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He nodded. “Said she wanted the baby. Apparently, the only thing she doesn’t want is me.”
Yvonne couldn’t figure out why Denise would choose to raise a baby alone, when the father obviously wanted to marry her and was in love with her. Besides, Leo was great with kids, something she’d witnessed firsthand. Her younger cousins Darcy and Oliver adored Leo. There was no way Denise couldn’t believe he would be an awesome father.
“Did she break up with you?” Yvonne asked.
“Yeah.”
“What are you going to do?”
Leo shifted on the seat until he was facing her. “That’s what I was trying to figure out. I don’t know what to do. I can’t shirk my responsibility, can’t walk away from her, knowing she’s having my baby.”
Leo was the most upright, honorable guy she’d ever met, if she didn’t count the men in her family.
“Who says you have to?”
“What?” he asked.
“The baby is yours too. You have rights. You don’t have to be married to her to be a father to your kid. Did you tell your folks?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. They’re going to freak the fuck out.”
“Yeah.” Yvonne’s parents would do the same if she ended up in this situation. But she also knew that they would support and help her. “You think they’ll kick you out?”
“No. God no. They’re not going to be happy, but they’ll stand by me. Help me sort it out. I just hate disappointing them. Hate asking…”
He didn’t have to finish his sentence. She knew Leo, knew how much he hated asking for help. In a school full of immature, hormone-driven teenage boys, he’d always stood out, always seemed older, always the one who had his shit together.
“They’ll help you. It’ll work out fine. Neither you nor Denise were planning to go away to college. So you’ll work out a schedule. Raise your baby together.”
Her plan didn’t sound like one he cared for. “That every-other-weekend crap?” He shook his head. “That’s a shitty way for a kid to grow up.”
“The baby will never know anything different. What’s normal for one person isn’t normal for the next. As long as you both love the baby and take care of it, it’ll be a lucky kid.”
Leo fell silent for a long time and for once in her life, she shut up and let him deal with his thoughts. It wasn’t that hard to do. She was sort of reeling herself, so she sat there, swimming around in her own head, thinking about how much his life had changed and wondering how she would handle the same circumstance.
Finally, Leo turned to her and smiled. “I’m going to be a good dad.”
She grinned back. “You’re going to be an awesome dad.”
Leo looked at her—and for the first time ever, Yvonne got the sense that he really saw her, not as part of their group at school, but as a real person on her own. “You’re a really good friend, Vonnie. Thanks.”
Yvonne smiled wider, despite the tiny pang in her heart that ached at being called just a friend.
* * *
Yvonne had thought back to that afternoon countless times through the years as she’d watched Leo with his son, Vince. Aside from her own dad, Yvonne was certain there wasn’t a more devoted, loving father on the planet.
“You know what?” Yvonne said. “I think you’re right, Riley. I think I’m going to have to stick my nosy Collins’ nose into this and stage an intervention.”
Riley wiped her hands on her apron before rubbing them together with glee. There was nothing her aunt liked more than to plot a sneak attack. “Excellent. Here’s what I think you should do.”
Chapter Two
Leo raced down the hallway of his house, cursing at the billows of black smoke filling the kitchen. “Godda—” He pulled up short when he realized his twelve-year-old son had followed him into the room.
“Is that dinner?” Vince asked.
“It was dinner.”
