Not Quite Mine

“She’s a pooping machine, this little girl.”

Katie smiled, finding her happy place. “Keeping you busy with diapers I take it?”

“Oh, yeah. She loves being naked.”

She laughed. “We’re going to have to work that out of her.”

“We’ll have a few years to worry about that.”

We? She liked the sound of that. With all the high drama she’d nearly forgotten about her recent conversation with Patrick. Maybe Maggie wasn’t a nurturing mother either?

Maybe Maggie would have ended up abandoning Savannah later in life and screwing her up in the process.

Then Dean would have been a single father…like hers.

“She’s easy to love, isn’t she?”

“You can say that again.”

Her phone beeped in her ear. She pulled it away and noticed her brother’s number. “Looks like Jack is looking for me. I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving the hospital.”

“All right, darlin’. Everything’s good here. Call when you get a minute.”

“Thanks again, Dean.”

The doctor didn’t call with the test results until the morning after Dean thought he’d have his answers.

When he answered the call, his hand actually shook.

“Mr. Prescott?” The voice on the line was a woman.

“That’s me,” he said.

“Dr. Ellis would like to speak with you. Can you hold for him?”

“Sure.” Dean was in his office, hoping that when he got this call he’d be able to continue with his day regardless of the answer. If he wasn’t a father, then he would act as if nothing had changed. When in fact, nothing had…but if the answer was yes…well, he’d work through the shock instead of staring at Savannah all day.

“Dean?”

“Dr. Ellis.”

“I have your test results. Is this a good time?”

Dean huffed. “As good as any.”

“Congratulations, Daddy. Your DNA was a perfect match to Savannah’s.” Dr. Ellis went on to say something about the accuracy of the tests used today and how Dean had nothing to worry about.

“Are you there, Dean?”

His skin tingled and he felt surprisingly light-headed. “I’m here. I’m sorry. Thank you.”

“Best of luck, Dean. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you.”

“You’ve done plenty, Doctor. Thank you.”

He stared at an invoice on his desk for twenty minutes.

I’m a dad.

He thought of Katie, of her holding Savannah and smiling at him.

I’m a dad.

He opened the picture function on his phone and brought up Savannah’s picture. So beautiful.

I’m a dad.

Being Savannah’s father answered one very important question he and Katie had been asking for weeks.

Maggie’s her mother.

Dean turned off his computer and left his office. “I’ve got to go,” he told Jo.

“Is Katelyn OK?” she asked, concerned.

Hesitating, he tried to smile. “She’s doing OK. But, uh, I have something I need to do. I’ll be out of reach—fire, flood—”

“Or surprise inspection,” she finished his sentence for him. When he couldn’t be disturbed he’d always said that only a fire, flood, or surprise inspection should interrupt him. “I know the drill, Dean. You all right?”

The shock must have shown on his face. “Yeah. Hold it all down, Jo.”

“I do that every day, boss.”

Yeah…and today he was damn thankful for her skills.

He drove around the block where Maggie had lived when they were engaged. The condominium complex wasn’t secured so he drove into the parking lot and found a visitor spot.

He sat in the car with the engine running, trying to figure out what he was going to say.

He’d driven over without thinking. Why hadn’t she told him she was pregnant? Why did she give Savannah up? What the hell was she up to? Was she coming back to get Savannah one day, to hurt him for not fighting to keep Maggie in his life?

Memories of their breakup surfaced. He hadn’t thought much about her in a long time. The fact that he’d pushed her out of his mind so quickly, so completely, proved to him they weren’t right for each other.

“I can’t do it,” she’d said less than a week before their wedding.

“Can’t do what?”

She’d asked for them to have a quiet lunch at one of “their” restaurants. She would meet him there.

He knew afterward why she didn’t want them in the same car.

She removed the ring he’d placed on her finger six months before.

He’d asked her to marry him after only a few months of dating. They had been in a club with some friends, they’d both been drinking. “I’m tired of the dating scene,” he’d told her. “Let’s get married.”

In hindsight, he hardly knew her. She quickly accepted and they both fell into the thought of being married. The closer to the wedding, the more he told everyone how perfect she was.

Then little things started to bug her. Motorcycles are dangerous. He hardly drove the one he owned as it was. She wanted it gone.

Are you going camping with your friends again? He and Mikey managed two trips…maybe three a year tops.

The blow to his ego kept him quiet while she told him they weren’t right for each other. “You’re not ready to get married,” she had said. “Not to me anyway. You’re not in love with me.”