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“Let me.” Chase doesn’t wait for an answer. He picks them up, slips them into the door lock, then turns the key and pushes it open. He moves out of the way so I can pass with the carriage first.
CJ stirs and yawns; then, his eyes flutter open. Chase is closely watching our baby’s every move and notices he possesses the same colored eyes as him. When he stares pointedly at me, I have to concede.
“He’s yours,” I confirm quietly.
“Can I hold him?”
I hesitate, but lift CJ and slide him into Chase’s arms. The image of a father holding his look-alike son overwhelmed my brain, and I’m left with racing thoughts about what our life would have been if Chase had wanted me. Would he have married me once he found out I was pregnant?
Chase glances up at me. “His name?”
“Chase James Stanford, CJ for short.”
“Why didn’t you give him my last name?”
“You wanted no part of me, and CJ is part of me.”
“I deserved to know.”
When he looks back down at our son, he notices he’s fallen asleep again. My chest constricts, and I can’t help it; I start to cry. Fat tears roll down my cheeks, and I just let them come—Chase peers at me with pain written across his face.
“There are things I never told you about my life. We never told each other much about our lives at all. I didn’t really know you and you, me.”
“Is that why you couldn’t love me?” I manage through sobs. “Or did you think you were better than me?”
“I wasn’t ready, and I never thought I was better than you.”
“But you’re ready now! What does the good Miss Tyler have that I don’t?”
“Amberlynn’s known me since medical school. We met at a conference and just reconnected.”
“I feel like a fool,” I admit. “I couldn’t stop myself from falling in love with you. I tried, but the feeling got stronger each day. CJ is all I have left of you.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way. We can share him.”
“Long-distance?” I hiccup. “You in LA and me here? How would that work?”
“It could work. We would have to plan it out.”
“You think I would let my son out of my sight? I carried him in my belly, and I’ve taken care of him for his entire life. Now you come in and expect me just to give you the okay?”
“Then, you can move to Los Angeles.”
“Are you kidding? New York is my home. I have a life, a job, a fiancé!”
Chase’s face drops. He probably never expected me to say I had a fiancé.
“You’re engaged? But you’re not wearing a ring.”
“I haven’t worn it for months. I scratched CJ with it, and that was the last time. No ring is worth injuring my son.”
“Who is it?”
“Steven. He asked several times if I would marry him before CJ was born. He was also there for me during my pregnancy. I agreed, and we got engaged on the day of CJ’s birth. He cares for us.”
“Why did you keep saying no if you agreed to marry him?”
“Because deep down, I was waiting, hoping that you would come back to me. But I knew you never would.”
