The Science of Growing Apart

10- Wine

"I'm sure Eleanor already told you, but the DNA test came back positive. So it's official, I'm a Barkley," Shiloh told me over the phone on Tuesday evening as I was pulling my frozen pizza out of the oven for dinner. "Coming into this, I was pretty bummed about that. But after meeting Eleanor and Casey, I don't know. They're pretty good company to have."

"I'm glad you have a more positive outlook now," I said, gently placing the steaming pizza on the counter to allow it to cool for a bit before cutting into it. I had a long day of chasing Kim around begging her for an interesting case to write about and was excited to gorge myself on cheap pizza with a glass of wine. Tulip, already smelling the pepperoni, was clawing for a chance to jump onto the table for a taste. "If you're going to have some long lost family members, Eleanor is a pretty good bonus sister to have."

"Yeah," she agreed with a laugh. "We're actually meeting up again this weekend for lunch. But anyway, I was just curious about what the next steps are for the article?"

"Well, I need to schedule a formal interview with you, hopefully your mom and aunt as well. Anybody who is willing to go on record to corroborate the story," I explained to her. "I need to put together a solid timeline of the events of their affair."

"Okay," Shiloh took a deep breath through the phone and I could tell that she was feeling nervous. "Well, they're expecting your call."

"Everything alright?" I prodded as I sat down at the table and gently swatted my hungry cat off of the table before she could steal a bite of meat off of the pizza.

"Yes," she said quickly. "Just can't believe this is finally happening. I felt like I've lived my whole life in a muzzle. I've always dreamed of the day where I could finally scream from the rooftops what a shitty person Silas really is. It's made me sick to see him living such a nice, successful life all this time. I'm just excited to finally get my story out there."

"I know that must be hard," I tried to sympathize with her, despite the fact that I couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of emotions she must be feeling. I knew Eleanor struggled a lot with being Silas's child as well, but I didn't really see a lot of that struggle, since she'd mostly adjusted and grown out of it before I met her. For Casey, it was hard too, but it felt like he didn't suffer as much from the effects since he had Eleanor to be there for him.

"Well, anyway, I'll let you go. I know this is way passed your working hours. I was just so excited about the DNA test, I had to call right away," she explained. "Have a good night."

"You too, Shiloh," I responded politely to end the call.

Once the pizza cooled off some more, I broke off a piece of pepperoni for my spoiled cat before cutting the circle into slices and bringing my plate and a glass of white wine into the living room with me. My living room was so cluttered with knick knacks, half finished crafts, and books on the shelves and I found that chaos to be so comforting for some reason. The cluttered shelves and tables probably looked so messy to an outside eye, and Natalie teased me about it all the time, but everything had a place and I knew where everything was.

If I wanted to suddenly pick up that half-knitted scarf and finally complete it after eight months? I knew exactly where it was, along with the knitting tools and printed instructions I'd found when I watched one YouTube video of an old woman knitting a blanket to inspire me to try it myself. I didn't like it, turns out, but I saved the scarf in case I ever wanted to try again.

I was halfway through my third episode of Survivor and on my second glass of Tuesday night wine when my phone started ringing where it rested on the side table by my couch.

Casey's name took me by surprise when it appeared on the caller ID so much so that I bolted upright out of my relaxed position on the couch and almost spilled my wine. I'd like to say it would have been the first wine stain on this couch, but that would be a lie.