"Wow. Everyone is finally around the table. The apocalypse must be coming." Matt glanced around as he reached for the mashed potatoes.

"Naw, Bethany and I just decided to forgive each other for any and all offenses. I think I got off lightly." Damon reached over and took Beth's hand into his as he smiled at her. "We're going to move things along now too."

"Oh yeah? How so?" Karen asked, giving him a look that he wasn't quite sure how to decipher.

"We're moving in together," Bethany spoke up. "In the next week or so. I still have my lease through December-"

"But we'll just pay it out and be done with it," Damon finished for her, unable to take his eyes off of her. Something about knowing that they were moving one step closer to her truly being his left his heart racing. He'd almost lost her over a handful of stupid bullshit. "I want you with me."

She smiled and glanced over at her mom. "Now all we need to do is talk Damon into letting us redecorate his bachelor pad."

Matt snorted. "Good luck with that."

"Redecorate all you want. I just want you there as soon as possible." Damon winked at his woman and glanced down the table to find his father quiet and staring at his plate. "Dad? You okay?"

"Hmmm?" He glanced up. "Oh, yeah. Sorry. Just thinking about a few things."

Karen reached out and brushed her fingers down his arm. "Like?"

"Kendal losing his sister just brought back a lot of memories." Damon's father let out a soft sigh and turned his heavy gaze to rest on Damon. "Have you checked on him since the funeral?"

"Yeah. We spoke late last night, and I told him I would check in with him again this week."

"Good. Sometimes the death of a loved one doesn't truly hit you until everything is over and everyone has gone home. Then you have time to sit alone in the silence of the house, and it slams into you like a brick wall." His father shrugged and got up. "I've got a few calls to make. Forgive me?"

"Of course." Karen stood up and leaned in as he moved over to kiss her. "You sure you're okay?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm great." He walked out of the dining room toward his study as Damon glanced across the table toward Matt.

"What's up with him? Any idea?" Damon turned his question toward Karen.

"This is around the time that Mom died. Maybe he's just having a hard time with the memories of her death?" Matt shrugged and grabbed another piece of fried chicken.

"Go talk to him." Bethany rubbed Damon's back softly, giving him the little bit of courage he needed.

"All right." He leaned in for a quick kiss and stood. "Save me a piece of chicken. Matt will sit here and eat every damn piece if you're not careful."

"Hey! I'm right here." Matt snorted. "I'm watching my weight too, so only three pieces tonight.”

Damon rolled his eyes and chuckled as he walked languidly toward the study. It seemed the worst possible time to talk with his dad about his mom's infidelities, but Beth was right. He had to get it off his chest. Lying was the one thing he wouldn't stand for, and not being honest with hidden information was the same as lying to him.

Maybe that was part of the reason for the truth being such a burden to him over the years.

"Dad?" He knocked softly on the door and pushed it open. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah. I'd like that." His father was kneeling in front of a large fireplace, tossing in small logs when he walked in. It was a rarity to need a fire in Texas no matter what time of the year it was, but his dad had always been good about letting them keep the air-conditioner down low starting in October so that fires were part of their fall and winter experience.

"Did you by chance get to talk to Delilah?" He closed the door and sat down in one of the large leather chairs in the center of the room.

"She called, but I didn't call back. Her message was a little hard to understand, and by the sound of her voice, I could tell it was something personal and not business related." He stood, closed the fireplace and turned to face Damon. "What happened?"

"Lots of things." Damon ran his fingers through his hair. "I should have told you the minute you hired her that it wasn't a good idea, or better yet, maybe next time just include me in the hiring process. I thought that was my job anyway."

"It is, but you've been under a lot of stress lately." His father sat down in the chair beside him. "I wanted to take something off of you. I thought you and Delilah had a great friendship when you were kids. Once I saw her resume and realized who she was, I thought she would be perfect for the position. Not only was she completely capable of doing the job, and doing it well, but you already had established some type of trust with her from your youth."

"Yeah, I get it. Thanks for trying to help." Damon moved to the edge of his seat and pressed his forearms to his legs. "I fired her in Florida. She's been an HR nightmare since she got to the firm, both with Beth and me. And it's not just us. Patrick and Ben have complained about her antics and the poor way she's been treating the staff. She's manipulative and still has feelings for me, which drives her to make shitty decisions while at work."

"Oh, shit. I didn't know all of that." He let out a tight chuckle. "You need to document everything for when she tries to sue us."

When. There would be no question that the bitch would try, but Damon almost looked forward to slapping her back again for all the shit she put Beth through.

"I will."

"Good. Is Bethany rejoining the firm now that Delilah is no longer there?"

"I'm not sure. It's fine either way." Damon shrugged. "Where I'd love to have her with us, it might be best while we're rebuilding our relationship if we just see each other outside of work. It's sometimes a hostile environment in the office thanks to our deadlines and the stress to keep up with demands."

"Whatever the two of you decide is fine by me. You know that I'd love her up there with us because she's family, but if it's a better situation for your relationship to let her work somewhere else-"

"Or not at all. She doesn't need to work. I'll pay for everything."

He chuckled. "Good luck with that. If she's anything like Karen, she's not going to let you pay for everything. That woman is fiercely independent."

"And you love her even more for it?" Damon leaned back and smirked.

"Hell, yeah, I do. I never imagined finding someone that truly loved me for me, you know?" He shrugged and brushed his hands down his face.

"Mom didn't love you for you?" Tension roared to life in the middle of Damon's chest. He reached up and rubbed it. It was time to let his demons come rolling out, but fuck if he didn't want to. It didn't seem right all of a sudden.

"Your mom was a complex creature." His father stood up and walked to the fire. "She wanted something more than what I was capable of giving her, but she never could articulate what it was. I tried so hard to make her happy in every area of our life, but it became an exhausting quest."

"Dad." Damon stood up and slipped his hands into his pockets as his father turned to face him.

"She started to sleep around on me somewhere around your junior year." His father's eyes filled with tears. "It was the most devastating time of my entire life. It outweighed my father beating me as a boy and my sister dying from fever when I was twelve. It was the most painful thing I have ever been through."

Damon stood in silent shock. His father already knew? All the years of carrying around the lie that his mother was sleeping around on his dad and it was for nothing? He prepared for the fierce anger that should have accompanied the truth of knowing that his dad knew, but it never came.

His father walked to his desk, grabbed a Kleenex and wiped his nose. "I wanted to divorce her, but about the time I got the balls to do it, she got sick. I couldn't let her die alone."

"Dad, fuck." Damon moved across the room and reached out, grabbing his dad's hand as the older man shook a little.

"I hated her by the time we buried her, but I never in a million years would have let you and Matt know that your mother wasn't the woman we all thought she was." He pressed the napkin to his eyes. "It's caused me to move away from more relationship opportunities than I care to discuss. Karen is the first woman in six years I've let myself get close to."

"And why her?" Damon swallowed his confession. There was no reason to spill the truth now. His father already knew, and he'd fought the good fight, trying to hide it from Damon and Matt. There was no way Damon was going to take away the honor in having to be the man his father was for them and their mother during that time.

"Because she's beautifully broken. Her heart has yet to heal, and she's as scared as I am about love and marriage, but she's willing to let me in. It gives me the courage to let her in as well." He wiped at his nose again and let out a long sigh. "I'm sorry I held the information back from you and Matt. Can you forgive me?"

"There is nothing to forgive. You did what you thought was best as our father." Damon moved up and hugged his dad, resting against the bigger man and closing his eyes to enjoy the moment. "She was incredible at the beginning of the marriage, and I've analyzed a million times what I could have done differently, but the answer always came up the same. Nothing. There was nothing else I could have done. I was more than enough. She was just looking for a different experience."

"I'm sorry, Dad." Damon squeezed him one more time and stepped back, holding in his emotions as years of struggle came to an end. No more. No more having to worry that he wasn't enough, that his woman would find someone else if he didn't go over the top in life, at the office, and in the bedroom.

It was almost as if a huge weight had lifted from his shoulders.

"I'm so thrilled to hear that you and Bethany are working things out. I know it's going to be a hard road to hoe, but we'll all do it together, okay? You two aren't alone in any of this. You have me, Karen and Matt. And Kendal." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Speaking of, you need to tell that boy to find a woman that can help him heal. With his parents gone and now with Amanda's death, he's going to need someone other than us."

"You're preaching to the choir, Dad." Damon smiled and studied his father. "Thanks for telling me about Mom."

"Of course. Can I ask you something?"

"Anything." Damon's chest constricted.

"Why didn't you go to her funeral, son? It was shocking and a little disappointing. I still can't help but wonder about it." He tilted his head to the side. "You were so close to your mom for a long time."

"She wasn't the woman I thought she was, Dad. I couldn't pretend that she was, not even in the midst of her death." He nodded and walked to the door before glancing back. "Thanks for being someone I could look up to."

"You still can, right?" His father gave him a cheeky smile.

"Absolutely."