Page 110 of Tangled Emotions

They ran off and I looked at her. “I’m sorry, I just …”

“No. No.” She shook her head and waved her hands. “It’s fine. You ordered a lot of food.”

“But this is our date.”

She threw her head back. “With a kid?”

I sat back. “You’re testing me.”

“Not really.” She loaded up three plates for the kids. “More like watching you.”

The boys argued as they came back. “Hey, hey, guys, c’mon, settle down.”

All three sit. Peter looked confused. Matt and Alex were both mad.

“What gives?” Edie gave them all a mom look.

“Mom, Alex said his dad is my dad.”

Shit. I wasn’t prepared for that.

“I heard my mom and dad talking, they said that Matt’s our half-brother and one day it’s going to come out.” He stuffed the slice of pizza in her mouth.

I shrugged, looking around at all three faces. “And? Is it a big deal?”

“What do you mean, Doc?” Peter scrunched his face up.

I loaded up my plate and gave Edie a wink. “Aren’t you guys friends?”

They all looked at each other. “Yeah.”

“So, all that changes is now you know you have brothers.” I poured all three some soda. “And they have you.”

Edith

What the hell?

Frank reached over to hold my hand, and I pulled away. I didn’t know what I felt for him, and now Matthew knows who his sperm donor was.

After I took a few deep breaths, I looked around at the boys. “Here’s the thing. Yes, you all have the same father so you have a connection. But he’s not your dad in the same way he is Alex and Peter’s.”

“I thought you said he wanted to go to school.” Matt’s face scrunched up and before I could answer Alex jumped in.

“He did go to school.” Alex grabbed his drink. “But mom made him marry her first.”

“They didn’t want me.” Peter tossed in.

“Whoa!” I held my hands up. “Were they by chance yelling at each other when you heard these things?”

Both boys nodded.

“Guys, adults say things when they’re mad, that aren’t true and some that are but only to hurt someone else.” Turning to Peter. “I am sure you were wanted and that was said out of anger.” I looked at Alex. “And yes, you are half-brothers though I’m not sure how they meant for you to learn that.”

Frank got up, and I grabbed his hand. “Let’s eat first?”

He nodded and sat back down. “Dig in, boys.”

My stomach pitched, and I felt like I was going to be sick. This wasn’t how I planned to tell him who his father was. All threeboys took the information well, and they were joking with each other, stuffing the food in.

---