“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t say that. It’s not your fault.”
I nodded. Felt like there were a million things to talk about, but where to begin? We needed to fit Jack into Kacey’s life. The idea of piecing our lives back together was daunting.
After a few awkward beats of silence, I opened the can of worms. I was Kacey’s mom after all. “We need to talk about Kacey.”
Jack nodded but didn’t look up.
“I know you have questions and I’ll answer anything, but before we get started, you need to know why I didn’t tell you the truth three weeks ago when I realized you didn’t know.” I took a steadying breath as his gaze fixed on me. “I was afraid—rational or not—that you might want to take custody.”
His gaze dropped back to his hands.
“And even though you deserve to be a part of his life, I don’t want to go to court. On paper, you have everything. And I am the mom on the run with nothing. Nothing of my own. Even the things that were mine I had to leave in Ohio. Kacey’s things, too. I was afraid if I told you, you’d want to take him away from me completely, and I have no means to stop you.”
“So you were waiting for my dad’s inheritance.”
“Yeah. Sounds stupid to say it out loud.”
“It’s not stupid. I do want Kacey.”
“I know?—”
“I’ve missed everything with him so far, and I don’t want to miss anything else. I’m not going to lie to make you feel better. I’ve been thinking about joint custody ever since I learned he was mine.”
“Joint?”
“Of course joint.” He ran a hand over his head. “I wouldn’t try to get full custody. Wait, is that what you were afraid of?”
“Well, I’m not in a great place…I thought you might be angry with me?—”
“Kacey needs his dadandhis mom. You are an amazing mother, Miranda. I would never try to take himfromyou. I just want the chance to be there, too.”
“Oh.”
“I’m doing my best to fix this family. Not make it worse.”
Thank you, Jack.
I wanted to hug him as tears filled my eyes. It was a bit irrational. But, I had no way of knowing how he would respond. “Do you think we can do this outside of a courtroom? Surely, you and I can agree on something and not use an attorney. I want you to be a part of his life. It’s what I’ve wanted all along.”
“That would be great. I’m not rolling in cash, and would prefer to keep things out of the legal system, too. Let’s only resort to legal measures if absolutely necessary, okay?”
“Okay.”
“We both want the best for Kacey. That’s good common ground and a good place to start.”
“Agreed. I think first things first. We should tell Kacey he has a dad.”
Jack whipped his head up to look at me. “Has he asked about me?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Recently.”
“He doesn’t think Chris is his dad?”
“No.”
Jack’s shoulders sagged on an exhale, and my heart clenched. “Man, I’m glad to hear that. I’m surprised he’s asked.”
