Page 39 of Spring UnVeiled
When Evan left for the day, he felt confident about Monday.It was Saturday morning that was going to tear him apart.
He’d made arrangements for the DNA test.
Chapter16
Genevieve didn’t knowhow to feel as they rode back to the hospital where Ian had been born a week before.As a schoolteacher, she’d been involved in several custody cases.She agreed that children should be raised by their parents, unless the parents were pieces of shit.She didn’t think Lieutenant Chaney would fall into that category.What worried her more than anything else was the fact that he was single.She knew all too well the life of a SEAL and last-minute missions.
“Is there anything we can do?”Her frustration was palpable.“We have custody.”
“We were granted emergency custody so Ian wouldn’t have to go into the social services system.”Evan reached over and took her hand in his.“I hate to remind you, but we still haven’t had our inspection.”
“If this lieutenant is Ian’s father, does he have to go through any of that?”She already knew the answer and she didn’t like it.
“No.Fathers are allowed to have custody of their children, no questions or inspections required.”Evan gave her hand a squeeze.“He has every right to his son.Kylie tried to tell him she was pregnant, but he’d changed phones.He truly didn’t know.You should’ve seen the look of shock on his face when he saw Kylie’s picture.”
“I’m putting you on notice right now.I’m not going to completely give up this baby.I’m going to be part of his life, no matter what the baby’s daddy says.”She’d already made up her mind and was willing to fight for visitation rights at the very least.She knew other grandparents who got their grandchildren every other weekend.
“We’ll do what we can,” he reassured her.
Lieutenant Chaney was already at the hospital lab when they arrived.“Sir.Ma’am, I’m Lieutenant Dylan Chaney.”
When he shook Genevieve’s hand, his steady gaze made her heart drop.Ian had his beautiful eyes.
A lab technician came through the locked door with two sterile swabs.“Lieutenant, if you’ll just open wide.”He quickly shoved the wet cotton into the tube before turning to the infant in the carrier.“Babies aren’t nearly as easy.”But a minute later, after unhappy howls from Ian, the job was done.“There’s a rush on this one so you should get a call by the end of the day.”
Before they could turn and leave, Lieutenant Chaney asked, “May I see the baby?”
Genevieve reached in the carrier and unbuckled him.When she handed her grandson over to Dylan, she had tears in her eyes.She could tell he didn’t know how to hold the baby, so she readjusted his arms to the correct position.
“I have so much to learn, don’t I?”Without taking his eyes off the baby he kept talking.“I wasn’t able to sleep last night because I was trying to decide what was best for Ian.I want to be part of my son’s life but I’m not sure how to do that as a single father and a SEAL.How am I going to be able to adequately take care of the baby?What’s going happen when my team gets called and we have an hour before we’re wheels up?”
She took Evan’s hand.“We want to be part of Ian’s life.”She fought back tears.“The baby is all we have left of our daughter.We are here for Ian, and by extension, for you.”
“We understand that as the father you are entitled to complete custody.”Evan gripped her hand as he continued, “I’m asking not as your commanding officer, but as the grandfather of that baby.We want to be part of his life.”
“We told Kylie the same thing and that’s when she decided to keep the baby.”
Lieutenant Chaney looked up in horror.“She was going to put my son up for adoption without ever telling me?”
“She tried to get ahold of you and tell you several times after you deployed.I can show you the texts from her phone.”Evan sounded very defensive of Kylie.“We recently learned that you had changed your phone number days before deploying.”
When the baby started to fuss, the Lieutenant handed him back to Genevieve.“Let’s first confirm that he’s mine.I would truly appreciate any help you are able to give me.”
Later that evening, Lieutenant Chaney called the house.Since Evan was dealing with the diaper, Genevieve was making the bottle and answered the phone.
“Ms.Hubbard, this is Lieutenant Chaney.The hospital just notified me that there is a ninety-nine percent chance that Ian is my son.”He hesitated a second.“I know he’s mine.I talked to an attorney over at the JAG office this morning.They said the first thing I need to do is to get the birth certificate corrected with my name as the father.”
“Okay,” was the only word she could get out around her tightening throat.
The young man let out a long breath.“Once I have the new birth certificate, I can put in for base housing since he’ll be a dependent.The bad news is, they are telling me I could be on the list for months.They said perhaps during summer rotation a house might become available for us.”
“That sounds about right.”Genevieve had been around the military long enough to know the standard rotations.
“I spent a little time online looking for two-bedroom apartments, but this is Coronado.I saw a few that might work over on the mainland.I’m going to go look at one tomorrow.”
Genevieve knew all about the real estate on Coronado.They had totally lucked into their house twenty years ago.She’d watched real estate prices climb astronomically.
“In the meantime, Ms.Hubbard, would you and the captain consider continuing to take care of Ian for me?I can pay you.”He quickly added the last.
