After giving birth to your child, Lottie, we’ll run the paternity test as we’ve already discussed. Just to review, you’ve opted out of a paternity test prior to delivery, so we’re going to wait until the baby is born to collect its buccal cells—cheek cells—with a swab. We’ll be swabbing each of you that day as well, and we’ll send all of the swabs straight to the lab. We’ll have the results to you either the same day or the next, depending on the time of delivery and how busy the lab is. But, rest assured, you’ll have the results within twenty-four hours.” She sighs hard as she looks to Noah and Everett. “This will prove to be an emotional day all the way around. It’s an added stressor that most people don’t have to contend with. But since you do, I ask that you spend some time beforehand to brace yourself for either scenario. Everett, Noah, have you already thought about how you might feel to discover this baby that you’ve loved all of these months and will have probably held by then is not your own?”
“I have,” Everett answers first. “I’ve decided that my feelings for this child or his or her mother will not change. I’m going to love this baby just the same if it’s mine regardless if Noah is the biological father. Lemon was adopted. She can attest that the love her parents felt for her was genuine. I see that love in her mother’s eyes even to this day. In fact, Lemon has taken my biological daughter and accepted Evie as her own. This is a bridge we’ve already crossed in a sense. So, Noah”—he takes a breath as he looks to him from across the room—“if this baby is yours, I’m emotionally prepared to be its father, right alongside you.”
Dr. Barnette looks to Noah. “And what do you think of this?”
Noah’s chest expands as his dimples dig in deep. “I’m more than fine with it. Everett, should the baby be yours, I’ll be happy for you and Lottie. But I won’t lie, I’ll be thrilled if it’s mine. I feel like it is. I’m sorry. I can’t explain it. I’ll grieve the child I thought I was having if it turns out to be yours, Everett. But like you, my feelings for this child will remain the same. I’m in love with this baby and with Lottie, that’s no secret, and I’m not going to apologize for either. And if the test result comes back and the baby is indeed mine, I’d like to spend time in the hospital room bonding with it, along with you, Lottie. And Everett, I have no problem with you being there as well. I’ve also come to terms with the fact the baby will not be living in my home, at least not in the immediate future, but with the two of you across the street. I’d love to have a free pass to drop in as often as I like. And if the baby is mine, you’ll be seeing more of me than you thought possible.”
His eyes narrow over Everett’s, and there’s something just this side of a threat in them, or a promise in the least.
I clear my throat. “I’m perfectly fine with that. Noah, you come by anytime you want. If the baby is yours, you can spend the night for as often as you like.”
Dr. Barnette gives a light applause. “Wonderful. It really does seem like the three of you have this dialed in. You wouldn’t believe some of the disasters I’ve seen. Oh, things started out well enough, but it ended in an all-out legal battle. And some of those battles are still raging today. There were threats, weaponizing of children, bankruptcy because of all the legal dealings—and oh, the lawyers, well, no offense to your kind, Essex, but they just have a field day with this stuff. And then, there’s the community fallout. Relationships turn sour, people take sides, the in-laws become outlaws quicker than they should. The grandparents are just as bad as the parents sometimes. Believe me, it’s something you want no part in. So good for you for taking matters into your hands so early.”
Noah and Everett are still staring one another down, and the brewing tension is so thick you can cut it with a scalpel. They haven’t always gotten along. Heck, they rarely get along. Why should this be any different? This is the biggest powder