The three of them sat down for supper, Garret and Reneesat on opposite sides of the table and Jake at the head. Renee took Jake's hand and told him in the simplest terms that Garret was indeed his father. Jake turned from Renee to Garret and let his eyes rest on his father for a long time. Renee wished she could know what her son was thinking and if he understood. The seconds ticked by and Renee's heart swelled in her chest as her son continued to stare in an eerie silence. Finally she reached out for his arm and asked him if he understood. Jake nodded his head gently and went back to his dinner. He picked at his pasta for a few minutes before he announced that he was finished. Renee told him he could leave the table and he scampered off to the living room. She listened for him playing in the living room and when she was sure that her son couldn't hear her, she finally let herself relax enough to talk to Garret.

"That went…okay," she said.

"Well what were you expecting?" Garret asked.

"I don't know," Renee said honestly. She looked down at her plate. She hadn't eaten anything. She had been too nervous to eat and now her appetite was gone completely. Glancing at Garret's plate, she noticed that he too, had barely touched his supper. "You done?" she asked, rising from her chair and collecting Jake's plate with her own.

"Yeah," Garret sighed, pushing his meal into the centre of the table.

Renee started in on the dishes right away. She wanted to talk to Jake, but she didn't know what to say. She instead decided to stay away rather than confuse or hurt him anymore. Garret came in the kitchen after her with the last of the dishes. He took a dish towel and waited to dry the clean plates and glasses. Standing beside him at the counter, her hands immersed in the warm, soapy water, Renee wondered if he could hear her conscience screaming at her, telling her she had done a horrible thing keeping Jake and Garret apart for all this time. They stood in the quiet for a long time before Garret finally cut through the tension.

"I want to help you," he said.

"Excuse me?" Renee said, surprised to hear his voice after such a long silence.

"You said you needed help," Garret explained, "and I want to help you. I want to help Jake."

"Okay," Renee smiled. She had hoped that this would be his response but had somehow doubted it would be.

"I was thinking," Garret continued quickly, "I am entitled to two days off a week. Until now, I haven't taken them as regularly as I should, but I can work it out with Jordan. I can take Thursdays and Fridays off and be with Jake and if I go in early, I can get off early enough to pick Jake up at daycare at four thirty on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and you don't work on the weekends so he'll just be in daycare for three days a week. What do you think?" Renee smiled at Garret's excitement.

"You've put a lot of thought into this," she said. He nodded yes and Renee bit her lip. "Okay," she nodded, "okay."

"Yeah?" Garret asked making sure she was comfortable with his plan.

"Yeah," Renee said with a reassuring smile. Garret turned away from her and went back to drying the dishes in front of him. Renee watched him for a second before speaking, a curious smile on her face. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead," Garret invited, still not looking at her.

"Are you mad?" Renee asked earnestly.

"What?" Garret asked, turning to her now and laughing slightly through his nose.

"At me I mean. Why aren't you angry with me?" Renee explained. "I kept him from you for three years and you are so clam and rational about all this. Honestly, I thought we would have a screaming match before we worked this out."

"I am angry Renee," Garret admitted quietly, "but this isn't about us anymore. It's about Jake. I missed three years. I'm not going to miss anymore just because I'm mad at you." Renee nodded her head. This rationality and reason was completely characteristic of Garret. She silently wondered why she should have expected anything else from him in this situation. Plunging hands back into the tepid water she smiled at the thought of Garret becoming a fixture in her life again.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Jordan!" Garret called to his friend the following morning. She burst into his office with a stack of files in her arms.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Shut the door," Garret instructed. Jordan did as she had been told and walked across the room to stand before her boss.

"What ever it is, I didn't do it," she said quickly.

"I know," Garret laughed, "sit down; I just want to talk to you."

"Okay," Jordan said, nodding slowly, noticing right away there was something on her friend's mind. He sat with is elbows resting on his desk, his hands resting under his chin, their fingers intertwined.

"I have a son," he said finally. Jordan let out a surprised laugh.

"What?"

"Renee's son, Jake, he's my kid." Jordan stared wide-eyed at her employer.

"No way," she said, "when did that happen?"

"Well, three years ago, but I just found out a few days ago."

"Wow, Garret. That's big news. Congratulations…I think." Garret laughed as his friend searched for the right words. "Does he know?" she asked. Garret nodded yes. "And what about Abby?"

"I told her this morning," Garret explained, "She's excited about having a new kid brother. She's been babysitting him forever, so it's not a huge adjustment for her. She's mad at Renee though for keeping it from us."

"I'd be pissed too," Jordan said bluntly.

"I can't afford to be angry" Garret said, "I want to spend time with him, you know?" Jordan, nodded in understanding. "That's why I called you in here. Starting this week I want to take Thursdays and Fridays off to be with Jake. That means you need to be here on those days." Jordan nodded again and let Garret explain the rest of his new scheduling proposal. As Garret knew she would, she agreed to his new timetable. After Jordan had left his office, Garret sighed to himself. Tomorrow was his big day. Tomorrow was Monday and at four-thirty, as promised, he would pick up his son from daycare. He was excited and nervous all at the same time. As he pored over autopsy reports that afternoon, Garret found himself lost in thoughts if his second chance to be a father. And although he would never admit it to her, let alone himself, he was excited to have Renee in his life again.