Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
When I pull up to my house, I get out and hold the door open for Aiden, grabbing his backpack and walking up the steps. I unlock the door and walk in, seeing that the drapes are closed. “Hey.” I hear Eli, and I look at her.
“I thought you were going to be late?” I say, going over to her and kissing her on the lips.
“You stopped for ice cream?” she asks me and then looks at Aiden who nods at her.
“We did,” I tell her. “Did you just get home?”
“No,” she tells me, and I see that she is dressed up, and I look at her.
“What’s going on?” I ask her, and she looks at Aiden and smiles.
“I think I need to sit down,” she says softly and then grabs a manila envelope, walking to the couch. The same couch that we usually start our make-out sessions on and then take it to the bedroom.
“Are you okay?” I ask her, and she looks down, and I see that her hands are shaking. Oh my God, maybe she isn’t really happy. Maybe this is why Leonard came to see me and asked me all those questions. Maybe she is suing me for full custody. I look at Aiden, who smiles, and the shirt starts to get tight around my neck. My heart starts to beat faster than normal, and I walk over to the couch. My hands start to get a bit clammy, and my feet feel like my shoes are suddenly filled with concrete, making my walk to the couch hard. She sits down and then opens her arms for Aiden to sit on her lap, and then I finally get there and sit next to them. My shoulders slump forward while I put my arms on my legs and fold my hands together.
“The past couple of weeks have been an eye-opener for me,” she starts and then looks down at Aiden. “Well, for us, really.”
“Okay,” I say, and it feels like I’m in court, and the judge is coming back in with a ruling, and he gives his speech right before he hands down the judgment, and I just want to speed things up.
“Well, I know that you’re Aiden’s father,” she starts, and I want to yell spit it out. “When he was born, and I had to fill out the birth certificate, I didn’t put anything under his father’s name,” she says softly and then a tear leaks out of her eye, and I reach over and wipe it away. She smiles at me, trying not to cry. “I knew your name, but I just didn’t know your full name.” She takes a deep inhale. “When we finally found you, I made my father draw up papers,” she says, handing me the envelope, and I take it, pulling it open and sliding out the documents inside.
I pull out the white paper with the official county logo on it. My eyes go to the place where you put in the last name Coco-DiMarco, and my eyes shoot up to Eli. “We,” she says, her voice trembling now, “thought it would be good to have your name on his birth certificate.”
“I’m a Coco-DiMarco. You’re really my dad now!” Aiden says, smiling, and I take them both in my arms, kissing first Eli and then looking at my son.
“We were hoping it would be okay with you,” she starts to say, and I kiss her lips to stop her from talking.
“Dad, she needs to finish, so we can go to the party,” Aiden says, laughing, and I look at him.
“What party?” I ask him, and he gets off Eli’s lap and grabs my hand, pulling me to the backyard where our family and friends stand.
“Surprise,” Aiden says as he opens the door. I finally see that my parents are standing there in the front row next to Maryse and Leonard. Mona and Nick are there, and so is Lauren and her husband. I spot other people from the office as well as Troy and Todd. Balloons are scattered all around the yard that spell out D-A-D.
“What is all this?” I turn to look at Eli.
“This is a party to honor you and to honor Aiden,” she says, and Aiden just takes off down the stairs and runs to my parents. “I didn’t just change his birth certificate. I changed his school records also.”
“Baby,” I say, pulling her close to me and kissing her lips. “I was so scared you were going to tell me that it was over.”
“What? Why?” she asks me.
“I don’t know. It was weird. Your father this afternoon, then you here, and you had to talk to me,” I tell her and look down at the paper in my hand. “Can we frame this?”
“We can,” she says, “but how about we get out there and celebrate with our family and friends?”