Page 16 of The Single Dad

She scoffs. “Stop being dramatic, Adrian. You’re the one who wanted a child, not me. Listen, I won’t disrupt your day again, just give me money, and I’ll run so fast you’ll forget I’m here.”

Adrian pauses, and for a moment, I’m scared he’ll give in, that she’ll get her way. But he answers with a firm, “No.”

“I’m going to fight for custody. That’s going to be more expensive, don’t you think?”

“You just said you didn’t have money.”

“Not at the moment, no, but if I really want to be vindictive, I can always find a way to make you suffer.”

Adrian lets out a sound that’s part laugh, part growl. “You want to put our son through all that? Leaving him when he can’t even sit on his own isn’t enough? You’ll go to great lengths to hurt him? Jesus Christ.”

“I told you. Give me money and I’ll be gone. What’s ten thousand to you? It’s just the price of the kid’s day care, I bet.”

“The kid.” Adrian’s voice has taken on an even more dangerous edge. “His name is Tomtom. He’s your son. You don’t refer to him as ‘the kid.’”

“Is that your answer? Because I can go to the cops right now and tell them you’re keeping my kid away from me.”

A beat of silence. And another. And another. I don’t even remember when I stopped breathing, but my palms are sweaty. I’m terrified for Adrian and Thomas.

Adrian has been doing his best to juggle his business and be a full-time father. He didn’t get everything he has now by sitting idly and asking people for money.

When he finally speaks, his tone is flat. “You see this thing by the door? It’s a camera. I’ve just recorded you trying to extort money from me in exchange for staying away. It’s gonna show the kind of mother you are. We’ll see how any judge thinks of that.”

The woman hisses and stomps her foot. “Fuck you, Adrian. You’ve always acted high and mighty. Someday, Tomtom will see that. He’ll see what he lacks. Someday, he’s going to ask for his mom.”

At this, Adrian’s voice softens. “I know, and Noelle will be there for him.”

My heart stops. Tears spring to my eyes at the conviction in Adrian’s voice. I already knew I wanted to be there as Thomas grew up and became a good man just like his father. I wanted to help raise him and be everything he needed. I didn’t want him to feel as though something was missing from his life, as though he felt incomplete.

I already love Thomas as though he’s my own.

Side by side with the love is the anger toward the woman who birthed him. How can anyone, most of all his own mother, not care about that sweet, adorable, smart, and funny little boy? How can she walk away from him and not bother knowing him?

She has missed out on so many things, like him learning all the names of the dinosaurs in every period, him talking animatedly about the stages of life of a butterfly, him learning to ride a bike.

“Who the hell is Noelle?” she demands.

The anger rises to the surface, and I straighten, stepping into view. No more hiding. It may not be my place to talk to her like this, but I just can’t stand by and watch Adrian fight this battle alone. He has to know I’m here for him and with him. We’ll fight these battles together.

I lock eyes with her, and my first thought is, ‘She’s beautiful but empty.’ Yes, she must be turning heads everywhere she goes,and perhaps she likes the attention. But there’s nothing beneath that. No light in her eyes. I believe, based on my experience talking to different parents, that this woman has never known genuine happiness. I’ll bet my life on it.

Besides, I can see it in the way she assesses me with her gaze—the haughty lift of her chin as if she already finds me unworthy and beneath her, the sarcastic tilt of her mouth as though she’s saying, ‘Is this her?’

Usually, I’d squirm under such scrutiny. But not today, and not from her.

Finally, I can put a face to the woman whom I’ve only known by reputation. Adrian didn’t talk badly about her despite everything, but it doesn’t matter. I see her for who and what she is.

Another thought pushes itself to the forefront of my mind. I will never ever let her hurt Thomas and Adrian. Over my dead body.

“I’m Noelle,” I tell her, accepting Adrian’s outstretched hand.

She turns her gaze from Adrian to me and to our interlocked fingers. “Why the hell are you with him?”

I squeeze Adrian’s hand, look up at him, and smile. This man I’ve been crushing on way before they met. “The question is, why aren’t you?”

“Dad! I’m home.” Thomas’s small, quick footsteps patter in the driveway, and Adrian stands rigid, his whole body tensed like a coiled spring. He jogs toward us, hair messy from running around next door and playing with the other kids, sneakers kicking up little puffs of dust. His bright eyes dart between us, then land on the woman. He slows and scratches his cheek.

I stop breathing, curbing the urge to run to him, wrap my arms around him, and protect him from her. She is so not welcome here. I don’t even have to ask Adrian to know we’re in complete agreement.

---