This Is Life

The Truth

Many trigger warnings within this chapter: cheating, Miscarriage, suicide

I stood outside my dads apartment. I was nervous but I was willing to give him a chance. I knocked and my dad opened the door. "Julia. Come on in. There's a lot I want to talk about."

"Thanks. And me too." I followed him in and sat at a kitchen chair. "It's good to see you again. And I'm sorry I just ended the call. I was just so upset about everything, and I think the hormones were still a little crazy from birth. Thanks for talking to Donny though."

"No problem. I did that because I want a second chance. And I want to explain everything. I have two questions first. One is are you willing to let me be back in your life?"

"Depending on how today goes. Yes."

"Thank you Julia. And the second. I tried to find your wedding invitation for you and Michael but I couldn't. Do you remember the date? I'll explain why later."

"July 15th 1940." My dad nodded a tear in his eye already.

"Okay. So I'll start right from while you were starting high school. Your mom and I. We never really worked. She knew that, I knew that. But she ended up pregnant with you so we had a forced, shotgun marriage. We agreed the day you were born to never tell you. But I think you ought to know. I wanted to be a good father so I stayed around and I loved my little girl. You were my everything. But then Hannah walked into my life. And I fell in love. Not wanting you to really know, I just left. And that was a mistake. I should have kept in touch from the get go." He took a deep breath. "So still being young, as I had you when your mom and I were just 21, I married Hannah. I'd invited you, but I guess you never found out. Your mother just responded saying you couldn't be there. We tried for children and it kept not happening, she went through two miscarriages in the space of a year before having a successful pregnancy. We welcomed a little boy, Peter. However, he became incredibly ill in the summer of 1940, he went into hospital July 10th, and died July 16th. That's why I didn't go to your wedding. I was with my 3 year old during his dying days." I began choking up as I heard those words.

"I'm so sorry dad. If I'd have known, I wouldn't have gotten so angry and upset. I'm sorry you lost your little boy. My Michael and Flora are only a few weeks old but I couldn't ever imagine losing one of them, especially so young."

"I should have called you to apologise for not going, but as I'm sure you can imagine I was filled with grief." I simply nodded. "So continuing on, Hannah then discovered she was now infertile so we couldn't even try for another child. We went to adoption and adopted two teenagers. They were 15 at the time, turned 16 a month later. Richard and Rosie. You stopped contacting me so I never tried contacting you and that was also a mistake. They were just like you. Loved music. He was a guitarist and Rosie was a singer. At 18, in 1943 Richard was drafted to fight in the war. Solomon Islands."

"That's where Donny and Michael were. They were there from 1941. Do you know which island?"

"Bougainville." He said softly.

"I wonder if Donny knows him. You said he was a guitarist. I wonder if they spoke. Donny's is pianist and singer. Michael was a drummer. The two of them and their friends dreamed of starting a band when they came home."

"He spoke of a few other guys in his letters. Nova, Rubber, Morris?"

"That's Donny and Michael and another one of their mates. Those were the names they went by. I'll have to tell Donny."

"It might hurt him." More tears filled his eyes and I realised something.

"He didn't make it back, did he?" I said softly.