Chapter 5 - THREE SMALL QUESTIONS
Emily did not answer Owen beside the limousine.
Some truths belonged in private.
She opened the door.
“Get inside, please.”
The triplets obeyed.
David stepped forward.
“I didn’t mean—”
“I know.”
“Emily.”
“Not here.”
“When?”
She looked at him.
“Tomorrow. Ten o’clock.”
“Where?”
“Nathan’s office.”
David frowned.
“Your lawyer?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t need a lawyer to talk about my children.”
“You absolutely do.”
His jaw tightened.
Emily had seen that expression hundreds of times during their marriage.
He hated losing control.
She no longer feared it.
“Ten o’clock,” she repeated.
Then she got into the limousine.
The door closed.
For three blocks, nobody spoke.
Finally Ellie asked:
“Was that our dad?”
Emily looked at her.
“Yes.”
“He looked sad.”
“He had a difficult morning.”
Ben frowned.
“Because the wedding stopped?”
“Partly.”
Owen looked out the window.
“He didn’t know us.”
Emily’s chest tightened.
“No.”
“Why?”
There it was.
The question she had known would come.
She took a slow breath.
“When you were babies, I tried to tell him about you.”
Ben listened carefully.
“He didn’t answer?”
“No.”
“Did he not want us?”
Emily hated the question.
Children had a cruel talent for finding the exact center of an adult wound.
She moved closer.
“You three were never unwanted.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Ben had always been precise.
Emily touched his hand.
“Your father made choices before he knew what those choices would cost.”
The boy considered that.
“Does he want us now?”
“I think he wants to know you.”
Ellie smiled.
“Then we can show him our room.”
Owen did not.
“What if he leaves again?”
Emily looked at her quietest child.
His face was so much like David’s when David was young that sometimes it startled her.
“He doesn’t get to come in and out whenever he wants.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m your mother.”
That answer seemed sufficient.
For now.
The next morning David arrived at Nathan Cole’s office fifteen minutes early.
He wore no tie.
No expensive watch.
No smug smile.
Nathan placed a legal pad in front of him.
Emily sat across the table.
David glanced toward the empty chairs beside her.
“Where are they?”
“At school.”
“You said ten o’clock.”
“For us.”
“I thought I was seeing the kids.”
“No.”
His frustration returned.
“Emily—”
“You asked for a DNA test.”
“Yes.”
“We’ll arrange one.”
“How long?”
“A few days.”
“And then?”
Emily folded her hands.
“If it confirms what I already know, we discuss a gradual introduction.”
David stared.
“I met them yesterday.”
“You stood near them yesterday.”
“I spoke to them.”
“Briefly.”
“They know I’m their father.”
“They know you’re their biological father.”
He bristled.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because fatherhood is bigger than biology.”
David looked away.
Nathan slid a proposal across the table.
David didn’t touch it.
“What is this?”
“A temporary family-contact plan,” Nathan said.
“I’m not signing something written by her lawyer.”
“Then hire your own.”
David’s eyes stayed on Emily.
“How often?”
“One supervised visit a week to start.”
He laughed.
“You’re serious?”
“Very.”
“I’m not a criminal.”
“No one said you were.”
“I don’t need supervision to see my own children.”
“You are a stranger to them.”
“I’m their father.”
“You’ve said that.”
“Because you keep acting like I’m some guy off the street.”
Emily’s voice remained calm.
“To them, you almost are.”
That hurt him.
Good, a small part of her thought.
Then she disliked herself for thinking it.
David pushed back.
“I want weekends.”
“No.”
“Every other weekend.”
“No.”
“Dinner twice a week.”
“Not immediately.”
“Who gave you the right to decide everything?”
Emily’s eyes hardened.
“Six years of doing everything.”
Silence.
David leaned back.
For once, he had nothing.
Emily continued.
“I did midnight fevers. First steps. Preschool applications. Three cases of chicken pox in one week.”
David’s expression shifted.
“I taught Ellie to swim after she became afraid of water. I slept on Owen’s floor for three months because he had nightmares. I spent an entire Saturday in the emergency room because Ben shoved a Lego into his nose.”
Nathan tried not to smile.
David didn’t.
Emily’s voice softened.
“I know which child needs the hallway light on. I know who hates peas, who gets carsick, and who cries when dogs die in movies.”
She looked directly at him.
“You don’t know their middle names.”
David stared.
He opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Emily waited.
He couldn’t answer.
“Owen James,” she said.
“Benjamin David.”
David’s head snapped up.
Emily continued.
“And Eleanor Rose.”
He stared at her.
“Benjamin David?”
“Yes.”
“You gave him my name?”
“I chose the names before I stopped hoping you might call.”
David looked down.
His eyes filled.
Emily had never seen him cry.
Not when his father died.
Not when they divorced.
He rubbed his face quickly.
“Did they ever ask for me?”
“Yes.”
The answer broke something in him.
“How many times?”
“David…”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did you say?”
“The age-appropriate truth.”
“That I abandoned them?”
“I never used that word.”
“What word did you use?”
Emily sighed.
“I told them you weren’t ready to be part of their lives.”
He laughed bitterly.
“That sounds pretty bad.”
“It was kinder than telling them you ordered your assistant to throw away my letters.”
He flinched.
Nathan quietly stood.
“I’ll give you two a few minutes.”
When the door closed, David looked at Emily.
“Why didn’t you sue me?”
“For child support?”
“For anything.”
“I didn’t have money for lawyers.”
“Later.”
She looked toward the window.
“Later, I didn’t need your money.”
“That’s not a reason.”
“No.”
She nodded.
“It isn’t.”
“Then why?”
Emily took her time.
“Because by then the children were happy.”
He stared.
“My business was finally stable. We had a home. Good schools. People who loved them.”
“And I would have ruined that?”
“I didn’t know.”
“You thought I would.”
“I knew who you had been with me.”
That silenced him.
David looked older than he had two days earlier.
“What if I’ve changed?”
Emily’s eyes met his.
“Have you?”
He thought about the wedding invitation.
The kitchen table.
The text to Ryan.
He looked away.
“I can.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“No.”
He exhaled.
“I guess I haven’t.”
It was the first honest thing he had said without being cornered.
Emily’s shoulders relaxed slightly.
David looked at her.
“I lost Olivia.”
“Yes.”
“My job might be next.”
Emily frowned.
“What happened?”
“Richard suspended the consulting contract this morning.”
“That’s between you and Richard.”
“The board is reviewing every account connected to the old design agreement.”
Emily said nothing.
“They could sue me.”
“They might.”
“You don’t care?”
“I care about whether you stole my work.”
David winced.
“Fair.”
Another silence.
Then he asked:
“How did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Three babies. Business. Everything.”
Emily almost laughed.
“I did it badly for a while.”
He stared.
“The first two years were chaos.”
She smiled despite herself.
“I once arrived at a client meeting with applesauce on my blazer and didn’t notice until afterward.”
David laughed softly.
The sound surprised them both.
Emily continued.
“Mrs. Henderson watched them while I worked. Then I hired one employee. Then two. We got lucky with a local magazine feature.”
“I read about Three Rowan.”
“Apparently not very carefully.”
He smiled faintly.
“I thought the founder was some woman named E.C. Carter.”
“That’s me.”
“I know that now.”
David leaned forward.
“Are you seeing someone?”
Emily’s expression closed.
“That has nothing to do with the children.”
“So yes.”
“It has nothing to do with you.”
The answer was enough.
Something moved through his face.
Jealousy.
Pain.
Maybe both.
Emily stood.
“Have Nathan schedule the test.”
David stood too.
“When can I see them?”
“Saturday.”
His face brightened.
“Really?”
“Two hours. Public place.”
“Where?”
“Lakeside Park.”
“Can I bring them something?”
Emily considered.
“Don’t buy huge gifts.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You absolutely were.”
He almost smiled.
“What do they like?”
She hesitated.
“Ben likes science kits.”
David nodded.
“Ellie likes horses, art supplies, and anything with glitter.”
“Okay.”
“Owen likes drawing.”
David looked at the green notebook on Emily’s desk.
“I figured.”
Then Emily said one more thing.
“David.”
He stopped at the door.
“If you start this, you need to understand something.”
“What?”
“They are not trophies.”
His face tightened.
“I know.”
“They are not proof that you’ve changed.”
“I know.”
“They are not replacements for Olivia.”
“I know.”
“And they are not something you get to walk away from the first time being a parent becomes inconvenient.”
David stared at her.
Then he nodded.
“I understand.”
Emily wished she believed him.
Saturday arrived cold and bright.
Emily reached Lakeside Park ten minutes early with the children.
David was already there.
No limousine.
No luxury gifts.
No designer bags.
He sat alone at a picnic table with three paper cups of hot chocolate.
Ben noticed first.
“He remembered three.”
Emily smiled faintly.
“Yes.”
David stood when they approached.
His nervousness was almost painful to watch.
“Hi.”
Ellie waved.
“Hi, biological dad.”
Emily nearly choked.
David blinked.
Then laughed.
“That’s… accurate.”
Ben sat across from him.
Owen stayed close to Emily.
David slid the cups forward.
“I didn’t know if you like marshmallows, so I got them on the side.”
Ellie gasped.
“I love marshmallows.”
Within three minutes she had six in her cup.
David watched the children as though afraid blinking would make them disappear.
Ben asked:
“What’s your job?”
“Consulting.”
“What’s that?”
David considered.
“I help companies make decisions.”
Ben nodded.
“Were you good at making decisions?”
Emily looked down.
David froze.
Then, unexpectedly, he answered.
“Not always.”
Ben seemed satisfied.
Ellie asked:
“Why didn’t you marry the pretty lady?”
David looked at Emily.
She offered no rescue.
“Because I hurt her feelings.”
“Did you say sorry?”
“Yes.”
“Did she forgive you?”
“I don’t know.”
Ellie stirred her cocoa.
“You should ask.”
David smiled sadly.
“I think she needs time.”
Then Owen spoke for the first time.
“Why didn’t you want us?”
Everything stopped.
David stared at the little boy.
Emily’s chest tightened.
Owen looked down at his hands.
“You didn’t answer the letters.”
David’s eyes filled.
Emily hadn’t told the children about the letters.
Ben must have overheard more at the wedding than she realized.
David leaned forward.
“I didn’t know what the letters said.”
Owen frowned.
“Because you didn’t read them.”
David swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was angry at your mom.”
“Why?”
David looked toward Emily.
Then back at Owen.
“Because I was selfish.”
Owen’s eyes lifted.
David continued.
“I thought if something reminded me of a part of my life I wanted to forget, I could just push it away.”
He took a shaky breath.
“I didn’t know you were in those letters.”
“Would you have come?”
David’s mouth opened.
Emily held her breath.
This was the moment where the old David might have said whatever sounded best.
He didn’t.
“I don’t know.”
Emily looked at him.
David’s voice broke.
“I want to say yes.”
Owen waited.
“But back then, I wasn’t a very good man.”
The boy absorbed that.
“Are you good now?”
David looked down.
“I’m trying to become better.”
Owen nodded slowly.
Then he slid one marshmallow across the table.
David stared at it.
“What’s this?”
“You only have coffee.”
David laughed through tears.
“Thank you.”
Twenty minutes later, Emily’s phone rang.
Nathan.
She stepped several feet away.
“What happened?”
His voice was serious.
“We got the preliminary paternity results.”
Emily glanced toward David.
He was listening to Ellie explain the difference between unicorns and horses.
“And?”
Nathan paused.
“Emily, there’s something strange.”
Her stomach tightened.
“What?”
“The triplets are definitely biologically related to David.”
She exhaled.
“I told you.”
“But the laboratory flagged something in David’s sample.”
Emily frowned.
“What kind of thing?”
Nathan lowered his voice.
“They found a close familial match already in the database.”
Emily looked at David.
“I don’t understand.”
May you like
Nathan answered:
“It appears David may have another child.”
