In the quiet, his breaths finally became deeper and more deliberate. Julia’s steady presence was his lighthouse in the storm that raged inside him. He leaned into it, feeling the solidity of her support without the need for words.
A minute passed, maybe more. In the shelter of the silence, he found a fragile sense of grounding, a precarious foothold in the landslide of his emotions. The initial shock that had frozen him began to thaw, replaced by a swirling mix of gratitude, loss, and an indescribable sense of being adrift. But Julia remained his anchor.
Finally, he took a deep breath, loosening his hold on her slightly, a nonverbal cue of his readiness to face the world again, no matter how altered it now was.
He gathered the shards of his composure, desperately trying to navigate the uncharted and tumultuous waters.
He eased back, finally opening his eyes. “Julia,” he began, his voice hoarse with emotion, “thank you for being here with me.”
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” she answered, her voice soft and her eyes glowing with concern.
“I don’t know…what to do.” He wiped a tear that had escaped to his cheek.
“There’s no right answer here. We’ll handle this however you want to. Together.” She squeezed his hands in hers.
“But that’s just it. I don’t know. What…happens now? I…” He blew out a steadying breath. “I just want to believe Kyle did this as a cruel prank.”
“I know. And if that’s what helps you cope, that’s okay. But I want to say that I don’t think Kyle would do that. I know your relationship with him is still difficult, but I don’t think he’d do something like this.”
Grant bobbed his head as he shifted his gaze away from her. “I know…” His features pinched again. “Deep down, I know that. You wouldn’t have gone to him if you thought he would. But I can’t…she was my baby.”
“She still is,” Julia answered.
He focused on her again, his forehead creased. “But she’s not.”
“She is,” Julia insisted. “Listen to me. You are her father in every way that matters. And she is your daughter. You don’t share DNA. So what?”
“So…she’s not mine. She’s…not.”
“Are you saying, then, that I can never really be a mother to her? No matter how close we’ve become, I’m not really her mother?”
“No, of course not. You are more of a mother to her than Lydia ever was. Julia, you have to know that.”
She lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “Well, there you go. We don’t share DNA. And you don’t think that matters.”
The words soothed him beyond what he expected was possible in this moment. Julia had walked into his family, changing them forever. And the fact that she hadn’t given birth to either of his children made no difference to them or to her.
“You are always going to be her father.”
He paused, the words sinking in as his thoughts drifted to Sierra. “It’s strange. Biology seems so crucial until you realize it’s love and the day-to-day living that makes a family. Sierra will always be my daughter in all ways that matter. I just hope…I can be the father she needs.”
“You will be,” Julia reassured him.
He shook his head. “I don’t know how I’m going to tell her. She…this is going to be hard for her…and me.”
“Okay, well, we’ll deal with that when you’re ready. We don’t have to tell her right now. We don’t have to tell her ever.”
“But Kyle knows.”
“And he will never say a word to her.”
“That I don’t trust,” Grant said, feeling a bit more like his old self. “He’ll shout it the first time he needs to win an argument.”
Julia shook her head. “No. I never would have gone to him if I thought he’d do that. He realizes how sensitive of a topic this is. He won’t say anything. So, we can do this onyourtimeline, okay?”
Grant swallowed hard, scrubbing his face as he bit his lower lip. “Oh…I don’t want to ever tell her. Never.”
“Okay. That’s okay. She doesn’t need to know,” Julia agreed with a nod.
