She’d spent the past two weeks texting me regular reminders not to fill my schedule this weekend. As if I didn’t live and die by my calendar reminders on all of my electronics. I might’ve been a workaholic, but one of the things that made me agoodworkaholic was the effort I put into being organized. I didn’t miss meetings. I didn’t double-book. I transcribed every appointment, had my assistant double-check my calendar against the calendar she kept, and then had my transcription program read my daily schedule back to me. Every appointment had an alarm set ten minutes before and then again five minutes before.
Keli and I hadn’t exactly been in the most serious of relationships, but she’d spent enough time with me to know how strictly I kept to a schedule. In fact, we’d had more than one argument about my inflexibility, especially after Evanne was born and I’d been annoyed that Keli was laxer about sticking to a schedule than I was.
At least now, Evanne was old enough that she could understand the differences between the rules when she was with her mother and when she was with me.
The doorbell rang, and I closed my laptop with a groan. Normally, I’d have continued working well into the night, but I didn’t mind the break. Not really. Evanne went to bed fairly early, which meant I’d be able to pick back up for a couple more hours tonight.
I glanced at the security camera in the corner of my office to confirm that it was indeed Keli and Evanne at the front door, then hit the button to unlock it. The security system I’d had installed was similar to the sort we used at MIRI, allowing me to unlock the door from various points in the house. It relocked automatically after a couple minutes, but I could make changes to it if I wanted to. I supposed as Evanne got older and wanted more freedom, I’d look into it, but for now, I’d keep my daughter safe any way I could.
I headed out toward the entrance, and by the time I got there, Keli was already there, carrying two large bags and a roll of papers in one hand. Before I could remind her that Evanne had her own things here, Evanne came out from behind her mother and threw out her arms. “Daddy!”
“Hey there!” I leaned down to catch her. I’d never been much of a hugger, but I’d done enough research to know that positive physical contact was important to children, and some studies even claimed that a child’s relationship with the parent of the opposite gender – if there was one involved in the child’s life – was even more important.
I’d never let my own idiosyncrasies damage my little girl. It was the least I could do for her.
Keli and I had split up shortly after Evanne was born. It hadn’t been a planned pregnancy or the most ideal relationship, but I’d wanted to at least try to make things work. For the baby’s sake. Keli had thought that was what she wanted too, but it hadn’t taken long for us to realize that we wanted different things. I could’ve been satisfied with how things had been between us – or I’d at least convinced myself of it – but Keli had wanted more, and I hadn’t been able to give it to her. I’d been honest with her about it, and we’d chosen to break things off before Evanne became accustomed to seeing us together.
Arranging things once the decision had been made was easier than I’d expected. I paid a generous amount for child support, and Keli had returned to pursuing a career as an artist. I made sure she had enough money to work as little or as much as she wanted, whether that was painting or doing something else.
“Take your narwhal, baby,” Keli said gently.
Evanne squirmed in my arms, and I let her down. She immediately ran back to her mom, hands out for her stuffed narwhal, Norbert. She clutched it tight, dancing around, humming to herself.
“You look good,” I said, awkwardly shoving my hands into my pockets. “Did you change your hair?”
Keli flipped her long ebony curls over her shoulder and raised one perfectly-sculpted eyebrow. “You saw me two weeks ago, and I look exactly the same.”
“Right.”
A moment of uncomfortable silence hung in the air before Keli broke it. “Here’s everything she needs.” She gestured to the bags she’d put on the floor. And two things I hadn’t noticed the first time.
A lunch box, and a backpack.
I frowned but didn’t address it directly. Even though our daughter didn’t seem to be paying attention, I never liked to sound confrontational with Keli. “She’s got clothes here.”
“You’ll need this,” Keli continued as if I hadn’t said anything. She handed me a sheet of green paper, and I glanced at it. I was pretty sure it said School Schedule, but that didn’t make sense. There was a big block graph below it with some more words I couldn’t quite focus on right now because I had no clue what was going on.
“School doesn’t start until Tuesday,” I said evenly. “You’re picking her up Monday, right?”
Keli bit her lip and held out another small sheaf of papers, these filled with tiny print. Across the top of the front page, however, was one word in big enough print for me to understand it.
Custody.
“You know that I met someone,” she said, shifting from one foot to another.
“That Italian guy?” I asked, not sure where this was going. She’d mentioned him offhandedly before, but I hadn’t realized it was serious. “The one with my name?”
“Alessandrois not the same asAlec,” she countered with a smile. It was a lame joke I’d made before, but she understood where it was coming from. “And yes. Him. We’re in love, Alec.”
My stomach flipped. I’d known this day would come sooner or later, but it wasn’tKelicausing the sick feeling. I’d cared about her, lusted after her, enjoyed being with her, but I’d never loved her.
“He’s going to be Evanne’s new dad.” My jaw clenched. I hadn’t even met the guy. This was moving too quickly. If this document said that I wouldn’t be able to see my daughter anymore…
Keli’s teal eyes widened. “Oh. No. No no. I mean, not…”
Okay, I was really lost now.
“Alessandro isn’t going to be Evanne’s stepfather,” she said, reaching out to put her fingertips on the sheet I was holding. “This is for you.”
