Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 85342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
“I’m fine.” I nod my head as he kisses me.
“Um, sorry, but what the hell is going on?” I hear a voice and look over to see someone standing there in a track suit. His hair is still wet and I can only imagine what he is going through. I know right away this is Penelope’s father, they have the same eyes.
“Why don’t I take over?” I look at Matthew and then Nico, who just nods at me.
“Do you want to sit down, Tristan?” I ask him and he comes forward and sits down.
“Do I need a lawyer?” he asks and looks over at Nico, who sits next to him and shakes his head.
“Tristan, did you know someone called Monica?” I ask him, and his eyebrows shoot together and he shakes his head.
“Not that I can remember,” he says, looking around at the men.
I reach for my file in my bag, pulling out the picture of her. My hands shake when I see her smiling up at me. “This is Monica,” I say, turning the picture around and passing it to him.
“Sorry.” He looks down ashamed. “I have no idea.”
“From what she said, the two of you met at a party,” I remind him. “You had just gotten drafted.”
He huffs out, “I don’t remember anything from that night. I was just so happy to be drafted I let loose.” He looks at his hands. “There were girls everywhere.” I can only imagine. “I don’t know why this means anything.” I can tell from his tone he’s getting really fucking nervous.
I swallow down now, knowing what I say next or what comes next is going to change his whole world. “Two years ago, Monica had a baby girl.” I look at him to see if he gets it. “We think she had your baby.”
I can tell the exact time it sinks in as he gets up. “What?” He looks at Nico, who gets up and puts his hand on his shoulder.
“It’s going to be okay,” he assures him. “Whatever it is, we are going to be there with you every single step of the way.”
“Where is Monica?” He looks around the table.
I was wrong, telling him he has a child isn’t going to change his life, finding out he’s the only parent this child has is going to change his life. “She died,” I say, ripping the Band-Aid off. “Long story short. She didn’t have that great of a relationship with her parents.” He sits down now, his mouth opening and closing. “She was already in the system when she had Penelope, so we had to monitor her.”
“Is Penelope,” he asks, “is she?”
“She is alive,” I confirm and he puts his head back as a sigh of relief leaves him. “Tristan, we would need to do a DNA test before anything,” I say, and he nods his head. “Just to make sure that you are in fact the father.”
“I don’t know what to say,” he admits, and I can only imagine what he is going through.
“I know it’s a lot to take in, and I wish Monica had told you when it first happened.”
“When can I do this test?” he asks.
“We have someone who can do it now,” Nico says, and Tristan nods his head.
“Where is Penelope?” he asks, and my heart fills when he asks this.
“She’s in the hospital—” I say, looking at Chase, who cuts in.
“She had a couple of surgeries, but she’s on the mend,” Chase explains.
“I want to see her,” Tristan says, getting up.
“That sounds great, but her grandparents have emergency custody of her and they won’t let you see her.”
“Fuck that,” he says, looking at Nico and then at me. “This might be my kid and I didn’t even know.” He shakes his head. “She could have died, and I had no idea.”
“We get the result in twenty-four hours,” Nico says. “Why don’t we wait for that and then we go to the next step?”
“Do you have a picture?” Tristan asks, and I nod, taking out the last picture I took of Penelope. I hand him the picture, and he grabs it, letting out a sob. “She’s mine,” he says. “She looks just like my sister.”
Nico reaches over and puts his arm over his shoulder. “I want to know that when the test results come back, I can see her.” He looks at me. “I’m sure there will be paperwork for me to complete.”
“There will definitely be more paperwork for you to complete,” I say, “She’s in the system.” I don’t want to scare him, but he has to know. “So there will be follow-up.”
“Whatever it is,” he says, getting up, “I need to take this test.” He smiles at me. “Thank you for finding me.”
I smile at him, the tears blurring my vision. “Thank Monica,” I say, holding up the letter in my hand. “She left this letter for me.”