“Because I loved him, of course.”
“What did you love about him?”
“He’s smart and successful and good-looking. He’s just a really great guy. He hit every item on my husband criteria list.”
Brett shoots me an amused look. “You had a list?”
“Of course. I have criteria lined out for my whole life, with goals and deadlines.” I sat down when I was eighteen and wrote out a list of objectives I wanted to achieve by certain ages. So far I’ve hit every one of them, except for having a baby.
“That figures.” He laughs. “You said your husband is a really good guy. Is he the kind of guy who would want to do right by his children?”
“Yes.” I blow out a sigh. “I see your point.”
He flips on the turn signal. “Well, then, I think you’re going to have to compromise. If you want the marriage to work, you’ll have to love his children, too.”
“I can do that,” I say. “I’d love to adopt Lily, but Zack won’t even considering trying for guardianship.”
“The baby changes the whole equation.” Brett makes a right turn, then glances at me. “So does the fact that Lily is nearly four. At first I was picturing her like a toddler, but by the end of that third year, they’re solid little people with solid attachments.”
“So what are you saying?”
He looks over. “I was wrong to suggest that you try for custody. Both kids belong with Quinn.”
I feel as if the air has been punched out of me. I fold my armsacross my stomach. “Well, I don’t want to be a stepmother. I never did. Before I married Zack, I considered men with children undatable.”
“Ouch,” Brett says, clasping his chest as if I’d shot him. “That hits close to home.”
Too late, I realize he fits in that category. I feel a little flustered. Was that an exploratory remark, or just an observation? “This was back then,” I say quickly.
“You could be a stepmotheranda biological mother,” he says. “One doesn’t exclude the other.”
I shake my head. “Zack won’t even talk about any more IVF.”
“Well, maybe that can behiscompromise. Maybe he’ll agree to try for a child with an egg donor if you agree to stay in New Orleans to be near his children.”
My muscles tense. “But I don’twantto stay in New Orleans! I’ve taken this new job, and I want to live here. Most of all, I want to get away from Quinn and her kids and this spell they’ve cast over Zack. I don’t want to have another woman in the picture.”
He looks me full in the eye. “If you really value your marriage, you probably need to reconsider that.”
In my gut, I have an awful feeling he’s right. But the whole thing completely goes against my grain. I shake my head. “I don’t want to watch him co-parent another woman’s children.”
He slows as the road turns. “Here’s the bottom line, Jess—and I know how you like bottom lines: Zack is now a father. And as a father, I’ll be honest: I couldn’t move away and leave Petey behind.”
My heart cracks a little. “But you’re hisrealfather. I mean, you were there when he was born and you’ve always been in his life. Zack is just a donor. He wasn’t supposed to be involved at all.”
“Yes, but now he is.”
Now he is.There’s the rub.
Brett looks at me again. “If he’s the kind of guy who wants to be a good dad, well, that’s your new reality.”
His words have a stomach-churning ring of truth. “Great, just great.”
“You act like it’s a tragedy.” Brett changes lanes. “Don’t you think Lily and the baby will benefit from having Zack in their lives?”
“Well... yeah. I suppose.”
“So maybe it’s meant to be.”
