Page 36 of Riggs
With a clenched jaw, Neil shakes his head. "I'll never forgive myself for not finding out. Had I done so, I could have easily found she had a baby, and you would have been mine. I'm so fucking sorry, Luna. I have no words to express how sorry I am." By the look on Neil's face and his red-rimmed eyes, I don't doubt the sincerity of his words. I have two choices here. I can choose to be angry at the mistakes made or decide to move on. If Neil is, in fact, my dad, I'd like very much to get to know him and his family. At that thought, I'm quick to ask. "Are you married? Do you have children?"
"No. I've never married, and I don't have any children. You do have a grandmother and a grandfather who are excited to meet you, though."
"You told your parents about me already? We don't even know for sure if I'm your daughter."
"You're my daughter, Luna. Not only do you look just like Amelia, and have my eyes, but she gave you my mother's name."
I swallow past the lump in my throat. "What?"
"It's true. Luna is my mother's name. Amelia grew up without her mother. The first time she met mine, she said if she had her mother in her life, she wished she would have been like mine. I may never find out why Amelia chose to keep her pregnancy from me, but her giving our daughter my mother's name tells me she cared for me as much as I did for her and she loved you. I have no doubt your mother loved you with all her heart, Luna."
By the time Neil is finished telling me about my name, I can no longer hold back the tears and Riggs is immediately by my side, pulling me into his arms. "You okay, baby?" he asks, then swipes the tears away with the pad of his thumb.
"I'm okay. It's just a lot to take in is all." I turn to Neil. "I'm sorry I'm such a mess."
He shakes his head. "There's nothing to be sorry for."
"How about we put this chat on hold for now. Take a breather," Riggs suggests. Neil and I agree. We have all the time in the world to get to know each other.
Just then something over my shoulder gains Riggs' attention, and I turn to see Nova standing by the front door of the clubhouse with a woman. I look to Riggs to see what's going on. "This is Dr. Teagan. She's going to handle the DNA test."
Dr. Teagan is a beautiful blonde woman wearing a burgundy pencil skirt, cream-colored button-down blouse, and four-inch leopard print heels. Coming to stand in front of Neil, she offers a warm smile. "The test is simple. I'm going to take what looks like a large Q-tip and swab the inside of your cheek," she explains, holding up the swab. I nod. Seems simple enough. I watch as Dr. Teagan swabs the inside of Neil's mouth before she places it in a tube. She then repeats the process on me. "That's it." She packs her things away in her bag. "I'll put a rush on the test. We will know the results in a day or two." Slinging her bag over her shoulder, Dr. Teagan leaves the clubhouse with Nova's hand on her ass.
I turn to Riggs. "Is she his girlfriend?" He gives me an exasperated look. "No. They have a casual thing going on. Same goes for the principal at his daughter’s school, the woman who owns the boutique two blocks over and the tarot card reader who sets up shop on the corner of Bourbon Street."
"I'm beginning to see why you guys call him Nova."
