Page 20 of Skylar

Skylar shrugged. “It wasn’t the best experience I’ve ever had.”

“Was he shocked?”

“Oh yes. He told me that the reason he said I should “get rid of it” was because he didn’t think I was actually pregnant. That I was just pretending so that he’d get back together with me. And the fact that Cole never mentioned me being pregnant or having a baby reinforced what he thought.”

“I guess that could be understandable,” Charli said. “But still… He should have known you better than that.”

Skylar propped her chin on her knees. “It seemed that at the end, neither of us knew the other very well. The boy I thought I knew never would have done what he did.”

“What does he seem like now?”

“From the look of the office he has, the company he works for is successful. He was wearing a suit, which was something he never really enjoyed doing as a teen.”

“How did he deal with you?”

“Well, he didn’t shoo me out of his office or anything,” she said. “Since then, he’s had more questions, and he’d like to meet Shiloh.”

“Really?” Charli tilted her head. “What did you tell him?”

“That I would have to talk to her adoptive parents. I haven’t told him anything about Shiloh beyond her diagnosis. Not her name, nor who adopted her.”

“You can tell him,” Charli said. “Blake and I wouldn’t have a problem with that. I’d also like Shiloh to learn who you both are to her.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you so willing to let Shiloh know who her birth parents are?” Skylar asked. “Wouldn’t it be confusing for her?”

“When we told her that she was adopted, we talked about the different roles we played in her life. She knows that regardless of who gave birth to her, she is ours and belongs in our family. If her adoptive parents are in her life, their roles would be more like aunt and uncle.”

“Kind of like how I already am in her life.”

“Yep. So you can tell Aiden who adopted her, and maybe Blake and I can meet with him before he meets Shiloh.”

Skylar didn’t want any of that to happen. And though she didn’t have total control, she was still going to try to limit any damage Aiden might do to their family.

She needed to make a couple of phone calls. One was to Denise, her supervisor, to request more time off. The second would be to the lawyer they’d used for the adoption. Before she gave Aiden any information, she wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to mess things up for Charli, Blake, and Shiloh.

She didn’t say any of that to Charli or her mom. They might be willing to give Aiden the benefit of the doubt, but Skylar wasn’t. He’d hurt her a bit too much for her to ever give him that much trust again.

Skylar listened as Charli and her mom discussed the tests Shiloh had undergone and what the treatment would entail. It sounded like too much for the little girl to have to endure,and Skylar couldn’t help but wonder why God would allow something like that to happen.

If she could switch places with Shiloh, she would. Anything to spare her little girl the pain she was enduring. But that wasn’t an option.

Over the course of the next couple of hours, they chatted about all kinds of things. Skylar could see that Charli was glad to be able to focus on something else for a short period of time.

Before she left, Charli gave Skylar a tight hug. “Please come by and see Shiloh. I know she would love to see you.”

Skylar didn’t want to promise anything, but she nodded. “I’ll try.”

After Charli left, Skylar headed up to her room, while her dad joined her mom in the den.

She didn’t know how long she’d be in Serenity, but she knew she needed to be there through the next weekend for the testing. Though she did have vacation time and some favors to call in, she couldn’t take off time indefinitely.

But the more pressing call was to the lawyer to get that all sorted out.

Skylar stared out the car window at the two-story brick building as her dad turned into the parking lot next to it. Her stomach was a mess of nerves, and she was so glad her parents had come with her. At first, she hadn’t been sure they should, but now, she was glad that they had.

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