Page 75 of The Hook Up
“It’s not, you’re right,” she said through gritted teeth. “But it sure comes in handy for school lunches and dentist visits and shoes to replace the ones he’s outgrown.”
“Ellie—”
“And in case you’re forgetting, you’re the one who pushed to have a child in the first place.”
“I’m not forgetting.” His voice filled with irritation, and Ellie guessed hehadforgotten. “It’s just—look, what the state calculates I’m supposed to pay is nuts. It’s way too high.”
“It’s actually the bare minimum,” she pointed out. “It’s what the state has determined a living, breathing, gainfully employed father should contribute toward feeding and clothing and housing a child he chose to bring into the world.”
“Right, but I hardly ever see him,” he said. “I just think?—”
“Whose fault is that?” Ellie interrupted as fire flared in her belly. “Who chose that, Chuck? Certainly not Henry.”
Her ex sighed again. “You know my schedule is crazy.”
“What Iknowis that our son is the number one priority. Always. That’s what you signed on for the day you tossed my birth control pills in the trash and said, ‘let’s make a baby.’”
“Ellie—”
“What Iknowis that being a dad requires more than sperm donation,” she interrupted, tired of him not getting it. “If you don’t want to show up and take him to ball games or teach him to bodysurf, that’s fine.” Her heart twisted a little as she remembered Ty doing those things. As she pictured Henry’s grin when Ty showed him how to make a lion face.
But this wasn’t about Ty. This was about Henry, and about Ellie knowing how to stand on her own two feet.
And right now, she wanted to plant one of them in her ex-husband’s ass.
“Look, I’m more than capable of molding our son into a decent man on my own,” she said. “And I’m also not going to be the one to tell him his father’s a raging asshole. But I want you to think long and hard about how you want your son to regard you twenty years from now. Will he remember you as they guy who forgot birthday cards and couldn’t be bothered to call him at Christmas? Or will he remember you as a guy who made an effort—even a tiny one—to make sure he was okay?”
She let the words hang there for a moment, giving him time to consider. To make the right decision. “Which will it be, Chuck?”
On the other end of the line, her ex was silent. When he cleared his throat, Ellie braced herself to do battle again.
“Wow,” he said. “I didn’t know it meant that much to you.”
“Damn right, it does.”
“Okay, then. I…uh…I’ll crunch some numbers. And, um—would it be okay if I called Henry on Sunday just to say hi?”
“You can call him anytime,” she said. “You know that. All I want is for him to know he’s loved. That even if you’re not perfect, you give a shit about him. That’s what matters.”
“Damn,” he said. “What’s gotten into you?”
Ellie took a calming breath, surprised to see her hands weren’t shaking. That she felt relief instead of anger. “I’m standing up for my kid, Chuck. This is about me. And him. And making sure he has the sort of A-plus parenting he deserves.”
And with that, she hung up on her ex-husband.
CHAPTER17
Ty turned away from the computer monitor and looked up at his sister. “What do you think?”
Anna’s eyes glittered with tears. She wore a bright pink sweater and a polka-dotted scarf that she used to dab the corner of one eye as she slid off her chair.
“It’s amazing,” she said, leaning down to hug him before Ty made it to his feet for a proper embrace. “I never knew my big brother was so talented.”
Ty patted her back, awkward and out-of-sorts. Their late-in-life connection meant he and Anna were still pretty new to displays of affection, and it felt odd to be sitting in his office after work accepting hearty praise and hugs from his half-sister.
Odd, butnice. Since he hadn’t slept well all week, Ty would take all the nice that was offered to him.
“I’m glad you like it,” he said as Anna let go and slid back onto her seat. “Can’t say I’ve ever done a digital wedding invitation before, but I think it turned out pretty well.”
