The Agreement
Part 2
Following that morning, me and Sarah would meet up on the weekends. This occurred over the span of the next year, during which Beth went off to college. While contact between myself and Beth had been limited to less than a handful of times for a few minutes at most, Sarah increased the time I spent with John.
One day after work, I pulled into the garage and cut the engine. Grabbing my laptop bag and the Drug Mart bag from the front seat, I moved through the entryway into the kitchen. Sarah was cooking meatloaf and baked beans, at least that I could smell,which meant we were having baked potatoes as well. John was sitting at the table playing on his cell phone while waiting for the food to be finished and served.
I placed the Drug Mart bag on the table between us, and set my laptop up off to the side, booting it up.
"I've come to a decision." It was an announcement, and Sarah looked over her shoulder at me. We had gone from weekends, to multiple days a week where the two visited. John set his phone down, and looked between Sarah and myself.
"Gimme a minute or two to serve dinner, then we can talk about this 'decision'." Sarah said, before going back to putting the food on our plates. A few minutes later, she had them on the table, and we were tucking in. While Sarah wasn't the best cook, she was passable. Over the past year, she had carved time out of her schedule as the Human Resources Officer at the local laundry service to start getting back to the gym. I too, had made my way back to the gym, though our schedules seldom allowed us to attend together save for Wednesdays and Saturdays.
After the small talk about all of our days, I pressed into the subject at hand.
"So, I've decided John and I are going to take this DNA Test. While it isn't legally binding, I'm hoping if it comes back that I'm his father, I'll be able to put right to things." The two of them stopped eating, looked at each other, then at me. I looked at John. "That is, if you want to."
John, using all 15 years of his life experience thought long and hard for a moment, before eventually shrugging. "Sure. Nothing to lose, something to gain." Logical to a fault. However, Sarah seemed less excited than I thought she'd be.
"Do I have any say?" she said in a guarded tone.
"I mean..." I said looking at her. "Why wouldn't you want to? If he isn't mine, It doesn't change anything." Myself and John studied her, her face moving through a myriad of emotions before she sighed.
"Fine. If he isn't yours, I'll accept that nothing will change."
We continued on with dinner, though Sarah seemed worried. After dinner, John did dishes, while myself and Sarah sat at the table.
"I just don't want him to get his hopes up, and get hurt." She was studying my face. "Or you."
"Neither of us will, I don't think." I said to her, tapping away at my laptop. I was working on a program for inventory control and management.
"Will we break up if he isn't yours?"
"Not unless you become a stark raving bitch over the results."
She glared at me a moment, before huffing. "I won't become a stark raving bitch."
"Good." I said, saving my files, and standing up. "Gonna go brush my teeth, rinse out thoroughly, so that by the time we are ready to take the test before bed, we can and there won't be any cause for doubt."
"I'm almost done. I'm right after you." John said.
Standing there brushing my teeth, I went through the mental maze of John being my son. It would mean I had a lot of catch-up to do. We'd probably need to see some sort of head shrink to help us adjust. Also to probably keep me and John both from resenting Sarah. Finishing up, I headed out of the bathroom, and John went in. I headed to the living room, where Sarah had put some sort of series on the television, something dealing with lawyers real and fake.
John joined us after a bit, and we settled in, with him dividing his attention between the tv and his phone. For a couple of hours, we watched tv, and commented on the series, by the end of which, both John and myself were on our phones sharing memes while Sarah watched the TV. Once the third show was done, she cut the television, and we took the test. Sealing each swab in their envelopes, I locked them in my office safe, and we all went to bed.
