“Do you want me to call John and let him know we’ll be ready in a half hour?”
Talk about being in a rush. “Tell him forty-five minutes.” He watched her walk away. She wasn’t wearing her usual sundress and sandals. Today, she was all business—a straight black skirt and tailored jacket with heels. She looked every bit the role of take-charge entrepreneur. And maybe that was all she wanted to be.
His interactions with Sarah didn’t improve over the next several hours. Not in the car on the way to the airport, not on the plane, not in the car back to the apartment. Aiden wasn’t sure what he wanted from her—something more than a minimal acknowledgment that they’d shared a fantastic night? He hated the thought of wanting that or needing it, but he did. He had this need for her approval that he’d never experienced before. He needed her to say that she’d enjoyed it—even though he was certain she had. More than a small part of him wished that she’d say that she wanted to do it again. He’d been right to worry that sex would ruin their friendship. And for now, he had to focus on salvaging it.
Of course, his deadline with Sarah loomed. Ten days had seemed like a long time the day she walked into his office, but it had gone so fast. There was so much left to do, especially after the paternity results were back tomorrow. First to tackle was the nanny situation, which Aiden wasn’t looking forward to revisiting.
They arrived back at his building midafternoon.
“I just got a text from the nanny agency,” Sarah said. “They’re sending one more candidate over at three.”
“One? That’s it? You’d think that with the money I would be paying that there would be more options than one more.”
“Between your standards and mine, the pool is limited. Plus, it takes time to find a good nanny. And we don’t have any.” Sarah put on her sunglasses and climbed out of the car.
Aiden grumbled and followed, not wanting to chase after her, but he had to—she was walking at a clip. “Do you mind telling me what’s going on? You’ve been weird since last night and I don’t like it. If we need to talk about something, then please let’s do it so that the next few days can be tolerable.”
“I don’t want to talk about it on the sidewalk. Can we wait until we get upstairs?”
John was blazing his own trail up the walk with their suitcases.
“Yes. Of course.” Aiden turned and stopped him. “You know, John. I’ve got this. Why don’t you knock off for the rest of the day? I’m sure you’d like to spend some time with your family.” Aiden took the luggage.
“Sir?”
“Is there a problem?”
“No, sir. None at all. I just...you’ve never sent me home early before.”
“Some things are more important than sitting around waiting on me. I realize it’s your job, but I also just took you away from your family for a night. If I need to go anywhere, I’ll get a cab.”
John shook Aiden’s hand. “Thank you so much, sir. I appreciate it. I’ll be here bright and early tomorrow morning.”
“Great. I might go into the office for a few hours.” It’ll keep my mind off the paternity test.
Aiden bid John his farewell and caught up to Sarah in the lobby. They rode in the elevator in silence. He didn’t want to launch into everything right now anyway. He was looking forward to seeing Oliver too much and he didn’t want to be in a bad mood when that happened.
His normally quiet apartment was noisy when he and Sarah stepped off the elevator. Music was playing and there was laughter, too—Oliver and Anna both, from the sound of it. Aiden left the suitcases in the entry, in search of the fun. He found them in the library. Jacob was lying on the floor, holding Oliver by the waist above him, letting him drop a few inches, and quickly catching him. Oliver unleashed peals of giggles, as did Anna, who was sitting next to Jacob on the floor. They were oblivious to Aiden and Sarah, too stuck in their happy world.
Aiden was overcome with a feeling impossible to label—longing, regret, sadness and joy. He loved seeing Anna and Jacob like this. He loved hearing Oliver’s laugh. He loved seeing what a family looked like against the backdrop of his own home. It gave him an entirely different lens through which to see his future, a view that filled him with optimism and yet there was a nagging sense that not all was right. There were pieces missing. Aiden not only didn’t know how to find the pieces, he didn’t know what to look for.
Anna turned and her face lit up. “Look who’s home, Oliver. It’s Daddy.”
Tears welled in his eyes. Daddy. That’s who I am now.