“I know a thing about lovers: Lovers lie down in trust” · 3:37am Dec 1st, 2022
“Don’t give me that ‘you were lonely’ shit. I was lonely as well, and I had to raise our daughter for that time. I wasn’t the one that was trying to chase years that I couldn’t get back, and I certainly didn’t have my eye on anyone else, because I thought our marriage meant something!” She angrily threw the coffee cup into the ocean, then glared at him in full. “And what you told me today, you had to be with this woman practically the entire time you were there – and then bailed on her without a second thought.” He opened his mouth to speak, but she shut it with, “So that makes two women you completely fucked over.”
She sighed. “There’s three reasons I’m here. The first is the obvious: if we didn’t have two daughters of our own, I swear I would just leave right now. I’m halfway tempted to take the car, go home, get the girls and tell them we’re going to be spending Thanksgiving and Christmas at my parents’ place while I figure out how to explain this to them.”
“I should be the one to explain, not you.”
“You’re damn right you have to explain. And you’d better tell them, just as you told me, why you had an affair.”
“Cookie, I…I’m not going to make this into any worse than it is,” he said, his voice cracking. “I know I fucked things up. I could say that I was lonely and you couldn’t move because of your job and the girls. I could say that I was chasing my youth in a last desperate attempt to prove that I wasn’t the guy who had been practically forced to retire by the Stallions. And the Admirals offered me a chance, and so I took it.” He sighed. “I still wanted to prove I was Hondo Flanks, the best damn guard in the NFL. And it was enough to catch the attention of a particular fan.”
Cookie crossed her arms. “Oh, I can imagine,” she said crossly. “But our daughters deserve to know the truth, every sordid detail – if for no other reason than I wouldn’t want them to end up with men who would cheat on them. Which, of course, leads to the second point: we have daughters – and you clearly had a daughter with this other woman. And now she’s dead and the French authorities are trying to get a hold of you, which means that she has no one to turn to. So explain that.”
“It’s going to be a long story, Cookie,” he told her. “But you deserve to hear it.”
“Every single fucking word.”
The next few minutes went by as Hondo explained everything he’d been told by the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, specifically the BCA’s Office of Childrens’ Affairs. Of his girlfriend’s ultimate fate, and that she’d had a daughter she’d raised, of what had happened to her and how her daughter – his daughter – had been swept up in the sordid hell that her mother had been subjected to.
When he’d reached the part that the BCA had notably been reluctant to inform him of, Cookie had already put two and two together, horrifically so. More endless minutes went by as he detailed everything they’d told him about what his child had been subjected to at an age when she should have been had many other avenues for her to choose – choices that had been removed from her life because of bastards who wanted yet another supple piece of flesh to toss towards their diabolical trade.
Finally, as he finished, he brought up a picture on his camera, passing it to her. “The agent in charge of the case sent me this picture two days ago. She’s currently staying with a foster family in France, but French and European laws require them to formally inquire if I would be willing to take her in, because…because I’m her father.”
Cookie looked at the image onscreen and her heart leapt into her throat. “And you’re sure of this?”
“My DNA was on record for some obscure reason I can’t remember,” he said honestly. “They matched it to within a 99% chance of accuracy. And while normally things like this take a lot longer, there were extenuating circumstances related to her safety that required the BCA to move the case urgently.”
Cookie looked at the girl again, fighting the maternal instincts in her against the obvious fact that this was not her child. “She…she looks just like Rarity. If I didn’t know any better, I’d almost say they’re twins.”
Hondo nodded, looking as though he’d been drained by the events of the night. “Yes. Apparently that look runs in my family’s genes, given how much Rarity – and Seltenheit – look like my mother.”
“Seltenheit? That’s her name?”
“You probably won’t believe this, but her name is German for Rarity. It’s a complete coincidence, given that I didn’t know about her.”
“I should hope so.” Cookie looked at the girl’s picture once more, then at her husband. “And you said her mother’s dead?”
“Everything I told you is everything that they’ve told me.” He paused. “Including the part about how she was forced to become….” He buried his face in his hand, but she couldn’t tell if it was because he cared about his daughter, or because of the abuse of a young girl in general.
The two were quiet for the longest time, so much so that Hondo wasn’t sure what was going to happen next.
Finally, Cookie looked at him. “You know, it’s going to take me a long time to trust you again, Hondo.”
He nodded his head wearily. “I’m not worth it.”
Cookie’s mouth was an even line as she said, “That’s for me to decide – and for you to prove. But regardless, I have our daughters to think about. And….” She sighed. “This girl, if what they’re saying is true, needs a mother, too.”
“What?” He looked at her with shock. “How….”
“How could I, after all this?” She looked at him, her face filled with warring emotions. “That’s the third reason why I’m still here: Hondo, I love you…even if I am very hurt and feeling betrayed right now. But even if that wasn’t the case, we still have two daughters who won’t benefit from a broken home, and this Seltenheit girl has known nothing but that! I wouldn’t let Rarity live that kind of life and I wouldn’t let Sweetie Belle. Why would I let this poor girl, who has done nothing wrong, suffer the fate I wouldn’t wish on my own girls?”
That was enough for him. He let the tears fall. He didn’t deserve his wife, after all that he’d done to her and all she was about to do for him. He would make it up to her and regain her trust if it was the last thing he did in life.
Now, all he had to do was to tell his own daughters that they had a sister.
Please tell me you intend to make a full story out of this rather than leave it as a simple plot bunny.
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Given that it's been a hanging plot thread in the BV for some time now....
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Ah! I feel like a great fool for utterly ignoring that part of your body of work, having came to be a fan of yours from the All American Girl side of things I will have to remedy that.
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Be prepared for a long ride. Seven Days in Sunny June (the central piece of the Berylverse) is a doorstopper in and of itself. You might be busy for the rest of the month reading it.
The reading order is here, by the way.