Chapter 4 - The Name on the TestGavin stepped outside alone.
He closed Paige’s front door behind him.
Reid smiled.
Then stopped.
“Gav?”
“Don’t.”
Reid frowned.
“What happened?”
“How did you know Mia was here?”
“Audrey called.”
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“What did she say?”
“That Darlene hurt Mia.”
“Anything else?”
Reid’s eyes shifted.
Gavin saw it.
“Did you sleep with my wife?”
Reid’s face emptied.
No denial.
That hurt more than any sentence.
Gavin stepped closer.
“How many times?”
“Gavin.”
“How many?”
“Twice.”
Gavin laughed bitterly.
“You counted.”
“I remember.”
“When?”
Reid looked down.
“Your Seattle acquisition trip.”
Six years earlier.
Exactly.
Gavin’s stomach turned.
“Did you know she got pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“Did you think Mia might be yours?”
Reid said nothing.
Gavin’s voice rose.
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
The word was barely audible.
“Did you know about the test?”
Reid looked up sharply.
“What test?”
Gavin watched his face.
If it was acting, it was excellent.
“Audrey had a paternity test done after Mia was born.”
Reid went pale.
“And?”
Gavin felt rage.
“Do not ask me that like she is a stock price.”
Reid looked toward the house.
His eyes filled.
“Is she…”
Gavin stepped between him and the window.
“She is my daughter.”
Reid looked back.
“I know.”
“No.”
Gavin’s voice shook.
“You don’t know anything yet.”
He pulled out a photograph of the report Detective Shaw had allowed him to retain through counsel.
Reid stared.
99.98%.
His face broke.
“Oh God.”
Gavin hit him.
Once.
One sharp punch.
Reid stumbled.
Gavin immediately stepped away.
Not because his anger disappeared.
Because he had spent one day watching adults use anger as permission.
He refused to become another example.
“Leave.”
Reid touched his lip.
“Gavin.”
“Leave.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You knew there was a chance.”
“Yes.”
“And you stayed in my life.”
Reid closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“You asked me to be her godfather.”
“You could have said no.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Reid looked toward the house again.
“I wanted to be near her.”
Gavin felt sick.
“So every birthday—”
“Yes.”
“Every Christmas.”
“Yes.”
“Every time you called her princess.”
Reid whispered:
“Yes.”
Gavin stepped backward.
“You suspected she might be yours and let me live inside a lie.”
Reid wiped blood from his lip.
“Audrey told me she got her period after we were together.”
Gavin stopped.
“What?”
“She said Mia was conceived after you came home.”
“You believed her?”
Reid laughed weakly.
“I needed to.”
There it was.
Not truth.
Need.
Gavin asked:
“Why is her rabbit in your car?”
Reid hesitated.
The hesitation mattered.
“When was Mia with you?”
“Tuesday.”
Gavin’s jaw tightened.
“Who arranged that?”
“Audrey.”
“She told me she handled dance pickup.”
“I thought you knew.”
Gavin almost laughed.
Everyone thought he knew.
“How often do you see Audrey without me?”
Reid’s face changed.
“Not like that.”
“That is not a number.”
“Gavin.”
“How many times?”
Reid looked down.
“I don’t know.”
“Twenty?”
Silence.
Gavin stared.
“More?”
“Over the last year?”
His stomach tightened.
“Yes.”
“Maybe.”
Gavin stepped away.
The affair might have been six years old.
The secrecy was current.
“Did it restart?”
“No.”
“Did you kiss her?”
Reid looked away.
Gavin closed his eyes.
“When?”
“Four months ago.”
“Once?”
“Yes.”
“Did she want to leave me?”
Reid said nothing.
That was answer enough.
Gavin laughed without humor.
“And you show up tonight carrying my daughter’s rabbit.”
“I came because Audrey said Mia was scared.”
“Do you think being biologically related gives you the right to rescue her?”
Reid’s face crumpled.
“No.”
“Good.”
Gavin took the rabbit.
Then Reid whispered:
“There’s something you need to know about Darlene.”
Gavin almost walked away.
“What?”
“The first payment.”
“What about it?”
“Audrey didn’t offer it.”
Gavin turned.
Reid looked ashamed.
“Darlene demanded money.”
The story shifted again.
Gavin had spent the last hour seeing Darlene as a woman Audrey had bought.
Now Reid was telling him Darlene had named her own price.
And before Gavin could respond, Paige opened the door behind him.
“Gavin.”
He turned.
Mia stood in the hallway.
She was crying.
“Daddy?”
He went to her immediately.
“What?”
She looked past him toward Reid.
Then whispered:
“Is Uncle Reid why Mom said you might stop loving me?”
Gavin froze.
Reid stopped breathing.
Paige stared.
“What did she just say?”
Gavin crouched in front of Mia.
“Mom told you what?”
Mia’s lips trembled.
“That if you ever knew the secret…”
She started crying harder.
“…you might not want me anymore.”
And suddenly the paternity test was no longer the biggest betrayal in Gavin’s hands.
May you like
Audrey had already placed the secret inside their six-year-old daughter.
And Mia had been carrying it alone.
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