The Mccallum Legacy

"Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Gabi, happy birthday to you," mom, dad, Georgy, and I sang.

Gabi was smiling in her highchair clapping her little hands together. My baby girl was a year old, and in six months was going to be a big sister.

Georgy placed the smash cake in front of Gabi. Gabi looked down at it and then looked at us.

"C'mon baby," I said to her as I smiled at her.

She touched the cake and some icing got on her fingers. I took her fingers and pushed them in her mouth. When she tasted the icing her little eyes lit up as she looked at me. It was all over then. She reached down and plunged her little hand into the cake and grabbed as big a handful as her little hand could hold. Georgy and mom took so many pics. My favorite of all the pics was the one of Gabi trying to shove cake in my mouth. She missed my mouth so many times I had icing all over my face before she actually got it in my mouth.

Mom and Dad figured the reason that Gabi called me Da-da was because outside of Dad I was really the only consistent male figure she'd been around. I knew I was going to have sit down and tell mom and dad the truth. I felt that I owed that to them. Especially considering that Georgy was now pregnant with twins and I had made the decision to be with her.

I told Georgy that when I returned home, I would sit down with Christa and tell her what I had decided. I promised her I would not share what was going on with us, but that I had met someone I wanted to be with. I wasn't sure just how I would broach it with Christa.

After the party was over, I drove mom and dad back to their house. I decided that maybe today was actually the best day to tell them the truth. So when we got to their house I came in with them.

"Are you staying for a while?" mom asked.

"Um, yeah. I wanted to talk with you and dad about something if that's alright," I said to her.

"Sure. Is everything okay?" she asked with that motherly concern in her voice.

It didn't matter that I was 42 years old, mom still worried about her kids.

"Yeah, everything's okay."

"Okay," she said as she carried two cups of coffee into the living room for her and dad.

Dad was sitting in his easy chair reading the paper.

"Jerry," mom said, "Bryce wants to talk to us."

Dad looked at me over his newspaper, his eyebrows raised.

Take a deep breath I told myself as I sat down on the couch opposite mom.

"I wanted to talk to you about Gabi," I started.

Mom and dad both smiled. They adored Gabi and loved having her so close by.

"Dad, do you remember when Georgy first told you that she was pregnant and you told me that she wouldn't share with you who Gabi's father was?"

Dad's eyes narrowed as he looked at me.

"Yes," he said cautiously.

"I know who Gabi's father is," I said.

Mom and dad were both looking at me.

"Where are you going with this?" Dad asked.

My head dropped as I prepared myself to tell them. But before I could, mom said quietly.

"You're her father aren't you?"

My head popped up and my eyes were wide as I looked at mom.

"Amelia," my father started, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Mom looked at Dad, "Bryce is Gabi's father."

I sat there dumbfounded and speechless.

My father looked at me and then back to mom. You would have thought mom had two heads the way dad was looking at her.

"Bryce?," dad said, "Is what your mother said true? Are you Gabi's father? Her actual father?"

I could hear the disbelief in Dad's question.

"Well, of course he is Jerry," mom interrupted. "Think about Gabi. She looks so much like both Bryce and Georgy."

Dad sat there staring at me. I could see his eyes filling with anger.

I finally found my voice.

"We didn't plan for anything of this to happen," I said. I could hear the pleading in my voice.

"You son-of-a-bitch!!!! How could you?" Dad shouted as he stood up. There was no doubt now he was angry. He stepped towards me.

"Jerry, calm down," Mom told Dad as she stood up between the two of us.

"I will NOT calm down! You bastard! You took advantage of your sister. Your SISTER!", he yelled.

I cringed. I knew this wasn't going to be easy, but I wasn't prepared to deal with it yet either.

"Dad, it wasn't like that," I pleaded.

"Get out! Get the fuck out of my house you god damned pervert!" Dad yelled.

Right about then, my phone rang. It was Georgy. Mom and Dad both looked at me as if to say, 'are you going to answer it."

"Hey Squirt," I said with a ton of apprehension in my voice.

"Bryce? What's wrong?" she asked with concern in her voice.

"I'm talking with mom and dad about Gabi."

"You god damned right he is," dad said loud enough for Georgy to hear.

The line momentarily went quiet, and then Georgy said,

"They know, don't they?"

"Yes," was all I could say.

Dad just glared at me. I knew I needed to leave before I made this situation any worse than it already was. Abruptly, Dad stormed out of the room without looking at me. "I want him OUT," he said to mom as walked out.. I looked at mom with tears in my eyes.

"I'm sorry mom."

Mom came over to me. She put her arm around me and pulled me close to her.

"Something told me you were Gabi's father," mom said.

"You suspected it?" I asked through my tears.

"Yes, but I didn't want to believe it. That's quite an accusation to level at someone when you don't know for certain."

"I know you're disappointed and upset with me," I said, resigned to the fact that there was no reconciling this with my parents.

"No, I'm neither disappointed nor upset with you. Look at me son," mom said.

I looked at her. She kept eye contact with me as she said,

"I don't know what happened or is happening between you and Georgy. But it has always been obvious to me that Georgy loves you. Maybe even more than I understood. But whatever happened between you two, as long as it was consensual, is no one's business but the two of yours."

My eyes widened and I had to blink a couple times as I felt the tears coming again. Mom caressed my cheek.

"It's okay son."

I couldn't hold the tears back. Knowing mom was there to support me and Georgy meant the world to me. But also knowing that Dad was angry and more than likely felt betrayed by me. I'm Georgy's older brother. I'm supposed to be her protector. Big brothers protect their little sisters. I don't think Dad will ever understand that I want to be her protector. I will protect her as her brother, but also as a man. A man who loves her.

Right about then we heard the front door unlock and Georgy, holding Gabi came walking in the door. She looked anxious. She took one look at me and mom and saw the tears streaming down my face. She made her way over to me and mom. Gabi got excited when she saw me and reached for me, "Da da, Da da." I reached for her and took her from Georgy's arms.

Georgy hugged mom.

"Go find your dad," mom said. "I think he is in the backyard."

Georgy looked at me and then went towards the kitchen to go out the back door.

Gabi grabbed at my cheeks and babbled. As I looked at my daughter I couldn't feel anything but love for her. She represented so much. I remember Georgy telling me in the beginning that she had envied Christa because she wanted to be all that Christa was for me, including the mother of my children. Gabi represented the child Georgy wanted with me. The twins she is presently carrying are representative of that as well. Gabi is my only daughter. Of course I'm proud of my sons, who wouldn't be. But I think down in the heart of most men they want a little girl who is going to be a daddy's girl. Gabi has had me wrapped around her little fingers since the day she was born. Having Dad angry with me is a price I will have to bear. But I'm going to be there for my daughter. She means the world to me.

Mom told me to stay and that she would handle Dad.

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Mom was playing with Gabi when Georgy and Dad came back into the front room. Georgy was smiling at me. She gave me a sly wink that mom and dad didn't seem to see. I hoped that was a good sign.

"Bryce," dad said to me.

"Yes?" I replied.

"Let's go have a beer." It was more of a statement rather than a question.

"Sure," I said. "I'll drive. Where do you want to go?"

"O'Leary's," sounds fine.

I got up from the couch. Mom handed Gabi to me. I hugged and kissed her and then handed her back to Mom.

"I'll take Gabi home, "Georgy said to me.

"I'll see you when you get back," she said with a sad smile on her face.

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Dad and I sat in a corner booth at O'Leary's. I drank an IPA while dad had a Lager.

"Whereas I won't say I'm thrilled about this," Dad began.

"Your sister clearly loves you. Loves you in a way I never would have imagined. She wants nothing but your love and your happiness."

I nodded and let him continue to speak.

"I'm aware now that I am about to be a grandfather again, but to twins. So the two of you have given me three grandchildren. But even more importantly, you two now have three children. Which begs the question. Georgy wouldn't answer this for me. She said that was up to you. What about Christa and the boys? You have a wife and two sons. What do you plan on doing Bryson?"

Dad never called me by my full name unless it was serious, which this obviously was.

"Well, if I am being completely candid with you Dad, I want to be with Georgy. I want to raise our children together. You know how Grandma left me as the executor of their estate? Well, I'm going to move Georgy and the kids into Grandma and Grandpa's old house. We don't need the full 200 acres. I will sell part of it off. With you and my uncle's permission, I will use some of the money to set Christa and the boys up after our divorce is finalized. I know it's going to hurt them, the boys especially. But I feel I am responsible for putting Georgy in this position and I can't leave her to raise three young children on her own."

Dad interjected, "No one is blaming you Bryce. Georgy explained everything to me. Whereas you SHOULD have said no to her when she came in the bathroom,"

My mouth fell open.

"YES, she told me what happened. As I was saying, you should have said no, but as a man, not your father, I can partly understand why you didn't. Don't think I'm condoning this in any way though.

Dad and I talked for about an hour and a half. By the time we concluded, our relationship had been semi-mended. Dad would need time to wrap his mind around me and Georgy in a relationship, but he said he would try to with time.

Right now I just wanted to go home and make love to Georgy. I needed her right now. I want to be in her arms. I want to look in those beautiful eyes that reflect nothing but love for me.

I will be returning to what awaits in Denver soon enough.