I had returned home from work happier than I could remember being in a long time. Not only would I be having a date with Lilly tonight, I had finagled picking her up at her own house.

This would give me a chance to set eyes on this mysterious child of hers. I had hoped she would have brought up at least an acknowledgment of having a kid this afternoon but she didn’t.

It could have just simply been because single mom’s didn’t tend to announce that sort of a thing to a guy who showed interest. I was feeling it was more due to the fact that she didn’t want me to ask questions and connect the dots.

I knew it was an irrational thought, but I was sure that if I saw the child tonight, I would know for sure if it was mine or not.

After a quick shower and a change into some more comfortable clothes, I set off for Lilly’s house. I couldn’t believe how nervous I was for this night. I supposed it was just the anticipation of seeing the child.

I pulled up to the parking garage of Lilly’s complex. Taking a deep breath I stepped out of the car. I took the elevator to the right floor, but before I could even get down the hall to her apartment, Lilly was already slipping out with the door shut tight behind her.

“I saw you coming so I thought I would just save you the trip,” she said by way of explanation.

“Oh,” I said not very good at hiding my disappointment. “I didn’t mind walking the whole way, though.”

“I know. I just…I don’t know if I told you…but I have a daughter. I don’t go out much.” she said clearly wanting to move on from the subject.

“A daughter? Really?” I did my best to pretend like I didn’t know nor did I have suspicions that the child was born right around our last meeting.

It was a setback in that I didn’t get a peek like I had hoped, but I relished in the knowledge that it was a girl. I had a daughter.

“You know,” I said, when I figured she probably didn’t believe my pathetic attempt at lying. “I think I remember reading something about that in your medical record.”

“Actually that probably sounds pretty bad,” I corrected instantly.

“No,” she said hiding her laugh. “It’s totally normal to be going out with a guy who knows my whole medical history.”

“Well, if it makes you feel better,” I said as I walked her over to the passenger side of my BMW, “not your whole record. Just certain parts of it.”

She blushed at my words as I let my eyes linger down the line of her body.

The evening was going a lot better than what I could have even hoped for. We spent the car ride talking and just generally getting to know each other for the first time.

“My parents weren’t too happy when I told them I was ditching all my pre-law work and going a totally different way,” she continued to tell me when we sat at the quiet bar with our drinks. “Hell to make matters worse I told them it was because I wanted to be an artist.”

“But they came around in the end?” I asked.

“Yeah. I mean at first when you think artist you think starving and spray painting on the street. It’s really easy to make it a marketable skill though. So now I’m a project designer and my parents have backed off from their skepticism.”

“How about you?” She asked as she spun the red straw between her fingers and pressed it to her full lips.

I wondered if she knew that every movement she had made since I first laid eyes on her that night had been driving me wild. Even the way her face lit up when she talked about her work and how she turned her head slightly to the side when she laughed made me want to take her and make her mine all over again.

“Uh, well big shocker I didn’t always want to be a gynecologist when I grew up.”

“Oh no?” she added sarcastically.

“No” I said in a teasing tone. “I did know I would be a doctor though.”

“Why is that?”

“I come from a long line of plastic surgeons. I knew I didn’t want to go that route but nothing really beyond that. I worked for the red cross my summers while I got my doctorate. I loved it. It was like I was actually making a difference.”

“That sounds really wonderful,” she said encouraging me with a smile.

“Yeah it was. I loved it so much once I got my doctorate and did my residency, I decided to join full time. I went to some amazing places, helped a lot of people. It was great. But it was hard on my parents me being gone all the time. My mother always worried that I was going to be killed or catch some deadly disease.”

“So you came back home?”

“Well, I'm originally from New York. I kinda wanted to get away from my family name for college though, that’s why I came here. I just fell in love with the city so when it was time for me to come back stateside I knew this is where I wanted to be.”

“And it is close enough for your mom,” she asked in a knowing tone.

“Well, it’s not a dangerous third world, bombed out country, so she had to settle for it.”

I couldn't help but be mesmerized by the shinning glint in her honey eyes as she listened as I told her stories of my time overseas.

I realized suddenly as I had that very first night that she was special and this time I wasn't going to let her go.