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The door leading to the exam rooms opened and a nurse appeared.
“Darren,” she said, smiling warmly at him. Was that a good sign?
He stood up, linked fingers with Reese and followed her into the green exam room.
“The doctor will be with you shortly,” the nurse said. He should know her name by now. It felt like he’d been in here every other week during these first eighteen and a half months.
“Can you check the chart?” he asked her.
“I’m afraid not,” she said before closing the door behind her.
The door barely closed when it opened again.
“Hey, Dr. Michaels,” Darren said. “This is my fiancée, Reese.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Dr. Michaels said to her. The two exchanged pleasantries. He had an envelope tucked underneath his arm. He grabbed it and held it up after closing the door and washing his hands.
Darren took in a deep breath. No matter what that envelope said, he was the one who’d changed their diapers. He was the one who’d sat up with them when they couldn’t sleep. And he was the one who’d promised their mother that he would never walk away from those girls.
Dr. Michaels opened the envelope and scanned the contents. He handed over the top piece of paper. “I’m sorry to say the probability that you’re the biological father of Iris and Ivy is almost none.”
“Which doesn’t change a thing,” Darren quickly said. “I’m still their father in every way that matters.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Reese added. “And, yes, you are.”
“Hazel mentioned to me during one of her solo visits that it might come to this test someday,” Dr. Michaels said. “She asked me to keep the information confidential, so I honored her request.”
“She talked to you about him?” Darren asked.
“I have an address,” he said. “If you’re interested.”
Darren nodded.
The doctor handed over a slip of paper. “You’ll let me know if this changes anything about their care, right?”
“Absolutely,” Darren said. “I will always want what is best for them.”
“It’s your name on the birth certificate,” Dr. Michaels pointed out.
“They deserve to know the truth,” Darren stated. He folded up the piece of paper and thanked the doctor, then they left.
“Where are we headed?” Reese asked.
“Nowhere,” he said. “There’s a phone number.”
He stopped at the SUV and stood on the sidewalk before opening the slip. He fished out his cell phone and made the call.
“Speak,” a hard, gruff voice said. He coughed like he’d just smoked a pack of cigarettes.
“Do you know Hazel Montgomery?” Darren asked.
“I knew her,” he said and then seemed to catch on. “But those kids aren’t mine. And even if they were, I’d want nothing to do with them.”
“Are you sure about that?” Darren asked.
The man belched.
“I’m a rocker and a drunk,” he finally said before the sound of a bottle crashing against the wall interrupted him. “Oh, hell. That’s going to cost me. But, no, I told Hazel when she first said she was pregnant to go the hell away.”
