Page 5 of Surgeon's Surprise Baby
He looked at Aria.“Where do we go from here?”
“That depends on you and how involved you want to be.”
“As involved as you let me.”
She studied him a moment.“You need to think about this.If you want to be part of her life, it’s a commitment.You can’t let her love you and depend on you and then just leave when you decide you’re bored here.”
She could tell that pissed him off but too bad.
“That isn’t why I left Denver.”
“Oh?I wouldn’t know since we never discussed it.”
*
“You’re pissed,” Ryansaid.
“What gave you that idea?”
Obviously, that was a rhetorical question.“We talked about it.”
“No, Ryan, you told me you were leaving.That’s not ‘talking about it.’”
“You didn’t object.”
“What was the point?You’d made up your mind.And I wasn’t about to beg you not to go like a pathetic loser.”
Yeah, she was really pissed.“You said you didn’t want a long-distance relationship.”
“I didn’t.”
“We could have tried.”It wouldn’t have been ideal, but he’d have done it if she wanted to.
She gave a sharp laugh.“I can just see that.You in a long-distance relationship?Fat chance.”
“I thought about staying.But I couldn’t.And you didn’t act like you wanted me to stay.”
“Don’t you dare blame me for you leaving.That was all you.”
True.She hadn’t asked him anything.Hadn’t said much beyond that she didn’t want long distance.She could, and would, deny it but he knew he’d hurt her.
How could he explain what had happened?How could he explain why he left?I couldn’t stay because I’m a chickenshit?I fell in love with you and every day you became more important to me.So I left while I could?
That hadn’t worked very well.Because he’d never forgotten her.Never fallen out of love with her.And now there was a baby.His and Aria’s baby.
“What are you going to do, Ryan?”
He had no idea, beyond paying child support and trying to get to know his child.“That depends on you.”
“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do.I’m going to stay in Marietta, raise my child, and start a nursery business.Your turn.”
“I want to be a father to Sophie.If you’ll let me.”
“All right.But I have a couple of conditions.”
“Okay.What are they?”
“If you want to be a father, it’s for good.You don’t get to make her love you and disappear because you got bored.I’m not saying you can’t ever leave, but if you do you still have to be someone she can depend on.I don’t care what you have to do but you have to continue to be a part of her life.”
