Sydney Landon - Fighting For You

She had been impressed and surprised that he was taking something this huge so well. But here was the true evidence of what he was feeling. Looking at him now, she knew he had been operating on pure adrenaline and now he was crashing. She pulled him gently away from the windows before Julie could see them and took the tray from his hands. “Sit down here for a moment and take a deep breath.”

“Ellie, I . . .”

“I know, Declan, and it’s okay. This is big. I’m not going to pretend it isn’t. If you really don’t think you can handle it, we will walk right out that door. If we do though, you’ll be back. Maybe not tonight, but soon after. Despite how overwhelming this is, you won’t let yourself walk away from responsibility. You aren’t built that way.”

“I’ve walked away from people time and again, why would this be any different?”

Ella put her hand on his chest and looked up into his troubled eyes. “Those women knew the score. I know you never made any promises to them. This is quite possibly your son though, and that isn’t something you could live with. You won’t be able to stay away, I know you well enough to know that. Now we go in there, keep it casual, and just see how it goes. He isn’t going to know you are his father so there’s no pressure. I’ll be right beside you and we can leave anytime you need to.” She hid a smile when she saw him visibly square his shoulders. His temporary panic attack seemed to be subsiding and the self-assured man that she knew was coming back.

Giving him another encouraging smile, she watched while he picked their tray back up. Before he started forward once again, he turned to her and whispered, “Thank you, baby.”

Is it wrong to think that was one of the sexiest things he has ever said to me? He was depending on her to get through this. Plus, having a man like Declan call you baby was something that women everywhere probably fantasize about. Just that simple sentence for some reason boosted her self-confidence and he wasn’t the only one doing some shoulder squaring as they walked toward the door of the playground. The noise was deafening when they walked through the door and made a path through running and screaming kids to reach the table.

As they approached, Julie looked up with a friendly, but curious smile on her face.

“Oh, hi, you two. How great to see you. Evan, these are some friends of mine, Declan and Ella. Can you say hello to them?”

Evan looked up from his meal and gave them a shy smile. “Hello.”

Ella felt her heart stutter in her chest and then flip over. There was no doubt in her mind now that this was Declan’s child. The resemblance was uncanny right down to those beautiful eyes that she admired so much. If love at first sight was possible, she had just lost her heart to the little boy giving her his father’s smile. She shook herself out of her own daze in time to realize that Declan was standing beside her in a similar daze. She gave him a gentle nudge in the side and he lurched forward, almost upending their tray. She decided to give him a moment to recover by continuing the conversation. She couldn’t really tell Julie that she was happy to meet her since they were supposed to already know each other so she settled for giving her a warm smile before turning to Evan.

“Well hello there, Evan, it’s so nice to meet you. I see you got a Happy Meal, what kind of prize did you get?” She knew she had asked the right question when he started digging in his box enthusiastically until he came up with a car and stickers to decorate it.

“I got a race car, but mom says I have to finish my food before I can play with it.”

Declan had finally recovered enough to lower their tray to the table and step back for her to precede him into the booth.

“I bet your mom wants to make sure your tummy is full so you will have lots of energy to play with your new car. I bet Declan would love to help you when you both finish eating.”

Evan swung a hopeful look toward Declan, who nodded saying, “Sure, I’d love to, Evan. I used to collect cars like this when I was younger and still have a pretty good collection.” All three sets of eyes swung to Declan with varying degrees of surprise. He laughed saying, “Hey, it’s a guy thing, right, Evan?”

Evan beamed back at Declan and Ella could literally see the first fragile strands of a bond forming there. With care and attention, she knew it would eventually flourish if Declan treated it with care. As they continued to discuss cars, she turned her attention to Julie and saw her valiantly trying to wipe at the moisture welling in her eyes. She grabbed a napkin from their tray and quietly passed it over to her. She took it with a smile of gratitude. Since Declan occupied Evan’s attention, Ella quietly said, “You have a wonderful son. You must be so proud of him.”

“He’s the best thing that has ever happened to me. I hardly remember my life before him.” Then she leaned closer and dropped her voice further, “It’s nice to see you again, Ella.”

“You too, Julie. How long have you known Claire?”

Julie laughed, “For years. We used to work together and she would babysit Evan for me some while I was in school. I’m so happy for her and Jason. She really deserves to finally be happy. So do you work with Declan?”

“Yes. We both work at Danvers, but not in the same department. We met there though.”

“Have you been dating long? Yikes! You don’t have to answer that. My mother used to call me Nosey Nelly because I never stopped asking questions. I know poor Claire feels like she’s giving a tabloid interview every time we’re together.”

With a chuckle, Ella said, “I don’t mind. I’m like that too, only worse. Instead of asking questions, I just blurt out whatever is on my mind without thinking about it first. I’ve had more than my share of awkward moments when I wished I could stuff something in my mouth. To answer your question, we haven’t been officially dating long, but we’ve been friends for a while now.” They both looked over to see two similar dark heads bent in concentration over the small car from the Happy Meal. Declan was painstakingly peeling the small stickers off the sheet and Evan was applying them. Things appeared to be going well in that area, and she didn’t want to ruin the moment by distracting them. Picking up a French fry, she turned her attention back to Julie and asked, “Are you married or dating anyone?” Before Julie could answer, she rolled her eyes and pointed to herself. “See, I told you not to worry about asking questions, I’m just as bad if not worse!”

“You just might be my new best friend,” Julie joked. “I’m not married, but I’m engaged. We’ve been dating for about two years. Graham wanted to come tonight, but I was afraid it would be too much testosterone at one table. He’s great though. He’s a policeman. He won Evan over when he let him sit in his squad car.”

“I bet. Isn’t that every little boy’s dream?” When Julie stood up to let Evan out for the playground, Ella was appalled to realize she had consumed half of her meal without noticing. Apparently she had gotten so comfortable with Julie that she chatted on while eating. She could only hope that she hadn’t talked with her mouth full. Declan put his hand on her leg and gave it a small squeeze. She put her hand on top of his and leaned into his side.

Julie took her seat as Evan ran off to play. She looked at Declan inquiringly. “I think that went pretty well?”

Nodding, Declan said, “Yeah, he seems like a good kid.”

Smiling with obvious pride, Julie agreed. “I don’t know how to put this so I’ll just be direct and ask what your intentions are now? God, I know that sounds medieval, but you know what I mean.”

Ella felt Declan squeeze her leg tighter as he said, “I hate to come off sounding like an asshole Julie, but I can’t just take your word for something like this. There’s no arguing the fact that there is some resemblance between Evan and me, but I don’t want to have any doubts about something this important.”

Far from being offended, Julie smiled and said, “I never expected anything different. It was a long time ago and this is major. If you have any interest in seeing Evan again, I would insist on a paternity test. I don’t think you would be able to form a relationship with him without the piece of paper that proves you are his biological father. Since I work at the hospital, I can easily arrange for that to be done if you’d like.”

He reached in his back pocket and pulled a business card from his wallet. “Just give me a call with the details and I’ll be there. After the results are back, we’ll go from there, if that’s okay with you.”

“Sure, that’s fine. If you guys want to take off now, that would probably be for the best. Evan might start asking which kid is yours if you stay any longer.”

Ella slid out of the booth and waited for Declan to follow. They both saw Evan wave good-bye to them before he ran toward the slide with another little boy. She couldn’t help but think of how much his life would change soon when the man beside her proved to be his father. Come to think of it, all of their lives were bound to change and Ella could only hope it was for the better.

Declan was quiet on the ride home. Ella thought it was probably best to call it an early night and head to her own apartment. She knew he had a lot on his mind and probably just needed some time alone. When they stepped out of the car, she opened her mouth to tell him she was going home. Before she could utter one word, he had her pressed against the door and was devouring her mouth as if they hadn’t just kissed a few hours earlier.