Eli nodded. “Yes, but Carly’s parents’ concern and involvement is inevitable. We need to handle it in a way that respects and helps everyone, including that tiny baby.”
She turned to face him fully. “And we have to prove that Atlas is indisputably Jonah’s baby. He should do a DNA test and hire a good lawyer right away.”
Eli hesitated, uncertain of that path just yet. “I’d hope we can reach an understanding with the Danes family without involving lawyers or DNA testing. We should talk to them first. Make sure they know that Atlas will be loved and safe. Here, he’ll have a large family, stability, a routine. Jonah will go to culinary school and can give that child a good, loving home.”
“Yes to all that, but we need the science and law on our side, too. Love isn’t enough.”
“It can be,” he said, “if they’re reasonable.”
“Their daughter was killed three weeks after giving birth to their grandchild. Do you think they’re thinking reasonably?” she challenged. “We may need to fight with everything we have.”
While he loved the use of the corporate “we” in this regard, he wasn’t a fan of fighting. “Well, a stable, loving family is definitely part of our arsenal. That’s what Atlas—and Jonah—need the most. Routine. Stability. Faith.”
Kate gave him a look, one he knew well—practical, skeptical, wildly logical. “And DNA tests along with a shark of a lawyer.”
He met her gaze with one just as direct. “I assure you, I’ll do whatever is necessary for Jonah to keep his son.”
She nodded and eased back. “I have to get the kids off to the airport with Vivien. When Tessa and Lacey leave, you’re on your own with two nearly eighty-year-old women, an infant, and one very shaky young man. Can you handle it?”
He just smiled. “What do you think?”
“I think…” She stood on her tiptoes and stole a kiss, her glasses plopping down on her nose when she backed up. “That you’re the best-looking grandfather I’ve ever known.”
He eased the glasses up to her eyes. “Long walks on the beach at sunset could be in your future, gorgeous.”
“Mom! We have to leave soon!”
At the sound of her daughter’s voice, Kate slipped out of his arms. “I have to go,” she whispered.
Eli followed her into the house, reluctantly letting the intimate exchange come to an end.
There would be more loving moments this summer with Kate, he knew. Just not as many as he’d hoped.
After sayinggoodbye to Matt and Emma, Eli armed himself with a fresh cup of coffee made the way Jonah liked it, and a bottle Vivien had prepared, then headed down to the lowest level of the three-story beach house.
When he’d designed what they called the Summer House, this was supposed to be where a family would congregate in a great room, flanked by two bedrooms, and a large bath, all leading out to the pool and boardwalk to the beach.
But now, it would be…what had Kate called it? Baby Central, reserved for Jonah and Atlas. Maybe he could add a small kitchen down here and they could really make it a home. There was certainly enough space and…
His thoughts trailed off as he reached the bottom of the stairs and heard…was that Jonah singing?
“You are my sunshine…my ray of sunshine. Those aren’t the words, but you get the point…”
Smiling at the butchered lyrics and the love behind it, he walked into Jonah’s room to find him lying on the bed with a tiny bundle next to him, so small he couldn’t see a baby in the blankets.
“I bring baby breakfast and dad coffee,” Eli said softly, interrupting the singing.
“Now that’s a ray of sunshine,” Jonah replied, very slowly rising, holding one hand on the baby. “Can I get up? I don’t want him to roll off the bed.”
“Pretty sure he can’t roll,” Eli said as he put the coffee cup on the nightstand. “Can I feed him?”
“Oh, yeah. Please do.” Jonah blinked groggily, looking a thousand times better than he had when he’d arrived. “I sleptfor the first time in a month. I know this little guy didn’t make it through the night.”
“He did okay,” Eli said, tipping his head toward the great room. “I took the sofa out there and did the midnight and two o’clock. Aunt Vivien came down and we switched places; she got him at five. And then he slept. Now, you come to your grandpa, little man.”
“We can’t keep up that schedule,” Jonah said.
“We’ll get a baby monitor and rotate a schedule.” Eli gingerly lifted the tiny baby who was starting to feel familiar. “Remember me?”
