“I called you when the doctor told me there were two heartbeats.”
She swallowed.
“I called you when they said I might lose one of them.”
My hands began to shake beneath the table.
“I called you when I went into labor.”
She pressed her lips together.
“I called you after Mason stopped breathing for nine seconds.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“He what?”
“He’s fine.”
She looked at me coldly.
“Now.”
I stared at the sleeping child.
Laura’s voice cracked for the first time.
“I called the house. Serena answered once.”
My head snapped up.
“What did she say?”
“She said you never wanted to hear from me again.”
I closed my eyes.
“She told me you knew I was pregnant.”
I opened them.
Laura was crying now, but angrily, silently.
“She said you told her that if the babies were yours, you wanted nothing to do with them.”
“I never said that.”
“I know that now.”
The words almost destroyed me.
“She came to the hospital once,” Laura continued.
My whole body stiffened.
“What?”
“Serena.”
Laura looked at the papers.
“She stood outside the entrance. She told me if I kept trying to contact you, she would make sure I left the hospital with nothing.”
I whispered, “Why didn’t you report her?”
“To who?”
That question silenced me.
“Your security people believed her. Your lawyers believed you. I had no money. No house. No husband. I was pregnant with twins, Grant.”
She looked directly at me.
“You had already taught everyone around you that I was a liar.”
There was nothing I could say to that.
One of the babies stirred.
Laura immediately leaned down.
Her voice softened.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
The baby settled again.
I watched her.
Then I asked the question I was afraid to ask.
“Are they mine?”
Laura stared at me.
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“I’ll do a DNA test,” she continued. “Not for you. For them.”
I nodded quickly.
“Whatever you want.”
“And if it confirms you’re their father, that does not give you permission to take over my life.”
“I understand.”
“No. Listen first.”
So I listened.
“No showing up at my apartment.”
“Okay.”
“No sending employees to watch us.”
“Okay.”
“No gifts designed to make me feel obligated.”
“Okay.”
“No threatening custody because you have more money.”
My stomach turned.
“I would never—”
She gave me a look.
I stopped.
Because a year earlier I would have sworn I would never throw my pregnant wife out either.
“Okay,” I said.
“Support goes through attorneys.”
“Yes.”
“You see the twins when we agree it’s appropriate.”
“Yes.”
“You do not use them to repair your reputation.”
“Never.”
“And you never bring Serena near them.”
That one was easy.
“She will never come near you again.”
Laura’s expression changed slightly.
“You’re sure?”
I slid the security logs across the table.
“I’m very sure.”
The DNA results came five days later.
Probability of paternity: 99.99%.
