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I paused, keeping my back to him as I pushed a screw into the wall. We weren’t in the habit of talking about that time of our lives. “That was easy. I’d just ask myself,What would Bruce Cooper do?And then do that.”
“Words to live by, I guess. Okay, so just do the same with Jesse and you’re golden.”
“Thanks, Bro.” His words did make me feel better, strong enough so that when the shelves were hung, I blew out a breath and said, “Okay. I’m ready.”
Jake pulled me into a back-slapping hug. “Good luck, Daddy-o. Let me know when I can meet him.”
CHAPTER13
Gabe
Iknocked on the door of Bruce and Ellen’s, which was weird and completely dumb, because Ineverknocked when I came to their house. Ellen swung the door wide open, took one look at my face and pulled me in for a warm hug. “He’s in the living room,” she murmured in my ear. “You wanna see him?”
“Yeah.”
I followed her inside, through the small entrance to the double doors that led to the living room. “Jesse,” she said softly. He was lounging on the couch, in a plain t-shirt and black shorts, white socks on his feet, hugging a cushion. He sat bolt upright, squeezing the cushion a little more tightly when he saw me. “Gabe’s here to talk to you.”
“Hey, buddy.”
“Hello.” He sounded so adult, looked even more so as he reached for the tv remote and pressed the mute button.
“So, I, uh, got some mail today.” I sat down next to him on the edge of the sofa and pulled the test result from my back pocket. His eyes flicked to it, then away. Fuck, this was going to be even harder than I thought. Which was saying a lot, because I’d already known it was going to be damn hard. “Would you like to know what it says?”
“I guess,” he said with a shrug.
I unfolded the paper and cleared my throat. “So, um, I’ve never done one of these before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But see? Here’s your name, here’s my name. And here’s the result, which means the likelihood that I’m your biological father.”
Jesse stared at the paper for so long I thought he wasn’t going to say anything. “It says ninety nine percent.”
“Yep, it sure does.”
He raised his eyes to mine. “What does that mean?”
“Well, first off, it means I’m your dad.”
“I get that, but what does itreallymean? Do you have to start paying Sandra maintenance or something?”
I noted that he didn’t call her ‘Mom’. I frowned. “Um, no. I would only do that if you were still living with her. I guess you’re asking…what it means for you, right?”
He nodded. Wow, he really wasn’t much of a talker.
“Okay, well, first off, it means I’m allowed to be your legal guardian and make decisions about where you live and who with. I can sign school papers, or medical documents, or anything else, I guess. Essentially it means I’m responsible for you now.”
“Okay.”
“It also means that you can come and live with me.”
He stared at me, still maintaining that neutral expression.
“If you want,” I added doubtfully. “Or, if you don’t feel like doing that, we can probably talk to Ellen and Bruce about you staying here. Other than that, I’m not sure what your options are, if your mo— Sandra won’t have you. I can reach out to her, if you like, let her know I’ll provide financial support if you do decide to stay with her.”
“No, I’ll come with you.”
The suddenness off his decision surprised me, but I did my best to hide it. “I’m glad to hear it. You just let me know when, and we’ll make it happen.”
“Now? Can I come now?”
The uncertainty in his tone tore at my heart and it was all I could do not to hug him. But I didn’t want to overwhelm the poor kid, so I held back. “You sure can, buddy. Let’s get your stuff.”
