“I think you should tell him who I am,” Ryan said in an almost whisper. When Kennedy shook her head in disagreement, he knew he needed to prove himself.
“I know who you are,” the little boy—his son—piped up. “You play for the Rebels. The Rebels are my favorite team.” Ryan appreciated the weak smile Riley had managed to give him.
“I do.” He took a step towards them but paused when Kennedy backed up. It tore at his heart that she didn’t want him near their son. “Please,” he mouthed to her. With a subtle nod, he took a confident step towards them.
Ryan stared into Riley’s face, immediately noticing the color of his eyes. They were his eyes. Riley was a miniature version of him, aside from the deep toffee color of his skin and the dark ringlets of hair.
His gaze darted up to lock on Kennedy’s. “You should have told me.”
“I tried—” she stopped and turned to the older woman who’d come to stand in the doorway. “Mama, please take Riley and give him something to eat.”
“No! I don’t want to eat anything.”
Ryan watched as Riley’s jaw trembled and a tear rolled down his cheek. He saw how Kennedy swallowed hard and how her fingers trembled as she wiped her stray tear. She forced a smile and kissed Riley’s cheek, “How about you have some Fruit Loops? Do you want to try that?” Riley nodded and willingly went with his grandmother but not before he gave Ryan a little wave.
“How bad is it?” Ryan asked, his eyes following Riley as he disappeared into another room.
“It’s the chemotherapy. It’s wearing him out.” Kennedy dropped onto the sofa and let out a breath that was quickly followed by sobs.
“I’ll just go sit in the car.” Matt, who’d been silent this whole time, excused himself.
Ryan waited till the door swung shut behind his friend and sank down next to Kennedy, reaching for her hand. Surprisingly, she let him take it. “I want to put him on my insurance. My lawyer says you will need to sign a few things to say that I’m his birth father. I also want the three of you to move in with me—”
“We don’t need all that.” Kennedy cut him off, jerking her hand away. “The insurance maybe, but I won’t have you appear and disappear from his life. He can’t handle that; I sure as hell couldn’t.”
Ryan winced at the accusation. Matt had told him about her suicide. If she had succeeded, he wouldn’t have a child. He’d never have known his son. “You are the mother of my son and possibly, we could be having a second child.” He paused, musing “You know, I found it odd that you never insisted on using protection.”
“That would have defeated the purpose, don’t you think?” Kennedy stared at him for a while before she finally asked, “We have survived this long without you. You can’t come here and take over.”
“I’m not trying to take over. You are a great mom,” he said in defeated tone. “I just want to be with my family.” Ryan paused, not sure what he wanted her answer to his next question to be. “Are you pregnant?”
“No.” She shook her head then said, more softly, “I don’t know.”
“Where were you going before we arrived?” Ryan had seen the look on her face when she opened the door, just before she had spotted him. He knew that look; she was running away.
“I don’t know. But I- I couldn’t take it anymore. He was pulling out his own hair and crying. I just—”
Ryan nodded in understanding. “I’m here now, and we are going to do this together. When does he need the bone marrow transplant?”
“In a few weeks, after they are done with the chemotherapy and maybe radiation. Why? If I’m pregnant, you don’t need to be involved, so why do you want to know?”
“Because I am going to be his donor.” Kennedy’s eyes widened and she stared at him in amazement. “A few weeks and we’ll be done with the season, too, so that’s good.”
Her face fell, her gaze narrowing instantly. “Do you care about anything apart from football and yourself?”
Ryan was about to give his own sharp retort, but he remembered what he had put her through. He was a grown up now though, with a child—or children—to look after. “Football is my job, and I can’t stop working. It’s looking like we’ll win the division championships, and if we can win the Super Bowl, there’ll be endorsement deals. We need the money to pay for his treatments and anything else he might need in the future. And then there is the new baby—”