Mom gestures outside, I nod, and we walk to the deck to sit at the table.
“I’m assuming you mean… why did it take so long for us to tell you?” Mom asks, and I nod. “It was my fault, Aiden,” Mom admits.
“Callie—”
“No, Mike, it was. It was all my fault. I married your fath… Niall, even though I loved Mike more than anything in the world. I was so stubborn back then. I had to stick with my morals, and I agreed to marry Niall, and so I had to follow through with it. Even though I had cheated on Niall with Mike a couple of weeks before the wedding…” Mom closes her eyes and reopens them with a sigh. “With hindsight, I wish I wasn’t so stubborn and that I went with my heart instead of my head. Things would’ve been so different, but then again, I wouldn’t have your brother and sister so…” she fades out.
“Callie told me she was pregnant and that you were mine. I tried to get her to run away with me, but she wouldn’t. Niall knew she was pregnant, but he had no idea you weren’t his. We both agreed that if we told Niall I was your father, then he’d make sure he and Callie could never divorce. He was a vindictive man, as you’re all too aware. He would’ve fired me, so I wouldn’t have been able to see you. I couldn’t risk it, Aiden. I had to be with you and your mother. I was Niall’s employee, and so I was driving him to work and then spending my days with Callie, taking her to all her appointments while she was pregnant. I didn’t miss anything... when you were born, it was the hardest day of my life. I had to wait outside while Niall got to see you, my son, being born.” Mike’s eyes fill with tears as Mom wipes them away from his cheeks.
I struggle listening to all of this. It’s so hard hearing what they went through. All because of that fucking tyrant I called my father. Niall.
“Callie consulted me about your name. She wanted me to pick your Christian name, and then Niall could pick the rest. Aiden was my grandfather’s name. Luckily, Niall liked it, but he never knew why Callie picked it.”
I’m named after my great grandfather, and then the rest of my name is after a family I don’t even belong to. I don’t know how I feel about that. “So, let me get this straight. You never told me because Mom… you were too stubborn to break off your marriage?” I ask, somewhat heatedly.
She shakes her head. “No, honey, I was stubborn, yes. I should’ve called off the wedding with Niall. So, you’re right, I was stubborn about that. But, as for not telling you Mike is your father, we did that so Mike could have a life with you. Yes, albeit not a father-son relationship, but he would still be around you every chance he could. He watched you grow into the amazing man you are and marry the love of your life. Mike was able to be there for you when Brody and the girls were born. For every step of the way, he’s been there for every aspect of your life, Aiden. If we told Niall you weren’t his, Mike would never have been allowed to be there for anything. Niall would’ve made sure of it,” Mom admits, reaching her hand across the table for me to hold.
I don’t hold it.
I’m still too damn angry or stubborn, I don’t know.
I guess I can see where they’re coming from. But to wait to tell me, even after he died five years ago, that’s the part I don’t understand.
Mom sniffs and takes her hand back, and Mike wraps his arm around her
shoulders.
“So, why after that bastard died did you keep lying to me? You had nothing to lose by telling me or even when I was eighteen? I was legally an adult. I could make my own mind up about who I wanted in my life then. I don’t understand. So, please… please enlighten me,” I plead with my mom as she wipes away more tears.
“I honestly don’t know, Aiden. We should have told you. But not when you were eighteen. You looked up to Niall so much by then. But when he died, we should have told you then. We talked about it and decided we’d never tell you. That you’d been through enough heartache for one lifetime, and that Mike was in your life like a father now, anyway, so it didn’t matter. I guess we were so used to the lie that it was easier than facing the truth.” She sniffles. “We didn’t want to hurt you,” Mom declares.
I tighten my hand on Jeni’s.
“There’s no excuse for us not telling you after Niall died. I’m sorry, Aiden. We should’ve told you,” Mike confirms.
I nod while trying to take in all this new information. “Wait, were you guys having an affair throughout your entire marriage to fath… Niall?” I ask, suddenly feeling infuriated.
“No, definitely not. I cheated on Niall once with Mike. That was when we made you. After I was married, we never went there again. Not that we didn’t want to, but it wouldn’t have been right,” Mom affirms.
“I knew how Callie felt about cheaters, and I certainly did not want to make her into one, especially while she was married. So, I remained her friend even though it was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. I never stopped loving your mother. Not ever.”
Mom smiles and caresses his face. “I never stopped loving you either, Mike.”
“So, what happens now?” I ask, and everyone looks at me.
“What do you mean?” Mike asks with a confused look on his face.
“Well, do you expect me to call you Dad?” I ask, sounding more than a little pissed off.
“No, Aiden, not unless you want to call me Dad?” I shake my head. “Well, then, Mike is fine. Nothing changes.” He smiles
I can’t smile back. I don’t have the strength. “I’ll get Jenson Monroe to go over the legalities of it all. I’m sure that Fath… fuck… Niall’s will will be null and void. So, I need to go over the legalities of where I stand with the business,” I announce.
Mom looks horrified. “Aiden, Niall would’ve wanted you to have everything. Even though he was, well, not the greatest person or father, he still loved you,” Mom confides, as a tear rolls down my cheek.
“It’s not Niall I’m worried about, it’s Killian and Brielle. They deserve more than what they got. They should contest it and get what they deserve. I’m sure they’ll want it when they hear about this,” I say harshly.
“Aiden O’Connell, you listen to me right now! Stop with the damn pity party! Your brother and sister love you. There’s no way they will want to take anything from you. I raised them better than that. And you know they wouldn’t disown you for being Mike’s son. They will love you just as much being a half-brother than if you were their full brother,” Mom berates.