My feelings aside, Gabriel changing his mind about wanting to know his daughter is the best thing that could ever have happened to us. It means Ivy will not grow up wondering who her father is as Lexi and I did.
I carry Ivy in my arms into the building and up the elevator to the third floor. To my surprise, it’s not a clinic but a private office as Gabriel described it. There’s a secretary’s desk in the outer office but she’s not there and the door to the inner office is wide open.
I peer in and Gabriel looks up from behind his desk with a smile. He stands and comes as if to kiss my cheek. I thrust out my hand, thwarting him before he gets any closer.
He and Ivy stare at each other and then he excuses himself to shut the outer door. I don’t know what I was expecting, maybe fireworks, but disappointment settles in my stomach. I had visualized this scene as Gabriel wanting to hold Ivy and recognizing how much she resembles him. His lack of interest even when he comes back into the office hurts. My good feelings fly out the window and I can’t wait to get out of here.
“I’m sure you have a busy day ahead, so I’ll just get on with it,” he says in a crispy tone.
I’m confused. His behavior does not scream “excited father.” It’s almost as though he just wants to get it over and done with. Ivy and I watch him as he peels the packaging from the box containing the paternity test.
His features soften when he comes to squat in front of us in readiness to scrape Ivy’s inner cheek. He smiles at her, and she responds by touching his nose. His words are soothing as he coaxes Ivy to open her mouth. She cooperates and seconds later, we are done.
“So, what happens after this?” I ask as he packs up everything again.
“What do you mean?” he says, sounding distracted.
“I mean, the test is going to show that you’re Ivy’s father. What happens then?”
He looks at me with a blank expression. “Why don’t we take it one step at a time? If indeed she is my daughter, then I do want to be in her life. She looks like a nice, easy baby.”
“Gabriel, you’re married. How are you going to explain a baby to your wife? I hope you don’t expect me to be entertaining you in my house.”
His gaze darts around the room as if he’s searching for an escape. “I told you that my wife and I are only married on paper. You choose not to believe me.”
Sudden anger comes over me. “How dare you try to make this my fault. You deliberately omitted the fact that you were married when we started dating.”
“Relax, Vanessa,” he says mildly. “That kind of anger cannot be good for you or for Ivy. It’s not healthy for her to be around an angry mother.”
I’m so upset I want to explode. Since I can’t and I don’t want to explode, I tighten my hold on Ivy and stand up. I have to leave for my own sanity.
“I’ll come by your office tomorrow and we can talk about the results,” he says.
“No,” I say. I don’t want Gabriel in my office, soiling it with his nasty personality. “Let’s meet at the Alms. Text me the time.” I don’t look back as we leave.
As we go down in the elevator, I curse the day I met Gabriel. I dislike him with an intensity that surprises me. I hate that he feels no remorse for what he did. In fact, he seems to think that the fault lies with me for breaking up the relationship, and yet his marriage is only on paper.
I’m still steaming when I get to Lexi’s place.
“I’m guessing that it didn’t go so well, huh?” Lexi asks as she takes Ivy from me. “Please come in for a quick cup of coffee. We’ll keep it quick; I know you have to go back to work.”
“Okay,” I say with a sigh as I follow her in.
She takes Ivy upstairs and I head to the kitchen and get the coffee machine going. Lexi returns when the coffee is ready.
“So, what happened?” she says sliding onto a stool.
I take a sip of coffee before answering. “What happened is that he didn’t seem remotely interested in Ivy. On top of that, he implied that it was my fault that we broke up.”
“Why?” Lexi says.
“Because I refused to buy into his crap that he and his wife have a marriage on paper only,” I say, fresh anger coming over me. “I don’t understand why he wants to prove whether he’s Ivy’s dad when he’s clearly not interested in her.”
I can’t help but compare Gabriel’s behavior with Logan's. Logan is so loving to Ivy and is a hundred times more Ivy’s father than Gabriel is.