Bonnie Sveen Fan, Cal won't be happy - imitating a duck doesn't really go with his image! I thought it might be more embarrassing if Connie caught them, but she probably wouldn't tell anyone. I'm glad you like Ethan as a daddy. I think he'd be brilliant. Thank you for your review.
Tanith Panic, I don't think Noel and Big Mac are having a secret date at the park if that's what you mean, but who knows? I thought I'd write them a happy chapter (though they might be more stressed than happy!) to take their mind off the paternity test, but I'm glad you haven't forgotten about it! Thank you for your review.
X-Sammii-X, thank you for your review. I'm so glad you liked the pram scene - I thought they probably hadn't put a pram up in their lives and they're much easier to fold up than to unfold, as well as being a real health hazard! Ethan would be devastated to give Matilda up and Cal is slowly but surely falling in love with his possible niece.
20BlueRoses, thank you for your review. I forgot to tie up the letter incident in Clement Weather so I thought I'd better sort it out now! But luckily it didn't seem a bad point in the plot for them to have an argument and I kind of feel like Matilda helped resolve it. I'm glad you liked the pram scene. I loved writing it so I'm happy it worked.
Ethan smiled down at Matilda. She lay in the cot, fast asleep, worn out from her exciting morning at the park. She really had had a lovely time as far as Ethan could tell. He reached into the cot, unable to resist stroking her little pink cheek. Then he started panicking that perhaps it shouldn't be pink and went to get the thermometer to put under her arm (he had an ear thermometer too but he was worried the beep might wake Matilda), but her temperature was exactly what it should be.
Ethan went back to staring at his daughter again and he had the feeling quite some time had passed when he suddenly heard Cal calling to him.
He hurried out of the room, not wanting Cal to wake his little Sleeping Beauty, and met him in the hall. "Shh, Cal, Matilda's asleep."
Cal dropped his voice to a whisper and held out Ethan's phone to him. "I hope you don't mind me answering your phone, but I thought it might be important. It's P.C. Wilkinson."
Ethan held out a suddenly-shaking hand for the phone.
"Do you want me to give you some privacy?" whispered Cal.
Ethan shook his head quickly and felt Cal putting his arm around him as he guided him into the living room. "Hi, P.C. Wilkinson. This is Ethan Hardy."
"Hi, Ethan. How are you and the little one doing?"
"We're doing fine, thank you," said Ethan as he sat on the sofa, Cal close beside him. "I just put Matilda down for a nap. Well, no, I didn't just put her down for a nap. I think I've been staring at her for at least twenty minutes. She looks so beautiful. Her cheeks are all pink and I know it's probably just wind, but it really looks like she's smiling… she's got the sweetest little dimple in her... I'm so sorry. I'm babbling."
"It's okay, Ethan. I'm a parent too. I know what it's like." P.C. Wilkinson paused. "I have some news for you. We've managed to contact the hospital where Taylor gave birth. She registered Matilda without a first name, though she gave the surname Hardy, and she's named you as the father on the birth certificate. She's also signed a statutory declaration of parentage naming you as the father."
"Oh… oh my goodness…" Ethan's eyes were filling with tears.
"Ethan?" Cal looked at him anxiously.
"So… so I'm Matilda's father?" said Ethan emotionally.
"Taylor has named you as the father, so she is legally your daughter and we're happy for her to remain in your custody. We're going to send you an official copy of the documents - you'll need to take them with you when you register Matilda's first name. They should be with you by tomorrow."
"Thank you," said Ethan, wiping his eyes and thinking how inadequate the words sounded. "Thank you so much for sorting that out for me."
"It was our pleasure, Ethan. I've also spoken to my superiors and we're not going to take any action against you for not reporting Taylor sooner. You really did have other things on your mind and we have no concerns about your honesty, particularly as you were the one who reported Taylor the first time, so there's no need to worry about that."
"Thank you," said Ethan. "That really is very kind of you."
"However," said P.C. "We do have concerns about Taylor's honesty."
Ethan felt his happiness fade. It was a reasonable concern, after all. Taylor had spent her life lying to people. But after the euphoria of being certain Matilda was his, it was sad to learn some people would still have doubts. "I can understand the concern, but I don't think Taylor would lie about something like that."
He saw doubt on Cal's face, but he said nothing. Cal probably thought Taylor was capable of lying about anything.
Ethan had to admit he could understand why.
"I know she's my daughter," said Ethan. "I can feel it inside me. She trusted me instantly and we loved each other instantly. I can understand your concerns and I know you had to mention them, but really, there's no need to worry. Matilda is mine."
"Well… that's your decision, Ethan," said P.C. Wilkinson. "There is no legal requirement for you to take a paternity test at this time. All I can say is that everyone I've spoken to about Taylor strongly recommends that you take the paternity test and I'm inclined to agree. For one thing, there's a possibility that one of Taylor's former partners might find out about Matilda and claim that he could be the father. It could save a lot of time, trouble and heartache if you'd already had the test done. But it is entirely your choice."
"I'm not taking the paternity test," said Ethan firmly. "Taylor wouldn't lie to me about something that important. I know it's difficult for anyone else to believe, but I do think Taylor loved me, in her way."
Cal didn't know what to do. The last thing he wanted was to fall out with Ethan, but his declaration that he must be the father because Taylor had written it on the form made no sense at all to him.
He let it go for a while, hoping Ethan would see sense and decide for himself that the paternity test was still a good idea, but when Ethan announced at dinner time that he would phone up tomorrow to cancel the paternity test, Cal knew he couldn't keep silent any longer.
"Ethan, I really know this isn't what you want to hear, but I think P.C. Wilkinson is right. You can't trust Taylor's word. You need to take the test."
Ethan looked shocked. "Taylor wouldn't lie on an official document!"
"Of course she would!" said Cal. "She said her name was Taylor Ashbie and she accepted a cheque from you in that name, so she must have had a bank account in that name, but she was imprisoned as Taylor Clement. There's no way she could have set up a bank account in a false name without providing false information on a form."
"Maybe she changed it legally for another reason, after she met me," said Ethan. "You can do it quite easily online. I'm not sure they even run proper checks."
Cal shook his head disbelievingly. "Ethan, unless Taylor changed it after she escaped from prison, which would have been very stupid considering the police would have been looking for her, she could only have changed it inside the prison. And I somehow doubt they have a lot of free, unsupervised internet hours."
"Perhaps the prison staff listened to her reasons and accepted it!" said Ethan.
Cal sighed. "Okay, let's say they did. But what about her charity? She set up a fake charity that accepted donations. How could she have done that if she wasn't prepared to lie on legal forms? And we know she lied to someone. When she registered Matilda's birth, she told them you were the father. But she told us she didn't know who it was. She must have lied to someone – and she had nothing to gain by telling you you might not be the father. Why would she tell you that if it wasn't the truth?"
Shock filled Ethan's eyes, then tears.
"She never did like deceiving you, Ethan," said Cal sadly. "In some ways I wish she did. Perhaps then you wouldn't still love her." He put his arm around Ethan. "Look, it is your choice about the paternity test. But if even Taylor can't be sure…"
Ethan shook his head, tears falling. "But I can feel she's mine, Cal! Taylor wouldn't know how I feel. Not unless I told her and I don't think I did. We were thinking about the future. Our future."
Cal pulled Ethan closer to him. He half-expected Ethan to pull away, but he didn't. That told Cal what Ethan had refused to say for himself. If Ethan was angry with Cal, he would never have let him hug him. But if he secretly knew the truth, he'd need all the comfort Cal could give him.
Cal looked worriedly at Ethan. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"
Cal's two days of 'avuncularity leave' were over and it was time to return to the ED. He had very mixed feelings about it, mostly because it meant leaving Ethan alone with Matilda – a ridiculous concern because anyone could see Ethan was a brilliant dad – but he was also worried about facing Alicia again. Perhaps it wasn't the best time for him to get into a relationship, but he really hoped they could work together and be friends.
He was also aware that Lily planned on returning to work today and he'd promised Ethan to look out for her and make sure she was okay – though Cal knew he'd have to do his best to be discreet about it. Lily would not appreciate it if she knew Cal was keeping an eye on her.
Then there was the problem of that duck video, which Cal knew the whole ED had seen and been very amused by. He had a feeling there was a lot of banter coming his way and he really wasn't in the mood.
"I'll be fine," said Ethan. "Don't worry, Cal. I really think I'm starting to get the hang of the whole daddy thing now." He smiled, then his expression became serious. "I honestly couldn't manage this without you though, and thank you so much for all the help and support you've given me."
"It's fine, Ethan, and I'm never going to stop helping and supporting you," said Cal. "There won't be any running away this time – or only to do my job."
Ethan smiled and reached out to touch Cal's arm. "I do appreciate it. You know that, Cal, don't you? I'm so grateful for everything you've done."
"I know," said Cal. He paused for a moment, wondering if he should mention the paternity test again, but he decided against it. It was Ethan's choice, not his, and the last thing he wanted was to upset Ethan just before he had to go off and leave him. "I'll see you at lunchtime."
"Oh, no, you don't have to do that," said Ethan.
"I want to," said Cal. "I want to check you're okay and I'll be missing Toad apart from everything else."
Ethan smiled. "I can't blame you for that. I miss her when I turn around."
Cal laughed. "Who's a soppy daddy, then? But I think you're doing great, Ethan. It's not easy being a father even when you're expecting it, but to have Taylor appear out of the blue, give you a baby and disappear again… I think you've been amazing. Really. I don't think I'd have managed half as well in your place."
"I'm lucky," said Ethan, looking Cal in the eye. "I've got my big brother to help me."