Chapter 7
I opened the door.
Standing on the porch was a man I'd never seen before.
Mid-thirties.
Rough-looking.
Tattoos.
Leather jacket.
He looked nervous.
"Can I help you?" I asked.
"I'm looking for Lily," he said. "My name is Jake. Jake Miller. And I'm her father."
I stared at him.
Not this again.
"We already had a DNA test," I said. "Mark is Lily's father. 99.99%. Jessica was lying. You need to leave."
"Jessica called me," he said. "From jail. She told me Lily is mine. That she was pregnant with her when she married Mark. That Mark isn't the father. That the DNA test was faked."
I felt sick.
"Get off my property," I said. "Or I'm calling the police."
"Wait," he said. "I have proof. Jessica sent me a letter. And a DNA sample. From Lily. From when she was a baby. She saved it. I had it tested. Against mine. The results say I'm the father."
He held out an envelope.
I didn't take it.
Mark came to the door.
He saw Jake.
He saw the envelope.
He put his arm around me.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Jake Miller. Lily's real father."
Mark's face hardened.
"Get off my property," he said. "Now. Before I have you arrested for trespassing and harassment."
Jake backed away.
But he didn't leave.
"I'm not going away," he said. "I want my daughter. And I'm going to prove she's mine. In court. If I have to."
He got in his car and drove away.
I leaned against Mark.
Shaking.
"She's not going to stop," I said. "She's never going to stop."
Mark held me tighter.
"We'll fight her," he said. "We'll fight him. We have the DNA test. We have custody. We have everything on our side. We won't let them take Lily from us."
But I was scared.
Really scared.
Jessica had planned this.
From jail.
She'd found Jake.
She'd sent him the DNA sample.
She'd set this all up.
To destroy us.
To take Lily.
Or at least to make us suffer.
Jake filed a paternity suit.
And a custody suit.
He wanted full custody of Lily.
He claimed Jessica had kept her from him for six years.
That he was the real father.
That Mark had no rights.
It was a nightmare.
We had to do another DNA test.
This time with Jake.
This time under court supervision.
The waiting was agony.
Lily was confused.
Scared.
"Why does that man say he's my daddy?" she asked.
"Because he's confused, honey," I said. "But your daddy is the one who loves you. The one who takes care of you. The one who tucks you in at night. And that's never going to change."
But I wasn't sure.
Not anymore.
What if Jake was telling the truth?
What if Jessica had really fooled everyone?
What if the first DNA test had been wrong?
Or faked?
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't sleep.
I couldn't eat.
I was watching everything we'd built slip away.
And then the results came back.
Mark and Jake and I went to the lawyer's office together.
The lawyer opened the envelope.
He read the results.
And then he smiled.
*Jake Miller: Excluded as biological father.*
*Mark Davidson: 99.99% probability of paternity.*
Jake was not Lily's father.
Jessica had lied again.
She'd faked the DNA results she'd sent him.
She'd used him.
To hurt us.
To cause us pain.
To cost us money and time and stress.
And Jake had fallen for it.
He was devastated.
He apologized.
Over and over.
He said he'd never wanted to hurt anyone.
He'd just wanted to know if Lily was his.
He dropped all his lawsuits.
And he offered to testify against Jessica.
For using him.
For manipulating him.
For everything.
Jessica was charged with even more crimes.
Fraud.
Conspiracy to defraud the court.
Falsifying evidence.
Her sentence was going to be even longer now.
If she ever got out of prison, she'd be an old woman.
We were finally free.
Truly free.
The wedding was back on.
And it was perfect.
Small.
Intimate.
Full of love.
Lily was the flower girl.
She threw rose petals everywhere.
She smiled the whole time.
Mark's best friend was his best man.
My friend Sarah was my matron of honor.
We said our vows under the oak tree in our backyard.
The sun was shining.
The birds were singing.
Everything was perfect.
When the judge pronounced us husband and wife, Mark kissed me.
And Lily cheered.
And everyone clapped.
And for the first time in my life, I felt like I was truly home.
We had a wonderful reception.
Good food.
Good music.
Good friends.
Lily danced with her daddy.
And then with me.
And then with both of us.
It was perfect.
That night, after everyone had left, we sat on the porch.
Mark held me.
Lily was asleep inside.
"We did it," he said. "We're married. We're a family. And nothing can take that away from us."
I leaned my head on his shoulder.
"Nothing," I agreed.
But life had one more surprise for us.
One that would make our family complete.
May you like
I found out I was pregnant.
Two weeks after our wedding.
