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She hadn’t even considered the legal aspect, though she’d been the one to bring up the solicitor. She’d been thinking more about some kind of document stating he was legally their parent, though his name was on the birth certificates. She’d done it before Grace had come along with her proposition.
A small voice brought her out of her thoughts.
‘Did you go and see Morgan?’ Edward looked young and vulnerable in his superhero pyjamas.
‘Yes.’ She held out her arms and he came and climbed into her lap.
‘Why doesn’t he want us to be a family?’
Pain seared her heart. She’d hoped he hadn’t read between the lines of what happened at the Hot Bread Shop. ‘It’s new to him. It takes a while to get used to. We’ve known the whole time.’
‘He told Mr Field it wasn’t true.’
‘Mr Field is almost a stranger. They haven’t spoken in years. You know we’ve talked about family things being private.’
His jaw set. ‘He’s ashamed of us. He’s like Grace, keeping us a secret.’
How could she deny it? She couldn’t reassure him because she had no idea what Morgan wanted. Only that he had no intention of marrying her to make a family.
‘We’re still talking about the best way to manage it. You know he likes you.’
‘He didn’t know I was his son. Gabby is the one he wants. Not me.’
Becca gripped his chin, forcing him to face her. ‘Morgan spent time with you on your ships and bought you exactly the same present as Gabby, before he knew you were his.’
‘So what?’
‘It means he reallyreallylikes you. Not just because you’re his son.’
Edward stilled, biting down on his bottom lip. ‘Is that a good thing?’
‘It’s a good thing. Some dads might have ignored you. Might not like you. Especially if they think you have another dad.’
‘Is that what your stepdad was like?’
She sucked in a steadying breath. ‘Sometimes. He had a lot of worries because your grandmother was very sick.’
‘Do you think Morgan wants to be our dad?’
‘Absolutely.’ She wasn’t sure how it would play out, but she was sure of that much.
‘Do you think he’d let us call him Dad?’
‘I don’t know. It’s up to him. You’ll have to talk to him about it.’
He was quiet for a moment or two. ‘Why didn’t he know about us when we were born? Didn’t he want babies?’
‘It’s not his fault. It was Grace and I who decided not to tell him. It’s hard work, studying to be a doctor, so Grace … we thought it would be better to wait until he was finished studying.’
‘It must have been a long time ago. He’s old now. Not as old as Doctor Farrell, but older than the doctor who was working at the surgery when Doctor Farrell was sick.’
She wondered how Morgan would feel about that description. ‘It was tricky. We expected him to come home and we were going to arrange for him to meet you.’
‘That would have been cool. What happened?’
‘He went to Africa and he stayed away for a long time. Grace and Grandpa Ned asked him to come home to visit but he was too busy. He had lots of children to look after over there. Lots of orphans who had no-one to look after them.’
‘We had you and Grandpa Ned and Thackery and Grace.’
