Johnson made a mental note. Tomorrow, they were going shopping. But tonight, he had something else to do.
It was almost eight o’clock when the elevator opened directly into Johnson’s penthouse. Veronica was waiting, pacing the living room, a glass of wine in her hand. Her eyes locked onto Mary.
“So, this is her,” Veronica said, her voice like ice. “The… supposed daughter.”
“Her name is Mary,” Johnson said firmly. “Mary, why don’t you go pick out a bedroom? Down that hallway, any of the guest rooms.”
Mary looked nervously between them, then scurried down the hall.
The moment she was gone, Veronica rounded on him. “What is she doing here?”
“She’s staying with me while her mother is in the hospital.”
“Johnson, you can’t just bring a random child into our home!”
“She is not a random child. She’s my daughter.”
“You don’t know that! You’ve known her for five hours!”
“I’m getting a DNA test done,” he said calmly.
“And what if it shows she’s not yours? You’ll have wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars on her mother’s treatment!”
“Clara is dying, Veronica.”
“So? That’s not your responsibility! She made her choices…”
“The consequences of your lies, you mean,” Johnson snapped. “Clara told me everything. About Daniel being just a friend. About the photos. About you manipulating me.”
Veronica laughed, a brittle, nervous sound. “Johnson, she’s desperate! She’s using this child to get money out of you! Can’t you see that?”
“Then why are you so scared?”
“I’m not scared! I’m concerned you’re throwing away eight years of our relationship!”
“Eight years built on lies!” Johnson took a step closer. “I remember how you were always there, right after… always telling me Clara wasn’t worth it. Always pushing me to forget.”
“I was being a good friend! I was protecting you!”
“Stop,” Johnson said, holding up a hand. “Just stop. I don’t want to hear any more lies tonight. We’ll finish this tomorrow.”
“So that’s it? You’re just ignoring me for some child you met today?”
“That child is my daughter. And yes, right now, she is my priority.”
Veronica’s face twisted with an ugly rage. “You’re making a huge mistake, Johnson. When that DNA test comes back and proves she isn’t yours, don’t come crawling to me.”
“I won’t,” Johnson said quietly. “Because even if by some miracle she wasn’t mine… which she is… I still wouldn’t come back to you. Not after learning what you did. Not after seeing who you really are.”
He walked away, leaving her standing alone in the massive living room.
He found Mary sitting on the edge of a bed in a guest room so large it could have fit her entire apartment. She looked tiny.
“Is everything okay?” she asked. “That lady seemed really mad.”
“Everything’s fine. Are you hungry? Have you eaten dinner?”
Mary shook her head. “Mom was supposed to make spaghetti, but then…”
“Then she got too sick, and you had to take care of her,” Johnson finished, his chest tightening. “Let’s order something. What do you like?”
“I don’t know… we mostly eat… well, rice and beans. Peanut butter sandwiches.”
Johnson pulled out his phone and opened a delivery app. “Well, tonight, you can have anything you want. Pizza? Burgers?”
Mary’s eyes lit up. “Can I have pizza? With extra cheese?”
“You can have pizza with all the cheese in Seattle.”
While they waited, Johnson called his personal physician, Dr. Richard Collins. “Dr. Collins? It’s Johnson Williams. I need a favor. A DNA test. Paternity. Yes, it’s urgent. Tomorrow morning, if possible… I’ll bring my daughter to your office first thing.”
He hung up to find Mary watching him. “A DNA test… to prove you’re my dad?”
“Just a formality. For legal purposes.” He sat next to her on the bed. “I already know you’re mine, Mary. But this will just make it official.”
“And it’ll prove to the mean lady that Mom wasn’t lying.”
Johnson smiled sadly. “Yes. That, too.”
The pizza arrived, and they ate in the massive dining room, Mary’s legs swinging under the table. She ate three whole slices.
After dinner, Johnson helped her unpack her small bag. “Do you need anything else? Pajamas?”
“I have my toothbrush. And I usually just sleep in a T-shirt.”
“Okay. Well, the bathroom is right through that door. My room is just across the hall. If you need anything, anything at all, you come and get me. Okay?”
“Okay,” Mary said, clutching her rabbit.
Johnson left her to get ready and went back to the living room. Veronica was gone, likely to the master bedroom. Good. He didn’t have the energy for another fight. He poured a scotch and stood by the window, looking at the glittering Seattle skyline. His phone buzzed with texts from Veronica. He ignored them and finally turned it off.
Around midnight, a soft knock came at his bedroom door. He opened it to find Mary, clutching her rabbit, tears on her cheeks.
“I can’t sleep,” she whispered. “Everything’s too quiet. At home, I can hear the neighbors and the street, and Mom breathing in the next room. Here, it’s just… empty.”
Johnson’s heart ached. “Do you want to… sit with me for a while? Until you fall asleep?”
He followed her back to her room and sat in the armchair.
“Dad?” she said quietly. “Can I call you that? Or is it too soon?”
“You can call me whatever you’re comfortable with.”
“I want to call you Dad. I… I’ve never had a Dad before. I mean, I had you, but I didn’t know it.”
“Then ‘Dad’ is perfect.”
“Dad? Can you tell me a story? Mom always tells me stories.”
Johnson realized he didn’t know any children’s stories. “I’m not very good at stories.”
“That’s okay. Just… tell me about when you and Mom met. She never talks about it. She always gets too sad.”
So, Johnson told her. He told her about meeting Clara in a coffee shop, how she’d spilled a latte all over his laptop and had been so mortified she’d insisted on buying him three new ones. He told her how they started dating, how happy they’d been. He left out the bad parts. The lies, the breakup, the eight lost years.
By the time he finished, Mary’s breathing was deep and even. She was asleep…
