“It is,” she agreed, “but we also have to be smart.” She shifted her attention to Jonah. “First things first. Out of the gate, you need to contact a local lab and arrange to do a paternity test to put any question about that to bed.”
Jonah let out a quiet sound—almost a whimper—and dropped back in his chair. “There’s no question.”
“Then you’ll easily prove that,” she continued. “Then, we hire a family attorney to draw up whatever paperwork we need to name Jonah as Atlas’s sole legal guardian. Didn’t you say your name is on his birth certificate? Perfect. We’ll get custody contracts, power of attorney, emergency filings—whatever it takes. We need to be in front of a judge before they are.”
Eli felt his chest tighten. “Before we evenmeetthem?”
“Absolutely,” she said. “Before we let them in the house, before we set a place at the table, or let them hold that baby. Hospitality can come later. Right now, Jonah needs to dot every I, cross every T, and be prepared for a fight. That should be our strategy.”
Eli managed a breath, the pronouncements leaving him reeling, stirring his gut. “I don’t like thatstrategy.” He hit the word hard. “It feels cold and untrusting, and it’s not how you treat family.”
She rolled her eyes. “Tell that to the person whose child has been kidnapped by an ex-spouse who wants custody and can’t get it. We have to get the law on our side.”
He understood what she was saying, but it didn’t feel right. “I don’t like doing all that before they’ve forced us into it,” he said. “It’s not…” He wanted to saybiblical, but he knew Kate wouldn’t understand that. And maybe she was correct about lawyers and tests, but that didn’t feel right, either.
“What doyouwant to do, Jonah?” he asked, knowing the final decision belonged to his son.
“Part of me totally agrees with Kate, but I also think they just want to see him and maybe the best thing to do is have a relationship with them without, you know, lawyers and contracts.”
“And the test?” Kate asked.
“Yeah, I can do that for sure. I do think that makes sense, but…” He groaned. “I don’t want to get in some kind of legal battle.”
“You might already be in one,” she said. “So you’d best be prepared.”
“Or maybe you can avoid one,” Eli countered. “With kindness, love, and the creation of family ties.”
Kate sighed. “I’m just saying…be smart.”
Eli swallowed hard. “And I’m saying…be wise. Honestly, there is a difference between the two.”
Poor Jonah looked visibly rattled.
“I need some air.” He pushed up and walked to the sliders they’d just come in, yanking them open and leaving with another noisy exhale.
The silence he left behind was heavy, and the tension thick.
Eli turned to Kate. “You think I’m naive.”
“I think you’re a good, kind man,” she said. “And since I was raised by one of those, I have a lot of respect and understanding. But good doesn’t stop bad things from happening.”
“Well, Kate, that’s where faith comes in,” he said. “My gut says we’re causing trouble where we don’t need to if we go on theoffensive. Let’s treat them like family. That’s the right thing to do.”
No surprise, she looked away, jaw tightening. “Faith didn’t stop Carly from dying.”
“No,” he agreed. “But as I’ve told Jonah, a bad thing doesn’t mean we have to respond badly. I believe that opening our home to their family and building a relationship with these people who are Atlas’s maternal grandparents is the right thing to do.”
She didn’t roll her eyes again, but a single exhale was enough for him to know what she thought.
“You don’t think he should take a paternity test, Eli?”
“I never said that,” he replied. “And I’m not opposed to contacting an attorney. But the first thing we must do is invite them to be our guests. Frankly, I can’t believe it hasn’t happened yet.”
“Because Jonahranawayfrom them,” she reminded him. “He already showed us that he doesn’t trust them.”
“He panicked two days after he was dealt a crushing blow in life—a kid who’s already lost his mother to a tragic accident. Things are better now. You have to have faith.”
She snorted. “No, Eli, I don’t. You have to have realism. And legal backing.”
