The Baby Claim

“We don’t have to be far apart.” He said it quietly, without fuss or his usual hustling pressure. Genuine. Earnest.

Maybe he was right. Perhaps her own stubbornness wasn’t that different from his. Without compromise they would never run the company or parent well. With so much at stake, she needed to take a step toward trust.

Her heart sped up ten beats faster than normal.

Leap.

It wasn’t her normal policy, but it felt right. Leaning back on the countertop, she felt the words in her heart before they came out of her mouth. “Okay,” she answered before she could second-guess herself. “Let’s be a real couple.”

Broderick’s face twisted in surprise. He blinked. Once. Twice. As if blinking replied to her words. She saw his disbelief fade, traded for happiness. And yes, she saw victory in his expression, too.

“Really? Wait, don’t answer that. I don’t want you changing your mind.”

In a moment, he had closed the distance between them. Strong arms found her waist, lifted her up. They spun, her head back in a wicked laugh, hair fanning around her.

Broderick brought her back down. Kissed her deeply, his hand cradling the back of her neck.

Anticipation pulsated between them.

A sharp ping burst into the air.

Then another.

Broderick’s ring tone.

He set her down, grabbed the phone off the counter. Moments that felt like hours passed as Glenna watched him take the call.

“Yes. Okay. I understand. We’ll be there.” An abrupt conversation. Everything about his features changed as he hung up.

“There’s news. Good news and, um, I-don’t-know news.”

“What the hell does that mean?” she asked in frustration.

“Good news? The authorities have found Deborah and she’s continuing to assert she wants to sign over her legal rights to the family of Fleur’s father.”

Relief and trepidation warred in Glenna’s stomach. “And the other news?”

“The DNA test is back. Except the lab won’t reveal the results to anyone except Fleur’s family. They’re asking us both to come in, but they won’t say which of us they wish to speak to.”

Just like that, Glenna knew this moment would change everything. They wouldn’t have the opportunity to start a relationship on even footing, where neither of them knew who had parental rights to Fleur.

The scales were going to shift.

* * *

The next several hours blurred. She barely registered the too-bright light of the waiting room or how uncomfortable her green chair was.

They’d packed up everything and made it back to Anchorage in record time, with little conversation beyond the practical words needed to move things forward. For the past half hour, they’d been outside the doctor’s office. Waiting.

Her stomach somersaulted, revolting against her.

Broderick paced with baby Fleur. Had it really only been a few days ago that holding her had seemed to scare him to bits? Now he looked as though they’d been together since birth. Fleur rested comfortably in his arms. While that should have reassured some part of Glenna, her heart hurt.

They’d both told their respective families they didn’t need support here today. This was a matter they could handle alone. But Glenna’s sister-in-law, Shana, saw through that line and made sure to be in the doctor’s waiting room, anyway.

Glancing down the hallway, Glenna watched the doctor talk on his phone. Torture. The information was so close to being revealed. So close to changing their lives.

Putting her hands in her lap, Glenna took a deep breath, trying to focus on that simple action.

Shana stroked Glenna’s back, reassuring as ever.

In these moments, the world seemed so clear. Hindsight being twenty-twenty and all. Why didn’t she delay the results? Why didn’t she ask for that?

She wasn’t ready to know the truth. Not really. A lump pushed into her throat.

Except she knew why they had come straightaway. She and Broderick had both rushed here. Once those results were in, they’d needed to get back to Anchorage as quickly as possible, for Fleur’s sake. They couldn’t risk even the slightest delay that could cause a hiccup in custody. Even with Deborah Wilson’s signed statement surrendering rights to the baby, so much could go haywire. Fleur had to be the number one priority.

Which meant Glenna should have accepted his offer to start something real between them sooner. Any relationship—if it was still going to happen—would come second to fighting for custody of Fleur.

It had been a long, quiet flight home.

Images of what could have been her future sucker punched Glenna.

Shana’s low, honeyed voice cut into her thoughts. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”