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“Thank you.” Tristan glanced at his watch. He was increasingly convinced that Kevin was stalling, and Tristan had a lot to do. He couldn’t afford to sit around while the lawyer meandered towards the point. “Please, tell me what I need to know.”
“This is difficult to say, but?—”
“It’s all right.” Tristan let out a puff of breath. “Just tell me.”
“It looks like your father had another child around twenty-eight years ago.” Kevin winced at his own bluntness. “The child was the product of an affair. I’m not sure if you were aware…”
“I have a half sibling?” Tristan sat back, blinking. He’d been wrong — thishadcome as a surprise. The news of his father having an affair wasn’t particularly shocking; Benjamin West had always been a bit of a playboy. The idea that Tristan had an unknown half sibling, though…thatwas news.
“Well, not exactly.” Kevin winced again. “The child was a girl — your half sister. Apparently, she passed away last week from cancer. Her lawyer reached out to me this morning, and I came straight to you.”
Tristan sipped his water, reeling. In the space of a few minutes, he’d both gained and lost a half sister. At times like this, he wished that he was better at meditation, because a little calm detachment would have been welcome.
“I… I’m sorry to hear that she passed away. What was her name?”
“Tanya Edison. Mr. West, I’m afraid there’s a bit more I have to tell you.”
Tristan nodded. “Please.” He was so distracted by the sudden news of a sister he’d never known that he didn’t even remind Kevin to use his first name.
“Well, Ms. Edison was raised by a single mother, who also passed away young. Then, a few years ago, Ms. Edison became a single mother herself, to a set of triplets. Jasmine, Jacob, and Jamie Edison — two boys and a girl, just shy of two and a half years old now.”
“Those poor children,” Tristan said. He remembered the pain of losing his own parents, even though he’d been in his twenties, and they hadn’t been especially close. He wasn’t sure how much the triplets would remember of their mother at such a young age, but his heart still went out to them. He wasn’t entirely sure what all this had to do with him, though. Perhaps he’d be asked to give the children some kind of financial support, which he would be happy to do.
“Yes, well. Those children are the reason Ms. Edison’s lawyer reached out to me, and the reason I’m here today. It was important to Ms. Edison that her children do not go into foster care — she wanted them raised by family. Yet with her own mother deceased and no known siblings, that was a difficult prospect. A few months before her death, Ms. Edison hired a lawyer, the same one who reached out to me, to search for potential family. She knew that her father had been married and suspected that he might have other children. The lawyer found you, so Ms. Edison put into her will that the triplets should go to you after she passed away.”
“The triplets should go to me,” Tristan repeated, hoping the news would make more sense if said aloud. This was all too much information in such a short time. “Why didn’t she contact me, if she knew I existed and wanted me to raise her children?”
“I don’t know, Mr. West.” Kevin looked truly sympathetic. “It’s hard to say what she was thinking. Perhaps she didn’t want to make her last months with her children more difficult, or perhaps she thought you’d be more likely to say yes if it were presented as afait accompli. What we do know, though, is what she wanted for her children.”
Tristan was already shaking his head. “I would like to do as she asked, truly, but I don’t see how it’s possible. I’ve barely spent any time with children, and I work all the time. I wouldn’t make a good father at all. The kids would be better off with someone else.”
“With all due respect, Mr. West, these children have lost everything.” Kevin leaned forward, his gray eyes beseeching. “Don’t let them lose what their mother wanted for them, too.”
Tristan wanted to protest. He wanted to tell Kevin that there was no way he could raise three two-year-olds. What did two-year-olds evendo? Were they potty-trained? Could they talk? Did they go to school? Could they even walk? Tristan had no idea. Certainly, young kids who had just lost their mother deserved a better parental figure than him. And Tristan had never wanted to be a parent.
Yet he also knew that he couldn’t disobey his sister’s last wishes. He’d never known Tanya, and he never would, but he could still try to do right by her. So, with that thought echoing through his mind, Tristan found himself nodding.
“All right. If she’s sure that I’m the best person for the job, I won’t say no.”
“That’s good to hear.” For a fraction of a second, something less professional and more human crossed Kevin’s face. “I’m a father myself, and even though I read all the parenting books, I never felt prepared to have my son. I don’t think any parent ever does. You’ll be fine, Tristan.”
Tristan looked up at Kevin. “Thank you.” Then, in a rush, he snapped back to the present moment. Despite the crazy whirlwind his morning had turned into, he still had responsibilities. He was due at work in half an hour and had a busy day ahead of him. “When will I meet the kids?”
“They’re staying with an emergency foster family at the moment,” Kevin explained. “You’ll be able to meet them later this afternoon, and if all goes well, it would be ideal to get them moved in by the weekend.”
“Thisafternoon?Thisweekend?” Tristan’s jaw dropped again. Just when he thought he was on top of things, more surprises kept coming. “I don’t have anything in the house for a two-year-old, let alone three of them!”
“Well, you’ll need to get shopping.” Once again back to business, Kevin handed the folder he’d been referencing to Tristan before getting to his feet. “I’ll be in contact about arranging the first visit and the moving plans. Have a good day, Mr. West.”
“Thank you.” Half in a daze, Tristan said his goodbyes to Kevin, who showed himself out. He sat at the counter for a while longer, sipping his lemon-turmeric water, before he trusted himself to reach for the folder. Inside, along with a stack of legal documents as thick as a history textbook, there was a photograph. The photo showed three kids, all with jet-black hair and bright green eyes, all small and hugging each other. They were dressed identically in blue jeans and black T-shirts, with a green headband in the girl’s hair. They had huge, gummy smiles.
So, these were the kids. Tristan stared at the photo for a long time, wondering what he’d gotten himself into. He didn’t want to let down the sister he’d never known, but he had no idea how to be a father, either.
Already, Tristan could tell that this was going to be a mess.
CHAPTER1
RIA