All she had done was reach out to her sister on Facebook. She hadn’t expected such a painful and rude rejection.
Though maybe she should have. Because not once in her thirty-three years had Julia and Patrick—her half siblings—ever reached out to her. Sabrina was certain that they hadn’t known of her existence for several years—as she hadn’t known about them. But for the past fifteen years at least, they knew of her. Knew of her, but wanted nothing to do with her.
When Sabrina had turned eighteen, her father decided to finally introduce her to his other children. She had been nervous but hopeful. But those hopes were quickly shot down when Julia and Patrick had said less than two words upon meeting her. They’d made it clear that they wanted nothing to do with her, and that hadn’t changed over the years.
It didn’t take a psychologist to figure out why. Sabrina was a child of their father, conceived in an adulterous relationship. And for that reason, it seemed that they would never accept her.
It had been a huge shock to learn she had siblings, and Sabrina was sure that they were just as stunned to learn of her existence. But Sabrina acknowledged that for them, the situation had to be harder. Discovering the truth of their father’s betrayal wasn’t easy to accept.
Perhaps if Sabrina had never pressed the issue, she would have never known the truth about her father. But when the standard “Your father isn’t in your life” answers weren’t enough for her, her mother had finally told her the truth. That her father didn’t live with them because he had another family. And how that family wasn’t interested in getting to know her. Those had been hard words to accept at the age of thirteen, but Sabrina hadn’t been concerned about people she didn’t know. She’d been concerned about her father. And having another family or not, she hadn’t been able to understand why he never saw her. There were other kids at her school whose parents had gone on to marry other people, but they still spent time with both parents.
Sabrina had bombarded her mother with questions about her father, and finally at the age of fifteen, her mother revealed his identity. Sabrina had been excited to find out that her father was Gerald Parker. A man her mother had been able to show her articles of in the paper, and stories about on the news. At the time she’d learned of his identity, her father had been a city councilor running for mayor. The father she had always dreamed about, had always wanted in her life, was famous. That reality had filled Sabrina with pride.
Sabrina could still remember the feeling of nervous hopefulness when her mother had arranged for her to meet him. But all the hopes and expectations she’d had of him had shattered after they’d met. Because the hope that he would become a constant figure in her life proved only to be the wishful thinking of a young girl. Even during their first meeting, Gerald Parker had seemed uncomfortable around her, and Sabrina had been smart enough to know that it wasn’t simply because it was their first meeting. After that, their interactions were few and far between. He made sure to send her gifts on special occasions, but what Sabrina had wanted was his presence in her life.
As an adult, Sabrina came to understand why her mother hadn’t pushed for her father to be a part of her life. Her mother knew that he would ultimately hurt her by choosing his family over her every time. For one thing, Gerald feared that the secret about his affair and illegitimate child would come out and ruin his career in politics. But Sabrina’s mother, Evelyn, had never tried to do anything to hurt the man she had clearly loved. She hadn’t even given Sabrina his last name, to keep anyone from learning the truth. Gerald’s wife, Marilyn, who had stayed by his side despite his infidelity, wasn’t able to accept the very real proof of her husband’s bad behavior. At least that was what Sabrina’s mother had always told her. The very few times she had seen her father proved to her the theory was true.
Sabrina hoped that her siblings—her sister in particular—might be open to a relationship with her. But clearly, that was wishful thinking.
Sabrina folded the letter, put it back in its envelope and tossed it in the top drawer of her desk. She should throw it out...but she would keep it as a reminder of how pointless it was to reach out to the family that wanted nothing to do with her.
Sighing, Sabrina rubbed both of her temples. As she and her mother got older, she was able to picture a future without any real family to call her own. There were cousins in upstate New York, a far cry from Ocean City where she lived. They may as well have been strangers to her. Her father and her half siblings were in the Ocean City area and Sabrina saw it as a real tragedy that she was basically banned from getting to know them.
Hadn’t enough time passed to prove to Marilyn that Sabrina’s mother was no longer a threat? Her mother and father had been involved thirty-four years ago. More than enough time for Marilyn Parker to put aside her gripes on getting to know Sabrina.
Through social media, Sabrina had hoped that reaching out to her sister would be the way to connect to the family that she always wanted to get to know. Neither she nor her siblings were accountable for her father’s actions. They were innocent, not responsible for the way they had come into the world. Sabrina had hoped that after so many years, her siblings would be curious to get to know her and forge a relationship.
“Hey,” Nya said softly, peaking her head into the office. “Can I come in?”
Sabrina looked up at her office assistant and best friend, whom she had known since high school.
“Sure,” Sabrina told Nya.
“Well?” Nya asked cautiously as she walked into the office. “I figure if it was good news, you would have told me. I’ve been patiently waiting, giving you time. But now I’m figuring you might need a hug.”
“She wants nothing to do with me,” Sabrina said simply.
Nya sat in the chair opposite Sabrina’s desk. “That’s all she said?”
“Her language was a bit more colorful.”
Nya searched Sabrina’s desk. “Where’s the letter? Did you throw it out?”
“I should have. But I put it in my desk.”
“Can I read it?”
Sabrina opened the desk and retrieved the letter, and then passed it to Nya. Her best friend for fifteen years, Sabrina shared everything with Nya. She couldn’t really talk to her mother about this, because her mother would surely say I told you so. Especially since her mother had told her for years that her father’s family would never come around.
Nya withdrew the letter from the envelope. Sabrina could tell when she got to the more vile parts because her eyes began to bulge.
“Oh, my God. This is her reply?”
“Like I said, it’s obvious that she wants nothing to do with me.”
“Still, this isn’t the way to respond to people. I saw the message you sent her on Facebook. You were very polite. Overly polite. It did not call for this kind of a response.”
Sabrina nodded. She realized she was gritting her teeth, and made a deliberate attempt to relax her jaw, shoulders, and the rest of her body. “Obviously, there’s nothing I can do about this. I held this dream for too long.”
“Well, I say forget them.” Nya shoved the letter back into the envelope. “You don’t get to choose your family, but thankfully, you do get to choose your friends.” She beamed, and gestured to herself. “And this friend would love to take you out for dinner and drinks tonight so we can forget this letter ever arrived.
