A cloud of tension followed us during the walk and subway ride it took us to get to DNA Relationship Testing. Isaac had barely spoken to me since I’d confronted him the previous morning. I didn’t know whether to be mad at him for being such a stubborn ass or to cry because he was hurting my hormone-influenced feelings.
“This shouldn’t take too long,” I finally said, unable to take the awkward silence any longer. Comfortable silences I could handle, but this one had me longing to turn and run. Our eyes met, but he broke the contact almost immediately.
“Yeah,” was all he said in reply.
He was tense, I was confused, and Fallon was dozing as I pushed her. I was so happy at that moment that she wasn’t old enough to understand what was going on around her. I really didn’t know how we’d handle telling her the story of how she came to be if she asked some day. At least this paternity test would give validity to our story, despite the fact that getting it done had thrown Isaac into an inexplicably foul mood.
After an entire day of mulling things over, I still couldn’t figure out why he was so damned angry at me. Getting the paternity test done give us the proof we would need to dispel anyone’s disbelief. If he was afraid that getting the test done would make it look like he didn’t believe me, then I’d be sure to always be the one to mention that it had been my idea given the many reasons why people could doubt us.
Finally, the building came into view. I breathed a sigh of relief as Isaac opened the door for us and we headed inside. Our appointment was due to start soon, and I hoped that they could get us in early so we could get the process started.
A half hour later, we were heading back out into the chilly air. When Fallon had started to cry at the prick of the needle, I’d felt a fleeing moment of guilt-ridden horror. Then, I forced myself to remember that she wouldn’t remember this incident, and that there were many more pokes with a needle to come in her life. And, this one was especially important.
“I need to go to the grocery store,” I said as we left the subway station near our building. He stuffed his hands in his coat pockets and looked down at the stroller.
“Do you want me to come with you?” he asked, his voice sounding the gentlest it had all morning. I shook my head and started to direct the stroller away in the right direction.
“I’ll bring her down later,” I said, trying to be as nice as possible in hopes that his bad mood was finally breaking. He bent down and pulled the cover off the stroller so he could press a kiss to her snugly covered little head before again shielding her from the brisk air.
“You can bring her down any time. I’ll just be working on things from home today,” he explained. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but apparently decided against it and instead turned and headed for the building.
The next few days passed so similarly that I slipped into a sort of daze. Every morning I woke up, ate breakfast, and went on a walk with Fallon before taking a shower. After lunch, I’d take her down to Isaac’s where she’d stay until bedtime. While I was unoccupied, I looked for new jobs. I couldn’t bring myself to go back to the diner, and now it was too far away to be convenient.
As if the days weren’t bad enough already, Isaac and I still weren’t speaking more than was necessary. He’d lost the edge of anger to everything he did and said, though, so that was definitely an improvement.
I’d requested that they put a rush in on the test results, not because I was anxious to learn what I already knew, but because I wanted to end the awkwardness between us as soon as possible. On the morning of the third day after our trip to DNA Relationship Testing, I got the phone call I’d been anxiously anticipating.
The woman on the phone told me, as I’d expected, that the tested father was a genetic match with Fallon and that paper copies of the results would be delivered later that day. I thanked her and put Fallon in her carrier so we could go upstairs to deliver the official news in person. For the first time in days, I was actually looking forward to seeing Isaac.
He answered the door with a smile, and my heart warmed at the sight.
“This is a surprise,” he said, immediately bending down to look closely at Fallon. Immediately I felt stupid and slightly embarrassed. He’d been excited to see Fallon, of course. Not me. “Come on in.”
“DNA Relationship Testing just called me,” I said as I followed him into the living room where he took Fallon’s carrier from me. That seemed to bring him down him a bit, so I continued on quickly. “They’ll be sending the paperwork over this afternoon. So, that’s all taken care of.”
“I’m glad we can put it behind us,” he said, taking Fallon into his arms.
“Why did you get so upset about it? I was only trying to do what was best for us.” He sighed lightly and sat down on the couch.
“Well,” he started, pausing for a moment to collect his thoughts before continuing, “I’d believed you without question the entire time. All I had to do was look at Fallon and I knew that she was mine. And sure, I know what Taylor is going through, but it didn’t matter to me. So when you suggested that we get a paternity test done, I started to doubt you. I’m not proud of that, but I did. I couldn’t help but wonder why you were all of a sudden bringing it up after your talk with Taylor. So, I was upset with myself for having those doubting thoughts about you, because I know you’re a good person and would never do what Kenzie did.”
“I don’t blame you for that, Isaac,” I told him, and I honestly didn’t. I’d never thought for a second that my sudden actions could have made me look guilty. “But I honestly just wanted us to have proof on paper that you’re Fallon’s father. I knew that you were and you knew that you were, but what I realized from talking to Taylor is that your family isn’t going to be accepting of this unless we had that proof. And honestly, based off of what he’s going through, I don’t blame them. This is what we needed to do, and now it’s done.”
We sat in silence for quite awhile, and it was thankfully a comfortable one again. Isaac lightly patted Fallon’s back until she fell asleep and he took her back into her room while I waited on the loveseat. When he reentered the room, he surprised me by coming to sit beside me instead of on the couch.
“There’s something else I want to talk to you about. It’ll involve another office visit,” I said.
“And what is it exactly?” he asked.
“On Fallon’s birth certificate, her last name is Baker because I thought I was going to be raising her alone. But now,” I hesitated, “I want to change it to Hanson, and I can’t do that without you signing an Acknowledgment of Paternity form. Would you be willing to do that?”
He looked at me hard, and for a moment, I was terrified that he was going to say no. But instead, he leaned forward and kissed me the way I remembered. The way I’d been hoping for.
When we finally broke apart, panting for air and with lips swollen from the intensity of our kisses, he rested his forehead against mine and took one of my hands in his.
“Of course I will,” he said, “Let’s go this afternoon.”
“This afternoon? What’s wrong with right now?” I teased, noticing how his eyes kept glancing down at my lips.
“I’m a little busy right now,” he before again pressing his lips to mine.
As we very tamely lost ourselves in each other while Fallon napped, the butterflies in my stomach fluttered hysterically, and I wished that the feeling could last forever.