The Single Dad: Girl’s Sexual Awakening

The only thing I heard was their breathing, the sound of Jenner moving against the wall, Sydney’s hand as it traveled up and down my arm.

“I need to understand this,” my mother finally said. “I thought she gave you paperwork when she left Everly with you?”

“She did,” I replied. “Those papers were generated under the presumption that I was Everly’s biological father. They were legal documents that contained false information.” I stilled, breathing. “She knew I wasn’t the father.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” my dad said. “Why did she give you a child who wasn’t yours?”

“Everly’s father was a criminal. A son of a bitch who had quite the rap sheet. Rebecca knew he wouldn’t provide.” My hands fucking shook as Rebecca’s words echoed in my head, causing my arm to throb. “Aside from the father’s lack of interest in childrearing, Rebecca didn’t want to be a mother. What she had told me the night she gave Everly to me-the abortion attempt, the adoption arrangement-that was all true.”

“So, she devised a plan,” Dominick said.

I looked at my oldest brother and nodded. “Once she found out she was pregnant”-I lifted my uninjured arm, pressing my palm onto the top of my head-“I was the lucky guy who walked into the bar at just the right time.”

“You’re well dressed,” Jenner said. “You opened a tab with a black card. She asked a few questions, found out you’re a lawyer, where you live-she had her man.” He shook his head. “She probably got you so drunk that you wouldn’t remember if you’d put on a condom.”

That was the way he saw it.

Probably the way all of them did.

Not me.

I wasn’t the sucker who’d walked into the bar that night.

I was the man who’d eventually become Everly’s father.

I didn’t care that I’d gotten hustled.

I didn’t care that I’d gotten lied to.

She wasn’t a fucking burden.

She was the biggest blessing of my life.

I looked at Sydney, who hadn’t known any of this. Who had apologized endlessly for lying when there was something I was holding back from her.

Something I’d like to think I would have eventually told her, but I didn’t know if that was true.

And as I stared into her eyes, I said, “She wanted her daughter to have a better life. Better than hers. Better than growing up in foster homes, like she had, apparently. So, she gambled on me.” I looked at my family. “She chose the right man.”

“I told you not to trust that woman,” my father said. “The moment we rushed over to your house the night you got her, we asked you if you were positive the baby was yours.”

I came from a family of lawyers. I’d been trained at birth not to trust anyone.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

But this wasn’t about trust.

This was about love.

This was about Everly.

“And I told you she was my daughter,” I shot back. “Because, despite how fucking stressed and overwhelmed I was, I wasn’t going to give her up.” I clenched my fingers together, the same way Everly’s tiny hand had gripped my finger that night. “She was mine.”

More silence spread across the room.

“I can’t fathom why you wouldn’t tell us,” my mother said.

“Why?” I took my time glancing at each of their faces. “Would you have loved her any differently?”

“You still should have told us,” my father said.

“What would it have changed?” I challenged. “The way you looked at her? The way you treated her? Nah. It wouldn’t have made a difference. That little girl is my daughter.” I looked at my parents. “She’s your granddaughter.” I glanced at my brothers. “She’s your niece. Period.”

Dominick’s expression told me he agreed.

Jenner’s too.

“But what if, legally, you lose all parental rights?” Dominick asked. “What if Rebecca comes back and takes her from you?”

“She can’t, Dominick. Give me more credit than that, asshole.” My voice lowered as I added, “Her parental rights were terminated. I legally adopted Everly.”

It didn’t matter that she’d just turned five and she’d legally been mine for almost as many years; saying those words came with such relief.

“What about the father?” Jenner asked. “You haven’t mentioned anything about his rights. Does he not know she’s his? Or that he has a daughter? What if he comes back and wants her?”

I glanced at the floor, a path that I’d paced several times today. “He’s dead.”

Another fact Jefferson had found during the legal process.

A copy of his death certificate was even in my safe.

“Ford …” Sydney’s voice cut through the quiet room, her fingers still tightly linked with mine. “I know Rebecca has no contact with Everly, but does she have any desire to?”

“No,” I replied. “Every year, on Everly’s birthday, I send her a photo. I just want her to see her. I …” My voice trailed off as I exhaled, trying to come up with a way to describe my motivation. “I don’t know. I guess I just want her to know she’s well cared for and loved. That there’s someone in this world who’s a part of her.” I took in Sydney’s eyes, their softness, gentleness. “She’s never once acknowledged the photos or reached out.”

“You’re a good man, Ford.”

I glanced at Dominick just as he finished speaking. “I wouldn’t say that, Dom. I’m just a father who loves his daughter with every fiber of his being. When Rebecca handed over that little girl, when I held her, when I smelled her, she was mine. No one and nothing would ever take her from me.”

“I still wish you had told us,” my mother said.

I gazed at her.

And I tried to put myself in her position, to process what it would feel like to be hit with this news.

“Mom, I can understand how shocking this is, especially to find out this way, but I want you to remember something. Everly is half me. The moment Rebecca set her in my arms, my duty was to protect her. One day, I’m going to have to tell that little girl this same story, and she deserves to hear it from me. That was the main reason I didn’t tell anyone.” My stare shifted between each family member. “What matters, what’s most important, is that she’s a Dalton, whether she has our blood or not.”

The moment the words left my mouth, there was a knock on the door, the same nurse walking in as before.

She glanced around the room until she found me and said, “Everly’s in recovery. You’re more than welcome to go see her now.”

Without any hesitation, I pushed myself off the wall, continuing to hold Sydney’s hand. We walked out of the room and followed the nurse down the hallway.