Chapter 51: Chapter 51
Carol gasped, her heart going out to him and the poor woman who had given birth to her.
"Wow!" That was all that she could say.
"Yeah," Donald said, rummaging in his pocket for something. Bringing out his wallet, one which had clearly seen better days, he produced a worn picture from its inner compartment and extended it to her. Carol took the picture with shaking hands, and looked down at it, hardly able to see for the tears that blurred her vision. She wiped at them and then glanced down at the picture again to see a beautiful woman who looked almost identical to her.
"Jeez! We look so much alike." She breathed, rubbing a finger over the picture almost reverentially.
"Yeah, that's right. You remind me of her so much when she was your age. The only thing that is different about you two is that you do not have her fierce temper, and I thank God for that every day."
They both laughed a little at this and then Donald sobered up, inhaling very deeply and exhaling slowly.
"Over the years, I've battled with myself on whether to let you know about all this or not. The only person that you had ever known to be your mother was Belinda, and I did not know if you would have loved to know the truth. I'm relieved that it's all out now."
"Yeah. Anyway, how on earth did you get married to Belinda then after everything. I would have thought that she would be the last person that you will want anything to do with after the whole incident."
"You're right. I did not see her after that day and tried my best to forget about her existence, even though I was really mad at her. However, I couldn't exactly blame her for everything, considering that she did not even try to fight Miranda back on that fateful day. I brought you back home with me after you were discharged from the hospital, even though Miranda's mother, your other grandmother wanted me to give you to her until you were a little older as she was convinced that I would know next to nothing about raising a newborn infant. She died when you were two years old, by the way, so you would not have any memories of her. I refused though, and it was just the two of us with some help from her anytime I was overwhelmed.
You were such a blessing to me. Just weeks after your birth, my business boomed far beyond my expectations, even though I rarely had time for it, what with taking care of you and all that. One day, when you were about five months old, Belinda showed up at my house with a baby bump, claiming that she was pregnant with my baby. To say I was dismayed was an understatement. I guess what she did was to wait until she was already too gone to have an abortion to inform me. We had a yelling competition, during which she informed me that she had no intention of going anywhere and that we were going to get married whether I liked it or not as she had no intention of giving birth to an illegitimate child. I guess she had been following my life without my knowledge because she knew that Miranda was dead. Anyway, I was really lonely at that time and she seemed to be good company. Before I knew what was happening, she started to live with me and we got married just before Victoria was born."
"Wow. So Victoria is my half-sister. It all seems so strange and surreal." Carol breathed, still looking down in some sort of reverence at her mother's picture which she still cradled in her hand. Reluctantly, she handed it back to her father, who shook his head and told her to keep it.
"I think I do have a role to play in why Belinda dislikes you sometimes..." He continued. Now that he had started to talk, it was almost like he could not stop.
"Try all the time. Nothing I do is ever good enough for her. What do you mean by your statement though?"
"Well, I didn't ever have time for her. Even worse, when Victoria was born, one would have thought that she was not mine. I never even looked her way or played with her or wanted to be close to her. At that time, I did not realize that I was doing more harm than good, but the truth was that I did not really want either of them around us. All I wanted was my Miranda. Belinda began to get jealous and angry and even tried to make me send you to your grandmother's place, something that nearly tore her and me apart. By the time I got around to loving Victoria and seeing her as mine too, it was already too late. Belinda disliked you and felt you reminded me of your mother, which was and remains true."
"Why did you let her control you so much?"
"She's naturally a control freak, and at first, I would not have it, but over time I began to gamble a lot and drink and was hardly ever home. Then I began to get depressed because of the money I owed and did not just care about many things anymore. It felt good to lean on someone, and Belinda was strong enough for that, so I was always hiding in her shadow. At first, I was going to let you grow up knowing about your mother, but Belinda and even my family members refused. They said I had as good as killed her with my folly, and you were better off not knowing that. Besides, Belinda had raised you since when she came to live with me, so you called her mother right from the time you were able to speak, and I felt that there was no point changing your mindset."
"I'm glad it's all out now. Anyway, I was not feeling sleepy before, but now, I can barely keep my eyes open. I think I'll go to bed now. You should too."
"Sure thing. We're leaving before nine tomorrow morning. You don't have to rush your journey. I know it is because of us you and your husband want to leave so soon."
"Well, I already convinced him, so we should probably go. Besides, I want to."
"Okay. That's alright then. I hope you're not having any problems living here." He asked.
"No, no. at first, I did not like it that much, but now, I've gotten used to it. Besides, Sebastian and I are now cool with each other."
"I'm glad to hear that. He seems like a nice guy."
"Yeah. He sure is." Carol said. They seemed to have run out of things to say to each other, so they bid themselves goodnight and went to their respective rooms.