“What reasons?” she said. Of course my smart little cookie would ask all the right questions.
“Well, Aston’s dad didn’t care for me. We were from two different worlds. As you know, he’s very rich, and that doesn’t make him a bad person, but . . . not Aston . . .” I started to stumble over my words. “Not Aston, but his dad felt as though wealthy people should fall in love with other wealthy people, and he forbid us to be together.”
“Oh.” Piper squeezed my hand, and the small gesture made me feel like I could continue.
“It hurt a lot back then, and I was really sad. Then I met your dad and thought I could love someone else. And I did. I cared for your dad, Seth, very much. But you know how we talked about how babies are made?”
She nodded, her cheeks pinking a bit.
“Before I met Seth, Aston and I were very much in love—so much so, that we made love. Like I told you adults do. We—Aston and me—shared something very beautiful, and that’s how we created you, my beautiful girl. Aston is actually your father, but he didn’t know. I never told him. Seth and I raised you because I thought it was right. It’s not Aston’s fault.”
“What?” She jumped up from the seat, a lone tear rolling down her cheek. “Mom!”
“I didn’t want to risk Aston losing his company. His father would have taken it away from him. And I didn’t want to risk losing you . . . his father could have taken you too. Money makes people do all kinds of crazy things. Seth was, is, a good man, and he loves you. There were too many risks in telling the truth. But things have a way of twisting around, and now Aston is here and back, and he met you, and, well . . .” I stopped ranting and took a breath.
“Well what? I have two dads! Who is my dad?” Piper fell to her knees at my feet and laid her head in my lap. “I’m so confused.”
“I know,” I said, running my hand over her hair. “And that’s the last thing I want you to be. I want you to know this is my fault. Not yours, or anyone else’s. I decided to keep you from Aston. That was a choice I made as your mother. What I thought was best. Aston says he’s not mad at me for it, because he understands why. I’m not saying you have to understand. I just want you to know that Aston wants to be in your life. Now, no matter what happened before.”
She lifted her head. “He has his own kids now. He loves them. Why does he want me?”
“He has a big heart, and there’s room for him to love you. I promise.”
At least, I prayed it was true.
“What about Tyler? So, he’s not really my brother?”
“Of course he’s your brother. Always has been, and always will be. Little A and Mara are your brother and sister too. I didn’t think about that; I’ve just been wanting to tell you this. I hope you understand . . . someday . . . why I had to do this. Your grandfather isn’t always the nicest man, especially when it comes to me. I wanted to protect you from that. But I can see it was a mistake.”
Her head fell heavy back on my lap.
“I love you, Piper. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“So, who do you love, Mom? Aston? Did you ever love my dad? Not my dad-dad, but Dad. Seth. Do I still call him Dad?” She raised her head and looked at me with sad eyes.
My heart split into shards over the pain I was causing her.
“Honey,” I said, pushing her damp hair off her face. “You can call him Dad. Seth helped raise you and loved doing it, and I’m grateful for that. He’s still going to love you. At one time, I cared for Seth very much. I loved him, but it wasn’t the kind of love I had with Aston—your biological father. I do still love Aston, but we need to get to know each other as adults. We haven’t spent much time together over the years.”
Suddenly, Piper’s eyes widened. “Wait! Am I rich?”
“Piper!”
“What? You said Aston was really rich, and he’s sending your car here with some guy. If he’s my father, does that make me rich?”
“I don’t know. But that’s not a reason to reconcile all this. Money doesn’t make everything better. Look what happened with me. And you. Money made things worse.”
“Reconcile?” she asked, staring at me.
“Make sense of it all. That everything checks out. Money doesn’t make this better. What I did, or what’s ahead of us now.”
“Aston does seem cool,” she said, tilting her head to the side, taking me in. “You know, he looked familiar to me the other day. Probably because we look so much alike, now that I think about it.”
I could practically see the wheels turning in her head, firing off questions like neurons.
“I’m going to get to know him,” she said slowly. “He’s not going to replace Dad. But he’s also my dad, I guess. So, yeah. But . . . I don’t think I want to tell anyone at school.”
“That’s fine, sweetie.” It wasn’t until now I realized the nape of my neck was damp from sweat. Taking a deep breath, I said, “You don’t have to tell anyone anything you don’t want to. We’ll explain this to Tyler. That it’s your choice.”
“Aaack, Tyler, what if he doesn’t think of me as his sister anymore? Or he thinks I’m different because I’m rich?”
“Piper, stop with the rich stuff. And that’s impossible. You’ll always be Tyler’s sister.”
“Okay. You know what? I’m going to make Aston some cookies too.”
And just like that, my baby girl stood up and walked into the kitchen, leaving me
