Chapter 17
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“Jake’s calling me.” Adriana looked up across the yard and saw Gabe’s cousin waving.
She lifted her arm and waved back.
Gabe placed his hand between Adriana’s shoulder blades as leaned down as he placed a kiss just below her ear before he set off to meet his cousin. “I’ll be right back.”
Her eyes cut to scan the few adults that were gathered around the bouncy house that was set up for Peyton and Paige’s second birthday, and she was relieved that no one seemed to notice.
In the three days since Gabe had declared that he was “all in,” he’d lived up to his word. He’d been with them from the time the kids got up in the morning until they went to bed at night. Then he’d stay for an hour or two past “bedtime” so he and Adriana could get a little more practice being human shields against the door.
They were taking things one day at a time, per Adriana’s request. She didn’t want to advertise that they were doing…whatever it was they were doing. She wanted to deal with one thing at a time. The first thing was finding out the DNA test results. They were due back in two days. Then they could deal with whatever those results were and how the results would affect Jonah. Once he was on solid ground then, and only then, could they turn their attention to them as a couple, if that’s what they were.
She knew that they were doing things all kinds of ass backwards. As Adriana watched Gabe walk across Amy and Matt’s backyard, she couldn’t help but hope it would work out. Never in her life had she felt so in sync with another human being. Over the past week, she and Gabe had fallen into perfect step with one another.
She’d been worried during the first few days of Gabe’s parenting boot camp that it was too much for him. He had experience being an uncle, but “uncle” and “dad” were not the same thing. He’d made some rookie mistakes, sure, but he never made the same mistake twice. He took being in the kids’ lives seriously. That meant the world to Adriana.
“Oh, my.” Naomi appeared beside Adriana and she fanned herself with a homemade fan made out of folded paper and a Popsicle stick. “Who is that tall drink of water over there?”
Adriana only had eyes for one tall drink of water, so she had no idea who her mother was talking about. She glanced in the direction her mother was gawking but she still didn’t know.
The entire birthday party was filled with good-looking men. Eric and Jake were both extremely attractive. Matt and Mike were not so bad looking either. There were at least a half a dozen firefighters here, all of which could model for a calendar. She smiled as she thought about how crazy Em would’ve been for Marco. Her cousin had always had a thing for Latin lovers and he fit the bill to a tee.
“Which one?” Adriana asked her mother.
“The cowboy.” Naomi pointed. “Right there.”
“The mayor?” Adriana was impressed that her mother’s chosen target was age appropriate, but she was surprised to find out that Mayor Walker was her type.
In the week that she’d been in town, she’d run into the mayor several times. He was a very sweet man who was extremely personable and made a point to remember her and her kids’ names.
She was also impressed by the man’s fashion. Each time she’d seen him he was cowboyed out. From the hat, to the boots, to the large belt buckle. The man was a walking Wrangler’s ad.
“Is he the mayor? Oh my,” Naomi repeated as she flicked her wrist to fan herself faster. “I’ve always loved men that served their community.”
“You have?” If Adriana was to describe her mother’s “type” she would have said longhaired, unemployed, losers, but hey, maybe Naomi truly was evolving.
“Oh yes, it’s very sexy,” her mother confirmed. “I’ll admit I was drawn to him when I saw that his aura was a soft shade of blue. I only saw that he is a kind and honest man. Now however I see the vibrant red. I must follow my heart and speak to him.” Her mother announced with her usual dramatic flair. “Will you be okay here?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” Adrianna tried to hide her smirk.
As she watched her mother set off in pursuit of her conquest, she recognized that Naomi had not left her side without permission. It was strange that her mother had been so attentive to her and the kids this week. That had not been her experience growing up, but she seemed to be making a real effort and the kids adored her.
“Mama, look!” Lexi called out from inside the bouncy castle.
Adriana watched as her daughter jumped up, landed on her bottom, and then bounced up on her feet. When she stuck the landing Adriana applauded.
“Watch me, mama!” Laney called out as she tucked her chin and did a somersault.
Adriana continued clapping as her daughters took turns showing off their acrobatic skills.
As she watched the girls jump around with all the other kids at the party, she wondered if this was the first of many celebrations to come. She allowed herself, for just a moment, to think about what it would be like if this was her life. Her real life. She let herself imagine that things would work out with Gabe, whether or not he was Jonah’s father. They went to Sunday dinners at his aunt and uncle’s house. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Easter, Fourth of July, all of the holidays that she’d resigned herself to being a single parent for.
What if she wasn’t?
What if she had a future with Gabe?
And not just Gabe, but the entire town of Hope Falls.
She was so engrossed in visions of what her life could be, she was startled when Gabe slid his hand around the back of her waist.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look today?” he asked in a husky, hushed voice that sent a shiver through her.
“Yes,” she breathed as she moved away from his touch.
It wasn’t that she had an issue with PDA, per se. It was that the girls had never seen her with a man, and there’d already been so much change in Jonah’s world that she didn’t feel that it was fair to add more to it until she had a better idea of what they were. So, she was doing her best to keep what was going on between her and Gabe, between her and Gabe.
She knew that he was trying his best, but he slipped up sometimes. He was very sweet and affectionate, and if they were a couple she would adore those qualities about him. For now, she had to squelch them.
She shot him a look that silently communicated, “The kids are right there.”
He shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry. I missed you.”
“You were gone for five minutes,” Adriana chuckled.
“I know.” His eyes grew wide and he blew out a breath. “It was torture.”
She loved that he told her he missed her, even when they were only apart a few minutes. She loved that every time she walked into a room his eyes tracked her and made her feel like the sexiest woman that ever existed. She loved how patient he was with the kids, and how easy, and natural their bond was. She loved how much he did for all of them, and how much she was starting to depend on him.
It scared her, but at the same time, she couldn’t think of a more deserving person to be terrified for.
“Whoa.” He leaned into her and discreetly motioned to where her mother was chatting up Mayor Walker. “What’s going on over there?”
“My mother finds men that serve their community sexy,” Adriana chuckled.
The pair really were a sight to take in.
Her mother was barefoot in a flowing, floral dress and she wore beads that threaded over her middle finger and ran up her arm. Her long auburn hair flowed in the breeze as she used her hands and spoke with animation.
Mayor Walker was standing with his shoulders back and his chest puffed out just a little more than he was before her mother had walked over. His hands were resting on his large, silver belt buckle and he looked positively captivated by Naomi.
“Wow.” Gabe sounded as taken aback as she’d been. “Well, I guess it’s true what they say.”
“What? That opposites attract?”
“No, that people come to Hope Falls and fall in love.”
“People say that?” She hadn’t heard anyone say that.
“If by people you mean me, then yes.” He grinned as he wagged his brows. “And I’m speaking from personal experience.”
The smile that spread on her face said what she still hadn’t vocalized. She loved Gabe Maguire. Plain and simple. And that didn’t scare her nearly as much as she feared it should.
*
Gabe was dragging as he walked up the steps to his front porch. His body was as sore and tired as if he’d just finished a training session.
He’d only ever attended kids’ birthday parties as an uncle or cousin; he’d never had any children that he was personally responsible for there. It was an entirely different experience and he loved it.
His phone rang as he approached his screen door and he noticed deliveries resting against it. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, glanced at the screen, and then answered it.
“Hey, Maximillian,” he said as he bent down to inspect the envelopes.
“Do you remember when I told you that I need to know things to be able to do my job?”
He was about to answer her when he read the labels. He stopped breathing for a moment. The labs.
They were in.
“Maguire,” Maxi snapped.
“Sorry.” Gabe had completely forgot he was even on the phone. “I need to call you back.”
“No!” she shouted, which wasn’t like Maxi. She never raised her voice. “Do not hang up this phone. I’ve gotten several calls from reporters about a story that is not going to go away.”
“What? What story?”
“That you have a kid. A kid who’s in Hope Falls with you now.”
“What…?” Gabe couldn’t even finish a sentence.
“There’s an inside source that’s willing to go on record.”
“Only Glenn knew, and there is no way in hell my brother—”
“So it is true.” He could hear the frustration and hurt in Maxi’s voice. “You have a son and you didn’t think that I should know about that? Forget the fact that I’m one of your oldest friends, as your publicist you didn’t think that was relevant information to give me.”
“I don’t know.” Gabe ran his fingers through his hair.
“Well, I do, Gabe. That is the information that I need to have so I don’t get blindsided by calls asking me to comment on you being a father.”
“I know that. I meant I don’t know if I’m a father.” Gabe was staring down at the envelopes that would tell him, though.
“You don’t know?”
“No.” Gabe picked them up and headed inside his house as he explained the entire situation to Maxi. He included the fact that he was currently holding the answer to the million-dollar question in his hand.
When he finished, she breathed out, “Holy shit.”
“Yep. That’s been the general consensus.”
“Okay.” Her tone switched back to professional. “Well, I’ll try to keep anything from leaking to buy you some time. Then, when you’re ready to talk, we’ll arrange an exclusive. Does that work?”
“Sounds good.”
“Let me know when you do know what’s going on. I mean, if it’s not too much trouble,” Maxi added.
“I will. And Max, I am sorry. I should’ve kept you in the loop.”
“Why would you start now?” she said light-heartedly, letting him know that all had been forgiven, before hanging up.
He lowered his phone and his eyes darted between it and the two envelopes he’d set on his coffee table as he tried to decide what he should do. He’d promised Adriana that he wouldn’t look at any results without her being there, but he knew that she was asleep.
Tonight was the first night he hadn’t stayed over. She’d fallen asleep during the girls’ bedtime story and he’d carried her down to her bed, kissed her goodnight, and left. She needed her rest, but there was no way he’d be able to wait until the morning to find out.
Her name was directly under Maxi’s in his recent calls and he tapped it.
After four rings she answered, her voice was groggy but she sounded happy to hear from him, “Hey. Sorry I fell asleep.”
He cut straight to the chase. “Two of the labs sent back the results. They’re here.”
“I’ll be right there.” She sounded wide awake now.
As he waited for Adriana, he stared at the envelopes. When he’d made the decision that the results didn’t matter, he’d stopped worrying so much about it. He knew what he wanted regardless of how the tests came back.
He’d convinced himself that it wouldn’t matter when he got them. If he was Jonah’s father, great. If not, nothing would change. He’d managed to trick himself into thinking it wasn’t a big deal. But now that he was facing it, he knew that it was. It was a big fucking deal.
His plans for the future with Jonah, the girls, and Adriana weren’t going to be affected by what those papers said, that much was true. Still he knew in that moment, that he would be disappointed and heartbroken if it turned out that Jonah wasn’t his. He wouldn’t love him any less, it was just that he loved him so much that he wanted Jonah to be his.
From the first time that Gabe saw the pictures of Jonah, he’d had little to no doubt that he was his son. Until this moment. The moment of truth. Now, a dark cloud of doubt was hanging over him. For some odd reason, he felt more uncertain of the outcome than he ever had before.
By the time Adriana got there, he was so anxious about opening the envelopes, he couldn’t even do it. She walked through the front door and sat down in front of him on the coffee table. Their positions mirrored the way they’d sat the night she’d told him about Jonah, except this time, she was the one on the table and he was the one on the couch. Her labored breathing and the crickets outside the open window were the only sound in the otherwise silent house.
Without saying a word, he handed them to her. She took them both and slit open the tops. Then, with the dexterity that only a mother of twins would possess, she pulled out both papers at the same time. He watched as her eyes darted back and forth between each with rapid movements.
Then he saw heavy tears begin to fill her lids and his heart broke under the crushing weight of his greatest desire not coming true.
When she looked up at him, he braced himself to hear the words he dreaded. But then she opened her mouth and instead made all of his dreams come true in two words. “He’s yours.”
“What?” The word fell silent on his lips.
“Jonah is yours.” She sucked in a shaky breath as tears slipped down her cheeks. She turned the papers around to face him. “You are his father.”
Gabe took the papers. His eyes scanned them both and read similar results.
The first read:
Probability of Paternity: 99.9967%
The alleged father is not excluded as the biological father of the tested child. Based on the analysis of the DNA loci listed, the probability of paternity is 99.9967%
The second read:
The probability of paternity is: 99.9986%
Conclusion: The results are consistent with paternity in this case. Based on the genetic testing results below, the combined paternity index (genetic odds in favor of paternity) are is 99.99%
Both tests had the same results.
Gabe was Jonah’s father.
He looked up at Adriana. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. He wanted to speak. He wanted to tell her what he was feeling. He just couldn’t find the words. The emotions that he was experiencing were truly indescribable.
“I know.” She nodded in understanding as she wiped the tears from her cheeks, a huge smile on her face. “I know.”
With the papers still in his hand, he stood and pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her neck as he let everything he’d felt come out. Emotions that he’d kept bottled up for years were surging to the surface.
Not just emotions related to the current moment, like being told he’d never have children of his own, to finding out he might be a father, and then learning that he was Jonah’s biological father. Those emotions were all there, but so were other long-buried ones. Losing his parents. Getting sick. Losing his career. Reclaiming and rebuilding his life. Returning to the MMA. All of the grief, fear, joy, happiness, and hope he’d suppressed for years chose to rise to the surface.
It was as if every emotion he’d ever felt was a leg that was asleep and now it was waking up. It was painful, but he knew he had to go through it.
He tightened his arms around Adriana, anchoring himself to her. She was his strength, his touchstone to reality, his security. He held onto her and promised himself he’d do everything in his power to never have to let her go.