“I just know you well,” he said, then immediately corrected himself.“I mean, I see you often and you don’t…” Miles frowned.“There’s no way to recover that statement, is there?”
Annie laughed.“I know what you mean.No offense taken.I know I’m a mess.”
He let out a breath.“What’s going on?Have you been feeling guilty about Leon all morning?I’m sure he’s not dwelling on it.”
“No, not that.”She took a seat on a nearby swivel chair.“It’s Roy.”
The muscles in his jaw tightened.“Roy,” he said in a low voice.
“All that stargazing went to my head.I got the idea I was shortchanging the twins by not expecting more from Roy, and that night I typed up an email telling him that I wanted him to regularly send money so they could have everything they need.I even attached a bunch of receipts from groceries, and diapers, doctors visit copays from being sick four times this winter already, and their winter coats I had to buy new because I couldn’t find any hand-me-downs in time…”
Her voice trailed off.She buried her face in her hands.
Miles set the bag down before taking a seat next to her and touching her shoulder.“Sounds reasonable to me.”
“Roy didn’t think so.”She looked up, biting her lip, measuring her words.“He said he’s not going to fund my lavish lifestyle on a remote island, so I either move to Seattle or find a way to fund it myself.”
The blood rose in Miles’s throat, heat pulsing in his ears.“Did you remind him that he’s the one who moved away?”
“I didn’t respond yet.He said he’s already paying for half of the daycare costs, and if I want child support, then I can take him to court.He said he’ll be filing for primary custody.”Her voice broke on the last word, a sob catching in her throat.
Miles dropped to his knees in front of her and took her hands in his.“Annie, listen to me.Please,” he said.
She looked down at him, tears rimming her eyes.“It was stupid of me.I never would have done it if…”
“This is a page from the deadbeat dad handbook,” Miles said.“Whenever they get called out about not wanting to pay to support their children, they always threaten to go for custody.”He softened his tone.“It’s not going to work.”
She didn’t respond, staring down and chewing her lip.
He spoke again.“How much did you ask for?”
“Three hundred dollars a month,” she said.“Just enough to cover diapers and a little bit of the grocery bill.They’re eating so much more now, and a lot gets wasted, but I still have to make the meals and – ”
“Are you kidding me?”Miles had to suppress a scoff.“That’s it?”
“I didn’t want to ask for too much.”
“That’s nothing.Literally nothing.”He shook his head.“How much does he make?”
“He was making two hundred and fifty thousand a year when we separated,” Annie said.
Miles looked around the lab.“I’m guessing you are not making that much.”
A weak smile formed on her lips.“I am not.”
“If he’s stupid enough to take you to court, he is going to owe you five times that.Easily.”
She sucked in a breath.“I don’t want the money.I’ll find another way.If he gets full custody...”
“They are not going to award an absent father full custody,” Miles said firmly.
“What if he can prove I’m not able to provide for them?Because I’m not.”
“You’ve been providing just fine from what I can see,” Miles said.He squeezed her hands, ignoring the fact that he shouldn’t be holding them at all.“I’m not an attorney, but I’ve been talking to a lot of them recently, and I can tell you it’s not going to look good that he left and hasn’t spent any time with his kids before suddenly expressing his interest in having full custody.”
Annie sighed.“Maybe.”
If only he could sweep her up in his arms.If only he could convince her of how wonderful she was, how obvious it was to anyone who looked.
