Chapter 3

• Kyle looked at the certificate again, seeing the surname. Tripps.
• He re-read the name of the person listed as the father. Danny Tripps.
• Kyle looked back at the lawyer. "Seriously?"
• Mister Crowler nodded. "Finding out that you're adopted must be a big shock, Kyle. Finding out your father was Danny Tripps must be just as big."
• Kyle shook his head. It didn't make sense to him, this lawyer claiming he was adopted, let alone this absurd claim that Danny fucking Tripps, one of the wealthiest men in America, was his supposed father. A thought struck him.
• "Did Ed put you up to this?" Kyle had two best friends, Ed and Casey. While Casey worked upstairs with him, their friend Ed worked as an illustrator on comic books, but was forever trying to punk them with practical jokes. This seemed right up his street, especially four days after the world found out Danny Tripps had died of cancer.
• The lawyers expression turned serious. "Kyle, I assure you this is no joke. There is more information here for you, including a letter from Mister Tripps."
• "A letter?" Kyle smiled, convinced this was the work of his buddy. He chuckled. "Let's see it then."
• The old man frowned but opened the second file and pulled out an envelope, the paper rich and luxurious. Kyle didn't recognise the handwriting on the front, but he opened it up and unfolded the letter.
• Kyle,
• I imagine you're in a bit of turmoil right now. Try not to give Mr Crowler a hard time -- he's a good man and a good friend who's been stuck with a hard job.
• Anyway, you've just found out I'm your father. Danny Tripps, billionaire, celebrity, playboy, entrepreneur, business genius, etc. I'm sorry to say that it's true, Kyle. And you deserve an explanation.
• Twenty six years ago I met a wonderful woman named Karen, we fell in love and were soon married. I started my own business making computers and doing some programming, and soon my wife fell pregnant. Life was bliss. Then the business boomed, some of the software I'd written made me a small fortune and within months I was employing hundreds of people. The business side of things isn't important now, but a few more months passed and it was time to go to the hospital.
• Karen gave birth to three infants, triplets, a month early, two girls and a boy, but immediately began to have complications. She was rushed into surgery, but it was no good. Just like that, the love of my life died. She was twenty five years old. She would have been a great mother.
• I knew nothing about raising kids, and I was so overwhelmed with grief that the only thing I could think of was to throw myself into my work. Anything to get away from the pain. A doctor suggested offering you and your sisters up for adoption. I agreed, thinking it was the best for you. It was the biggest regret of my life. At the time though, it was the best decision I could have made.
• You and your sisters were put with loving families, raised in nurturing and healthy environments, and despite my promise not to, I kept tabs on you all, helping out in little ways whenever I could. Scholarships, jobs and the like. I know it's not parenting, but you and your sisters are the only family I have, even if we've never met.
• And that brings us round to the present. As I write this I'm dying. If you're reading this, then I'm already gone and you might have even heard about it on the news. Which brings me round to the point of all this. For twenty five years I've been building a business, an empire some would say, and along the way, tens of thousands of people have come to rely on me to keep their companies afloat, keep their jobs in place so they can raise their own families. It's a responsibility that I take seriously, which may well sound ironic to you, given that I haven't taken responsibility for raising my own children.
• I'd like you to meet your sisters, Katarina and Kara. I'd like the three of you to get to know each other. All that I have now belongs to the three of you. My inheritance. I'm told it's quite a sum.
• Mister Crowler will give you the details on what happens next, but here's the clip notes. Go to my Island in the Caribbean, get to know your sisters, learn a bit about what's being asked of you and decide what you want to do.
• Along the way you might even get to know a little more about me.
• In hope and love,
• Danny Tripps
• Kyle looked at the date on the letter, noting it was only two weeks old.
• Gone were the doubts that this was Ed's work. This really wasn't his style at all. The knot in his stomach was twisting as he realised he'd have to make a call and speak to his parents. He had to ask.
• "Would you excuse me for a couple of minutes, Mister Crowler. I need to make a call." Kyle saw the old man nod, but he was already on his way out the door. He moved on autopilot out the front doors of the building and onto the street, crowded with the usual mixture of coffee-toting office workers, shopping housewives and tourists and stepped into a doorway. He dialled.
• "Hey, honey."
• "Hi, Mom," Kyle replied, trying to keep his voice relaxed and casual. "Listen, I need to ask you something."
• "Okay, honey, but you'll have to be quick. Your father and I are just about to leave," She replied. Kyle could hear a car door close in the background.
• "Oh, right. Today's the hiking trip, right?"
• He heard his Mom sigh down the phone. "I swear Kyle, you never pay attention."
• He took a deep breath. "Mom, I need you to listen to me here, okay. I just had a visit at work from a lawyer called Mister Crowler."
• Kyle paused as he heard his mother shout on his father. "Ben, you need to be in on this," He heard her say. "Okay, son. What did he say?"
• "Mom, Dad. I've got to ask you. Am I adopted?" Kyle had his free hand held flat over his free ear, listening more intensely than he ever had in his life.
• The silence that stretched into seconds on the other end of the line added to the sinking feeling in Kyle's stomach.
• "Son, it's me," Kyle heard as his Dad came on the phone, his tone gentle. "It's true, son. We adopted you when you were only a few days old. I'm sorry you've found out like this. Do you want to meet up and talk about it? I can come and pick you up?"
• Kyle pressed his face into the corner of the doorway, trying to think. It was true, he was adopted. His mind whirled with a myriad of emotions, feeling like his world had just been turned upside down, so he took several deep breaths, and thought about what he knew. His friends were his friends. His parents had kept this whopping big secret, but they'd raised him and been there for twenty three years for him. Did it really matter that they weren't linked by DNA? The thought helped him clear his head a little and he sighed.
• After a moment he replied. "No, it's okay, and don't get all worried, okay. I know you're my parents, I know you're my Mom and Dad, you raised me and nothing's going to change that, okay?"
• He could almost hear the relief in the tones of their replies, so he pressed ahead.
• "Thing is, I've found out a little about who I was before I was adopted," Kyle added, not quite sure how to proceed with this bit. He opted for directness. "How much do you know about that?"
• There was a hushed, whispered conversation at the other end of the line that ended abruptly after a few more seconds.
• "We know who your birth father was, honey," Kyle's Mom said a moment later. "Do you?"
• Kyle swallowed. "Yeah, I think so." His mouth was dry but he made himself say the words. "Danny Tripps, right?"
• "That's right, son," His Dad said quietly. "We weren't supposed to know, but we did."
• "Has he left you something in his will?" His Mom asked. "Is that why the lawyer is there?"
• "Em, I think so," Kyle said, feeling more than a little nauseous now. "Listen, they're telling me I have sisters."
• "What?" Both his parents replied at the same time.
• "That I have sisters. Twins," He replied. "Well, actually triplets, but I'm one of them, apparently."
• "Kyle, son, we had no idea," His Dad said, and Kyle knew deep inside that he was telling the truth. "Sisters?"
• "Two of them," Kyle confirmed. "They want me to go and meet them."
• "Then you should go," His Dad replied immediately.
• "Absolutely," His Mom added. "Are you alright, honey?"
• "Bit shell-shocked, I guess," Kyle replied. "Listen, I've got to head back in there. Are you guys okay?"
• "Yeah, son, don't worry about us," His Dad answered. "We'll stick around here for a few days, I think. Why don't you come round for dinner tonight or before it you want, we'll have a chat."
• Kyle frowned. "No, you should go on your trip. You two have been planning it for months." Every time Kyle visited his folks they had maps up of the areas of Canada they were hiking through and he knew they had various locations booked for the occasional night in a hotel and if they set off late they'd lose their reservations. "Honestly, I'm okay. You should go on your trip, and besides, I can call you if I need to. You guys can call me too, okay?"
• Kyle could almost hear them silently discussing it with looks and gestures at the other end of the phone, something they'd done for as far back as he could remember.
• "You sure, son?"
• "Yeah, Dad. You and Mom go on your trip."
• "You sure you're not pissed at us for not telling you?" His Dad asked bluntly, as was his way.
• Kyle sighed. "Honestly, Dad. I'm not angry. I'm a bit shocked, and I can't say I won't be angry in the future, but if I get angry I know where to find you."
• "That you do, son," His father replied. "You just pick up that phone and we'll come right back so you can vent your fury for as long as you need."
• "Can I just ask, why didn't you tell me?"
• "There was never a good time for it, honey," His Mom replied. "How do you bring something like that up in conversation?"
• "Besides, you would have asked who your parents were, and we would have had to lie directly to your face, son," His Dad added. "We just couldn't figure out how to tell you."
• "Fair enough," Kyle said, managing to sound calm while inside he just wanted to vanish somewhere quiet so he could process it all. "Have a good trip."
• "Love you, honey."
• "Love you too," Kyle finished and ended the call. He squared his shoulders, took a deep breath and walked back in to see what else the lawyer had to say.
• "Everything okay, Mister Watson?" Mister Crowler asked as Kyle sat back down.
• "I don't know if I'd describe it as okay," Kyle said a moment later. "Right, I've spoken to my parents."
• "So you know I'm telling the truth then?"
• Kyle swallowed and nodded. "Bit of a shock."
• "I believe you. Shall I continue?"
• "Might as well," Kyle replied.