"I don't know what you mean." Mother replied nervously.
She moved her arm from Andreas's grasp and walked to her office. Andreas was right behind her. She went into the office and walked to her desk. When she got to the front of the desk, Andreas came into the office and slammed the door behind him. Mother turned and locked eyes with Andreas. The tension between the two was unbreakable. Mother was the first one to break the connection. She looked away and turned her attention the bookshelf behind him. He smiled at her reaction, turned to the nearby couch and sat down. . "I'm sure you don't." he replied sarcastically.
"You are on the verge of losing both your daughters. Do you realize that?" he asked.
"I don't believe that!!" Mother retorted.
Andreas looked at her in disbelief. "Are you serious? Or are you so delusional that you don't even realize the damage that you're actions have caused?" Andreas replied.
Mother narrowed her eyes in anger, "And what exactly have I done? Raised you? Kept a home over your heads? Protect you from the hurt and heartache of the world? IS THAT WHAT I'VE DONE WRONG HERE?" Mother exclaimed.
"Mother your dramatics don't work on me. You and I both know that that's not what this is about!!" Andreas replied.
"Then what is this about Andreas? Mother asked calmly.
Andreas paused for a second. He looked at our mother in complete awe. Mother continued to challenge his gaze with a prideful one of her own. After a few more moments of tense silence Andreas continued,
Do you realize that your need to control everything has caused a catastrophic chain of events? DO YOU EVEN CARE?" Andreas demanded.
"Of course I care. Do you think I wanted my daughter's house to be burned down by some two-bit whore she befriended years ago? Do you think I WANTED my two daughters to hate each other for almost six years? What kind of person do you take me for?" Mother asked.
"I take you for a woman who loves her children but has used way too many misguided attempts to keep them close to her. You've really fucked up this time Mom. So as I said before, if you want your daughters back you need to tell me everything. Don't leave anything out!!" Andreas replied.
For awhile Mother kept silent. She walked around the desk and sat in her chair. She swiveled the chair around and gazed out the window into the night. Andreas sat patiently and waited for her response. Mother took a deep breath and began,
"I love all of my children. You all are the lights of my life. But Angela, she's special. She's more like me then any of you realize." Mother replied
"How so?" Andreas asked.
"You know that I've always thought and said wonderful things about your father. He was a good man, a good father and a good husband. What you children didn't know was that our marriage began as a loveless one. His first and only love at the time was his first wife Cecilia. She died three years before he met me. He was still mourning her and saw a reflection of her in me. We saw each other for a short amount of time and then got married. I knew from the beginning that I was being used as a warm remembrance of his dead wife and he in turn was being used for security. Within the next ten years I had Maurice, Marguerite and then you, Andreas."
"How could you have kept this from us? You both always seemed so in love in front of us. Was that just an act?" Andreas asked.
"In some ways yes and some ways no. When you spend a good part of your life with someone you learn to love them. I went from caring for him a great deal to loving him. He was my best friend. We did everything together."
"But you weren't in love with him?" Andreas replied.
Mother turned to Andreas and replied, "There was only one great love of my life Andreas, and unfortunately it wasn't your father. Your father and mine's relationship was different but it worked for us. I truly believe that he was happy. When he died he was finally able to be with his Cecilia. "
"Did Dad know about this other man?" Andreas asked.
"Your father knew that I loved another. But everything didn't come to light until Angela was born."
Andreas was taken aback, "What do you mean? What was brought to light when Angela was born?" Andreas asked.
Mother returned her gaze back to the full moon. She watched it glow in silence. Andreas got up from his seat and asked again,
"What was brought to light when Angela was born Mother? Are you telling me that Angela is not Dad's daughter? ANSWER ME DAMMIT " Andreas demanded.
Mother whipped around and answered darkly, "Oh come on, look at her and then look at you, your brother and sister. How can you NOT see a difference."
"You always told us that she took after your mother's side of the family. What else were we supposed to believe?" Andreas replied.
"Really Andreas? I'm 5'10, your father was 6'3. If we both were this height, the people in our family had to be about this height as well. And then think about something else; for ten years your father and I produced four children that are consistent in height, size and skin color. Then all of a sudden there's a short, mocha colored baby in our midst and no one thought there was anything wrong with that."
"Well what did you expect? You both had been feeding us lies about this child for years. After awhile it didn't matter anymore. We began to love her more because she was special. And anyway, Maurice is close to her complexion. We thought that maybe she picked up the same gene he did." Andreas replied
"Well maybe you and Maurice stopped questioning it; Marguerite sure didn't. And fortunately for her, her questions were answered in January 2005." Mother replied.
"Why January?" Andreas asked.
Mother turned back to the window and returned her gaze to the full moon's glow. "That's around the time Charleston Harper died." she replied.
"Sherise's Dad? What does Sherise's Dad have to do with this? Wait a minute.... Are you telling me that Angela is Charleston Harper's daughter?" Andreas asked softly.
