Chapter 2 - The Lie at the Christmas Table
Daniel looked from Noah to me.
“What investigators?”
I didn't answer.
The two officers entered behind us.
Major Aaron Pierce from the Army Inspector General's office and Captain Melissa Grant from Judge Advocate General.
Daniel's face changed.
Not fear.
Not yet.
Recognition.
“Major Pierce.”
“Colonel.”
Margaret stepped between them.
“This is a family gathering.”
Pierce remained calm.
“Then perhaps Colonel Reynolds should explain why his family believes these children never existed.”
Daniel's girlfriend looked at him.
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“Daniel, what is happening?”
He finally found his anger.
“Kesha planned this.”
I almost smiled.
“You invited me.”
“You brought investigators into my mother's home.”
“No. Your actions brought investigators here.”
Daniel pointed toward the children.
“Get them out of this.”
Noah stepped closer to me.
I felt his hand find mine.
I kept my voice even.
“They've been out of it for eight years. That's the problem.”
Margaret shook her head violently.
“No. Daniel told us you admitted the pregnancy wasn't real.”
“I never said that.”
“You disappeared!”
Daniel seized on her words.
“Exactly.”
I looked at him.
“I disappeared?”
“You moved.”
“After you changed your number.”
“You never contacted my command.”
“I did.”
Silence.
Daniel blinked.
I opened my handbag and removed a slim folder.
“Three certified letters. Two messages through your command family-support office. One attorney's notice. Hospital documentation after the quadruplets were born.”
Margaret stared at Daniel.
“You said she never contacted you.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“I never received those.”
Captain Grant spoke.
“That is one of the issues we're investigating.”
The blonde woman backed away.
“Daniel, who are they?”
He closed his eyes briefly.
“Kesha was my wife.”
“I know that.”
Her gaze moved to the children.
“You told me she couldn't have children.”
Daniel said nothing.
“You told me the divorce happened because she became obsessed with having a baby.”
“Claire—”
“You told me she fabricated a pregnancy.”
Daniel glanced around the room.
Every relative was watching.
Claire's expression changed from confusion to disgust.
“Are those your children?”
“I don't know.”
Noah inhaled sharply.
I squeezed his hand.
Claire looked at Daniel as if he had struck someone.
“They look exactly like you.”
“That proves nothing.”
Ethan spoke for the first time.
“We have DNA tests.”
Daniel stared at him.
Ethan looked at me.
“We do, right?”
“Yes.”
The original prenatal paternity testing had been done because Daniel demanded it during the divorce.
The results had shown a greater than 99.9 percent probability of paternity.
He left before the report was finalized.
My attorney sent copies afterward.
Someone had signed for them.
Margaret sank into a chair.
“Kesha...”
I turned toward her.
“Did you know?”
Her eyes filled.
“Know what?”
“That I gave birth to quadruplets.”
“No.”
I believed her.
At least about that.
Margaret looked toward Daniel.
“You told me she lost the baby.”
My stomach tightened.
That was new.
Daniel said quietly, “Mom.”
“You said there was never a child.”
“Stop.”
“You said the doctors proved she wasn't pregnant.”
“Enough.”
Margaret stood.
“Was any of it true?”
Daniel's voice exploded.
“I said enough!”
The children flinched.
My training took over instantly.
I moved in front of them.
“Lower your voice.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“There she is.”
“There who is?”
“The woman who always needs control.”
“No. The mother protecting her children from a stranger shouting at them.”
The word stranger hit him.
His anger faltered.
Sophia whispered behind me.
“Mama, can we go?”
Daniel heard her.
His eyes shifted toward my daughter.
Sophia had his mother's nose.
Olivia had Daniel's gray eyes.
For the first time, something other than panic appeared on his face.
Shock became recognition.
He stepped forward.
“Sophia?”
She immediately moved behind me.
Daniel stopped.
I had never told him her name.
Then I realized.
The folder.
He had received something.
“You knew her name.”
Daniel's expression betrayed him.
Major Pierce noticed too.
“So you did receive documentation.”
Daniel looked trapped.
Margaret's hand covered her mouth.
Claire whispered, “Oh my God.”
I stared at the man who once slept beside me.
“How did you know her name?”
Daniel said nothing.
“Answer me.”
His jaw tightened.
“I saw a letter.”
My heart began pounding.
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“How many years?”
“Seven.”
Margaret whispered, “Daniel...”
He looked toward the fireplace.
“It arrived while I was stationed in Germany.”
“And?”
“I didn't believe it.”
“You saw four birth certificates.”
“I thought you were trying to destroy my career.”
My voice dropped.
“By giving birth?”
“By claiming four dependents after the divorce!”
No one moved.
That sentence destroyed whatever defense he had left.
Captain Grant opened her notebook.
“You understood they were being reported as your dependents?”
Daniel realized his mistake too late.
I felt eight years of unanswered questions crystallize.
“You knew.”
He looked at me.
“You knew they were born.”
“I knew you claimed they were.”
“You saw their names.”
“Yes.”
“You saw the DNA report.”
Silence.
“Daniel.”
“Yes.”
Margaret began crying.
Claire picked up the velvet ring box from the floor.
Daniel looked at her.
“Claire, give me a chance to explain.”
She opened it.
A diamond glittered inside.
For a terrible second, everyone thought she might accept whatever explanation he offered.
Instead, she closed the box and pushed it into his chest.
“You were going to ask me to marry a man who erased four children.”
Then she walked away.
Daniel did not follow.
His attention remained on me.
“You came here to humiliate me.”
“No.”
“Then why?”
I looked toward my children.
“Because they deserved the truth.”
Major Pierce stepped closer.
“And because, Colonel Reynolds, the Army deserves some answers too.”
Daniel swallowed.
“What exactly are you accusing me of?”
Pierce's expression became cold.
“We haven't accused you of anything yet.”
Then he held out a sealed document.
“But you are formally ordered to cooperate with an investigation into possible false statements, concealment of dependent records, and irregularities involving family-support documentation.”
Margaret looked ready to collapse.
Daniel stared at me.
“You did this.”
I shook my head.
“No, Daniel.”
May you like
For the first time in eight years, I said exactly what I had wanted him to understand.
“You did.”
