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I ended the call with my parents and got Willa out of her highchair. Darren stopped short when I walked out of the kitchen carrying her. We met eyes and stared at each other for a few seconds before I turned and headed into the living room. I wasn’t going to force anything on him. He needed to come to us when he was ready. It only took a few seconds for him to fall into step behind me and meet me in the middle of the living room. I propped Willa on my hip and waited for some sort of reaction. My little girl had always been a happy, friendly child and didn’t hesitate to wave at him.
I didn’t know what to do with the expression that crossed Darren’s face when he saw that little wave. It wasn’t a smile. It wasn’t a grimace. It was something I didn’t recognize, something I’d never seen his face do before. I brought Willa over to the couch and sat down. He dropped down into one of the chairs and flattened a file folder on the coffee table in front of him before shoving it toward me.
“My information from when I was a baby. Pictures included. You’re welcome to look at them. She has my hair, the color and the curls,” he said.
That made me defensive, and I didn’t bother to pick up the folder.
“That would make sense considering she’s your child,” I said firmly.
“Before we go any further in this conversation, I need to let you know that my mother mentioned our lawyer. The family has an attorney on retainer, and she immediately thought it would be appropriate to get in touch with him and get his involvement in this whole situation from the very beginning,” Darren told me.
I felt myself recoil. The horrified look on my face made Darren scoff. Maybe I deserved that, but that didn’t mean I was just going to lie down and let him walk on me.
“When I first told you about Willa—which is her name, by the way; you can say it—I asked you not to take her. That might have come across as a plea, but it wasn’t. I didn’t think we needed to go this route, and you need to understand, if you get lawyers involved, I will fight,” I told him without hesitation.
“I hope that won’t be necessary,” Darren said. “I don’t want to deal with a lawyer either if we can avoid it. I will, if I have to, but for now, we need to go one step at a time. You offered a DNA test, and I want it. I know you have her medical records here.”
“Yes, and they have her blood type. If you want to compare…”
“No,” he said flatly.
That took me aback. I wasn’t proud to say I didn’t think Darren had it in him to respond to me like that, but it truly surprised me. There was nothing to worry about considering I knew without a shadow of a doubt he was Willa’s father, but I didn’t expect him to be so forceful. From what I knew about him and the way he’d been treating me recently, I genuinely thought he wouldn’t question me. But now he was pushing back hard, and I had to process how I felt about that.
“No?” I asked.
Darren shook his head again.
“No. I have my records, and we could compare blood types, but that’s not exact enough. Just having a blood type that would come from the combination of two parents doesn’t really prove anything. I’m sorry to put it so bluntly, but it could just as easily mean her actual father has the same blood type I do. That wouldn’t be that great of a leap. I want a true DNA test,” he demanded.
Drawing in a breath, I nodded.
“All right. How do you want to do it?”
“In the morning, I’m going to the doctor. I get my blood drawn regularly as it is because of the racing, and I’m due for a draw. I’ll explain the situation and have them take an extra tube. You will need to bring Willa in to have a swab done. We’ll submit it to a private clinic and have it processed.”
“I can do that,” I told him. “I’ll bring her in tomorrow.”
Darren nodded and stepped up closer to me so he could lean forward and examine Willa’s face. He studied her closely, like he was trying to find other signs they were related or was waiting for some sort of instant attachment, a paternal instinct to kick in. I looked over at Kira. My sister shook her head at me like she didn’t know what to think, either. Nodding at her, I tipped my head back toward the bedroom. She immediately understood what I was trying to say and got up to come over to us. I turned the baby toward her, and she took Willa out of my arms.
