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My dad finds a bottle of scotch, and I smile to myself as he pours two glasses and sits back down. Damon sits with his mother on one side, and I sit with my mother on the other side.
His dad sips his scotch and sits up straight. “My son and my wife are going to be upset with me for bringing these items up today, but I’m a believer that once you get the business out of the way and everyone is on the same page, it’s easier to enjoy yourself. Which is why I wanted to show up before the shower started.”
Damon looks at me with an apology in his eyes.
“Adeline, you seem like a fine person, but you’re a stranger to us.”
“Stanley,” Heather says through gritted teeth, still managing a smile.
“I would have demanded a paternity test, but Damon says you’ve had one and the baby is his. The fact that you’re carrying a Siska heir means a few things. First is that a trust fund will be set up as soon as he or she is born. It will be in the child’s name only, and the only people who will have access to manage it will be Heather, Damon, and myself.”
“Dad…” Again, Damon’s eyes find mine.
“My son doesn’t like to discuss these things because he’s made his own money, but let’s be clear, he has a trust fund as well that’s been available since he was twenty-five. He’s fortunate to have made money doing what he loves, but it also makes him naive to the fact that people would try to slide into our family to get a piece of our pie.”
“Stanley!” Heather appears mortified.
“Dad,” Damon practically growls.
“Excuse me,” my dad says, putting up his hand. “Are you suggesting that my daughter purposely got pregnant by Damon for your family’s money?”
Stanley shakes his head. “No, my point is that my son doesn’t know the lengths people have gone to over the years. Right now, I am the patriarch of my family, which means I’m in the position of being the protector.” He turns to me, and I try to muster up a smile. “Now I think you’re a very sweet girl, and upon meeting you and hearing everything Damon had to say about you, I’m thankful it’s you who will bear Damon’s offspring. God knows the women he’s been seen with over the years could’ve been a hell of a lot worse. Which is why I want to also offer you the benefits of being in the Siska circle.”
“Can’t this wait until the baby is born?” Damon asks.
I wonder how much of what his father is going to tell me he already knows.
“No harm in getting the idea out there. Adeline, you can leave teaching and raise the baby full-time. I know Heather loved being a stay-at-home mom. Although we had nannies too, and Damon will tell you how much he loved Miss Jillian. Or maybe as he or she gets older, you’ll want to consider boarding school like we did with our youngest, Oliver.”
Heather slouches in her chair, practically burying her head in her iced tea. Damon’s back is straight, and his eyes look murderous as he gazes on at his father.
“You want me to quit my job?” I choke out.
My mom places her hand over mine in a show of support. I’m actually surprised she hasn’t been more vocal during this entire exchange.
“No. You do what you want.” He shakes his head. “But it won’t be easy raising the child with Damon’s schedule. We’re happy to offer nanny services if you’d rather continue to work.”
“I can handle all this, and anyway, it’s between Adeline and me,” Damon says.
His dad exhales a deep breath, seeming annoyed and exhausted that Damon keeps trying to circumvent this conversation. Have they had this fight before? I wouldn’t know because he’s told me nothing about his family.
Sure, I knew they had old money. The articles from when he was drafted said he didn’t need the million-dollar contracts. Reporters even dug up how much he would be given when he reached twenty-five. When I read it all, I felt bad for Damon that people knew so much about him without reallyknowinghim.
“Damon thinks he knows what needs to be done in this situation, but the truth is, if he’d listened to me, he wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place.” He raises his hand at Damon when he opens his mouth. “That doesn’t mean Heather and I aren’t happy about the baby, but I think we can all agree that it’s not ideal.” He sips the scotch. At least he didn’t turn his nose up at my dad for his selection of alcohol. “Please, let me know what you think.”
I take a moment to order my thoughts before I end up yelling and crying from frustration as I flee the room. Stanley Siska wouldn’t respect someone like that, and like it or not, this man is going to be in my child’s life.
“First of all, I didn’t know about the Siska money when I slept with Damon. Sure, he’s a professional football player and well-known enough that I’d seen his jerseys worn by a lot of students in my school, so I knew he had his own money. But I didn’t plan on getting pregnant. In fact, he’s about the last person a woman would choose to be the father of their baby. Not for any reason except that he’s a Peter Pan and not nearly ready to settle down.”
His dad nods and looks at his son.
When I see the hurt flash across Damon’s face, I wish I hadn’t said that. I have to force myself to continue. “But so far, he’s been responsible. He hasn’t missed one doctor’s appointment. He asks me what I need every time he sees me. He’s concerned about my health. All of that makes me think I don’t know the real Damon Siska. Even now, I see him barely able to contain himself in that chair, respecting you enough not to yell at you for coming into my family’s house and holding court as if it’s your own. I don’t expect anything from your family. Should you choose to give the baby a trust fund and I not have any control of it, so be it. I don’t care. But I’m not going to quit my job. I can be a mother and a teacher at the same time. I don’t need anything from the Siska family except a loving father and grandparents.”
His dad leans back in the chair and finishes off his scotch, then a slow smile forms on his lips before he busts out laughing. “Welcome to the family, Adeline.”
Chapter9
Damon
