Page 49 of Family Bonds: Alana & Brennan
She whipped her head to look at him. “Becca looks just like you other than the color of her hair.”
“She’s my daughter,” he said. “I made sure of it before she was born. I had to know. Alana, you don’t know what kind of pain I was in hearing that. For months I was preparing for her birth. Planning it all. I loved her already. I struggled to stay in the same room with Rene, but I loved my unborn child. To hear she might not be mine was devastating.”
“I can’t even imagine someone saying that to you.”
No one would ever doubt the kind of father that Brennan was. She’d bet anything he pampered Rene just for the care of his child.
“Rene denied it, but then later admitted she had an affair. One of many before and during the pregnancy until she showed.”
“That’s disgusting,” she said. How could someone do that!?
“She got a thrill out of picking men up on her trips. In her mind, it’d never come back to her. But the guy who knocked on the door was a frequent flier for work. They’d hooked up several times. He asked about her and heard she was pregnant and then found out where she lived.”
“I’m speechless.”
“So was I. It was my place. She had nowhere to go. I went to my mother’s to clear my head and stayed there while I figured it out. Thankfully it hadn’t taken long to get the DNA results in. I’m not sure what I would have done if I found out after I held Becca in my hands. If she wasn’t mine.”
What Brennan went through during that time made her situation seem trivial in her mind.
“But she is.”
“Yes. Rene went back to work six weeks after Becca was born. She got her own place and moved out. We were done. There was no doubt there. I sought an attorney right away to get primary custody. I had to with her work schedule. Becca needed a routine and I was going to provide it. Rene never fought a thing. Like she didn’t even care.”
“You have a stable life and you do wonderfully.”
“I try,” he said.
He grabbed another bite to eat and sipped his wine. They continued to paint.
Her curiosity got the better of her; she just had to know more. “Does Rene see Becca often? I’m going to assume she’s still in Boston.”
“She hasn’t seen her in months. Maybe six. I’m not sure. I stopped sending her updates over a year ago when she didn’tseem to care. If she wants to see Becca, she has to give me forty-eight hours’ notice and I can deny it if it doesn’t work out.”
“Being a mother is not meant for everyone.”
“No. I realized that. Now it’s more about finding someone who understands that Becca is my world.”
He didn’t need to say those words to her. She saw it when they were together.
It wouldn’t hurt either.
But one of these days, she’d like to be some guy’s world.
15
KNOWS YOUR PRIORITY
Brennan was fucking this up worse than he thought he could.
Alana needed to know the background of Becca and Rene.
In his mind, this wouldn’t be a few dates and move on.
At least that wasn’t what he wanted, but maybe she’d want it with what he’d spilled out of his mouth so easily.
“I think anyone who looks at you with your daughter knows your priority,” she said.
“I should explain more,” he said. His brush was slapping at the canvas harder than he planned. He wasn’t even sure what he was looking at other than a bunch of green to the side that was the tree and some red and gold squares with something that resembled bows on top of them under the branches.
