Page 192 of Unexpected Heroine

I don’t think that’s a good idea.

Lyin’ Snake:

Whatever you want is fine with me, sugar bear. Last thing I want to do is make anything harder for you.

Sugar Bear:

Don’t try to be nice to me.

Lyin’ Snake:

Do you want me to be mean to you?

Sugar Bear:

Enough flirting. I have some questions about my father.

Lyin’ Snake:

What do you want to know?

Sugar Bear:

How do you know he’s my father?

Lyin’ Snake:

His name is listed on a birth registration form your real mother filled out in the hospital. She wanted him on the birth certificate, but since she was unmarried, your father would have needed to come forward and make a paternity claim before being added. He was deployed at the time, and I suspect he had no idea she was even pregnant. The corrected registration form was submitted after your mother passed away, and it didn’t list him. Only her. When your grandparents legally adopted you, a new birth certificate was created. When I did a deep search to find any skeletons in Big Al’s closet, that’s when I found it.

Sugar Bear:

My grandparents had a fake birth certificate made with their names on it?

Lyin’ Snake:

No. It’s legit. It happens with adoptions in most cases.

Sugar Bear:

Do you have any idea why Papa told me that my father died in the war?

Lyin’ Snake:

No, sweetness. I don’t know why. You could ask your mother. More than likely, she’s the only one who knows.

Sugar Bear:

Next question. Is there any chance my father led my mother to believe that he died?

Lyin’ Snake:

. . .

Sugar Bear:

Hang on, that didn’t come out right.

Sugar Bear:

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