“We’d already begun the process for adoption,” I repeated.
“This is good.” He looked away, his jaw tense. “Please let my daughter know that I love her. When the time’s right, tell her—”
I leaned forward, getting his attention. “Hell, no. When the time’s right, you’re going to contact Nemi, and that time will be as soon as your mother breathes her last breath. Nemi will have me as her legal and emotional father, yes, she’s absolutely my daughter from head to toe, but she’ll also have her biological one in her life, making her doubly blessed. Do I make myself clear?”
He looked almost relieved. “You do.” Then, getting to his feet, he held his hand out for me. “Pleasure meeting you, Klein.”
I left his arm in the air as I straightened out of my chair, then I shook it. “We’ll be seeing each other soon,” I said warningly, making it clear I’d make his life hell if he didn’t fulfill his agreement.
“Hopefully very soon.”
As I drove home, I mulled over the meeting and then resigned myself to explaining it to Heidi. I wasn’t Nemi’s legal father yet, and even when I was, I’d still go to her about important things to do with our daughter, so we approached her as a united team. But it was up to her when we told Nemi about Joel, and I didn’t begrudge her that right at all. She knew what was best for her.
When we’d set up Kleins, Canon and I had been searching for a way to prove we were adults who could be taken seriously. We’d incorrectly assumed that having a successful business would do that while also using it to honor where we came from.
Man, we’d been so wrong.
It wasn’t a business that’d done that—it was meeting Heidi and Nemi that had in the end. I’d not only matured as a man, but I’d also been able to recognize that my parents had made me into the man I was today.
Yeah, a business didn’t make people take you seriously. Only you could. And my girls had helped mold me into the best man I could be.
That’s why, when I got home, I laid it all out for Heidi. She didn’t get angry, especially once she heard that I’d told him he would be a part of his daughter’s life. If anything, it took a weight off her shoulders and gave her hope for Nemi’s future.
Epilogue
Bond
Ten months later…
Something was up with my wife, and I had a suspicion I knew what it was.
I’d had today off due to Kleins being repainted, so I was there to watch firsthand while she was in the process of spraying that metallic shit on some fruit, and the first loud gagging noise came out of her. It was like she was possessed or something, the way her body jerked and her muscles spasmed.
“Are you o—”
I never got to finish the question because she spun on her heel, ran towards me, then pushed me out of the way and fled down the hallway to the bathroom. The whole time her hand was clamped to her mouth, like she was hoping it would hold it all in as I followed behind her.
I let her have her moment, hearing the nasty Jurassic Park sounding noises coming out of her as she threw up violently into the toilet. Instead, I stopped at the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water, making a mental note to pick her up something like ginger ale. Mom always used to give us a glass of it when we were sick, so that might help her.
And if I was right, she was going to need it.
Hearing her groan, I moved forward slowly, hoping she didn’t do it again.
Fuck me, if she did this for the whole nine months, I was going to be a skeleton with the amount of sympathy pukes I did with her. I could even feel my stomach churning just hearing her do it.
As I got to the door, treading cautiously in case she started up again, the toilet flushed and was accompanied by the sound of her blowing her nose. That I could handle.
“Babe? I brought you some water.”
She moaned something that sounded like “thanks” but stayed where she was.
Carefully pushing the door open, I almost smiled at how cute she looked curled up in a ball on the floor—poor baby.
“Is there a chance you’re going to do that again?”
Rolling her head slowly to glare at me, Heidi snapped, “What do you think?”
Holding a finger up to indicate I needed a minute, I placed the bottle on the floor next to her and then went to pick up the bag I’d bought that morning. It might be overkill, but I really wanted the answer.
When she opened it and saw the five packages of pregnancy tests, I swear she’d have filleted me with her eyes alone if she could have.