In Fair Verona

III

"Demain, mamans friends come over. Luckily for you the kids don't speak french like we do but the mum does. Her name is Madeleine," Phoebe says as she sits on my bedroom floor.

She woke me up at eight this morning so I could help her cook breakfast. Part of me doesn't believe we're related in any way.

"Maman is also going to be running around the house all day screaming orders, likely in french, about cleaning even though they visit almost every other weekend."

"Just for the day?"

"It depends. As kids we used to have sleepovers all weekend long and it was so much fun but ah not as much now."

"Who are the kids?" I ask.

"Felix is twenty one making him the eldest out of everyone. Amber and Isaac are your age then Clement is twelve."

As she says all this I realize something.

"Uh where is Richard?" I ask.

Phoebe looks to me confused.

"Probably in his office. Why?"

I ignore her question.

"Is his office here?"

"Yeah it's downstairs. Why though?"

"I want to ask him something."

"Oh," she says. "Am I aloud to know?"

"Sure in a bit but let me ask him first. Take me to his office."

She leads me downstairs to his office where I knock on the door like she says to do.

He opens it up and is kinda shocked to see me standing there.

"Casey. Phoebe. Would you two like something?"

"Uh yeah," I say stepping past him into his office, totally uninvited but I don't care. "I had a question."

"And that is?"

Phoebe stands in the doorframe listening in.

"Uh how is it that Grace is older then me and Auguste and Phoebe are younger? If I'm not related to Gwen how was I born in between two of you guys' kids?"

"Right," he says looking up at Phoebe in the background.

"I never realized that," Phoebe says.

"Oh but everyone else did," Richard laughs awkwardly before sitting at his desk.

"When we found out about you, a bit back. It was a big thing to share with everyone. Especially my wife who quickly pieced together that I'd cheated on her. It was Grace's first question and Auguste realized it the day after I told him. I— uh i did cheat on Gwen. One time... seventeen years ago."

I turn to Phoebe who looks disgusted.

"Papa," she says quietly. "Why did you do that?"

"I don't know. I was out in Vancouver at the time and I met his mother at a bar.
We hung out for a week and I got to know her a bit."

"So you were never really with my mum?"

"No. She was the kindest girl I'd ever met but I was married with two kids. Soon a third."

"Kind?" I ask. "My grandma never described her as kind. She complained about her all the time and never stopped."

"Oh she was so nice. Younger then me too. She was in college at the time."

It's quiet for a bit.

"Then just a bit ago I get a call that she had committed suicide thirteen years ago and I had a seventeen year old son. That was a real shocker," he laughs awkwardly.

I always knew I was a mistake and that didn't feel all that great to know but to know I was the result of some rich cheating scumbag. He ruined my mums life. She dropped out because of me and had no money and never got back up on her feet. Her only help was her own mother who always yelled about everything she'd done wrong.

A part of me wants to desperately to slap him across the face. After he single handily tore my mums world apart he returned back to his rich life and perfect family. And all of these years he never told them. One week away and he betrayed his family and ruined my mums
life.

But another part of me wants to stay and ask about my mum. I think grandma loved my mother too much and just focused on her wrongs because she loved her.

"Right," I say blandly. "So while you got to return back to your rich life of lying to you're family my mothers world fell part and ultimately left with her dead."

"Look I didn't know. And I mean you came out of all of this."

"I don't think I'm worth my mums life. And besides I've dealt with foster homes and my sick grandma for years as she grieved her daughters death."

I turn around and leave, Phoebe close behind me.

Phoebe mumbles something in french as we walk up the stairs. We pass by Auguste who raises his eyebrows at us.

We ignore his questionable look. When we reach the landing Phoebe walks with me to my room.

"Imagine if papa did know. Would you've grown up here?"

"Dunno," I shrug.

Gwen must hate me. I'm the stupid thing that ruined her picture perfect family. She probably blames me more then Richard about the cheating.

Phoebe sits on my bed opposite to me, staring at the ceiling.

"It'd almost be like Auguste had a twin. Which is funny because Amber and Isaac are twins and they're your age."

"You go to school with them?"

"Yeah. I guess you will too, soon."

I nod my head.

"You'll know plenty of people by the time you go to high school. There will be Auguste and I, Amber and Isaac and then there's the neighbours Kieran and Addison. Addi's my age and Kieran is your age. He's one of Auguste's best friends."

Phoebe looks down from the ceiling then to some digital clock she found for me. It's on my one and only dresser. They carried it up last night from the basement.

"It's late," Phoebe says getting up. She walks over to my door. "Goodnight Casey."

"Night."

She goes to close the door but pauses. Opening it again she smiles.

"Oh and for the record, you are worth more then you think."

Then she closes the door leaving me sitting there.