Page 74 of Enemy Ex's Secret Baby

This can’t be real. There’s no way.

“Excuse me,” Martin mumbles.

“Right, sorry,” I step aside.

He gives me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “Good luck, man.”

My body feels as if it’s made of straw. You might as well post me up in a field to scare away crows, tie me to a fence post. Otherwise I’m going to blow away. Is this real life? Does Stella belong to me? Why did Gillian never tell me? Is this all some sort of sick joke?

Lola closes the door behind Martin, locks the door, and flips the sign to closed.

“How did you know?” Gillian asks in a small voice.

Know. That’s a big word. It’s not a word where doubt exists. It explains what is true.

I’m Stella’s father.

“Gillian, let’s sit. Then we can all talk.”

“Lola, how did you know?”

She looks between the two of us and sighs. “You called me. By accident.”

Gillian frowns. “What?”

The desperation in her voice is more than I can bear. It’s like she doesn’t want me to know and never planned on telling me. I had to find out like this. By accident. My heart breaks.

“You called me by accident! We had just been talking on the phone about planning for the bakery. Must have been lying in bed with your phone out and rolled on it or–” Lola grunts in frustration. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is I heard you talking to yourself. To Stella. Before she was born.”

I could have been there. I should have been there. Gillian kept it from me.

Or…I guess I kept it from myself. By cutting her out the way I did.

“I picked up because I thought you had something you forgot to mention. And I was yelling at you to hang up the phone, that you were butt dialing me. And then, I heard what you were saying. You were telling her that everything was going to be alright, just the two of you. You didn’t need him. You didn’t need Axel.”

Gillian’s face is frozen in horror. I watch her, silently begging for her to look at me.

“That’s how I found out.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Gillian asks in the smallest voice.

I can’t stop myself from interrupting. “Why didn’t you?”

Her whole body winces, looking away from me like I’ve just slammed a door in her face.

Lola touches my arm. “Axel…let’s sit. All of us.”

She takes me by the arm and leads me over to one of the tables. We both sit and wait for Gillian to unstick herself from her spot. She floats across the room, so silent it’s like her feet aren’t touching the floor.

I continue to stare at her. Doesn’t she owe me that much after all these years? The least she can do after keeping my own child from me. My daughter. The two words in my head feel as heavy as bowling balls and yet make my body feel light and…joyful.

I knew there was something about Stella I couldn’t put my finger on. I just never thought it would be this.

“Gillian…” Lola begins. Her hand is still on my arm under the table, steadying me so I don’t do something rash. I don’t know if I have the energy to lash out at Gillian in anger, no more than I already have. But I know if Lola wasn’t grounding me, my entire body would be trembling. “I didn’t say anything because I knew you would tell me when you were ready. I just didn’t think it would take so long.” My sister’s lips twist to the side. “If it didn’t come out like this, I don’t know if you ever would have told me.”

“How could I tell you?” Gillian says, her voice thick with emotion. Tears are not far behind, I can tell. “When you made one rule for me and I broke it?”

“You know our friendship would have been stronger than that,” Lola replies. “Besides…” She eyes me. “I only didn’t want you two to hurt each other.”

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