Family Search

Janice may not be too bright – but she sure did recognize the significance of what I told her. I had been searching for an elusive brother my entire adult life and now that I found evidence of him it was a result of a complete betrayal of me. She had to know that it ripped my guts out and that there were some really hard times ahead.

It was at least the length of two soap operas on TV before there were signs that Janice was regaining her composure; they were false signs. She more-or-less rolled off the couch, without hurting herself, at least not severely, and crawled over to me and moaned "Ryan, you have to take me to Doctor Potts. I'm having pains that I don't like or recognize."

As angry as I was, I couldn't just ignore her. I whipped out my cellphone and called the elderly couple who had lived next door to me since I was a kid, and who loved Macy, and told them that Janice was in crisis and asked if they could pick her up from preschool (they were our emergency contact at the school since I had no relatives and Janice had none in the area). They readily agreed.

I helped Janice to her feet and supported most of her weight as we went to the car and I helped her in and fastened her preggo seatbelt.

"Should I call ahead to the doctor?" I asked.

"Pl...please," she muttered.

I called the OB/GYN's office on my cellphone. The receptionist got Dr. Potts on the phone and when I described how Janice looked and acted to the doctor she said "Meet me at the Emergency Room at your hospital; I'm on my way."

I drove Janice to the Emergency Room of the hospital that I worked at, went in and got a couple of orderlies and a gurney, and by the time that Janice was being rolled into the hospital Dr. Potts appeared out of nowhere and started checking Janice's vitals.

Dr. Potts asked me some more questions about what had precipitated Janice's reaction, and I gave her enough information so that she knew that it was an extreme emotional situation. "Get her to the delivery room right now," Dr. Potts snapped at the orderlies, "I'm going to scrub, and make sure a team of nurses in Obstetrics are ready to assist." Then Dr. Potts turned to me. "This is not a normal situation; you can't be in the delivery room. Go to the waiting room on the 4th floor."

I did as told.

Dr. Potts came out of the delivery room about two hours later to talk to me. "We had to take the baby by C-section. Janice's body – to use a precise medical term," she satirically said "was all screwed up and I was afraid that unless she delivered today the baby may have been harmed. We have whisked your five pound three ounce seemingly healthy baby boy to the ICU as a precaution, but you might be able to see him in an hour or two."

"My" baby boy? I thought to myself, but didn't say anything. "How's Janice doing?" I asked.

"She's sedated now. I think that we'll keep her sedated until tomorrow morning – being awake is not going to do her any good. You can go home to Macy – I'm sure that she needs to know what's happening – and we'll call when you can see your baby boy," she replied.

"Thanks, Dr. Potts; thank you so much," I said squeezing her shoulder.

"You're welcome; and – Ryan – some unsolicited advice. Don't do anything drastic for at least a month. It could do permanent damage to Janice if you do. From what she was mumbling before we put her completely under she's really fragile right now."

I was a bit taken aback by what she said; but then nodded acceptance.

***************

Obviously I didn't tell Macy or our neighbors exactly what was going on. I did tell them that Macy had a little brother and that Mommy would be OK after a while although she had a hard time during the delivery.

"When can we see the baby?" Macy excitedly asked.

"Probably after dinner," I smiled back, although the smile was only for Macy's benefit.

Macy and I went to her favorite fast food restaurant for dinner – we rarely go there but I wanted to keep her happy and I wasn't going to eat anything anyway; I had no appetite. On our way back from dinner the hospital called my cell and said that we could come see the unnamed baby boy. We drove straight to the hospital and did so. He was so tiny – since he was a preemie – but really cute.

After I got Macy off to school the next day, and arranged for our neighbors to pick her up, I went into work. I was allowed to see the baby, and despite a stern look from the pediatric nurse on duty, swabbed his cheek. I had the cheek swab picked up and delivered to Jack that same day. I didn't see Janice until after I had dinner with Macy and brought her to the hospital.

Janice was kinda zombie-like, and made little eye contact with me. She and I didn't really speak much – I was just there to let Macy see her Mom. Since the baby had been discharged from the ICU they brought the baby in to nurse while we were still there. "What's our baby's name?" Macy excitedly inquired while clapping her hands.

"I don't know – Daddy and I haven't really decided on one yet – we thought that we had five or six weeks more to decide," Janice replied, looking over at me. I turned my head away to prevent eye contact. Until I knew if the baby was mine I wasn't going to be acting like a father.

We brought Janice home a day later. Her mother – who I had a decent relationship with, not a lot of love lost on either side, but no acrimony either – came from her home about 100 miles away to help out. Her mother, Vivian, thought it odd that I slept in what was now an extra bedroom that would be turned into a nursery, but never asked me about it. The elephant in the room was not addressed until after the DNA results came back from Jack. He called before he sent them to me. While he said more he didn't need to after he told me "The boy baby has the same father as Macy."

Two days after the DNA results came back, with Macy in bed, and with Janice nursing the baby as she, her mother, and I watched TV, Janice suddenly blurted out "We need to settle on a name for our little boy, Ryan. The hospital needs to complete the birth certificate."

I snapped. "Name your kid whatever you want to, Janice, but be sure to put the biological father's name on the birth certificate, not mine." With that I got up and stormed to my bedroom, to the sounds of gasping from Vivian and sobbing from Janice.

After I had lain on the bed for about ten minutes blankly staring at the ceiling there was a knock on the door and Vivian opened it. "Janice is in terrible shape. You need to help me get her to a doctor."

I trudged downstairs, told Vivian to watch the baby and stay with Macy, and loaded a sobbing Janice into the car. I called ahead to Dr. Potts, and she again met Janice and I at the Emergency Room. The car ride was silent except for Janice's sobs.

Dr. Potts admitted Janice to the hospital for observation. Then she pulled me into a conference room and demanded to know "What happened."

I told her the story – this time the complete story. Her pupils dilated at several points during the story but she didn't interrupt. When I finished she remained silent for a full minute, then said "I know that your state of affairs is really fucked up," [I didn't know that "fucked up" was a medical term either] "but let me tell you what the situation is. Janice is too fragile right now to deal with it. You need to be the most self-sacrificing man in history, suck it up, and help Janice as much as possible over the next three months; and get her to a shrink. After three months, and after she's seen a shrink, you can do what you need to do. But even though Macy and the baby aren't your daughter and son they are your niece and nephew and I know that you love Macy; so you've got to come through for them."

Then in a very un-doctorly-like manner she punched me in the arm and said "Understood, Ryan? Understood?"

We remained silent for the next few minutes. I thought long and hard about what Dr. Potts said; she was someone that I greatly respected. Finally I sincerely said "I'll do as you ask, I promise. I'll be the best husband and surrogate father that I can force myself to be the next three months, and then take it by ear from there. There's one thing that I will not do, however, no matter what the consequences. I will NOT help pick out a name for my nephew, nor will I be listed on the birth certificate as the father."

Dr. Potts smiled. "I can get Janice to live with that. Now go home to Macy and your nephew."

When I got home my nephew was asleep. Vivian was still up but looked frazzled. I told her everything about the entire situation. I concluded it with "Vivian; I want you to know how grateful I am that you're here. We wouldn't survive without you. Can you please stay at least another week? As I told Dr. Potts I will be the best husband, surrogate father, and son-in-law for the next three months, then we'll see what happens after that. I'll do anything for you."

Vivian smiled. "I appreciate you saying that, Ryan. Yes, I'll stay the week and try to be a great mother-in-law."

Probably for the first time in our lives we gave each other true, loving, hugs.

**************

As I mentioned previously, Janice is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Instead of putting "unknown" for the father on the birth certificate when she named the baby William Jefferson Ponti (my adopted parents' – and my – surname is Ponti) she listed the father as "Jeremy Wilson." Now I had a name, and assuming that it was correct, could track down my birth family. I didn't know what I was going to do once I did tracked them down, but I still wanted to – very badly.

The only other discussion that I had with Janice about the subject – and I didn't let on that I had seen the birth certificate – was "Janice; you cannot tell the kids' biological father that I know that they're not mine. If you promise me that," like that was really meaningful given how she treated her promises on our wedding day, but it was all I had for now, "I promise to be the best husband and surrogate father I can be until I resolve the issues I need to address. Agreed?"

"Ryan, can't we talk about what happened..." she started to say.

"HELL NO!" I replied much louder than I meant to, as I squeezed her hands. "I need to deal with it by myself first. Now promise me – no contact with the biological father and especially do not tell him that I know about the kids."

"He doesn't know that I have kids or even that I'm married," she sobbed, squeezing my hands back.

Afraid of another mental breakdown and visit to the hospital I hugged her tightly and whispered – although loud enough so that she could hear me above her sobs – "That's OK – that's great – now calm down and we won't talk about it again until I come to grips with the situation."

Janice finally calmed down, and I told her "let's get Macy and Will and head off to the park – it's a nice day."

She smiled, and in actuality we had a good time at the park.

*******************

On the home-front the next three months I did my best to be a great husband and surrogate father. I did put a voice recorder on our home phone and a bug in Janice's cellphone, but otherwise did what I promised Dr. Potts and Vivian that I would. In fact I was such a good husband that when Will was about five weeks old Janice and I started having sex again. What I was able to convince myself in order for that to happen was a) I was getting really horny and was in no mood to get some ass outside of marriage until I decided what to do, b) I could look at Janice as simply a really good piece of ass and get my rocks off with little or no emotional involvement, and c) it had nothing to do with what I was going to do long term. Once Janice recovered physically she was very willing to perform since in her mind she was thinking that in view of my apparent acceptance of the situation that she might be able to keep me if she gave her all sexually. The sex was – physically speaking – absolutely great. As good as it ever had been. There was virtually no emotional component, however, and though Janice certainly had some sense of that, she was ignoring it.

While I was playing the part of the good husband, I didn't let grass grow under my feet in my search for my family. Janice's comment – if it could be verified – that Jeremy Wilson didn't even know that she was married, let alone had kids, might mean that I didn't have to beat him to within an inch of his life once I found him. Also, since I had no long term intention of supporting Janice or her two kids I had no qualms about spending money to find my family.

Finding Jeremy turned out not to be too difficult at all. A private detective found him within a week. He owned an appliance repair shop about fifteen miles from my house. In actuality his real name was Jeremy Wilson Wilbon, but he normally told people that it was Jeremy Wilson for reasons that I would find out later (he hated his father – who he never met).

Before I went to see Jeremy the first time I was not 100% convinced that he was the right person, and was nervous besides. I waited outside his shop until I was certain that there were no other customers, and then walked in with a toaster that I had sabotaged. As soon as I saw him I knew that he was my brother; he did a double take when he saw me.

Jeremy was about an inch taller and probably ten pounds lighter than I was – I'm not fat, but he was pretty skinny. His facial features were very similar to mine – similar enough that nine out of ten people who saw us would instantly ask if we were related. Also, his hair was – for all practical purposes – identical to mine in color, texture, waviness, and even length.

"Can I help you?" he apprehensively asked.

"Uh...yeah," I stammered, feeling a little light headed. "Uh...there's something wrong with this toaster, and I wonder if you might be able to fix it."

"That's what I do," he said with a big smile. "If you have a minute I'll take a look at it right now," he continued with an even bigger smile.

"Uh...that would be great," I replied. "Say – do you mind if I look on while you inspect it? I like to see how things work even though I'm no good at fixing them."

"Sure – I have no secrets," he laughed. Then he led me over to a table at the end of the counter, got out a screwdriver and some sort of specialty pliers, and soon had the toaster disassembled. "Here's your problem," he said after a couple of minutes. "Your timing mechanism is damaged – although I have never seen one damaged quite like this before. Also, the coil on your electromagnet is problematic too."

"Can you fix it?" I asked.

"I have a new electromagnet that fits perfectly, but if you want me to fix this right away I need to install a used timing mechanism; ordering one would take about a week," he replied while playing with the parts.

"Sounds good, please fix it now," I replied.

Jeremy disappeared into his back room for a couple of minutes came out with the replacement parts, and the toaster was back together and working properly within five minutes.

"Thanks so much," I said. "How much do I owe you?"

"Let's see," he said obviously doing a calculation in his head. "$39.50 plus tax."

I paid him cash, thanked him, and then started to walk away. Then I stopped. I had been looking forward to this my entire life; why not take the bull by the horns.

I turned around, walked back to the counter and said "Jeremy; I came here under false pretenses. I sabotaged the toaster so that I would have an excuse to see you. I was fairly sure that you are my brother, and after seeing and talking to you I believe that's right."

"I...I don't have...a brother," he stammered.

"I was given up for adoption when you were only a year old and after your father left you and your two sisters. I think that our mother's name is Doris..."

"Dolorous," he interrupted.

"Yeah – sounds right," I laughed, "and we have two sisters one probably two years older than you and one named Samantha..."

"Cassandra," he interrupted again.

"OK – Cassandra," I chuckled, "who is about four years older than you are."

"Five years older," he mumbled. His pupils were dilated.

"Can't you tell how much alike we look?" I inquired.

"Yeah...I almost thought that I was looking in the mirror for a second when you walked in. How did you find me, and what makes you so sure that I'm your brother?"

"I hired a private detective and my adopted mother told me just before she died about you, our Mom, and our two sisters; we can easily confirm it with a DNA test," I replied with a smile.

"Tell you what – can we meet for a drink tomorrow night; there's a great pub at the end of this block – about 6:30?" he asked.

"Sure can," I responded. We shook hands, while at the same time shaking our heads, and I exited.

"He really seems like a nice guy," I said to myself as I drove home.

When I got home I gave Janice a kiss and hug, played with Macy, tickled Will, and had a nice night.

"You look chipper tonight," Janice remarked, obviously happy.

"I feel chipper," I replied. "Say, Hon, I've got to meet an old friend for a drink tomorrow after work. I won't be home for dinner but promise to be home by ten. Is that OK?"

"Sure, Ryan – as long as you treat me right tonight," she said with a diabolical grin.

I really fucked Janice right that night – twice – both doggy, just like she likes it. She had three orgasms and fell asleep on my shoulder.

*****************

I needed to establish with Jeremy right away whether what Janice told me about him not knowing that she was married or had kids was true. So after he told me that he had talked to his mother and gotten her to admit that she gave up a boy for adoption that she called Bryan when he was a year old, and after he had four beers in him, I asked the subtle probing questions I needed to.

"So, Jeremy, are you married or have a serious girlfriend?"

"No – haven't found the right woman yet; well let me clarify that. I haven't found the right woman who I could get to commit."

"That sounds like a good story – care to share it with your long lost bro?"

"Sure – we're bonding, right?" he laughed. "There is this woman named Janice that I met about five years ago. She came into my shop with a broken blender. She was looking at me funny the entire time that I was talking to her. I saw her wringing her hands and put something in her purse while we talked – she was acting squirrely."

I interrupted. "Is 'squirrely' a term you use often?"

He paused for a minute. "You know, actually I do. Do you?"

"Another odd thing we have in common," I chuckled.

"Well anyway I fixed the blender although not as quickly as for you because I wanted to keep talking and looking at her – she's really a nice looking woman – and when I was done she paid me in cash and asked, 'can we go out for a drink some time?'"

Jeremy smiled and took a sip of his beer.

"Anyway it was like 4:00 pm then, and despite what it looked when you came into my shop I have ten employees, four in the main office and five in another location, many of whom are normally on call. So I said to her 'How about right now?' She smiled, I called an employee to cover the counter, and we went to this same pub that we're in right now."

"No shit," I said, taking another sip of this – only my second – beer since my mouth was getting dry.

"Yeah. To make a long story short after about an hour we were fucking in the motel across the street, a fuck to make your toes curl. She never gave me her last name, but after that she called me about ten times. Since I own my own business we could meet during the day, and we'd fuck like minks in the motel. We also ate lunch together and talked. She said she was recently divorced when I asked her why there was a trace of where a wedding ring might be on the ring finger of her left hand. I really wanted to get serious with her, but she wouldn't commit and after about three months she disappeared without a trace."