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“Hi.” I gesture at her glove. “You’re pretty good. Carly says you play little league?”
“It’s minor league.” Amy sounds admonishing. “I’m not old enough for little league.”
I hold up my hands.
“Sorry. Do you do well?”
“She does well enough in the outfield,” Elle says as she approaches me. “Amy, can you play on your own for a moment? I need to talk to Luke.”
“Okay.” Amy takes the ball and smiles at me. “Nice to meet you, Luke.”
“And you.”
I watch her go to the swings, dropping the ball and the glove on the grass. Then I turn to Elle.
“She’s a polite kid.”
“I made sure she kept her manners.”
“As you should.” Luke pauses. “Have you told her?”
Elle shakes her head.
“Not yet. I spoke to my grandmother about this, and she said that it would be best to ease this into her gently. Get her to know you first before you tell her.”
I’m not sure I like that idea.
“Shouldn’t we say something first and then figure it out later?”
“If we do that, it could go wrong. Besides,” Elle hesitates, “we need to do the DNA test.”
The DNA test. I almost forgot about that. I spread my hands.
“If you don’t want me to go through with it if it will upset Amy, I understand…”
“We should do it.” Elle’s voice is quiet. “I know you’re her father, but having it official and on paper would help. But only if you want to be involved in her life.”
“Of course I do.”
“I don’t want you walking in and out of her life when you please. She needs stability.”
“I’m not one of those people who does that, Elle. Of course, it will be difficult with my job being in another state, but I can make it work. And I’ll give you the child support you need…”
Elle flinches.
“I don’t want any money from you, Luke.”
“You don’t want the money you should have had from me in the last six years? I didn’t pay, I should cover the costs. I can afford it.” I stare at her. “Why would you not want to take it?”
“I…” Elle swallows and glances away. “Pride, I suppose. I don’t like having to rely on other people. It took me a long time to relax enough to let Carly and Ben help me, and they’re my best friends.”
“I get that, I really do. But we should do things properly.” I look over at Amy again. She is swinging away, looking content. “I’ll do what you say and take it easy with Amy, as long as you accept the monetary support you should have been given. If you don’t want it, I’ll put it in a trust fund for her to use when she’s old enough to do what she wants with it.”
I can see Elle wavering a little. She is really proud and doesn’t like accepting anything. I have to admire that a little bit. But I wish that she would swallow that pride and accept my help, because that’s what I want to do for her.
More than that, I want to be able to hold her and not let go.
Finally, Elle nods after taking a deep breath.
