Chương 16
Sometimes she told him to go home.
He began going home when she asked.
That surprised both of them.
The lawyers took longer.
Elena hired a family attorney named Dana Whitaker, a blunt woman in her fifties who looked at Vincent as if his reputation were gum stuck to her shoe.
Vincent liked her immediately.
Dana established temporary agreements before anyone discussed formal paternity acknowledgment.
No surprise visits.
No unsupervised travel.
No public statements involving Sophie.
No extravagant gifts without Elena's approval.
Vincent objected only to the word extravagant.
"What does that mean?"
Dana looked at him.
"If you have to ask, it applies to you."
Elena laughed.
Vincent signed.
He also began paying court-structured child support once paternity was formally recognized.
Elena objected to the amount.
Dana told her to stop being ridiculous.
Vincent liked Dana even more.
The medical bills were harder.
Elena refused to let him erase them.
Eventually they reached an agreement that made neither happy.
Vincent would cover the portions directly connected to treatment after insurance, but the payments would be documented as support rather than gifts.
Elena kept control of her own accounts.
Vincent was not allowed to call billing departments behind her back.
"You already did that once," she said.
"I asked a question."
"You tried to pay everything."
"I was on the phone."
"With a credit card."
"It was efficient."
Dana stared at him over her glasses.
Vincent stopped arguing.
Weeks passed.
The online story moved on.
A celebrity divorce replaced Sophie on the gossip sites.
Then a mayoral scandal replaced the divorce.
The internet's attention proved shallow, which for once Vincent appreciated.
Dominic Falcone did not disappear.
He became busy.
Federal investigators eventually charged two executives connected to his shipping network with money laundering and fraud.
Dominic himself remained under investigation.
Vincent's lawyers advised him not to speculate.
He obeyed.
Mostly.
Anthony Serrano entered a gambling treatment program after his wife learned the truth.
Elena chose not to sue him personally once he provided complete records and signed an agreement never to contact the family.
Vincent disagreed.
He kept that disagreement to himself.
"You think I'm weak," Elena said after the decision.
"No."
"You think I let him off."
"Yes."
"That's different?"
"Very."
She waited.
Vincent sighed.
"But it's your decision."
Elena smiled.
"That physically hurt you."
"Several organs."
Her health improved slowly.
There was no miracle.
Scans did not suddenly become perfect.
Doctors used cautious language.
Treatment continued.
Some weeks she could walk Sophie to school.
Some weeks Mr. Chen did it.
Vincent learned the schedule without trying.
Thursday was treatment.
Friday was usually terrible.
Saturday could go either way.
Sunday mornings Sophie demanded pancakes.
Vincent's first attempt produced something resembling roofing material.
Sophie held one up.
"It bends."
"Pancakes are supposed to bend."
"Not like rubber."
Elena took one bite and laughed until she had to sit down.
Vincent ordered breakfast.
The following Sunday he tried again.
By the sixth week, the pancakes were edible.
Mr. Chen refused to admit improvement.
Marco ate four.
Vincent's own heart required treatment too.
Medication controlled the rhythm problem, but Stein continued threatening him with hospitalization if he ignored her instructions.
He stopped missing appointments.
Mostly because Sophie started asking.
"Did you take your heart pill?"
"Yes."
"Show me."
"That's invasive."
"You lie."
"Occasionally."
"Mom says you lie when you're trying not to worry people."
Vincent looked at Elena.
She shrugged.
"I may have mentioned it."
Three months after the sidewalk, Vincent stood outside Sophie's school waiting beneath a tree that had begun dropping yellow leaves.
He had never picked her up alone before.
Elena had a treatment appointment running late.
Dana had approved it.
Marco had checked the route.
Renee was somewhere nearby pretending badly enough for Sophie to detect her.
Children spilled through the doors.
Sophie emerged carrying a backpack nearly half her size.
She saw Vincent.
Stopped.
Then ran.
He braced instinctively.
She hit him around the waist.
The impact was small.
It nearly destroyed him.
"You're late."
He looked at his watch.
"I'm four minutes early."
"You should be more early."
"That is not how time works."
She took his hand.
"Mom says you argue about stupid things."
"Your mother is opinionated."
"Are we getting pizza?"
"She said dinner at home."
"Pizza can be at home."
Vincent looked down.
"You negotiate too much."
Sophie smiled.
"Your fault."
They walked toward the car.
Halfway there, she stopped.
Vincent stopped too.
"What?"
She adjusted the strap of her backpack.
"Can I call you Dad at school?"
He did not answer immediately.
A bus hissed at the curb.
Two boys ran past them arguing about a soccer ball.
Renee stood beside a newspaper box pretending not to watch.
Vincent crouched until he was level with Sophie.
"You can call me whatever feels right."
"I know."
"Then why are you asking?"
"Because some kids ask where my dad is."
Vincent's chest tightened.
"What did you tell them before?"
"That I didn't have one."
He nodded.
"And now?"
She shrugged.
"Now I do."
The simplicity of it left him defenseless.
"Then yes."
Sophie studied his face.
"Are you going to cry?"
"No."
"You look like it."
"Allergies."
"There aren't flowers."
"Very aggressive trees."
She rolled her eyes.
Vincent stood.
Sophie took three steps toward the car, then turned around.
"Dad."
He froze.
She pointed toward the corner.
"Pizza place is that way."
Vincent looked at her.
Sophie grinned.
"Mom said no pizza."
"Mom isn't here."
"That's a bad argument."
"It worked?"
He considered.
"One slice."
"Two."
"One."
"One and garlic knots."
"You're extorting me."
"What's extorting?"
"Ask your mother."
They bought two slices and garlic knots.
Vincent ate one knot before Sophie could count them.
She accused him of stealing.
He denied everything.
That evening Elena came home exhausted and found the empty pizza box in the trash.
She stood in the kitchen holding it like evidence at trial.
"One slice?"
Vincent looked at Sophie.
Sophie looked at Vincent.
Neither spoke.
Elena narrowed her eyes.
"You two are terrible criminals."
Sophie began laughing.
Vincent tried not to.
He failed.
Elena sat down at the kitchen table.
For a while they stayed there together.
No crisis arrived.
No phone rang.
Nobody needed saving.
Sophie worked on a spelling sheet.
Elena drank tea she forgot to finish.
Vincent tightened the loose cabinet hinge Marco had never actually repaired.
The screwdriver slipped once and scraped his knuckle.
Sophie looked up.
"You're bleeding."
"You said that before."
Vincent glanced at Elena.
She was watching him.
There was still history between them.
There were still things neither had forgiven.
There were still doctors, lawyers, security plans, and years that could never be returned.
Nothing had become simple.
Vincent washed the blood from his hand and came back to the table.
Sophie pushed her spelling sheet toward him.
"I need help."
He pulled out the chair beside her.
"With what?"
She pointed to a word.
"Family."
Vincent looked at the six letters.
Then at Sophie.
Then at Elena across the table.
He picked up the pencil.
May you like
"All right."
Sophie leaned against his arm while he helped her spell it.
