“A woman never gets tired of hearing that,” she said, grinning at him.
“What’s going on?”
She went through the litany of chores and responsibilities she shouldered every day and mentioned that she had just visited the staff at her office, promising them she’d be back part-time in just a couple of weeks.
“How do you feel about that?”
“I think I’m actually looking forward to it. Maybe part-time is the answer for me. I know I don’t dread it and that surprises me more than you!” And she laughed. “There have been a few developments since I talked to you last. On the most significant side, my mom revealed to us that we have a sibling we’ve never met. She told us the story when we were all together.” And Jessie relayed the details to her counselor.
“How interesting,” he said. “Were you surprised?”
“Oh, shocked, really. We all were. No one had a clue, including my mom. But my mom met the girl, woman now, and her husband and baby, and despite the fact that it must have stunned her, she got to know them and thinks a lot of them. I plan to meet them all as soon as I can. I’ll phone first or something. Make a date. But shame on my dad for having that secret all those years.”
“Would you have changed it in any way?”
“It would have been best if he’d never done it, I suppose. And then he lied about it so he wouldn’t lose his marriage and family, so I understand. I don’t approve, but I understand. I don’t think I realized until now just how many issues my father had.”
“How do those issues impact you?” he asked.
“I have another sister,” she said with a slight shrug. “I think, when you get down to it, my father must have gotten in over his head. He obviously caved in to a flirtation and look what happened. He had a child he couldn’t acknowledge without putting his wife and other children at risk.”
“Not all that uncommon a situation, I think.”
“You hear a lot of that sort of thing?”
“Sure,” he said. “Don’t you?”
“Hmm,” she hummed, thinking. “Well, I was going to say patients, but then I remembered a couple of our staff have been in similar situations. Our receptionist is a single mom, never married, but I don’t know the circumstances.”
“If you don’t mind me saying so, you look untroubled,” the counselor said.
“First of all, my father is gone. I’m still sad about that. Second, getting mad about it is useless—it’s too late for him to apologize. And I want to hear this woman’s story. This half sister of mine. Because I think it’s pretty obvious I have daddy issues. I think I have for a long time, like since my little brother came home from the hospital, which coincidentally is about the same time my father was having a secret child with another woman.”
“Daddy issues?” he asked.
“To be honest, there were things I knew even if I couldn’t admit them. Like the fact that I wanted to be his favorite when clearly Michael had that honor. But I always knew Michael wasn’t his favorite so much as he was the only son and got more of our dad’s attention. I was jealous. Most older children are when the new baby comes along—they write books on it. And now look what I’ve just learned—that he was in a very delicate situation at the time, had admitted to his wife that he’d been having an affair, their marriage was rocky, they were fighting and unhappy—and for a little three-year-old, that must have been upsetting and confusing. I suppose I must have translated that as disappointment. Or as I got a little older, maybe I felt let down. I do remember thinking I just could never get enough praise from my father.”
Dr. Norton was quiet for a moment. He smiled slightly. “I think that’s a very enormous thing to resolve.”
“I couldn’t have without my mother revealing the story,” she said. Then she laughed. “It was the last thing I expected to hear.”
“And look at you,” he said. “You appear to have a new strength. A new confidence. In fact, I haven’t seen you look so good since I met you.”
“You said that already.”
“It’s completely true, but I’m sorry to go on and on.”
“Well, my mom is doing very well. I’m still very wary and cautious but I think she’s out of the woods. And while I’m very busy helping her and staying at her house rather than my own condo, I think I’m getting more rest. It’s a different kind of busy than seeing patients. Maybe that was the answer all along. A little break from work, less pressure and a change of scenery.”