“Okay, but what if it doesn’t? What if him having my nose is a coincidence and that he’s not mine? I love him, Gabs.” I wrap my arms around her and pull her tight against my chest. All thoughts of dessert leave my mind as I worry about the future of the tiny little man sleeping peacefully beside our bed.
“What do you want to happen, Chase? Say the results say he’s not yours. Tell me what you’re thinking?”
“I want him to be mine.”
“Chase Callahan.” Tears shimmer in her eyes. “I love you. You are the most loving, caring, and compassionate man.” She pauses, giving me a sweet smile. “No matter what those results say, I love you, and I stand behind you in whatever you want to do next.”
My heart hammers in my chest. “I want him to be ours,” I say again, this time including her, hoping that if I say it enough, it will be true. My breathing is erratic as I think about the results and how badly I want them to say I’m his father.
“Let’s take it one step at a time. How about we log in and look at the results?”
“I can’t. You do it.”
“Are you sure?”
I nod and hand her my phone. “My login info is saved in my contacts under the lab.”
“Okay.” She taps on the screen, still straddling my lap. My hands grip her hips, holding her to me. Needing her this close as I prepare to learn my fate. To learn Milo’s fate.
I keep my eyes locked on her as she logs into the system. I watch her face for any emotion whatsoever, but she gives nothing away. Her eyes scan the small screen of my phone. I watch as her fingers fly across the keys, typing something.
“Gabby?” I ask.
“Give me just a second.”
She reads whatever it is she searched and closes out the screen, locking the phone and placing it beside us on the bed. “You have to give me something.”
Her eyes well with tears once more. “The results the—they show that you share 25 percent DNA with Milo.”
“Okay. What does that mean?”
“That means you have a 25 percent DNA match. You’re not his father, Chase.”
“But I’m a match. Maybe they messed up and they should re-run it.”
“Chase.” She holds my face in her hands so I’ll give her my full attention. A lone tear slides across her cheek. “Baby, he’s not your son. He’s your nephew.”
Nephew? “What?”
“The results say you’re a 25 percent match. I googled that and, Chase, you’re his uncle. You woke up alone that next morning because you were alone. Colton, he’s Milo’s father.”
“Motherfucker,” I say under my breath.
“I know this isn’t the outcome that you wanted, but Milo will stay with us, right?”
“What do we do here, Gabs? I mean, Colton’s overseas. He won’t go into the system.
“My nephew.” I say the words, trying to get my heart to remember them.
Not my son.
My nephew.
Colton’s a father.
I’m an uncle.
Could this situation be anymore fucked up? And what’s worse is that I don’t know where my brother is. He’s somewhere overseas risking his life for his country. I can’t just call him and have him come over for a beer and drop the news on him.
“Nothing. We wait to hear from Colton. In the meantime, we’re his family, Chase. We care for him. We love him until his daddy comes home to meet him.”
Daddy.
“I—” I stop, not really knowing what else there is to say.
“I love you, Chase Callahan. We’re going to get through this. We’re going to be here for that little boy and show him love and support. Not just now, but always. He’s your family.”
“I wanted it to be our family.”
“We’ll get there,” she assures me.
I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight. She’s my lifeline in a world that’s once again spinning out of control.Chapter FifteenGabby 15* * *There was no sleeping last night, and it had nothing to do with Milo’s sleeping pattern or the dessert Chase promised me.
I’m trying to hold it together as best I can, but I’m barely hanging on. I’m emotional, yet fighting my own tears to stand tall beside Chase. He’s devastated, even though he’s trying not to show it. There was no lovemaking last night, but we did hold each other, both either pretending to sleep, or dozing off fitfully in small increments. When Milo did wake for his bottles and diaper changes, Chase held him extra-long, kissing the fuzzy crown of his head gently as if it might be the last time.
Who knows how long we’ll have him? With Colton out of the country, it could be weeks or even months.
Or worse, days.
Gwen is here, and I’m loading Milo up in her SUV. Chase went to work today, which isn’t entirely unusual for a Saturday, but I think it’s more about the fact he’s trying to distance himself from the little boy who’s completely stolen his heart. I think it’s his way of protecting himself from anymore pain. In his eyes, he was his dad. He was coming to terms with what happened in St. Louis and was preparing to spend the rest of his life as a father.