Chapter 19
THAT'S A BIG 'IF'
DELILAH
If I never see the inside of Mason they want control over the women they make those children with because they’re insecure.
Secure men don’t make the people they know refer to them as ‘The’ anything, and they don’t refuse to change your oil when you call them just Earl, anyway.
If—and that’s a big ‘if’—Earl is granted any sort of custody, the likelihood of him actually taking advantage of it and spending time with his children is very low, and the longer he goes without his weekends or supervised visits or whatever it may be, the better chance you have of obtaining full custody in the future.
And by requesting proof of paternity, Earl has shot himself in the foot.
Because when those DNA tests come back and prove that he is the biological father of your children, he’ll be required by law to pay you the child support you’ve been so adamantly against asking him for. ”
I ignore the slightly judgmental look on my lawyer’s face.
“But I don’t want his fucking money. I don’t need his fucking money. I don’t need anything from him—”
“I know,” Ivy cuts me off, taking my hands in hers.
“You don’t need anything from Earl. You never have.
But our kids deserve support. If Earl has to pay you child support, it wouldn’t be for you.
It would be for Sadie and Little Bean. You can pay for their activities or save it for college or art classes or whatever they want to do. ”
“I know,” I whisper. “I just don’t want to have to rely on him for anything anymore. I don’t want them to have to rely on him for anything.”