Unexpected Morning

Waking up before Kaylee was a rare occurrence. Carefully extracting myself from bed, I was proud I managed to do so without disturbing her. After putting the covers back in place, I threw on some clothes and headed downstairs. The house was quiet. It seemed everyone was planning to sleep in today. It felt weird knowing everyone in the house had sex last night. I expected it of Paige, but not Mom. More shocking was Dad going along with it—though it didn’t seem like he had much choice in the matter. Mom was always the more laid back one in the family, but she had her moments where she got demanding.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee revealed I wasn’t the only one awake. Following the scent to the kitchen, I found Mom leaning against the counter with a steaming mug in hand. She seemed surprised to see me as she stood and quickly pulled her robe tighter. An appropriate response, unlike Kaylee’s mother who would have used the opportunity to tease.

“Morning,” she said softly. “Coffee?” she asked after clearing her throat.

“I’ll pass,” I said, going for the fridge instead.

I poured some orange juice for myself as Mom continued sipping on her coffee. It looked as if she was lost in her own little world. Only after I closed the fridge door did she seem to snap out of whatever held her. She gave me a tired smile.

“You and Kaylee enjoy your night together?”

I fought off a blush, remembering last night. It hadn’t been the mind-shattering experience Paige had, but it had been enjoyable in its own way. “Yeah,” I answered, not meeting her gaze before drinking some of my juice.

“I’m relieved it’s going well for you two. I’ve always worried that—” She stopped herself.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she said, trying to avoid an answer with a smile.

I gave her a hard look. “Mom.”

She relented, setting her mug on the counter. “I’ve always worried that you took too much after your father.”

“Nothing wrong with that.” She said nothing so I pushed on. “Elisabeth is doing just fine with Tae-suk. They seem perfectly happy with their relationship.” I didn't mention anything about it being monogamist. I didn't have to. She knew what I meant.

There was a twinge of sadness in her smile as she looked at me. “That isn’t what I’m talking about. I always knew Elisabeth was going to end up with only one man. She never hid her monogamist tendencies.” She hesitated slightly as if trying to find the words. “But she was never afraid of sex. She just limited herself to those she was in a committed relationship with.”

I was speaking before I could fully think. “I’m not—” I never finished my denial. We both knew that wasn’t true. Instead, I went another direction. “But can you blame me?”

“No, of course not! I’m not—This isn’t your fault.” She let out a small breath. “I figured… well… since he was one, he would know best. Now, I wonder if that was really the best course of action. Your father isn’t the same man I married—not that it’s a bad thing,” she added quickly.

Mom was being unusually candid at the moment. Seeing the opportunity, I seized it. “You know, I never got the story about how you and dad met.”

“We worked in the same department,” she answered. The same automatic answer I always got when I asked. Saying nothing, I continued to watch her. Eventually, she broke down with a heavy sigh. “I mean, it’s true.”

“But?”

“But that was how we met the _second _time. The first…” She looked at me, weighing something. Whatever it was, telling me won out. “You remember Callie?”

I wasn’t expecting a question. Took me a second to put a face to the name though. “Aunt Callie? Vaguely.” She was a friend of Mom’s that spent a lot of time around the house when I was younger. No actual relation, but someone who was basically family to Mom. She moved away when I was five or six though. The only reason why I remembered her was Elisabeth talking about her and she was in a lot of our old family pictures.

“She was one of my roommates in college and we moved in together once we graduated. We were close. Close enough that we were talking about entering a cooperative union together.”

My eyes widened slightly at that. “Never knew you were that close with anyone.”

“Probably would have if I hadn’t met your father.”

“Love at first sight?”

“Ah… not… uh… exactly.” She bought time by picking up her mug and taking a sip. “Callie and I shared a lot during our time together. Men were a part of that. Competition can be fierce and neither Callie nor I had that seductive draw some women have.” There was a look of pride as she continued. “Between the two of us though? We did well enough.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Really, Mom?”

She chuckled before continuing. “The first time I met your father was at a club near the apartment I was sharing with Callie. We were both rather drunk at the time. I remember being quite smitten with him, but he was rather uninterested in me.”

“That… doesn’t seem like Dad.”

“Oh, he was a very different man back then. The only way I got him to come home with me was the promise of another pretty girl waiting there.”

“You mean he—”

“Yes. I wasn’t the only one he had that night. Not that I remember much. Like I said, I was rather drunk. There are pieces here and there, but the only thing that really stands out is me waking up between the two and a scattering of used condoms. Not the first time I woke up like that.” She sighed. “Really should have paid more attention at the time. I’d slept with fertile guys before, so condoms weren’t a huge surprise. What was the surprise—and what I should have caught far earlier—was that despite the numerous condoms lying about, it was clear that there were a few rounds without one. For me at least. Again, not the first time I woke up like that either, so I didn’t think much of it and just left to clean myself up.”

I found I wasn’t too comfortable with Mom’s candid descriptions but was afraid mentioning anything would have her clam up.

“Your dad was gone by the time I got out of the shower. I never learned his name. Maybe he told me and it was just another thing I forgot. Either way, I didn’t know or care. At the time, I was just ecstatic I scored a guy that handsome. Shame the whole thing was completely forgettable considering I blacked out most of the fun.”

My mind instantly connected the dots. “My god. Elisabeth…”

She had a sad smile. “I didn’t realize I was pregnant for another few weeks. I almost thought it was another guy before remembering the odd mismatch between the condom use and me clearly not having used any. Thankfully, Callie remembered more than I did and told me she remembered him making a fuss when one of the condoms broke. I guess in my drunken state, I didn’t care much and he passed out shortly after.

“Anyways. I had a bit of a freakout. I just started my new job and was already pregnant. Not that I wasn’t happy, but I just expected it to be later once Callie and I were more established in our careers. Neither of us were ready to be moms. Fortunately for me, Callie was there. She convinced me that everything was going to be okay. Early as this was, it was good.” She was silent a moment. “That’s when I met your dad for the second time. He got transferred to my department and I recognized him immediately.”

“Did he recognize you?”

“Not in the slightest. Took me a few weeks to build up the courage to talk to him. When I finally did… Well, he wasn’t too interested. We would have polite conversations, but nothing more. I’d hoped to build up a bit of friendship before dumping the news he was going to be a father but…” She shrugged. “Only when I finally told him I was pregnant did he give me his full attention—and not in the good way. I could tell he was terrified. Being unregistered, I had complete control over his fate. A report from me to the PPD and I could have made his life a living hell.” She ran her hand along the mug, eyes looking off into a distant memory. “Having that much power over someone should be a crime, and I’m not exactly proud of how I took advantage of that. Your father was always an attractive guy, and Callie and I were young…”

She let out a slow breath.

“Over time, our relationship shifted and I found that I actually liked having him around for things beyond the sex. Callie too. It took a few months, but he gradually relaxed and opened up around us. Together, the three of us spent an obscene amount of money covering up who Elisabeth’s true father was. Callie’s cousin thankfully stepped up and volunteered to be the ‘biological’ father for PPD record purposes. Everything seemed good. Callie, your father, and I were all making it work. He and I grew closer during the pregnancy and he moved in with us about a month before Elisabeth was born. I was convinced that this was how my child would be raised. Two loving moms and her father."

“It all changed when Elisabeth was born. When your father held her for the first time, I could almost see the change in him. The realization that he had made this wonderful little girl.” She was silent for a moment. “He never touched Callie again despite both of us prodding him. For a while, I thought I would suffer the same fate. It was only after I married him that we finally shared a bed again. I guess it turned out for the best. Callie met Samuel about a year or so later and followed him out West when he was relocated. You were still pretty young when that happened.”

Juice still in hand, I stared at her in quiet shock. “You mean Dad wasn’t always monogamous?”

Mom snorted. “Not in the slightest. He’d slept with every attractive woman in the department by the time I worked up the courage to talk to him.” Seeing my reaction, she smiled over the rim of her coffee before taking a quick sip. “Hard to believe, isn’t it? Your father was _extremely _popular when he was younger. All the women were swooning over him—myself included. If it wasn’t for Elisabeth, I never would have had a chance.”

“Why the switch then?”

“No idea. He never told me. Whenever I asked, he just shrugged it off with a, ‘Not who I am anymore,’” she said, lowering her voice in an attempt to mimic dad’s voice. “You might have a better chance of getting him to open up about it. The only real conversation I’ve had with him about it was our honeymoon. I thought it would be fun to swap with another newlywed couple we’d met on the trip when he told me he was only going to sleep with me from now on. While I was free to continue like normal, it never felt right. Date nights with other guys were always fun in the moment, but coming home made me feel so damn guilty.”

Turning around, she cleaned out her mug. “I’m glad things are going well with you and Kaylee. She’s a joy to have around and you seem happier now.”

Staring down at my orange juice, I was still trying to process this new nugget of info mom had dropped. I’d been living my life in a fog, not even realizing it was there. Now it was starting to lift and things were becoming clear. No wonder Dad was so adamant about downplaying sex—especially to me. I could only imagine the terror he felt when Mom told him she was pregnant. He wasn’t even the same rank I was. The PPD finding out would be bad, but nothing as catastrophic as them finding an unregistered S-rank.

It was difficult to picture my father as anyone other than the man I knew. Wasn’t sure how to process it. On one hand, it made sense now why he had been so adamant about downplaying sex. On the other, he was a hypocrite.

In the end, I suppose it didn’t matter much. The past was the past. This revelation wasn’t going to suddenly change my feelings towards the subject. That die had already been cast long ago and I was the living result. It wasn’t pointless though, and it was good information to have for the future.

“Thanks, Mom. For telling me.”

We talked a little more before I excused myself and headed back to my room. At the last minute, I detoured to the bathroom to brush my teeth and splash some water on my face. Refreshed, I grinned at my reflection as the heaviness of my conversation with Mom faded away to more important things.

Like how I could give Kaylee her wake-up kiss.