Dependent Care Expenses
Sara
The car drops Drew and me off at a field where kids are playing baseball. We spent last night going through all the files Tom has. Theo even showed up to unencrypt the files on the flash drives. We haven’t found anything yet, but it feels like we’re close.
Maybe leverage will make Alexander finally contact us for that meeting.
Drew didn’t tell me where we were going, but as we approach, he’s definitely leading me to where the kids are. My stomach tightens. Didn’t Drew say he was at a Bar Mitzvah? These kids are all around that age.
Drew takes my hand and leads me across to the stands. I look out at the field and scan the boys gathered there curiously. Why are we here?
I zero in on a kid who looks a lot like Drew. His gaze searches the stands and when he sees Drew, his smile grows, but he’s stuck down on the field.
A lump fills my throat. That kid is about thirteen probably. That would have made Drew a teenager when he was born. Drew leads me up the stands without looking back.
He said his secret wouldn’t affect me. I have to trust that he doesn’t have a secret baby mama and thirteen-year-old son. My stomach buzzes uncomfortably. Is it a deal-breaker if he does?
Drew glances back and he smiles. “Trust me, princess.”
Says the man who was fucking three different women at the same time. I’ve bet everything on him, even though he looked like a losing hand. Because I felt something for someone besides my brother’s best friends for the first time in my life.
I look again at the boy. He’s focused on warm-ups with his team. If Drew was that young, it could have been an accidental pregnancy.
Could I really hold that against him?
He leads me down the bleachers toward a woman who’s looking at her phone. She’s older than Drew. She looks like she’s late thirties or forties. What the hell is happening?
I try to keep my thoughts from going in the direction that he was taken advantage of by an older woman. Dammit, I’m spinning out on this. I need to trust Drew to be honest with me and not to make assumptions. He’ll explain this. He’s always been honest about everything.
When the woman looks up and sees Drew approaching, she smiles, and when she notices me, her smile grows wider. I take a deep breath and return her smile.
“You made it.” She stands and dusts off the back of her jeans. “Elijah will be so happy.”
Elijah. I turn and look out at the boys warming up on the field. It doesn’t take me long to find the boy that looks like a younger Drew. A few differences but… This could be his child.
“Leah. This is Sara, my girlfriend.” Drew pulls me forward and I automatically hold my hand out to her.
She takes it. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
I want to say I’ve never heard of you, but I bite my tongue. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Drew sits down between us. At least we’re both dressed appropriately for a baseball game in jeans and t-shirts, complete with sneakers.
“How’s he doing?” Drew rubs his hands on his thighs as he looks out over the field. As soon as Elijah sees Drew watching him, Elijah waves. Drew gives him a thumbs up and the boy bursts into a grin before returning his attention to warm-ups.
“He missed you last week.” Leah releases a breath. “How did your out-of-town thing go?”
“Good.” Drew slips his hand into mine and squeezes it. He holds it on his thigh as he pays attention to the field.
It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if Drew had a child. Right?
The baseball game commences and soon Drew is cheering and encouraging from the stands. It’s the bottom of the third when Drew looks over at me.
“Can I get you something to drink? They sell bottles of soda and water behind the stands.”
“I’d love a water.” It’s not that hot out and the stands are shaded.
He glances at Leah.
“Yes, a water would be nice.” She shakes her head at him like she doesn’t know what to do with him.
He leans down and gives me a kiss. “Be right back.”
He hurries down the stands and disappears.
“This has to be so weird for you.” Leah glances at me with a wary smile. Is she nervous?
“Honestly, I don’t know what this is.” I laugh a little. My stomach turns over, but being direct usually gets me answers. “Drew brought me here, but I’m sorry, I have no idea how you and your son fit into his life.”
Leah glances away guiltily. “That’s my fault.”
“How so?” I brace myself. What if Drew keeps them a secret? Am I ready for him to have this little family on the side?
She clasps her hands together between her knees. “It’s embarrassing. He does everything for us when it’s not even his responsibility.”
“Not his responsibility?” I ask. My stomach twists as Leah releases a deep breath.
“Between his father forgetting to make the payments or just plain being stubborn about paying, Drew is a godsend to us. But he shouldn’t be held accountable for his father’s mistakes.”
“His father?” I feel like a parrot, but it seems like I only have part of the story. Some of the tension releases inside me though.
“Elijah is Drew’s half-brother. I had an affair with Mark Young.
” She blushes. “I’m not proud of it, but Elijah was the result and Mark usually is good with the money, at least. That’s all the contact he wants with his son, but Drew...
” Her smile grows and her eyes glaze over.
“When he found out, he stepped up. But I’m the one who doesn’t want him to tell anyone.
It’s not Drew’s burden. It’s mine and I couldn’t be happier with my son. ”
Brother. I look again at the boy who is currently up to bat. Drew stands at the fence with the bottles of water, yelling encouragement. My heart swells. It’s a secret that wouldn’t hurt me or even him, but it would hurt his father and potentially his mother.
Drew waits for Elijah to hit the ball and run for first base before turning and heading up the stands to us. His smile is warm as he hands a bottle to Leah before sitting and giving me one.
“Do you have time to go to lunch with the team?” Leah asks.
Drew glances at me like I might say no. We do have work to do at home and then Dante wants me to accompany him to his uncle’s for dinner, but there’s time.
“We’d love to go,” I answer for him.
In the end, Elijah’s team wins. We move off the stands with the rest of the crowd and then stand in an awkward circle, waiting for Elijah.
“You should have told her, Drew,” Leah finally says. “She might have thought he was yours.”
Drew glances at me. “She would have loved him no matter what. Besides, it’s not my secret to tell. If my father doesn’t want to claim—”
“You claim him.” Leah shakes her head. “Mark only wants to make us go away and he sends money to do that. You’re there for us when we need you. Elijah looks up to his older brother.”
I step close to Drew and link our fingers together. “He couldn’t have a better brother.”
Drew kisses my temple.
“I like you.” She touches Drew’s arm. “Don’t let this one go.”
“I don’t plan to,” Drew says softly. My heart beats a little harder.
Elijah comes running out and smacks into Drew, throwing his arms around Drew’s waist. “You came.”
“Of course, I came. I hate missing your games.” Drew wraps his arms around the boy and hugs him before stepping back beside me. “I brought my girlfriend, Sara, too.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Elijah turns and holds his hand out to me like a little gentleman. Up close, I can see the differences between him and Drew, but he has Drew’s eyes and the resemblance is still a little eerie.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I shake his hand.
“Let’s go get some pizza.” Drew wraps his arm around my waist and leads the way to the waiting car and driver.
Drew
We’re on our way back to our house when Sara turns to me.
“You knew what I’d think. Why didn’t you prepare me?” Her green eyes are curious. There’s no censure in them. Some women would have thrown a fit, but not Sara. Everything she does is done with grace.
I shrug. “It’s not my secret to share. My father does the bare minimum for them and sometimes he forgets to send the monthly payment. He resents she kept Elijah. I didn’t want you to think badly of Leah. She made a mistake with a married man, but she does what she can for her son.”
“I wouldn’t think badly of her, but I’m curious about your father,” she admits.
“You’ll meet him eventually. I think he’s embarrassed of his indiscretion more than anything else.” I take her hand and brush a kiss across her knuckles.
“Does your mother know?” she asks, weaving her fingers with mine as I lower them to my thigh.
I blow out a breath. “Not that she would admit. My family is complicated.”
“Whose isn’t?” Sara smiles.
She has Tom and a younger sister. The minute she saw Elijah, she focused in on him. We look enough alike that I’ve been mistaken for his father when we go out to dinner occasionally. I find it hilarious.
Elijah is always quick to correct them.
Maybe it was a small test to see what she would do. How she would react if I actually had a child with someone else. The women I’ve dated before would have reacted badly, but Sara was just curious. I don’t think I could love her more.
“Leah hasn’t married and she’s raised Elijah on her own.
I didn’t find out about him until five years ago when my parents were arguing and didn’t realize I was home and could hear them.
My mom implied that my father’s mistake was costing them too much.
” I shrug. “I’m not sure if she knows about Elijah or she assumes Dad is paying Leah hush money about their affair.
But when I learned about Leah, I sought her out. That’s when I met Elijah.”
He’s a good kid and was starving for attention from a father figure. My dad wasn’t going to step up, so I did. We share blood and that means something to me.
Sara rests her head against my shoulder. “I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with this on your own all these years.”
“Leah doesn’t have family. They disowned her when she decided to keep the child.” I look out the window. Everyone wanted her to get rid of Elijah, but Leah was stubborn. She could have given him up for adoption, but she didn’t.
I’m glad she didn’t.
“He’s a good kid,” Sara says.
“He’s smart and athletic.” I grin. “I’m hoping to make sure he has a job in the company that he should be part of when he grows up. It’s his inheritance too.”
When we reach the house, I help Sara out of the car and hug her to me.
“Thank you,” I say against her hair.
“What for?” she asks.
“For being you. For not jumping to conclusions—”
“Oh, I jumped to conclusions,” she teases.
I brush my thumb across her lips. “But you didn’t act on them. You waited for an explanation without just deciding I was the worst.”
She reaches up and cups my jaw. “You’re not the worst, Drew. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
My heart swells until it feels like my chest can’t contain it. “Shall we go in and help the others? I think Max is getting antsy.”
She turns to look over her shoulder at Max, one of the security detail protecting the house. He looks about ten seconds away from coming over and ushering us inside.
She nods and I follow her up the steps. Yes, this was my family’s house for a while, but it really wasn’t home until Sara, Wyatt, Finn, and Dante moved into it with me.