Special Forces Father

“Yeah...” Dani debated whether or not to address that. Then she decided that he needed the whole story so she said, “Audrey told me that she’d planned never to tell you. She said when she met Owen he was at a time in his life when he regretted that he’d put everything into his career and didn’t have any family. She said you weren’t in a position to be a dad, and she had been afraid to raise kids on her own. She said Owen could be there for them all, that he could take care of the three of them, and that was something she needed. Something she wanted—to be taken care of...”

“That sounds like her,” he acknowledged. “She wasn’t the most strong or independent person.”

And there he was, as strong as they came and exuding the ability to protect. Knowing the kind of woman Audrey had been, Dani could see how she would have been drawn to that. Until she’d had to face the fact that he wouldn’t be around for long periods of time to fill that role.

Dani watched the marine take a deep breath and exhale slowly. “When I got your message I called my older brother. He’s here, in Denver. He got me a lawyer. The lawyer says the first thing that needs to be done is to prove that I am the father. There needs to be a DNA test.”

“The court will need that, too, or they won’t even consider giving you custody... If custody is what you want...”

He didn’t confirm that was what he wanted.

Instead, in a clipped, just-stating-the-facts voice, he said, “The timing tracks. I know it’s possible that I fathered Audrey’s kids. I don’t know that anything would have ever worked out between Audrey and me—there weren’t any plans, and we were just having fun—but if those kids are mine...”

There was resignation in that, but he wasn’t jumping for joy at the possibility.

“I’ll do what’s right,” he ultimately admitted.

“And what’s right might just be finding them a good, loving home with people who want them...” She felt the need to say it. After all, she was there to make sure the kids ended up in the best home possible, and she wasn’t convinced that even a biological father was the right choice if that man wasn’t thrilled with being a parent to them.

“I’ve thought about it, though,” he went on. “And even if they aren’t mine... Well, I considered Audrey a friend—”

A friend with benefits, apparently, Dani thought. But she didn’t say it.

“—and I know she didn’t have anyone. So even if her kids aren’t mine, I want to make sure that they’re taken care of in the best way possible. That they aren’t just left in a bad situation.”

That was commendable.

“And if they are mine,” he continued, “I should get to know them.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” she agreed. Especially since Audrey hadn’t seemed to have any doubt whatsoever that the twins were his.

“So... I don’t know... What would you say to me maybe coming here to stay with the three of you? That way I could help out with them, too, learn some of the ropes, just in case...” His dark eyebrows arched suddenly, showing how baffled he was by this whole thing. “This place is huge and I can bunk anywhere you’d be comfortable with... If you would be comfortable with sharing a place with a complete stranger.”

Dani had to think about that. He was right. She would be agreeing to share a house with a complete stranger. A big, muscular, handsome-as-all-get-out stranger. None of which told her that he was a person she could trust.

On the other hand, Audrey really hadn’t left any question that he was the twins’ father. He’d come from who knew where the minute he’d learned that he might have kids. And while he was obviously shaken by the news, he was still willing to take responsibility whether or not the kids were his, to make sure they were well taken care of.

None of those things spoke of character she shouldn’t—or couldn’t—trust. At least enough to put him in one of the rooms on the upper levels of the house.

And she did think that it would be good for the kids to get to know him. It would be a good idea for her to check him out, too, in case it came to handing Evie and Grady over to him.

“I think it would probably be okay,” she said then. “I’m staying in a room downstairs near the kids, but there are four empty bedrooms up another floor from here, and a guest suite that’s in that sort of box that sits a level higher than that—”

“I wondered what that was. It looks like a tower for an air traffic controller.”

“I know. It’s nice, though. Plush. Plus the view is something to see and there’s a deck to go out onto. The kids and I went up there to watch the city’s fireworks display last summer and it was like being in the sky at eye level with them. Unless you don’t like heights...”

“I’m fine with heights,” he informed her as if there shouldn’t have been any question.

“There’s also an elevator up to it if you don’t want to climb all the stairs,” Dani added.

“I think I’ll be fine with the stairs, too,” he said in the same way he’d said he didn’t have a problem with heights.

And of course he would be all right with the stairs with thighs the size of tree trunks inside those uniform pants, she thought.

But what she said was, “Do you want to stay tonight?”

“My brother and his fiancée are expecting me tonight. I haven’t seen any of my family in over ten months, so I need to check in. But tomorrow—”

“Sure, you can just move in whenever you’re ready.”

He switched gears then. “According to my lawyer we can go to a doctor or to a lab for the DNA tests—it’s just a couple of mouth swabs—but it has to go through channels in order for the court to accept it. The twins must have a doctor, right? I was thinking that if their doctor would do it—somebody they know—they might not be scared. If something like that would scare them... I don’t know.”

But he was thinking of them, of how to make things easiest on them, and Dani appreciated that. “I can call their pediatrician first thing in the morning and set it up. I’ll try for an appointment tomorrow so we can get it in the works,” she offered.

“Good,” he said with a nod and the return of those arched eyebrows that seemed to give away whenever the possible reality of being a dad struck and rattled him. “I got a cell phone when I hit the States. Let me give you the number.”

He did and Dani gave him hers, assuring him that she would let him know if they could get into the doctor the next day.

“Otherwise, what’s a good time for me to move in tomorrow?”

“The kids’ preschool is closed for spring break this coming week and next so I’ll let them sleep until they wake up on their own—eight o’clock at best. After that tomorrow is pretty open.”

“So maybe we’ll just play it by ear?”

“Sure.”

He nodded, keeping his focus on her so that Dani again remembered how weird she looked and wished she didn’t.

But he still didn’t remark on it or question her about it. Instead, after seeming to apply her appearance to memory, he said, “I’ll take off then, get to my brother’s.” He glanced in the direction of the lower level and said, “Should I say goodbye or something?”

Dani almost smiled at the confusion in his voice that said he was at a complete loss of what to do with kids.

“It’s up to you. If you want to. But they get pretty engrossed in their cartoons at wind-down and I wouldn’t expect too much from them.”

“I like that you just said I’m a friend of their mother’s, though. I wasn’t sure who to say I am...”

“Yeah, let’s just start there. They’ve had a lot to deal with since the accident. Keeping things as simple as possible seems to work best.”

“And if I am their father...we’ll figure out how to say that?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“If we come to it.”

So he had some doubts. She supposed he was entitled to that after Audrey kept him in the dark.

Dani walked him to the front door, opening it for him and realizing only then that there was a big, black rented SUV parked in the drive just outside the dance studio, so he must have seen what was going on in there when he arrived.