genpadalecki: What Thanksgiving looks like at our house (in between messes and wrestling). And yup clearly my husband was walking outside with no shoes on 🤦🏻♀️. Well I always say dirt don’t hurt!
Not traditional and not how we thought 2020 would go, but spending it with our kiddos doing their things. Whatever you’re doing I hope you are surrounded by love or loving on yourself. Be gentle kind with yourselves. 🙏❤️ (x)
Growing up, you never had a dad. Literally speaking, of course, someone made you. But figuratively speaking, he was never there. You just assumed that he had left your mom before you were born- or before you were old enough to remember. What a jerk move, right? You always swore that if you met your father, you would hate him for abandoning you and your mom. Your grandfather passed away four years before you were born, your mom was only thirteen and your grandmother passed away from cancer when you were five. So, at the age of fifteen, when your mom was in a bad car accident and fell into a coma, you were all alone. You decided when you were almost seventeen, that it was finally time to move on- clear the things out of your childhood home and prepare for university life that was just around the corner in your life.
“Hmm…” You hummed as you came across an old photo album that your mom had stashed away in the attic. “What’s in this?”
You cracked the cover and it revealed a picture of a baby in her parents’ arms labelled, “Mom, Dad + Me, April 4th, 1985.” This was a photo album that your mom created while she was growing up.
You skipped a few pages and came across a photo of a man labelled, “Dad, just before he passed. Miss you always, daddy. Love your baby girl, Katie. 1998.”
Another few pages and you spotted an unfamiliar face. Even though both of your grandparents had passed away, you still knew what they looked like from the photos. The picture with the unfamiliar face was labelled, “Jared and I, our first official date, 2000.”
“So, you’re thinking that maybe this Jared guy is your dad.” Your best friend, Maureen questioned as she sipped on her piping hot tea.
“Yeah, I mean they dated up until the year I was born. There are so many pictures of him and them together in my mom’s photo album. Dates, anniversaries, birthdays, holidays- the whole works. The album ended with a picture of them kissing and it was labelled: “March 21st, 2oo2, Jared: I’m sorry I can’t go to Los Angeles with you. Good luck with every journey life gives you. You were the love of my life, forever and always will I love you, Katelyn.” It’s sad to read that- my mom really loved Jared and he just left.”
“Who knows why he left, Y/N. Maybe he had no other choice… like his family was moving or something… He was only young.” Maureen suggested.
“Yeah, I know. Something gives me the feeling that he didn’t know my mom was pregnant when he left… I would’ve been conceived in February of the same year that I was born and they never broke up till March. There was no way my mom would’ve known she was pregnant before they split. But why didn’t she call and tell him? What could be more important than his child.” You pondered.
“I dunno what to tell you.” Maureen shrugged. “You got a photo of him?”
You nodded and pulled a picture out of your sweater pocket.
“Holy shit.” Maureen gasped, taking one single glance at the photo. “No way,”
“What? What is it, Maury?”
Immediately, she pulled out her phone and tapped away on the keyboard.
“This is the Jared your mom dated!” Maureen exclaimed, turning the phone towards you.
On the screen, there was a man with shoulder-length brown hair, a bit of scruff on his chin and beautiful hazel eyes.
“Jared… Padalecki?” You squinted to read the words in the google search bar.
“He’s an actor on the longest-running Sci-Fi television series, AKA my favourite show, Supernatural.” Maureen declared.
“Doesn’t ring a bell.” You shrugged. “It does look like the same person though.”
“Because it is him, Y/N! And, seriously? You’ve heard me talk about this show before. It just proves my point that you tune me out all the time.”
“...What?... Hmm?” You snatched the phone from Maureen to read up on this Jared Padalecki guy.
“See? Exactly.” Maureen frowned.
“Nevermind you.”
You selected the all button on google and clicked his Wikipedia link.
“Maury, he has a wife and three young kids.”
“So? He’s your father… she’s your step-mom. They are your half-siblings! You have the right to meet them!”
“This is crazy. There is no way that my dad is a famous actor. He’s just some deadbeat who didn’t want a pregnant seventeen-year-old girlfriend and her baby.” You hissed. “How would you even propose I go about finding out if this Jared guy is actually my dad. I’m just going to be shoved off to the side and labelled as some crazy stalker fan.”
“No… you’re the one who’s crazy. You can’t see a good thing when it’s right in front of you. You can’t accept the fact that you’d have a father who might actually be interested in your life and care about you because you’re so used to being alone. Are you suggesting that your mom cheated on him? You were clearly conceived before they broke up and it was obvious that your mom loved him more than anything.”
“No! My mom would never do that.”
“Well... There you go.”
Maureen was right… Probably. Your mom was too loving and innocent to have cheated on her boyfriend. She also wouldn’t have known she was pregnant before Jared left for Los Angeles… You were assuming that it was to get his big break and jump-start his career. But why wouldn’t she tell him? Now you felt as if your mom thought Jared’s career was more important than you were. Part of you wished your mom had gone to LA with Jared. Why couldn’t she? At least that way, you wouldn’t feel like some part of you was missing. After long and hard deliberation, you sought out a way to reach Jared… or one of his associates. One of his known associates decided to meet up with you and see what the fuss you were creating was all about. You were so nervous. It was hard to swallow and your hands were all clammy when you sat down to have a meal with the man. You showed him pictures of your mom and Jared and then pictures of you and your mom to try and prove that you weren’t just some stalker trying to ruin Jared’s life. You willingly let a stranger take a swab of your DNA to run it against Jared’s.
A few days later, Jared’s representative, Matthew, messaged you and asked you to meet him at a restaurant.
“Mr. Padalecki would like to meet you.” He announced.
“Do-Does that mean… what I think i-it means?” You stuttered.
“Your DNA was a match to Mr. Padalecki’s. Our highly trained doctors are 100% sure that you are actually his daughter.”
Your heart skipped a beat and you nearly choked on your food.
“Holy Shit.” You muttered.
You couldn’t believe you had actually found your dad. After nearly seventeen years of searching and wondering who the lucky guy might be- you finally found him.
“I-I’d love to meet him.” You admitted.
A driver picked you up when you were contacted about meeting Jared. You didn’t have a license which made things difficult as you’ve been living on your own for a year. You were hoping that maybe if you ever got close with the Padalecki’s, they’d teach you the many things that your mom would’ve if she was alive. Technically your mother hasn’t passed, there was just a very slim chance that she’d wake up after falling into a coma. Ever since the accident, you’ve craved parental support and now that you’ve found your biological dad, and he was willing to meet with you, you finally might have it. As the car was put in park and the driver stepped out, you found yourself frozen in the seat.
What if he didn’t like you?
What if his wife and kids didn’t like you?
What would his parents think of their long lost grandkid?
So many things were running through your head and those thoughts were on all of the things that could go wrong in this meet and greet with your old man. It made you sick.
“This way.” The driver opened the door for you.
“Can-Can I ask you something?” You gulped.
Sheer nervousness resonated throughout your voice as you spoke with the complete stranger.
“Sure, Ms. Y/L/N.” The man responded, giving you a sympathetic smile.
“What do you say to a man that you just found out, after nearly seventeen years of being on this earth, is your father… that you never knew. What if he hates me? What if I’m getting my hopes up for nothing?”
“Just tell him the truth. Mr. Padalecki is one of the nicest men I know. He doesn’t hate and he’s a very reasonable guy. He’s excited to meet you, albeit just as nervous or more nervous than you are.”
“Do you always have to call him Mr. Padalecki? Is that like a requirement of your job or-”
“Alright, I see what’s going on here. You’re stalling. Get out of the car and go meet your dad.”
Jacob, the driver of the car, walked you up to the door.
“And by the way, It’s not a requirement of my job, it’s just courteous to call my clients by Mister or Miss.” He winked as he knocked on the door for you. “Good luck.”
Before you knew it, you were standing alone at the door of your father’s house. Man, that felt weird to think about… your dad. The man from the picture answered the door. He was even more beautiful in person. He gave you a big smile. You smiled nervously back at him. When you held your hand out to shake his, he hugged you instead. It took a second before you realized “Hey! This is your dad hugging you! Hug back, dummy.” He held you in his arms for an extra second which made you feel like you had known him all your life, it made you feel at home for the first time since your mom’s car accident.
You moved in not too long later. Jared’s boys and his little girl loved you- so did he and his wife. When Jared found out that your mom was in a coma, he moved you in right away and helped you sell your childhood. It was like you were living a dream. You couldn’t imagine your life without Jared- it felt as if he had been there your whole life.
“I feel guilty, you know,” Jared admitted.
“Why? You don’t have anything to be guilty over.” You shrugged.
You hadn’t quite worked your way up to calling Jared “dad” yet.
“Yes, I do. I should’ve known about you. I should’ve been around to help you out as a kid and help you when your mom’s accident happened.”
“You’re here now. That’s all that matters. You’re my missing piece, D-dad. Thank you for taking me in and loving me.” You sniffed.
“Hey hey, don’t cry on me now. Of course, I love you, you’re my daughter.” He smiled.
