First, I’d get Tate all the things he needed to take the baby home. Then, I’d help him get settled in and go talk to Ronny. I needed to do it privately and give him the respect and honesty he deserves.
What Tate and I had done behind Ronny’s back wasn’t like what Ronny and I had done behind Tierney’s. What Tate and I had together was more than just sex. I would explain all of that to Ronny in person. Hopefully, we could end things as cleanly as possible. It wasn’t ideal, but he deserved answers.
It wasn’t that I didn’t love Ronny. I did, I supposed. But it was more nostalgic than anything now. I didn’t crave him the way I craved Tate. I didn’t want a future with Ronny. I wanted the relationship we had before we started sleeping together. Maybe with time we could. After all, I was able to do it with Cash. Why couldn’t I be friends and bandmates with Ronny as well?
An hour passed before Tate came in to find me. His brows were furrowed but when his eyes found mine, he instantly brightened. I smiled as he came towards me.
“How’s it going?”
“Not bad. They gave her meds, so she’s calmed down quite a bit. She’s getting close to being able to push. Everything’s looking good. How are you doing in here?” He glanced around at the other people and then when he looked back at me I spoke.
“Good. Is there anything you need? I’ll go get it.”
“Actually yeah, here.” He pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me. I opened it and glanced at it. The list was small and seemed easy enough.He then handed me his car keys to allow me to get the car seat out of his back seat.
“The doctors and nurses say as long as she’s healthy we can take her home 24 hours after she’s born.”
“Really? That soon?” I looked up, shocked.
He pressed his lips together and pulled his arm up to rub the back of his neck. He glanced away from me as he spoke.
“Well, kind of. There’s some paperwork that needs to be signed. Even though Whitley has made the decision they still want some extra confirmation. My lawyer is on his way now.”
“What confirmation? Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, no it’s all good. Whitley is signing off her rights, but the state is kind of being a pain.”
“How so?”
Tate looked around and then sat down beside me. He reached for my hands and when they connected, he squeezed them. His voice grew low as he leaned in to speak to me.
“Apparently the state of California is not happy with biological mothers signing off their rights completely unless they know the baby will be fully taken care of.”
“But she is. I don’t understand.”
“When my lawyer submitted the paperwork to whoever, they did background checks and all that. Financially, yes I’m good to go. But a red flag came up and they didn’t bother to mention it to my lawyer.”
“Okay, what is it?” I breathed heavily, growing weary. His green eyes bore into mine as he finished his explanation.
“Because I’m married, they fully expect my wife to adopt the baby.”
My heart stopped for a moment. For a full beat my entire body froze. What did he just say? My eyes went wide as I tried to process what he was telling me.
“What?” Was all I could muster. Tate pulled away and leaned back in his chair, sighing deeply.
“I’m not going to force you to do it. I was never going to even ask. But that’s where the situation lies right now. I can’t take her home unless you sign the papers. My lawyer said we can fight it and win, but it might take a few days.”
“I’ll do it,” I said quickly. Not really sure how that came out of my mouth, but I guess that was that. His head flew back up to look at me.
“Jimmy, really. I don’t want to force it. I can fight it and I’ll just stay here until I can take her home.”
“No, I want to. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. If I want to be with you, I have to make a choice on whether or not to be there right beside you in this. I’ll sign the papers to adopt her.”
Tate opened his mouth to reply but the nurse from before caught my eye by the door. He saw where I was looking and turned his head.
“We’re about to head to the delivery room Dad. She’s ready to push.”
I saw his Adam’s apple dip as he swallowed hard and nodded. He turned his attention back to me, his eyes pleading.
