Chapter 121: Am I a Bastard?

Dominic survived the gallery’s opening day.

More importantly, the gallery did, too.

The reviews were mostly positive, attendance had been better than expected, and several of the new artists had already received inquiries about their work.

Even The Wrath attracted genuine interest.

One visitor had stood in front of it for nearly fifteen minutes before telling Dominic that whoever painted it clearly had something unpleasant trapped inside him.

Dominic hadn’t been entirely sure whether that was praise.

The woman bought it anyway.

Apparently, it was.

So Dominic was in a relatively good mood when he decided to visit his father.

He stopped for soup and crackers on the way, although he’d made sure the soup was something Conrad was currently allowed to eat. He bought enough for himself too.

Hospital visits were considerably easier when snacks were involved.

Dominic pushed open the door to Conrad’s room and immediately noticed someone sitting beside the bed.

A woman.

Her back was turned to him as she helped Conrad with his meal.

Dominic paused.

"Am I late for feeding time?"

The woman turned.

Conrad looked past her toward the door.

Something about his father’s expression made Dominic’s amusement disappear.

"Dominic. Come in."

Dominic frowned but entered.

The woman stood.

She was older, perhaps his mother’s age, and something about her face felt strangely familiar, though Dominic couldn’t place it.

Then Conrad said, "This is Helena."

Oh.

Dominic looked at her again.

Andrei’s mother.

He’d seen photographs, but they’d never properly met.

Helena offered him a tentative smile.

"Hello, Dominic."

"Hello."

So far, manageable.

Dominic set the bag of food on the table.

Then his father continued.

"Helena is also my wife."

Dominic stopped.

Conrad apparently decided there was no graceful way to improve that sentence.

"We were married yesterday."

Dominic closed his eyes.

One. Two. Three. Inhale.

Four. Five. Six. Exhale.

He opened his eyes again.

"Is that a joke?"

"No."

"You married Andrei’s mother."

"Yes."

"In a hospital."

"Yes."

"While waiting for a kidney."

Conrad sighed. "The kidney wasn’t part of the ceremony."

"That is reassuring."

Helena lowered her gaze, although Dominic caught the beginning of a smile.

He wasn’t trying to be funny.

That somehow made it worse.

"Does Mother know?"

Conrad’s expression became more serious.

"Not yet."

Dominic stared at him.

"You divorced her a month ago."

"The divorce was settled properly before Helena and I married."

"I know how calendars work."

"Dominic."

"I’m trying very hard right now."

That was true.

Seven. Eight. Nine. Inhale.

Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Exhale.

He’d lost count again.

Dominic pulled out a chair and sat.

His gaze moved from Conrad to Helena.

Helena Sebastian.

That was going to take some getting used to.

Then another thought arrived.

Dominic frowned.

"What does that make me?"

Conrad looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Am I the bastard now?"

Helena’s eyes widened.

Conrad immediately shook his head.

"No."

"Are you sure? Because family arrangements seem to be changing remarkably quickly around here."

"You were born while Victoria and I were married. Nothing about my marriage to Helena changes that."

"And Andrei?"

Conrad was quiet for a moment.

"Andrei was born before I knew Helena was pregnant. His legal status was dealt with years ago when I formally acknowledged and adopted him."

Dominic leaned back.

"So technically, he’s the one who was born outside marriage."

"Dominic."

"I’m clarifying."

Helena finally spoke.

"Andrei never chose the circumstances of his birth."

No anger was in her voice.

That made Dominic feel considerably worse than anger would’ve.

"I know."

And surprisingly, he did.

Because sitting there now, looking at Conrad and Helena together, Dominic felt something he hadn’t expected.

He felt displaced.

Andrei’s mother was now Conrad’s wife.

Andrei had both his parents in the same room, married to each other at last, while Dominic’s parents had formally ended their marriage barely a month earlier.

Nothing about that changed who Dominic was.

Nothing had been taken from him legally.

Yet somehow, the room felt rearranged around him.

For the first time, Dominic wondered whether this was how Andrei had felt when he first entered the Sebastian family.

The son who existed outside the established picture.

The one trying to figure out where he was supposed to stand.

Dominic didn’t particularly enjoy the realization.

He looked at his father.

"Did you love Mother?"

Conrad went still.

Helena gently withdrew her hand.

Dominic noticed that too.

"I’m asking him."

"I know," Helena said quietly.

Conrad looked toward the window before answering.

"Yes."

Dominic searched his face.

"Then why did you leave us?"

The question came out more quietly than he’d intended.

Conrad’s expression changed.

"I didn’t leave because I never loved your mother."

"You disappeared."

"I did."

"You left her to explain everything to me when she didn’t even know what was happening herself."

"I know."

"No, I don’t think you do."

Dominic could feel the anger rising again.

Twenty-one. Twenty-Two. Twenty-three. Inhale.

One. Two. Three. Exhale.

It was easier to count from one to ten.

He tightened his hands against his knees instead of raising his voice.

"You left us years ago. Then you came back just long enough to divorce Mother, and the moment it was over, you married someone else."

Conrad absorbed that without interrupting.

Finally, he said, "I loved Victoria. Part of me probably always will."

Dominic glanced at Helena.

She didn’t look offended.

If anything, she looked sad.

"But Helena was my first love," Conrad continued. "What I felt for her didn’t disappear simply because I built another life afterward. I didn’t know she was pregnant when we separated, and by the time I learned about Andrei, I’d already made choices that affected more people than just myself."

"Like marrying my mother."

"Yes."

"Having me."

Conrad looked directly at him.

"You were never a mistake, Dominic."

That stopped him.

Whatever sarcastic response had been preparing itself disappeared.

Conrad reached toward Helena.

She took his hand.

"I can’t undo what I did to either family. Marrying Helena now doesn’t erase my time with Victoria, and it certainly doesn’t erase you."

Dominic watched their joined hands.

He couldn’t remember ever seeing that ease between his parents.

It hurt.

That was the irritating part.

Conrad and Victoria had spent most of Dominic’s childhood disagreeing about something. Even when they weren’t openly fighting, another argument always seemed to be waiting nearby.

Helena merely adjusted Conrad’s blanket, and his father looked at her as though the small gesture mattered.

Dominic had seen that kind of look before.

Once, Andrew had held his hand in front of a journalist while telling the world about their supposed love story.

Dominic had believed that performance.

This didn’t look like a performance.

And perhaps that bothered him most.

He stood.

"This is a lot."

"I know," Conrad said.

"No, I don’t think you do that either."

Helena looked at him carefully.

"You don’t have to be happy about this immediately."

Dominic turned toward her.

He’d expected defensiveness.

Maybe even hostility.

Instead, she simply looked uncomfortable herself.

"I didn’t marry your father to take anyone’s place, Dominic."

"My mother might disagree."

"She has every right to feel however she feels about it."

That answer took some of the fight out of him.

Dominic sighed.

"Just give me time."

Conrad nodded.

"As much as you need."

A knock interrupted them before Dominic could decide whether that answer irritated him too.

The attending physician entered.

He greeted Conrad, checked something on the monitor, then looked toward the others.

"I was hoping to catch the family together."

Dominic almost laughed.

The definition of family had become remarkably complicated in the last twenty-four hours.

The physician continued.

"If this is a good time, I’d like to revisit the transplant discussion. We need to start making decisions about the next stage of treatment and whether Mr. Sebastian has reconsidered the living-donor option."

Nobody answered immediately.

Helena looked at Conrad.

Conrad looked at Dominic.

And Dominic suddenly remembered something he’d somehow managed to forget during the revelation that his father had gotten married in a hospital room.

His kidney.

He had volunteered to give Conrad one.

Back then, the decision had seemed surprisingly simple.

Conrad was his father.

Andrei had children who depended on him.

Dominic was the better preliminary match.

So why shouldn’t it be him?

Except things weren’t quite the same anymore.

Andrei wasn’t simply Conrad’s other son standing awkwardly at the edge of the Sebastian family.

His mother was now Conrad’s wife.

For the first time in Andrei’s life, his parents were married.

Dominic looked at their joined hands again.

Then he thought of Victoria.

His mother.

The woman Conrad had left behind.

The woman who had signed their divorce papers only to be replaced barely a month later by the first love Conrad apparently never managed to forget.

Dominic’s chest tightened.

He tried breathing slowly.

The doctor was still waiting.

So was Conrad.

Dominic had been so certain before.

Now, for the first time since volunteering, another question slipped quietly into his mind.

Did he still want to give his father a kidney?