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“That's correct,” she whispered. If only she could read his thoughts. Now he was a closed book, a fortress hiding all emotion. “I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to be a donor. Not until you told me.”
“Then why didn’t you make me understand?” His voice grew louder, his gaze as intense as a summer storm. “You could have convinced me. Perhaps not that Jeanie was my daughter, but at least enough that I would have done my own research to discover the truth. How could you keep her from me?” He was now yelling.
The blood drained from her face. “She’s my daughter, too! And I didn’t steal her from you. I was going to tell you yesterday, but you ran out, and I couldn’t catch up to you. I called, and you didn’t answer. I left messages, but none were returned. Aidan, I tried.”
“You expect me to believe that?” he retorted. “You had dozens, hundreds, of opportunities to tell me. Yet you're only doing so now, when your secret is already doomed.”
Adrenaline raced through her body, heat through her blood. How could she make him believe? “I had to make sure you were a good person. That you would be a good father to my baby. I had that child in a legally solitary way. Her safety was my only concern.” She looked into his eyes, searching for understanding. None existed.
“Perhaps you had her legally alone, but she was created illegally from me. Which means she wastakenillegally from me.”
Laura drew in a steep breath. Was it a threat? “I know. That’s why I wanted to give you the chance to build a relationship. Only first I had to be sure you wouldn’t hurt her. And now I am. Despite how it looks, last night I was going to tell you the truth – before you saw the pamphlet. I want you to be Jeanie’s father.” She gazed into hard eyes. He stared back, but said nothing. Her confession was not over. He needed to hear everything. “There’s more.”
“Don’t tell me you’re taking Jeanie and leaving the country,” he warned.
She shook her head curtly, shut and opened her eyes. Fought for strength. “I love you. Actually, I’m in love with you. From the first time we met, there was something between us, something strong. For so long, I didn’t know what it meant, but now I do. I love you.” She stood taller and awaited his response, captive in utter silence.
At first, his eyes widened and, for a brief moment, something akin to elation blazed within them. But the emotion was gone in an instant, replaced by the same guarded look as earlier. “Do you expect me to believe that?”
Her body went numb. “Believe it because it’s the truth. The way you look at me, it’s the same way I look at you. The way you touch me, the way you make love to me – it’s all the same. Don’t you feel it?”
He stood frozen, neither affirming nor refuting the life-changing words. “It doesn't matter." His voice was empty, haunted. “It was all a lie. I have to focus on Jeanie and making up for the years we lost.”
Tears flooded her vision. Whether he truly meant it didn’t matter. He didn’t believe her, and nothing she could say would change his mind.
“I need to see my daughter. Now.”
Laura hesitated. He was still clearly furious, yet how could she deny him? “All right,” she agreed quietly. “Follow me.”
She walked to the car in stiff motions, every step a painful journey. The urgency was gone, the enthusiasm disappeared, the hope vanished. She drove with the windows up and the radio off, silent in the small vehicle save for bumps from the rocks that stabbed the weathered tires. A fog surrounded her, numbing her thoughts, as she drove along the old highway. Soon, they were back in Pine Ridge and pulling into the driveway of her brother’s house. Parking her car, she tramped to where Aidan was emerging from his. “We're going to have to be very careful.”
He glared at her through steel-filled eyes, and for a moment it seemed he was going to argue, but then he nodded. “It'll be quite a shock.”
“Undoubtedly.” She clasped clammy hands. “Although she’s young, she understands a lot. She knows she doesn’t have a father. She understands stepfathers, but it will be difficult to comprehend attaining a dad in this manner.” A fierce pang of loss slid knifelike into her heart. “We have to explain it very carefully.”
He nodded somberly. “I agree.”
She turned towards the entrance, and this time he didn’t follow, as she knocked on a door with a cheery wreath, as two little eyes peered out of the window. In a minute, Jeanie sprinted out, her pink ballerina backpack bright on her tiny shoulders. She skipped happily, and her smile widened when she caught sight of her father. “Aidan!” She dropped her backpack on the grass and ran to him. “Hi!” she sang with a toothy grin.
Although devastation still hollowed her chest, Laura marveled at the happiness firing in father and daughter matching eyes, such elation, such purpose. Aidan gazed at Jeanie with complete and utter love, proving that no matter the consequences, this had been the right move. Not only for him, but also for Jeanie, who was gazing in adoration at the man she would soon call daddy. When he embraced his child, Laura had to hold back tears, and the glistening of Aidan’s cheek betrayed his. He would make a wonderful father.
“Are you going to spend the day with us?” Big blue eyes blinked widely.
Aidan chuckled. “I sure am, sweetheart. We have a big surprise for you.”
“What is it?” With the patience of a four-year-old, Jeanie hopped from foot to foot. “Please tell me!”
“We’ll explain when we get home,” Laura now spoke. This was going to take time and careful strategy, and could not be done on her brother’s front lawn. She said farewell to her brother and drove home, somehow managing to provide reasonable responses to her daughters’ queries. When they arrived at the apartment building, Jeanie grabbed both her parents' hands and practically ran up the steps. She fidgeted impatiently as her mother unlocked the door. As soon as they were in the apartment, she pirouetted to them. “Can I hear the surprise now? Puh-leaseeeee!”
Laura and Aidan locked gazes, and for the first time since last night, understanding passed between them. Neither knew how to tell Jeanie. Laura knelt down. “Honey, you know how it’s always been you and me, Jeanie and Mommy?”
Eyes wide, Jeanie nodded. This was clearly no ordinary surprise.
“And remember how your friend Tammy had no daddy, but then things changed?”
Jeanie again nodded.
Laura stretched her lips into a smile. “Well, that’s what’s happening to you, sweetie. You’re going to have a daddy. From now on, Aidan will be your daddy.”
