Double Daddy Trouble

Savannah was the only one I told the identity of Emma’s father too. So naturally, she had taken a liking to calling Dr. Smith, Papa. Of course, this was only between her and me.

“He didn’t see us today. It was actually a different Dr. Smith.”

“I don’t follow? I get that Smith is a common name but how many could there possibly be in Sweet Haven, Georgia?”

"Just two. The one we normally see, and his son.”

“Hawk? Are you saying it was Hawk?”

“Yep. I guess Hawk is back in town.”

“Did he tell you? Did he say anything to you?”

“The man didn’t say two words to me before he up and left why would it be any different when he came home.”

“Well, what did you do. Did you tell him?”

“No!” I said filling with indignation again. “I tried to get in and out of there as quick as I could.”

“So do you think he figured it out?”

“I was really hoping he wouldn’t, but apparently he did because I barely walked through the door before he showed up demanding the truth.”

“And you told him, right?”

“I tried not to. If you ask me, Hawk doesn’t deserve to know the truth. It’s what he gets for leaving.”

“I know, Julie. But that is his daughter.”

“You know, he said the same thing,” I said setting down my wine glass.

“But really he isn’t. He wasn’t there when she was born. He didn’t wipe any butts. What right does he have to call Em his daughter when up until this morning he didn’t even care to know she existed?”

“Hey, I hear you. I think Hawk is just as much of an ass for up and leaving. That being said, you can’t really fault him for not knowing about Emma since you never tried to tell him.”

“Kinda feel’s like your on his side,” I scolded.

I was regretting this conversation. Not the fact that I was telling Savannah, there was nothing we kept from each other. Just the fact that it wasn’t going the way I had hoped.

“I'm not on either of your’s side. I’m on Em’s side. What’s gonna happen when that little girl asks you who her father is one day?”

“I’ll make sure he or I am out of this town by then,” I stated.

“Okay, but then when she goes and hunts Hawk down and finds out that you didn’t let him be apart of her life, how is that going to make her feel?”

“Thankful, I should hope. I can save her from the same heartbreak that I got. Sure Hawk wants to be all Dad hero back from the war now. What happens two years from now when he gets sick of this small town existence again?”

“I won’t put

her through that.”

"Your right,” Savannah said after a pause. “It might not be worth the risk. He could up and leave the day after tomorrow without a word. So don’t tell Em who he is. Let him hang around a bit. If he leaves, then he leaves, and Em is none the wiser.”

“I mean, that’s assuming she doesn’t know already,” Savannah added after a beat.

“Oh hell no! I didn’t let him say anything to her,” I said still angry at his intrusion this afternoon. “Plus she was asleep the whole time he was here.”

“Asleep, huh? Anything rekindle while it was just the two of you?” Savannah asked with an alluring tone to her voice.