Read Online Finding Dad: From "Love Child" to Daughter by Kara Sundlun - Free Book Online

do?”
    “I’d like him to be a father.”
    At least the reporters seemed to be treating me with kid gloves.
    “Can you afford to go to college without his support?”
    “I’m not destitute, but he’s my father, and he should do the right thing. I want to get to know him, and I want him to accept me, just like all of his other children.”
    “Where do you want to go to school?” a reporter asked.
    “I have been accepted to the University of Michigan and Boston University. I would have liked to go to Boston, but I can’t afford the private tuition. I applied there because I thought it would be nice to be closer to my father, so we could start getting to know each other.”
    My eyes darted over at Mom, to see her expression about the possibility of going east.
    “Judy, the Governor claims you are just after his money. Is that true?”
    “No, of course not. I’m not asking for anything. I just can’t see how he can be that tough to not see his daughter, and realize how lucky he is.”
    Thanks, Mom, for always believing in me, even when you’re mad.
    “Kara, what do you think of how the Governor is treating your mother?”
    I could kill him. “I have no respect for him when he does that. She has done nothing but keep me in our home and make sure I had everything I need.”
    I looked at Mom, hoping she could feel me standing up for her. She had survived raising me alone, and now I felt like I needed to protect her. Our roles were often reversed, but she’d made me who I was. My strength came, in part, because she’d leaned on me.
    I took a few more questions before Henry brought things to a close. “Okay, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming. Kara and her mother are going to go home and rest now. You all have copies of the lawsuit to refer to. Thank you.”
    When it was over, I couldn’t wait to find the girls waiting for me in Henry’s office. I had invited Brooke and Dayna, and a few more of my close friends to attend the news conference for moral support, and to witness what was going to be the biggest moment of my life. I had attended their Bat Mitzvah parties, sweet sixteen parties, and dance recitals—this was my coming out party.
    I gave them a huge hug of relief. “Thank you for coming!”
    “Of course, we would be here. You were great, so great!” Dayna said.
    “So amazing,” Brooke echoed, “Were you nervous?”
    “A little,” I confessed.
    We finished our hugs and went looking for the juice and Danish Henry had put out. There were a couple of newspaper photographers allowed back in the office, and my friends and I posed, linking arm and arm for pictures.
    The next day, I sat on the floor of our apartment reading the newspapers. Some of my favorite articles were the ones showing me with all of my friends. It felt special to stand with the closest thing I had to sisters and show the world I had a father.
    Many of the papers wrote about the “striking resemblance” between the Governor and me, putting our photos side by side for people to compare.
    The Detroit Free Press headline said: “ Accept me,” Kara Hewes fights for her name…
    The New York Times wrote: Paternity Suit Just Another Crisis in Rhode Island.
    Sidebar stories quoted experts who analyzed what emotional issues I must have and why I had to do this. “Sundlun’s absence in her childhood and his reluctance to acknowledge her were bound to inflict pain and anger.”
    I didn’t want my wounds laid out like a test case for the world to see, that my life was somehow an example of what can happen when a father screws up. I was hoping they weren’t right. I didn’t want to think I was that screwed up, and I didn’t want anyone else to look at me that way, either.
    The expert went on to say, “Anger is about hurt…you have to ask, what does she really want?”
    The expert was right; I wanted him to accept me, to love me, to do the right thing, so I wouldn’t look like a rejected fool in front of the whole world. I