The house was bursting with food by the time we got there as Pa was setting the dinner table with the maids. Vaughn, Mayor Everette, and Gideon had already arrived.
When we entered the house, Pa rushed over to Damien as usual and pulled him to the dining room. He had been hovering over Damien since the adoption papers were validated and Damien was now a Malkiel.
“Pa, sorry, but I have to take a shower. The smell of the Valletta jail cell is still on my clothes,” Damien stated as he pulled away.
There was pin-drop silence in the dining room.
“What? Jail?” Pa asked.
Damien turned to look at me and I shook my head. We had not told Pa that Damien had been arrested.
Pa turned to stare at me and asked, “Wade, why was my little son arrested? What is going on?”
Vaughn, Gideon, and Mayor Everrete all stared at us. Auden fidgeted. I closed my eyes while Elaine looked away.