I nodded, tapping my glass.
“Right, right. No big deal. Just a guy stopping by to see his daughter.”
The air thickened. Jess’s fork froze halfway to her mouth. Adam set down his wine with a shaking hand.
“W-What are you talking about?” Jess whispered.
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I turned to Lily.
“Hey, sweetheart, who’s Adam?”
She giggled.
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“He’s my real daddy!”
The silence afterward was total.
Then Jess made a strangled sound. Adam turned white!
“We were going to tell you,” he said quickly. “Eventually.”
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“It never felt like the right time,” Jess added, barely audible.
I leaned back, still calm, too calm.
“When would’ve been the right time?” I asked. “After I taught her to ride a bike? After the bedtime stories and the nightmares? Or maybe at her next birthday party, when you both would’ve toasted to ‘family’?”
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No one answered.
Adam stood, palms out like he was pleading.
“Look, man, I just wanted to be there for her.”
“For your daughter?” I asked. “Interesting. You mean the one I’ve been raising for five years? The one who has my name? My eyes? My routines?”
“I didn’t want to ruin everything,” Jess said, tears finally falling. “I was scared. You loved her so much, and I didn’t know how to take that away.”
“You already did,” I said. “You just didn’t admit it.”
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