Chapter Nineteen #2
“This isn’t a bad place to wait,” Siobhan said. “I’m a homebody by nature, so being home with Oliver isn’t a struggle for me. Plus, my friend Robin comes over and we do movie nights. But it’s nice to get out once in a while.”
Like a date. No, it wasn’t a date.
“Thanks. We’re pretty proud of this place, and we have a second location up in the northern part of the state, too, though friends run that one.”
“I’ve never really paid attention to sports, so I imagined a grubby bar with angry men yelling obscenities at televisions.”
“Only during the playoffs.” Kevin’s laugh echoed through the dining room, and then he slid a napkin across the table. “My friend Paulie—well, and her parents, I guess—they know a lot of well-connected people in Boston.”
Siobhan frowned. “Like the mob?”
“No.” He paused, tilting his head. “I mean, maybe. But in this case, no. She explained your situation to a very close family friend who happens to be a family court judge.”
Siobhan’s skin prickled as she leaned closer to Brian, trying to see the napkin he’d picked up. There was a name and address, along with a date and time, scrawled across it.
“Bring the paternity test results with you to that meeting, and be prepared to answer a lot of custody-type questions and do a lot of talking. Bring a written co-parenting plan. Both of you need to be there, and you can bring your lawyers even though you won’t need them, and she’ll sign off on amending the birth certificate and adoption so you’re both legally Oliver’s parents. ”
It sounded too good to be true, and Siobhan took the napkin from Brian. “And she can do that? It’ll be legal?”
“Yes. She’s not doing anything she wouldn’t do eventually, anyway, but it’ll save you a lot of time and money and headaches waiting for hearings and all that.
” He shook his head. “Somebody dropped the ball here because Kelly should have had to prove paternity before the adoption because she was legally married to Brian at conception so he was, by default, the presumed father. It’s right there in the dates.
Hell, she shouldn’t have been able to put that other guy on the birth certificate without a test. The divorce shouldn’t have been finalized without one.
There was a glitch in the system somewhere, and the judge is going to make their mistakes right without dragging it out. That’s all.”
“I don’t understand,” Brian said, shaking his head. “Just like that?”
“Just like that, though it’s not really that simple. It’s a favor called in on behalf of family by somebody the judge knows and trusts.”
A tear slipped down Siobhan’s cheek and she thrust it at Brian. “Take this before I accidentally wipe my eyes with it and smear the writing.”
Kevin laughed. “I have a text from Paulie with the info, too. She sent it to me and I’ll forward it, but we just like writing important things on napkins around here.”
“I noticed the framed napkin with lipstick kisses over the bar,” Siobhan said.
“Beth and Lily, back when Lily was tiny,” he said with a smile full of love and nostalgia.
“And my brothers and I wrote the business plan for buying the campground on the back of a Jasper’s napkin,” Brian said.
Kevin snorted. “Playing pretty loose with the words business plan.”
“Hey, we own Birch Brook Campground and it’s going pretty okay.”
Kevin laughed and then nodded at Siobhan. “See? That’s the magic of a Jasper’s napkin. Now how about we introduce you to the magic of a Jasper’s burger?”
* * *
“That was amazing,” Siobhan said, pushing her empty plate away. “I can’t believe I ate all of it.”
Brian gestured at his also empty plate. “I know how you feel.”
“I think knowing that everything’s going to be okay—legally, I mean—was this huge weight off and I’m not even worried at all about Oliver because he’s with your parents. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this relaxed.”
“It does feel good. Every time I think about the mess we were in, it drags up a lot of stuff for me and I’m looking forward to being able to close that door forever.” He held up a hand. “No, I won’t say more because she’s your sister, but it’ll feel good to not have to revisit that anger again.”
“No, my relationship with my sister is over. It was never great, but now… I’m angry, too. When I asked for her help to sort this out, she told me it’s my problem. And I’ll never forgive her for what she stole from you and Oliver. Never.”
He reached across the table and laced his fingers through hers. “I’m trying to forgive her.”
“She doesn’t deserve it. Especially from you.”
“Maybe not, but if she’d been honest from the start—whether Kelly stayed in a marriage that made her unhappy or we divorced—you wouldn’t be Oliver’s mom and that’s not a trade-off I’d ever make.”
She sniffled, squeezing his fingers. “I hadn’t thought about it like that.”
“I have, because I don’t want to spend any more of my life being mad at a woman who’s not even part of it anymore. I missed out on Oliver’s baby years, but I have him now and he won’t even remember a time I wasn’t his dad. And you’re his mom.”
His phone buzzed in his pocket and he let go of her hand to pull it out and read the message. “Speaking of moms.”
“Is Oliver okay?”
“He’s fine. He’s getting sleepy and Mom says they’d be happy to have him spend the night if we’d like to stay out late and have fun.” It wasn’t until after he’d repeated the message that he realized how it sounded, and his gaze flew to Siobhan. His mother wasn’t even trying to be subtle.
Her cheeks were pink, but she was trying not to laugh. “You can tell her we appreciate the offer, but the entire point of us being here is for Oliver to get comfortable with sleeping at your house, so we’ll be there shortly.”
He knew there was no way Siobhan had missed what his mom was getting at, but at least she wasn’t offended. If she wanted to pretend she was amused that his parents were missing the point of the sleepover, he’d let her.
Honestly, he wouldn’t have minded taking his mom up on her offer, but that was Siobhan’s move to make.
Yes, they’d held hands across the table for a minute, but that had been more of a comfort gesture than a romantic one.
Other than that, there had been no hot looks, no touching and definitely no kissing.
Oliver was still awake when they arrived, but barely.
And Siobhan had to work hard at keeping him awake during the drive back to his place.
She didn’t want him to just wake up there, which was a possibility considering how hard he slept.
It was important for him to go through the process of getting ready for bed and doing the routine, according to her, and she was probably right.
“How about I give you kisses down here and Daddy puts you to bed tonight?”
Brian wondered how long it would take before hearing himself called Daddy didn’t hit him with a surge of emotion. He hoped it was never.
Oliver blinked at him, and he smiled back. “I’m pretty good at reading stories.”
“Okay.”
“Do you remember what you do at bedtime?” Siobhan asked, pulling Oliver onto her lap.
“Get changed and brush my teeth and get a story and then night-night.”
She ran her hand over his hair, and Brian saw a hint of sadness in her smile. It couldn’t be easy for her to share him, and every day he appreciated her more. “Good job. Give me night-nights now.”
After Oliver squeeze-hugged her neck and gave her a smacking kiss, Oliver took his hand and they went up the stairs together.
Brian had been practicing with the baby gates and he was pretty proficient at this point.
Stella wasn’t a fan of them, of course, but they were only closed when Oliver was here.
It probably took him longer to go through the routine than it did Siobhan, but Oliver didn’t seem to mind.
At this point, he was so sleepy, he probably didn’t even care.
He sighed contentedly when Brian tucked him into bed, and by the time he finished a story about a train who was learning not to be naughty and ignore caution flags, he was surprised Oliver was still awake.
Barely, but he was awake enough to open his arms for a hug. “Night-night, Daddy.”
Brian closed his eyes as the little arms wrapped around his neck, and for a moment he just breathed in the scent of his hair. Then he kissed him on the forehead. “Night-night, son.”
After turning on the little night-light, he turned back. “Mommy will be in that room right there and I’ll be downstairs, so if you need anything, just holler, okay?”
He made a small sound of understanding, almost out. Brian turned off the light switch and partially closed the door. Not totally, but enough to block out the television or conversation from downstairs.
Siobhan was still on the couch, her legs drawn up so her feet were tucked under her. Stella was sprawled next to her, her head on her lap. When he’d first brought Stella home as a pup, he’d tried to tell her she wasn’t allowed on the couch or the bed. She’d disagreed.
The television was on, and Siobhan had the remote in hand, flipping through channels. She paused when she saw him, giving him a smile. “I’m nosy and wanted to see what channel you’d left it on.”
He made an exaggerated uh-oh face that made her laugh. “I don’t even remember what I was watching.”
“There was a show about game wardens on.”
“Oh, yeah. Stella likes to watch that and cheer on the K-9s from the comfort of her couch. I’m not a big TV watcher, so go ahead and choose anything you want.”
She shrugged, setting the remote down after putting it back on the original channel. “It was a long day that ended in a big emotional rush and a large dinner, so I’m not far behind Oliver. How did that go?”
“He went down surprisingly easy,” he said, dropping into his battered leather recliner, which had been a hand-me-down from his uncle Joe.