Raging Love(46)

I sat down in front of the little boy and just took him in. His perfect little fingers were still folded together across his lap. I couldn’t speak. There was no way this could be happening to me, no way I had a child and didn’t know about it.

Say something to the kid, you idiot…..

Savanna’s voice broke my train of thought. “What do we have to do next? Are there papers we need to sign? A paternity test?”

“Yes, all of the above Ma’am. We do require a paternity test if the father has no knowledge of the child, for legality purposes of course. The paperwork is standard. We have a list of his medical history as well as a psychological report from the hospital that treated him. It would be best if we took care of this as soon as possible. We would also need to know that you have room in your home for him, which obviously you do,” the gentleman explained.

I stood up and held my hand out for the little boy. “It’s very nice to meet you, Noah.”

He shook my hand and looked at my wedding ring. “Are you married to that pretty lady?” He pointed to Savanna. “My mommy was getting married before she had her accident.” His eyes got sad and he looked down at his lap again.

“Noah, would you like that pretty lady, whose name is Savanna, to give you a tour of the house?”

He smiled and looked at her as she approached. “Okay.”

Oh God! I needed to talk to my wife. How could I expect her to be okay with something like this?

She reached out her hand and he promptly took it, trusting her already. When I saw them getting to the top of the stairs, I turned to face the two agents. “After seein’ him with my own eyes, I would be a fool to deny that he is my child. I will take any test you need and sign all of the documents. I don’t know why she kept somethin’ like this from me. She knew I always wanted kids.”

The woman caught me off guard when she spoke. “When we visited with her father, he told us she didn’t think you wanted children with her. When she finally had decided to tell you, you were already engaged to be married to someone else. She thought telling you would ruin your happiness. By that time, she had met someone herself and they were raising him together.”

“But my name is on the birth certificate?”

“Yes Sir, it was the first documentation we pulled.”

“How old is he?”

“His birthday is January 4, he is three and a half years old.”

I started calculating everything in my head. “She was six months pregnant when she moved out? How could I have not known something like that?”

“Mr. Mitchell we have had cases where mothers delivered healthy babies full term and never knew they were with child.”

“Still, I should have been told. I missed out on so much of his life.”

The woman opened her brief case and pulled out a bunch of forms. “I need you to sign these and we can do an oral swab on both of you today, if that is still okay?”

“Of course. How long until we know the results?” I asked.

“A couple days. In the meantime, we can petition the court for temporary custody. In an emergency situation like this, the judge will usually speed things up. We could know something as early as tonight if we turn this in before noon today.”

“You can use my office. The computer and fax machine are in there.”

“That is a big help. Thank you, Sir.”

Savanna and Noah started walking down the steps. He never let go of her hand. Her face had no expression, but I couldn’t blame her. I had no idea what I was going to say to her.

Noah and Savanna stood in front of me. “Do you like the house?”

He shook his head. “It’s so big.”

“It is big, but only because we wanted to fill it with cute kids.”

He looked down at his feet. I grabbed his chin and lifted it up. “Would you like to live here and fill one of those rooms with lots of cool stuff?”

He said nothing, but as if it were slow motion, he let go of Savanna’s hand and plopped his body against mine, hugging me tight. I wrapped my arms around his little body and took in his scent.

I had a son.

This was my child.

I was a father.

The two agents looked from each other and then back to Noah and I. “We are going to go outside and make some calls. Is it okay if the child stays here?” The woman asked.

“Of course.”

When the agents went outside, I grabbed Noah and took him into the kitchen. Savanna always had some sort of ice-cream in the freezer. We sat him down on a high stool and leaned across from him watching him eat his ice cream sandwich. “Is it good?”

“Yes. I love ice cream. Mommy didn’t let me have it. She said it would make my teeth icky.” He looked sad again.