Teresa Southwick - What Makes A Father

“Annie Campbell? I’m Mason Blackburne.”

“I gave you my number. You were supposed to call me. How did you get my address?”

“From Jessica.”

Pain sliced through Annie when she heard her sister’s name. Jess had died shortly after giving birth to the twins. The joy of welcoming her niece and nephew into the world turned to unimaginable grief at losing the person Annie loved most in the world. Her sister had lived with her off and on, couch surfing when she needed somewhere to stay. She didn’t trust men in general any more than Annie, so if she’d given the address to this guy, her gut must have said he was okay.

Annie unlocked the door and opened it. For the first time she got a good look at Mason Blackburne. Two things stood out: he was tall, and his eyes were startlingly blue. And he was boyishly handsome. Okay, that was three things, but she was too tired to care. And some part of her worn-out brain was regretting that her hair was in a messy ponytail because she hadn’t washed it. Or showered today. Or put on makeup. And she was wearing baggy sweatpants and an oversize T-shirt.

“Come in,” she said, stepping back. “I’ve got a DNA swab right here. Just rub it on the inside of each cheek for thirty seconds and put it back in the tube. I’ll send it to the lab with the other one and the results will be back in five business days.”

But it wasn’t clear whether or not he’d heard her. The guy was staring at Charlie. The baby had stopped crying and was staring suspiciously back at the tall stranger. And he was sucking his thumb. The baby, not the stranger.

She sighed. “Well, baby boy, now all my extensive research into the best pacifier on the planet to prevent thumb-sucking is down the tubes. Somewhere an orthodontist is doing the dance of joy.”

Mason had a look of awe on his face. “What’s his name?”

“Charlie.”

“Did Jessica choose that?”

“No, she didn’t get a chance. But she’d narrowed down the choices to Christopher and Charles. Sarah was always the top girls’ name.”

He looked past her to the hallway where the baby girl was still crying. “Can I see her?”

Annie wanted to say no. She didn’t know this guy from a rock, but again, Jess didn’t normally share her address with men and she’d given it to him. So maybe it was okay.

After closing the front door, she headed for the hallway with daddy candidate number three following. The master bedroom and bath were on the right, and across from it was her office, now the twins’ nursery.

“She’s in here. And before you ask, they share the crib. The pediatrician advised not separating them just yet.”

“Because they shared quarters for nine months,” he said.

“Exactly.” They walked into the room where the crib was on the wall opposite her desk. “She probably needs her diaper changed. I’ll have to put Charlie down since I haven’t yet figured out how to do it one-handed. Fair warning—he’s going to cry.”

“Could I hold him?”

Annie’s gaze snapped to his face. “Why?”

“You need help. And he might be my son.” There was an edge to his voice and intensity in his eyes that made her think it really mattered to him.

Annie thought it over. This guy might be Charlie’s father. Why not push him into the deep end of the pool, let him know what he was getting into. She held Charlie out to him and he took the baby, a little awkwardly.

Annie walked over to the crib and lowered the side rail. She picked up the little girl to comfort her first. “It’s okay, Sarah. You’re fine. I’m here, sweet girl. I have to put you down again, just for a minute to change that diaper. Trust me on this. You’ll feel a lot better.”

Three months ago the top of her lateral file cabinet had become the storage area for diaper supplies. She settled the baby back in the crib and quickly swapped the wet diaper for a dry one, then picked her up again for a snuggle.

“What happened to Jessica?” He looked away from the baby and met her gaze.

“I told you in the email. She had a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in her—”

“Lung. I’m a doctor. I get it. But why didn’t she let me know she was pregnant? And that I might be the father of the baby—” He stopped and his gaze settled on Sarah. “Babies?”

“I told her more than once that the biological father had a right to know. Even though I suggested she let the guy screw up first, she was convinced that he would desert her anyway. She planned to raise them by herself.”

“Why would she think that?” There was a tinge of exasperation and outrage in his tone.

“She had her reasons.”

His gaze narrowed and irritation pushed out the baby awe. “So you talked her into it? She didn’t intend to share the information.”

“Not with you or the other two men she slept with.” Annie winced as those words came out of her mouth. That made Jess sound like a slut. Maybe it was a little bit true, but that’s not who she was. Her sister liked men and sex. She’d been looking for fun, nothing more. “Men sleep around all the time and no one thinks less of them. But if a woman does it, she’s trash. Don’t you dare judge her.”

“I wasn’t judging—”

“Oh, please.” When a person was as tired as she was, that person had to dig deep for patience. Hers was dangerously depleted. She looked at him and, judging by the uncertain expression on his face, it was possible that there were flames shooting out of her eyes. “And why is this all on my sister? You were a willing participant. Who didn’t wear a condom.”

“I just wanted to talk,” he protested.

“Right. That’s what they all say.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “You should know that I’m not normally this abrasive, but I’m tired. And I was much more compassionate the first two times a potential father showed up—”

“What happened with them?”

“First one wasn’t a match. Number two finally came by a few days ago. I have his sample for the lab along with a legal document from his attorney relinquishing all rights to the babies in exchange for my signed agreement not to pursue him for child support should he be a match. I was only too happy to do that and send him responsibility-free on his way. Sarah and Charlie deserve to be wanted more than anything. They don’t need a person like that in their lives.”

“Prince of a guy.” Mason was still holding Charlie and lightly rubbed a big hand over the baby’s back.

Annie loved her sister but that didn’t mean she approved of her choices in men. “A few weeks before she gave birth, Jess had second thoughts and narrowed down potential daddy candidates to three. Before she could contact them, she went into labor and showed symptoms of the embolism. Tests confirmed it and the risks were explained to her. She got scared for the babies if something should happen to her and put in writing that I would be the guardian. It was witnessed by two nurses and is a legally binding agreement. No one really thought she would die, but fate didn’t cooperate. Now Charlie and Sarah are my babies and I will do anything and everything to keep them safe.”

“I’m a doctor. I took an oath to do no harm.”

“There are a lot of ways to damage children besides physically.” Annie knew from experience that emotional wounds could be every bit as painful and were the ones you didn’t have to hide with makeup or a story about being clumsy. “And I wasn’t implying that you would hurt them.”

“I would never do that,” he said fervently.

For the first time she noticed that he looked every bit as tired as she felt. And he was wearing a military uniform—if camouflage was considered a uniform. What was his deal? “When did you get back from Afghanistan?”