Chapter 29 - Found

“He can’t be my father,” Glace said, pacing back and forth inside her room, opening and closing her palms in anxiety. In an effort to calm her, I stood up from my position in the bed, touching her shoulders gently.

“We can’t say for sure baby.” Guiding her to the mattress, I sat right behind her and placed my hands on her back, working my way up to her nape in a soothing massage. At my soft touch, her body relaxed immediately, a sigh coming from her lips. “But what if he is my father Dulce? This is going to be so much trouble, not only for me but for both of us. Can you imagine?” The two of us shuddered in horror.

“It’s not the end of the world though. Look on the bright side. If he is indeed your dad then you’ve acquired a sister.”

“Don’t remind me,” she mumbled with unease dripping from her voice. I knew exactly what she meant. It would start World War 4 and no it wouldn’t be pleasant. Not for me and for Glace, especially their dad. A vibrating sound coming from her bedside table made us look at each other. Her eyes were wide in a mixture of panic and surprise. The mobile phone kept on ringing for a while.

“Answer it,” I urged.

When she didn’t make a move, I reached out for the phone and greeted the person on the other line. “Good afternoon.” Glace continued staring at me with her mouth opened slightly. “Yes I’ll make sure to relay the message to her. Bye.” Turning to my baby I said, “He wants to meet you at his house. Do you want me to go with you?”

She seemed to recover herself, shaking her head slightly. “I won’t go if you’re not there Dulce. I need you.” Taking her hands in mine, I gave it a squeeze to show my support. “Of course Glace. I won’t leave you for one second.”

After our conversation, we went straight to her dad’s house. Glace insisted on driving even tough I told her that it probably would be best if I took us there. But because I didn’t want to argue and I have things to ponder on my own, I let her have her way. Got to be the supportive girlfriend, I thought.

On our way there, both of us stayed silent. She was probably thinking why her dad left her mom, while I on the other hand was praying that it would turn out alright. She deserved to be happy and not only did I hope that her dad would accept her once he knew, I also wished that it wouldn’t be more complicated than it already was.

A few minutes later, Glace skillfully parked the car on the street overlooking the house. She stared worriedly at me. “What if he doesn’t like me?”

I met her eyes, a reassuring look on mine. “Why would you think that? You’re awesome. No you’re more than that. You’re simply perfect baby. Anyone who doesn’t see that is either blind or has mental issues.” A small smile formed on her lips but she quickly glanced out the window to hide the fact that she wasn’t really ok.

“Rick didn’t think so,” she murmured. My left hand found her right leg. “Hey. . . Rick is a jerk. Don’t think about him. I‘m sure your real dad is better than that. Don’t you dare doubt the fact that he’s going to love you once he finds out.”

“Okay,” she sighed.

“Shall we go?” Without waiting for her answer, I opened the car door and closed it behind me. After she did the same, we walked hand-in-hand towards the house. Towards the truth. Reaching the familiar front door, I gave it a loud knock, not bothering to use the doorbell on the side. At first, no one answered the door, but after knocking for the tenth time, a man who I’ve seen before opened it with a smile.

“Come in,” he said, turning around without as much as a glance back. Glace stared nervously in my direction, making me grab her hand to keep it from shaking. We followed her dad to a room. Both Glace and I were pretty amazed at the collection of books in the library. Judging from the range of novels there, like his daughter, he was an avid reader too.

“Please sit.” Her dad motioned on two chairs placed in front of a large mahogany desk. We sat as instructed while he went around the table and positioned himself comfortably on the luxurious leather seat. Reaching his hand he said, “Can I see the letter?” Glace gave it reluctantly, not willing to part with her mother’s words.

Her dad unfolded the letter carefully, like it was an artifact from the early civilization instead of a confession from a dead woman. A departed lover. His brows furrowed together as he read, his coffee brown pupils exploring the paper hungrily. His daughter got her eyes from him and because of that, I couldn’t help but warm up to the man.

The longer I stared at her dad, the more I was convinced that they shared the same blood. They both had the same smile at the edge of their lips. They both sat straight in their respected seats, their right leg crossed over their left leg. Even their raven colored hair was an exact match of each other. How could they not be father and daughter when they looked so much alike?

A few minutes passed. Glace’s dad placed the letter silently on the table, squeezing his eyes shut as he did. When he opened them again, he stood up without a word and went to her side. “Can I take a look at you?” he said. Glace glanced back to me, a questioning look in her eyes. She wanted this so much. I nodded.

As soon as she stood up, her dad placed his hands on either side of her face. “You have my eyes and my hair,” he murmured. “But everything else is your mother’s.” He embraced her before she could do anything and I saw her go limp in his arms. Not because she lost consciousness but due to the fact that she was waiting so long for something like this.

“Thank you Henry.”

“Don’t call me that,” he said with a shaky laugh. He was just as nervous as her. After all, how often do you find out that you have another daughter? “I’m dad from now on ok princess?”

“Okay,” she whispered, her face buried in his chest.

He was a tall man. Much taller than his daughter. So that was where she got the height, I told myself. Henry turned to me while hugging his daughter. “Are you a friend of Glace? Thank you for accompanying her here. I know that it must be hard for her.” His voice was scratchy. As if he was trying hard not to feel too emotional.

My girlfriend broke the embrace and stepped back to my side. She took my left hand and kissed it in front of her father which made me blush profusely. “Dad I want you to meet my girlfriend. I know you’ve heard rumors that I was gay when we worked before. They were right. I don’t want to keep anything from you. This is me. And she’s the person I want to be with.”

Henry cleared his throat and chuckled. “Dearest. . . Everyone in Hollywood is gay. No I’m just kidding,” he added when we gaped at him in surprise. “But all the signs were there. You didn’t agree to do a kissing scene in the movie. You barely signed the contract when you discovered that it was a love story. You’ve never had a boyfriend. It was either you were a saint or lesbian. It doesn’t take much to figure it out.”

“Oh,” was all Glace could say while Henry walked to me to shake my hand. “Nice to meet you. . .”

“It’s Dulce Gavin.”

“How long have you been dating her?” he asked with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. He was more open at this than I anticipated. He must have had a lot of gay friends.

Glace answered for me. “I’ve been married to her since we were 7. I met her at mom’s funeral.” She tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “Can you tell me what happened dad?” The word rolled naturally from her tongue. As if she was always meant to say it.

He gestured to the wooden chairs again before going back to his original position on the leather seat. “Please make yourselves comfortable.” Glace and I obliged and stared at him, waiting for an explanation. He didn’t disappoint.

“Your mom and I,” he said with a look at Glace. But his eyes told us that he was far away, reminiscing things that happened before. “Met at a party. At that time, she was a budding star and I was a trainee director. My parents were well-known directors then and wanted me to follow in their footsteps. When they learned about my relationship with your mom, they thought it was best if we separated.”

“But why?” Glace asked with a frown.

“Because Hollywood can be a cruel place,” he explained, sighing. “When people see that you’re on your way to stardom, they will hurl things your way. Insults, false stories, and whatnot. They will invent lies to see you fall down. Now who does these things? Everyone. . . Even the people you think you know. My parents didn’t want me to be associated with your mother because of it.”

He stared at her with pleading eyes. “Now please understand. Your grandparents are not cruel people. They just want the best for me because I was starting my own career. But looking back now, I should have fought for your mother. She was the love of my life.” He brought his hands together on top of the table. I noticed that it was trembling slightly. He wasn’t lying when he said he loved her.

“I was a coward. And because of that we all suffered. But if I had known that I had a daughter, I would have done everything to keep you and your mother with me. I’m so sorry.”

My eyes trailed to Glace beside me. She was biting her lips hard and took several deep breaths. I stroked her back soothingly and leaned to her. “I’m here baby,” I whispered.

After she swallowed hard, she stared Henry in the eye. “I forgive you. You didn’t do anything wrong to me because you didn’t know she got pregnant. But you have to apologize to her. Go to her grave and beg for forgiveness even if she doesn’t answer back.”

Henry nodded solemnly. “I’m planning to do just that Princess. Let’s go together with your girlfriend.”

“No you won’t,” someone spoke sharply from the door. “I will never allow you.”

The three of us turned and saw Denise, her hands curled to her side. Oh God. . . It was going to get ugly. “How long have you been standing there Princess?” Henry asked nervously, his lips twitching. He didn’t have time to explain everything to his new family. The family he made after he left Glace’s mom.

“Now you’re calling me princess?!” she yelled. “I’ve heard enough daddy. I’ve heard enough to learn that you have another daughter, and she’s a bitch!”

I stood up angrily, hands curling at the side. “Glace is not a bitch Denise.” I wouldn’t allow anyone to talk crap about her like that. Denise stomped her foot down. It was a miracle her stiletto didn’t break from the impact. “She stole you from me. I hate her,” she seethed.

Glace was eerily calm at my side before she heard that. Now she stood up from her chair, mirroring my angry look. “I never stole Dulce from you Denise. I knew her before you could even grasp the concept of love. If you even know what that entailed.” She was about to walk in Denise’s direction but I quickly stopped her by touching her shoulder.

“No Glace. She’s your sister,” I warned.

Henry made a move to his blonde daughter. “Princess. . .” He sounded like he was talking to a crocodile who was about to snap its jaws. “Let’s all talk about this rationally. The way decent people are supposed to.”

“I won’t listen to you. You’re a liar,” she snarled before going for the kill. She ran straight in Glace’s direction, her arms ready in front of her. Knowing what she was about to do, I hugged Glace in an attempt to stop Denise. She didn’t. I was smack in the middle while she tried to claw, grab Glace’s hair, and did what enraged woman do to their enemies. If I wasn’t in such situation and at the receiving end of her attacks, I would have laughed out loud already.

The only problem was she scratched like a jungle cat and tried to pry my girlfriend’s hair harshly. Because I was protecting Glace, I unfortunately was the one who got hurt and they didn’t even realize it. It went on for only seconds, but God it was painful. Henry dashed to Denise and tried to pry her away from me and Glace.

My girlfriend did some attacks to the enemy, but the force was strong with the other one. Haha. Now I was making Star Wars joke that weren’t even funny. Ugh. Twenty claw marks later, Henry was finally able to separate Denise from us. Both she and Glace had a stare match while they gasped and heaved. What were they mad for? I was the one who got hurt. But enough about me.

“I can’t believe you had another daughter after me daddy. I hate you!” Denise said, bitterness and madness dripping from her voice.

“Technically she’s your older sister. But only by a few months,” he added hurriedly when Denise gave him a look. “I know it’s hard, but you have to get along with her Princess. Aren’t you proud that you have a Hollywood celebrity as your sister?”

“She stole my girlfriend,” she whined like a spoiled brat. She wasn’t like her sister at all. Though Denise was the blonde one, she wasn’t the ray of sunshine like she was supposed to be. How did I have a crush on her in the first place?

“I think we’ve already established that I didn’t steal Dulce from you,” Glace said threateningly while snaking her hand on my waist. “We knew each other from the beginning.”

“Oh fuck you and your explanations!” Denise yelled, looking like she was about to attack for round two.

“Fuck you too!” Glace matched her sister’s tone and stance.

Instead of doing the anticipated, we were pretty stunned when Denise took something from her phone and swiped here and there. Who was she going to call, the fashion police? When she finished, she held the phone for us to see. It was showing a picture of me and Glace, locked in a passionate kiss. All the blood left my face. When and where did she take that?

Before anyone could stop her, she pressed something and smirked to us. “There. I just sent it to the paparazzi. Welcome to hell Glace. That’s for stealing what was mine.”

“Are you stupid?!” Glace yelled, the tone of her voice scaring even me. “You don’t know what you’ve done Denise. You’ve ruined Dulce’s life.” The three of them stared in my direction, the same panicked expressions in their eyes. Everyone knew she was right.