But with a certain amount of suspicion.
Little did she know her life was about to change.
She followed her mom—skipping, of course—into the living room.
“Hey, Annelise, sweetie. Good to see you again.” Jasper was sitting on the sofa. He held out his fist to be bumped, and Annelise obliged him. Somewhat warily.
Eden sat down a more than polite distance away from Jasper on the sofa.
Annelise perched on the edge of the chair across from them. Then folded her hands. It reminded Eden of how Peace and Love curled his tail around his feet when he was feeling a little uncertain.
“Okay, Leesy, sweetie, you know you’ve been wondering a lot about who your dad might be? And you even wrote a song about it?”
She nodded mutely.
“Well...” Eden drew in a deep breath. “Jasper is your real father.”
Nobody said a word for a long, long time.
Annelise’s face was almost immobile. “Really?” The word was said in an astonished hush.
Eden nodded.
Annelise’s eyes darted between Eden and Jasper, then settled on Eden, almost pleadingly.
“You’re not teasing?”
“Oh, honey, I would never ever tease you about something like this. I didn’t know he’d be in town, but he came into the shop and we had a nice chat. We decided that since you’ve been so curious about it lately, we should tell you that he is your father. Is that okay?”
Eden was desperate to know if she’d done the right thing. Desperate for someone solid to be standing behind her while she changed her daughter’s life forever.
After a second, Annelise nodded mutely. She was staring at Jasper’s face like a traveler inspecting the Flight Arrivals board at an airport and not seeing the flight she was supposed to catch.
“You’re mydad?”
Also, she sounded deeply puzzled.
“I am.”
Another silence.
“You’remy dad?”
Jasper nodded. Two spots of color were in his cheeks. Eden appreciated those. It was indeed an excruciating moment.
Annelise clammed up again.
She blinked rapidly.
“Honey...” Eden said tenderly. “...do you want to tell me what you’re thinking?”
“But...” Annelise folded her hands on her lap, and her gaze moved from Jasper’s face to her mom’s and back again. It wasn’t skepticism, precisely. But you could see that her mom + Jasper wasn’t a formula she’d entertained.
“Are yousureabout this, Mom?” It was practically a whisper. Awestruck. Tremulous.
It was almost funny.
Her hands were curling and uncurling in her skirt. Which happened when Annelise was nervous and uncertain—which she rarely was.