Chapter 11
eleven
. . .
Jake
The email comes through at seven forty-five Monday morning, before I have even finished my first coffee.
From: Ryan Cole
Subject: My office – 8:30 AM
That’s it. No message in the body of the email. No pleasantries. No agenda. Just a summons. My stomach drops. He knows.
Of course he knows. Natalie said she was going to tell him this weekend, and clearly she did.
By eight twenty-five, I am outside his office, because somehow showing up early feels less risky than walking in right on time. His assistant looks up from her computer and gives me a quick, tight smile.
“He’s expecting you. Go on in.”
Ryan is standing at the window when I walk in, hands in his pockets, looking out over downtown LA like he owns it. He might.
“Close the door,” he says.
My heart starts hammering so hard it feels like the only sound in the room. I close the door. He doesn’t turn around right away. When he does, his expression is unreadable. Not angry. Not smiling. Just serious. The kind of serious that makes opposing counsel fold during depositions.
“Sit.”
I sit. He doesn’t take his chair. He leans against the front of his desk instead, arms crossed. It’s a power move, subtle but deliberate. I’ve seen him do it in negotiations. The physical positioning, the controlled stillness. He’s establishing the terms of this conversation before it even starts.
I settle back in my chair, let my shoulders relax. I’m not going to play small here. Whatever he needs to say, I can handle it.
“Natalie told me,” he says.
I nod.
“She told me how you met. That you’ve run into each other at events over the years. That she attended your Fourth of July party.” His voice is calm. Measured. “She also told me neither of you had any idea she was pregnant until you took her to the clinic.”
“That’s all true,” I say evenly. “I didn’t know she was your daughter, Ryan. If I had, I never would have put either of you in this position.”
He watches me for a beat, then nods. “I know. She made that clear.”
The tension in the room shifts slightly. Not gone, but different. He believes me. That’s something.
“What I need to know is this.” He uncrosses his arms, plants his hands on the edge of the desk. “Are you planning to be involved? With the baby.”
I don’t hesitate. “Absolutely. If she’ll let me, I’m all in.”
“And if she doesn’t?” His gaze doesn’t waver. “If she decides she wants to handle this on her own.”
I hold his eyes. “I want to be part of my child’s life. If Natalie doesn’t want me in her life romantically, I’ll respect that. But I’m going to show up for this baby however she’ll let me. Every appointment. Every decision. I’m not going anywhere.”
Ryan studies me for a long moment. The silence stretches. I’ve had easier cross-examinations.
Finally, he nods once. “Good. Because I missed ten years with her.” His voice drops a notch.
“Ten years I can’t get back. I wasn’t there when her mom was pregnant.
I missed her firsts. All of them. I know exactly what that feels like, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
Not even an opposing counsel I hate.” A corner of his mouth twitches.
My throat tightens. “I won’t miss any of it,” I say. And I mean it.
“I’m glad to hear that.” His expression softens just a fraction. “She needs people who are going to show up. People who do what they say they will do.”
“I will.”
He uncrosses his arms. “Which is why I’m not firing you, in case that’s been keeping you up at night.”
The laugh that escapes me is half relief, half disbelief. “It crossed my mind.”
“You are one of my best attorneys, Jake. I’m not losing you because you got my daughter pregnant.” He pauses. “Although maybe we don’t talk about that fact in a client meeting.”
“Noted.” The knot in my stomach finally unwinds.
Ryan walks around the desk and sinks into his chair. Then his expression hardens again, and the dad side of him tags the lawyer back in. “That said,” he says, voice quieter but sharper, “if you hurt her, I will make your life miserable in ways that are both creative and fully legal.”
“Yes sir.”
“You break her trust, you disappear on her, you turn this into one more story she has about men who do not show up, and I will spend the rest of my career making sure every contract you touch feels like penance. Do we understand each other?”
“Perfectly,” I say. “I’m not going to disappear on her. I’m not going to hurt her. That’s not who I am.”
He holds my gaze for another long moment, and I don’t flinch. I mean every word, and I need him to see that.
“Good.” He leans back, watching me for another beat. The intensity eases, just a hair. But his look lingers for a long moment like he is weighing something. Then he nods, slowly. “Natalie has walls,” he says. “You’ve probably noticed.”
“A little,” I say.
“They’re there for a reason,” he continues.
His voice is not sharp now, just tired. “She’s had people let her down.
More than once. It’s not my story to tell, and I’m not going to stand here and give you a play-by-play of her worst moments.
” He holds my gaze. “But if you are serious about being in her life, you need to understand that pushing her is the fastest way to lose her.”
“I hear you,” I say. “I don’t need easy. I just need time. And the chance to prove I mean what I say.”
Something like approval flickers across his face.
“Then here’s my advice,” he says. “Show up when you say you will. Don’t make promises you cannot keep.
Don’t try to fix her. She doesn’t need fixing.
She needs consistency.” He taps his pen against the desk once.
“And for God’s sake, don’t try to turn this into some grand romance before she’s even caught her breath.
Let her be freaked out. Let her be angry. Stay anyway.”
“I can do that,” I say. “I will do that.”
He studies me one more time, then nods, like he has come to a decision. “All right.” He stands, signaling that the meeting is over. “In that case, consider this your official welcome to whatever version of the family we are building here.”
The word lands heavier than I expect. Family. We haven’t defined what Natalie and I are to each other yet, but we are connected now, permanently. Through this baby. Through every choice we make from here.
“Thank you,” I say, standing too. “For not firing me. For being understanding about all of this.”
As I walk back to my office, I replay what he said about Natalie. That wasn’t just my boss giving me a warning. That was Natalie’s father trusting me with something precious.
I’m not going to let either of them down.