Collision Course, Chapter Two
 

" So, you ready to tell me who my parent is?", Chad asked.

Eve looked at Chad, and then went over to her desk. She had to think fast.

" No, Chad. I don’t think this is the time for me to give you any information."

Chad looked crestfallen. " Why?"

" Because….this is a very delicate situation. I can’t raise your hopes on something that might not be absolute. Remember, this was only a 90% or higher match. I can’t let you hinge all those hopes on something like that."

" You’re right, Dr. Russell. It’s just when you said you had a match, I had…had never felt closer to getting a family than I did then."

Eve looked at Chad and her heart broke. She couldn’t tell him what she had found. Not yet. She didn’t even understand what she had found. Not really. And, until her own confusion was settled, she couldn’t deal with him.

" Well, this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to draw some blood from you right now. I will contact the person in the computer, and explain the situation to them. Then, I’m going to ask them to come in and give blood also. We need definitive results, Chad. Before, I can tell you everything."

Chad nods. " That makes sense. I don’t like waiting, but, I’ve waited this long, I guess I can wait some more."

" You roll up your sleeve, and I’ll draw the blood. "

Chad did as she said, and she took 2 vials of it. " I’ll get to work on it right away, Chad."

" I know you will, Dr. Russell. I know you’ll do right by me. I trust you completely."

Eve got a chill, and smiled at Chad as he left her office. She locked the door to her office,  rolled up her own sleeve, and drew blood. After she got the blood, she went into her rolodex, and called the medical messenger service and arranged a pickup for the blood to two different DNA labs. One way or the other, she was going to get an answer. She didn’t know what scared her more: Chad not being her son, or him being her son. It was possible that her life would change dramatically with these results.
 

Julian picks up the phone.

" Crane residence."

" Julian? It’s Rebecca."

" Ah, my lucious Rebecca. What can I do for you?"

" Julian, Johnathan’s dead."

" Johnathan…your husband?"

" Yes."

" How?"

" Heart attack. This afternoon."

" Oh, Bec. I’m sorry….aren’t I?"

" Yes…yes…Johnathan was a good man. But, that’s not why I’m calling."

" You want me to come and deliver condolences in person?"

" No. Johnathan’s dead. GWEN is devastated. She could use her friends right now. She could definitely use the sympathetic ear of ETHAN at this time….if you get my drift?"

" Ah…..Ethan….yes, Bec. I get your drift."

" Well, then, my partner in crime, it’s time for you to work out things on your end."

" And, that I will, my kumquat. I’ll get the ball rolling here."

" You do that, Julian.", Rebecca says, then, giving a few kisses through the phone.

Julian smiled and hung up. He goes upstairs to his bedroom to get ready to visit the Hotchkiss Mansion. He wants to look in the ‘consoling’ mood.
 

Ethan was in shock.

" Grandfather, I misunderstood you."

" No, you didn’t Ethan."

" But, you said that I wasn’t Father’s son."

" Indeed I did."

" Why would you say something like that?"

" Because, it’s the truth. You are not Julian’s son."

" If I’m not his son, then who am I?"

" Your biological father is Sam Bennett."

" Sam Bennett?!?! That can’t be!"

" Ah, but, it IS, Ethan. Your mother had a summer fling with Sam Bennett. They were young lovers. Your mother decided to marry Julian at her father’s wishes, but, they had a disagreement their wedding night, and Ivy left Julian alone on his wedding night, and slept with Sam Bennett that night. You were born nine months to that night."

" I don’t believe it."

" Well, you better believe it."

" How long have you known?"

" Since the day you were born. I had you tested. I had my suspicions."

" Why didn’t you say anything?"

" Because, I had no reason to. Ivy had been abandoned by Sam Bennett by that time, so I knew that he would not be a factor in your life. Your parents married so that the Cranes could avail themselves of the political favors that your grandfather provided. I knew that Ivy was fertile, and I always believed that she would produce more heirs for the Crane family, so, why reveal something so painful. And, your birth, and the few years afterward were the most productive that I had ever seen in Julian. He was so proud of being your father, that for awhile, he cleaned his act up nearly completely. "

" I see."

" And, then, as time went on, and your mother had three daughters, well, by that time, I had grown to love you, and whatever faults I had with your mother, her input into your raising had been successful, because you were being groomed to be the Crane Heir, and I couldn’t have done a better job than Ivy did. Her choices for you were excellent. "

" Who knows the truth about me?"

" Right now, only Ivy and myself, though she has no idea that I know."

" Well, maybe Father knows and loves me anyway."

Alistair laughs. " Come on, Ethan. You and I both know my son. He’s not capable of THAT kind of sacrificial love. No, he loves you because he believes you’re his firstborn son. But, all that can change."

" Change?"

" Yes. Ethan, it’s one thing for me to allow the bastard of the Police Chief to be the Heir to the Crane Empire. It’s something else altogether, for me to sit by and allow you to marry the Housekeeper’s Daughter. That’s something that just cannot happen."

" Oh."

" Surely, you see my position, Ethan. I’m swallowing a great deal of pride in allowing a non-Crane to be the future leader of this family. But, I always think in terms of what’s best for this family. And, I believe you are what’s best for the family, Ethan. You are the rock. The center of this family. Your parents look upon you with pride and joy. I rest easier knowing that the family is in such capable hands. And, your siblings look to you to be the role model to which they can aspire. You’ve been groomed since birth to LEAD, Ethan. And, now, is your moment of truth. You have to decide, what is more important to you: the family who, though containing many faults, has loved, cherished and molded you to be the man you are, or, Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald. "

" That’s the choice as you see it, Grandfather?"

" Absolutely, my boy. Because, if you persist with this Theresa nonsense, then I will be forced to reveal to Julian the truth about your paternity. And, then, I will have no control over the situation anymore. Your father will be out for blood. Your mother’s blood with top the list. He will DESTROY her, Ethan. As sure as you and I are talking, he’ll destroy her. He will cast her out, divorce her, leave her penniless."

" She has the trust from my Grandfather Winthrop."

Alistair chuckles. " My dear lad. That’s only pennies, really. Your Grandfather was a brilliant politician, but, he lacked business sense. His finances were abominable, and the supposed trust he left for Ivy is a pittance. He didn’t worry about it, after all, Ivy was married to a Crane."

" Mother’s been married to Father for years..the courts will see it that way. She can get something."

" Ethan, we OWN the courts in this state and everywhere else up and down the East Coast. Once our lawyers are finished with Ivy, they might even have HER paying alimony to Julian.

No. The courts in this state are conservative as is. This type of scandal, plus the Public Relations Steamroller that Julian will orchestrate, and Ivy will be branded, in every rag from coast to coast."

" But, you hate publicity, Grandfather. You would never allow Father to do that."

" Alas, Ethan. I told you that my son has a mind of his own, and sometimes things get away from him. And, this would be a case where I wouldn’t think that I had the right to stop him. After all, this is one of the few times where you can actually say that Julian has gone into something with ‘good faith’, and he has been betrayed, MISERABLY.

And, then….there’s the rest of it."

" Rest of it?", Ethan asks, rubbing his hand over his face.

" Well, I hate to bring it up…but, your siblings. How old are your youngest sisters?"

" Melanie is 14, and Penelope just turned 10."

" Fourteen and ten. Such young ages for impressionable young girls to lose their mother."

" Lose their mother?"

" Well, of course. You don’t think that Julian would allow Ivy to have contact with any of the rest of their children, do you? Samantha is seventeen, but, the others are clearly minors. The issue of custody would easily go to Julian, you know that, don’t you?"

Ethan thought about it. He knew that Alistair was right. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he knew that they were true.

" Well, the choice is yours, Ethan. Yours to make. You can keep your family together. You can have a mother and a FATHER who love you, because you and I both know that Julian loves you, deeply. "

Ethan had a series of flashbacks throughout his life: Julian teaching him how to sail; them playing tennis together; Julian taking him to business meetings, the couple of times that Julian visited him at boarding school and took him to play hooky. He then flashbacked to just a few months ago, when, Julian, a man not very demonstrative, had thanked Ethan for defending him to Alistair, and had told him how much he loved Ethan. He looked on his father’s desk, and the only picture there, was one of himself and Julian. Whatever his flaws were, Julian loved him…..and he loved Julian.

" Your sisters can have a family. An intact family. We’re nothing out of a Rockwell painting, but, we are a family. I love you, Ethan. Julian and Ivy. Your siblings. Sheridan. We are a family, and I think we should stay as such. So much love has been bestowed upon you, Ethan. It’s time now, that you bestow love to the family. You may not be a Crane by blood, but, you have been raised as Crane as any of us. So many people bend to your will, it is time for you to help the family. To keep it strong. To ensure its future.

Man to man, you have my bond, Ethan. You show your devotion to the Cranes, and you would have earned your position as our future leader. This conversation will never be repeated. You have my word. The FAMILY is what matters most to me, Ethan. I think we see eye to eye on that. I believe you understand. I will never bring this matter up again, Ethan. This is our one talk. Your actions will make your destiny.

Goodbye, Grandson. "

Alistair hangs up the phone, leaving Ethan to ponder his future.