Page 56 of The Girl He Loves

Like a balloon that’s lost all its air, my anger deflates. “Yeah, that might have been better than my knee-jerk reaction.” My snap decision, made without all the facts, sent me down a path I never imagined. The one good outcome? Tyler. I could never have regrets about him. I say, “But you know what would have been the best solution? Talking it out.”

For a moment, we sit in silence. Maybe he’s thinking of the what-ifs, too.

In a quiet voice Dax asks again, “Could Tyler be mine?”

“I got pregnant on the Fourth of July. He was due mid-May, but they took him a month early; my amniotic fluid was low. I don’t see how he could be yours. Justin’s an accountant. You think he’d do the math. Tyler was born at thirty-six weeks. If we account for the six-week gap from our last get-together to July Fourth and say he was born full term, then that would have made him forty-two weeks.”

“Is that not possible then? Does that not happen?”

When looking at the timeline that way, well…there’s a possibility.

“But I had a period between when we were last together and when I was with Justin.” Even saying that out loud sounds weak.

“So, you think it might be possible.” Dax is leaning forward, nearly vibrating off the couch.

“Maybe.” What if Dax is Tyler’s dad? I cover my mouth in horror. “I never even considered you. I had a period. There was no reason to think…” I struggle to wrap my brain around the possibility.

If this is true, what comes next?

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