* * *
Wood read the paperwork while Cassie was clearing up dinner. It would have been good if he’d found her work distasteful. Overkill. Invasive.
“So?”
He took a second to form words that didn’t send them into another tailspin. To form cohesive, father-like thoughts as he reeled with the unbelievable gift she was giving him. The honor.
And the responsibility. Would he be good enough at fatherhood to be worthy of her offer? “You want to name me on the birth certificate. To give me legal visitation rights. And to name me as his guardian in the event anything happens to you.” He still couldn’t believe what he’d just read.
“No custodial rights,” she said, perhaps thinking she sounded stern. He wanted to lay her down on the couch with him and kiss them both crazy. “And no financial support, either,” she said. “Not for anything. I’m willing to listen to your opinion on all major issues, to give you a chance to have one, but all final decisions are mine, just like I said before. And put in there. I need to be the only one supporting him. You can’t be the nice guy that comes around and buys him everything he wants. All purchases, even birthday and Christmas presents, have to go through me.”
He’d read all of the legalese. Twice. Understood it all, too. It wasn’t his first contract. By far.
“And, as you see there, I release you, and anyone else who could at any point in the future be petitioning on Alan’s behalf, from ever coming after you for child support. That statement is mandatory if you’re to be named on the birth certificate, because legally, your name there makes you open to that obligation.”
He nodded. Was just...speechless. Could hardly believe what he was reading. And had no idea how to proceed. She was making dreams come true he hadn’t even known he’d had.
“It’s just... I need ‘us,’ our relationship, to have a legal definition. In writing. Before we end up doing something stupid and trying to make it into something it might not be.”
She was confusing him. Partially because he was reeling with the whole new life she’d just handed him in the form of official documents. Couldn’t get much more legitimate than that.
“I don’t think I’m following you.”
“You and I. We’re...or rather, I, am...we can’t... You have a history of becoming what those in your family need you to be, regardless of your personal feelings. And I...grew up feeling torn up inside, all the time, because I knew my father was hurting and alone. He married my mother because she was pregnant and she married him, I’m sure, in part because she was so vulnerable having just lost her father. You married Elaina to take care of her when your brother died. People do things in the heat of intense emotion, and it doesn’t work. I can’t take a chance that we’re going to fall into that same trap. And someone ends up like my dad, lonely, alone, hurting for the rest of his or her life. Or like you and Elaina, divorced, but still sharing a house.” She shook her head. “This...feeling...or whatever is between us... I don’t trust it because there’s no way for us to know if we’re caught up in the intense emotions of the baby and him—maybe not being well, just like my mom and dad and you and Elaina...”
Some of the elation he’d been feeling faded...but not much. Not in that moment. She made perfect sense. Was saying what he’d already figured out on his own. And she was still inviting him into her life, into his son’s life, permanently.
He read the paperwork again, key sentences, just to make sure he was getting it right.
He didn’t like the money part but didn’t worry all that much, either. A simple phone call, making Alan the sole beneficiary to his financial portfolio, with Cassie as executor, would take care of that.
“I’ve done all the talking,” Cassie broke the silence.
“I’m listening. Reading.”
“So, give me your input.”
“Give me a pen. And a notary—I’m assuming one of the lawyers you mentioned still being here is licensed.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because I know you.” He grinned. “You’re always prepared.”
She started to smile and then sat up straighter in the armchair across from him. He wanted to tell her that he could see up her dress, but he didn’t want her to put her legs together. They were making room to accommodate her belly. And he was allowing himself the view. A crumb from the dessert he couldn’t taste.
When he glanced over, he saw her watching him look, and he wondered if she’d known all along. He’d caught her staring at his fly, too, earlier. Probably not smart. But nothing he was going to deny them, either.
“I’m serious, Wood,” she said then, her hand on her rounded stomach again. So many nights he’d imagined touching that bump. Feeling his baby inside her. “Let’s talk about the agreement. Is there anything that makes you uncomfortable?”
“Of course there is.”
“Okay, so what is it? Let’s talk about it.”
He shook his head. “There’s no need. I don’t like that I can’t help you both out financially,” he said. “I can afford it. I want to do it. But I understand why you need it to be this way. I actually agree with it. I just wish things were different. They aren’t, and I’m ready to sign. I want to sign, Cassie. I want to be locked in.”
“You’re sure?” Her head tilted as she studied him.
“I’m sure.”