When Sunday arrived, Sophia opened the door as her niece and nephew bolted inside, chasing each other around her living room. Genevieve gave her a hug, and Chris did the same, the little family bustling in as Sophia finished preparing a Cobb salad and panini for their lunch. When there was another knock on the door, Sophia’s stomach gave a little twist.

It was one thing to introduce a man to her family. It was entirely another to introduce Jed Shields to them. She didn’t even know what to call them as an item. Their relationship had no name. As aggravating as he was all the time, there were always little moments of tiny kindnesses that flashed through, that reminded her that somewhere beneath his hard shell, Jed Shields was a better man than he pretended to be. She held onto that belief, because otherwise she would have given up on him ages ago.

When she opened the door, she stared at Jed for a moment with wide eyes.

He was wearing dark jeans and a button down shirt. She realized in that moment that she had never seen him outside of a suit. Somehow he managed to be even more handsome. His gaze was, as always, unreadable as he stared back down at her.

“Do I get to come in, or is there a secret password I missed during our conversation?”

“I suppose you can come in,” she said, stepping aside so he could.

Jed walked into the room just as Emma was jumping on the couch. She shot straight off it, landing on the floor and rolling across the room.

“Secret ninja attack!” she called, heading straight for her younger brother.

Planning for this, Jaden dodged her low kick and swatted at her head, landing a perfect karate chop on her neck. Emma instantly burst into tears.

“Mom!” she yelled, rushing into her mother’s embrace.

Genevieve looked stern as she stared down both her children.

“What have I said about playing ninja? Now, I want you to both apologize.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Emma protested.

“I told you not to play that game. You did. Now apologize. There are consequences for your actions.”

Emma ran her little arm across her running nose, sniffling loudly as she mumbled an apology. Jaden did the same before running up to Jed.

“You’re really tall,” he said.

Jed kneeled down so that he was at Jaden’s level.

“I get that a lot,” he said.

“Are you taller than a tree?”

Sophia bit back a laugh, and Jed nodded.

“Some trees, yes. My name is Jed. It’s nice to meet you.”

Jaden stared at his hand, not knowing what to do with it, before dashing back off to torture his sister once again. Genevieve and Chris stood then, introducing themselves.

“I believe we are going to be your baby’s aunt and uncle,” Genevieve said.

Jed winced, but quickly scrambled to cover it.

“You don’t seem terribly pleased about this,” Genevieve said, crossing her arms.

“Is anyone pleased about a surprise pregnancy they never wanted?”

“I imagine not, but I think a man is defined by how he behaves during times of adversity, don’t you? I wonder, Mr. Shields, what kind of man do you think you are?”

Jed stared at her a moment, as though he hadn’t considered their situation in that light before. Before he had a chance to answer, Emma shyly approached them, standing close to her mother.

“Hi,” she said, her voice nearly a whisper.

It wasn’t like Emma to be shy. Sophia watched her curiously as she stared up with wide blue eyes at the successful businessman. Even though he was casually dressed, there was still an air of authority, of control that surrounded Jed. He radiated a demand for respect, and while Jaden couldn’t yet pick up on it, Emma was clearly well aware.

Seeing her shy demeanor, something in Jed appeared to melt. He knelt down again and held out his hand for Emma to take. She held hers out and gently shook it, her hand darting back to her side.

“I’m Jed.”

“You’re going to be my uncle?” Emma asked.

The room grew decidedly hot in that moment, and Sophia cleared her throat loudly as she headed toward the kitchen.

“I think it’s time for lunch, don’t you guys?”

“I want pizza!” Jaden declared.

“Good, because I made some just for you,” Sophia said, and she was rewarded with a chorus of cheers from both children.

Emma stepped away from Jed, content to focus entirely on her favorite food, and the group sat down at the table together. Genevieve’s stare was piercing as she watched Jed from across the table, and in that moment, Sophia realized that her sister’s motivation for inviting him was twofold. While exposing him to children was a good idea, she wanted to know just what kind of man Jed Shields really was, and she was going to find out on her own.

Sophia found herself wishing for a drink more than ever.

“Do you have any other children, Mr. Shields?” Genevieve asked.

“You can call me Jed,” he said. “And no, I do not.”

“How do you intend to provide for this one?”

“Genevieve! We are having lunch, not a job interview.”

Genevieve maintained her staring contest with Jed, and he didn’t back down.

“Do you know who I am, Genevieve?” Jed asked.

“Outside of the man who has made my sister miserable these past few months, when she should be the happiest in her life? No, I can’t say that I do.”

“I run one of the largest marketing companies in the world.”

“And?”

“And?” Jed asked, stunned.

Sophia watched the exchange like a tennis match, her head bouncing from one person to the other as they sparred over her table.

“You may be wealthy, Mr. Shields, but you might have noticed by now that that is not an issue for my sister. What is an issue is the fact that she is facing raising this child on her own, when, as you’ll remember, this isn’t something she necessarily wanted either.”

“She could have made a different choice, in that matter.”

“But she didn’t, and now this is your reality as well. Now tell me how you intend to provide for this child, emotionally, like a father.”

Jed opened his mouth to answer when Jaden spit out a glob of chewed up pizza. His face was pale as a sheet.

“I don’t feel good,” he declared, before unceremoniously turning his head and vomiting by the side of the table.

Everyone was up in that moment. Jed stared on in horror as Genevieve and Chris worked quickly to both cradle their son and clean up the mess in one fell swoop. Jaden began to cry.

“I want to go home!”

In a flurry of activity, Genevieve and Chris swept their children towards the front door, giving Sophia and Jed a very rushed farewell as they scooped their sick child from the apartment and closed the door. A sickly scent remained, tickling Sophia’s nostrils and igniting her own sense of nausea.

She was staring at the door when she realized that Jed was still there, watching on.

“Well, I imagine that didn’t go as planned,” he drawled, dropping a napkin onto the kitchen table.

“Kids get sick. It’s a reality we’re going to have to deal with at some point.”

“That’s what nannies are for.”

“And is that what happened to you? Were you raised by a nanny? How did you like it?”

Jed closed off his expression, as he so often did whenever Sophia brought up his past.

“That’s neither here nor there.”

“Oh, I beg to differ. You act like you never knew what it was like to even be a child, much less talk to one. It would be wonderful to know why.”

“Perhaps someday we can share sob stories. As it is, I now see what it is like to have to have your entire life managed by a three-year-old boy. Perhaps I can look forward to phone calls in the future where I have to leave a billion-dollar deal because my child has decided he can’t hold the contents of his stomach, but fortunately for me, today is not that day, and I can do as I please.”

He stepped towards the door, placing his hand on the knob before turning back to face Sophia.

“I can appreciate your sister wanting to protect you and the baby. You may not believe it, but I want you to be safe, just as much as she does.”

“You have a funny way of showing it,” Sophia replied.

“Perhaps I am not so amenable to adapting to someone else’s agenda when I am forced. Did that thought ever occur to you? That I might adapt to this situation in my own time?”

“We don’t have time. This baby is coming sooner than you realize.”

“Well then, let us discuss this when that day comes. Until then, I’d appreciate being left alone.”

“Fine,” Sophia said, at her wits end.

Jed nodded and closed the door behind him, the sound echoing across the room.

The man was impossible!