, her hair was the same color as his and her eyes were a paler blue than his. There was something around her mouth and eyes that looked like him. I didn’t know what her mom looked like. If she looked like Tarin, she would have been beautiful.
I tried to not let the excitement I felt inside grow. We still had to find out if she was really his daughter. Even if she was, what did that mean? Would she be staying around to be a part of his life? Would she become part of our Warrior family? Would I get a chance to get to know her? I wanted to know if she was like Bear or her horrible, lying mother. I was glad that she was the one to suggest the DNA test. If it was negative, then it was her mom who lied, not Tarin.
However, her being Bear’s daughter would open a whole other can of worms. If I wanted to make something happen between us, I had to be careful and make sure I didn’t piss her newly discovered father off. Being his club brother didn’t protect me from being beaten or killed if I fucked with his daughter. He’d only accept us being together, if that happened, if it was a serious relationship.
Before I did anything or got caught up in that idea, we needed to make sure we gave whatever Bear and Ilara needed. Hope was the priority here. Once that was done, I could think about what to do about Tarin. I’d do some checking into her background and see if I could find anything that stood out about her. Did her mom really recently die? First, I’d have to find out her full name. Tarin was unusual, but not enough to go on without knowing where she was from or her birth date. I had to find a way to get that out of Bear without raising his suspicions.
I tuned back in when Bull stood and told us we could go. I went with my brothers. We were going to wait in the waiting room and see what Bear or Zara would come tell us. Even if I didn’t always think God listened or answered prayers, I still sent one up to him. Please, God, don’t let this sweet little girl die. She’s the heart of her momma and my brother. Bear will never be the same if you do. They both deserve happiness after the hell they’ve been through. Make this a happy ending, please.