And when I look at Lola, happily comfortable, then I smile too.
8
HAYES
My mom answers the video call in good spirits, it seems, as I sit in the back of the car for an early-morning meeting out of the office.
“Hi, Mom,” I greet her. It’s early, but since she's on the east coast, she’s an hour ahead, and she normally eats breakfast around now. Morning calls are not unusual for us.
“Morning. How are things? I haven’t heard from you since before you moved. How did it go? I can imagine unpacking will be a pain.” She’s sitting in the living room with a mug of coffee in one hand and the phone in the other.
My heart races because I’m about to share the life-changing news. “Yeah, sorry. Something has kind of happened. I have news.”
Her morning smile disappears with concern. “What do you mean? Is everything okay? Were you at the doctor's or something?”
Quickly, I shake my head. “Nothing like that. I’m fine. I discovered something pretty big. As in I have a daughter.”
Her entire face turns to shock. “What?”
“I have a daughter,” I reiterate, and I smile as well. “She’s two years old, and her name is Lola.”
She sets her coffee down to cover her mouth, which is in a wide O. “You’re a dad?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
“And the mother?” She sounds indifferent.
“Her name is Elodie. We met on vacation, and it was a one-time kind of thing, then.” Because now I’m not so sure anymore what the future will bring.
“How do you know Lola is yours? She could be after your money.”
My eyes grow as I tip my head to the side. “No. She isn’t. Hasn’t even asked for a cent. It’s also a small world because she’s Julian’s fiancée's best friend and works at my office. She wasn’t trying to keep her from me, either. We never exchanged…” Not sure now is the time to admit to my mother, even as a grown man, that I had a nameless one-night stand. “Adults make mistakes. I’m guilty, too. Let it go. She’s in my life now.”
“She kept your daughter from you.” My mother sounds protective, yet I’m concerned that she might not let it go.
“Not exactly like that. I need you to close that topic and trust me.”
She doesn’t seem to agree. “But you’ll marry her then.”
I scoff a laugh. “It doesn’t always work like that.”
“It’s what your father would say to do.”
My chest pings at the memory of him. She’s right, too. My brain spirals and questions if I should consider it more and really put the option on the table for Elodie. But I already know she would laugh.
“Plus, you’re both adults who should be settling down by now. Why is she still single at her age? Isn’t that cause for concern?”
Yikes, I don’t recall my mom ever being this judgmental. “First off, take it down a notch. And Elodie is young, she doesn’t exactly have a clock ticking.”
“How young?”
“Ten years younger than me.”
She chuffs a laugh. “How did you two meet?”
“When I was down in Puerto Rico a few years ago.”
“Oh my gosh, so she’s a spring-breaker?”
