Chapter Thirteen

For Will's Sake

Christmas came and went without much change between Jordan, Woody, and Will. She had bought Will an iPod. Woody gave him money. Will had been cordial, polite…but distant. Jordan tried to respect the fact that her son had been hit with the mother-lode of DNA information and was still processing it all. It wasn't an instant family just because a daddy had been added to their mix.

In short, neither of the men in her life was talking to her much. She remembered all those Bible verses about reaping and sowing that the nuns made her memorize and assumed they were coming back to roost like so many multiplying sorrows. She had sowed lies and was now reaping dishonesty's aftermath. It would be easy to blame her life's circumstances as the reason why she didn't tell Will about Woody…or Woody about Will. Will's birth and the myriad of health issues it raised…the difficult life of single motherhood … Woody's engagement and assumed marriage….Max's illness … the list could go on and on.

But the truth was, Jordan had been afraid.

Yes. She, Jordan Marie Cavanaugh Turner, had been afraid. Afraid of losing her son to his father. However irrational it sounded, that was the base reason she hid the truth from both men. Jason's proposal had given the opportunity to have the best of both worlds…companionship with a man she respected … and the opportunity to raise her son with an intact family.

And she could leave Woody alone as he requested. He need never know about his son…he would never come back into her life and possibly try to take their son away from her. Instead it had all blown up in her face. Jason was killed. And Jordan had to deal with two new titles in her life: mother and widow.

The shrill ringing of her cell phone brought her out of her thoughts as she was sitting unseeing in front of her computer screen. "Turner," she said into the device.

"Mom?"

"Will … are you okay? Is anything wrong?"

"I'm fine….just fine. I would like to talk to you and Woo…Dad. Could you meet me at Brown and Company for lunch?

Before Jordan knew it, she was sitting beside Woody at Brown and Company, with Will sitting across from them. After ordering drinks, a few minutes of awkward silence ensued, until Will took the reigns.

"I wanted to talk to both of you at the same time…because it would just be easier. I guess I sort of understand why you didn't tell Woo…Dad about me, Mom. At least at first, but eventually, it should have been my decision on whether or not to contact him. And you have to know I would have," he began.

"I know, Will. I'm sorry…I can't say anything other than I am truly sorry…I guess I wasn't thinking…but I guess I was selfish, too. I didn't want to have to share you with anyone else," Jordan interrupted.

Will held up a hand. "Let me finish. You've known about this for awhile. Dad and I just really found out about it.

"I love you, Mom. You've done a great job under some really tough circumstances. You've always been there for me…and always will. And I don't plan on going anywhere in the near future except for the UMass. If they'll have me. But I want to get to know my dad. And you've got to accept that. You had to know when I did find out about Woody, I'd want to get to know him."

Jordan nodded. That much she had expected.

"And, Woody…Dad….you have to know that this doesn't make me want to choose sides. She's my mom…and we've been through some tough times together. What happened doesn't make me love her less…it just makes me wonder why…Why she didn't feel comfortable telling you about me and why you didn't check back with her to make sure everything was okay with her. I want to get to know you…there's a lot of ground to catch up on…but I want to do this my way…and that's slowly."

"Okay, Will…I can get that…" Woody said.

Will held up his hand again. "I'm not finished. Now that I have two parents, I am assuming you're both going to want to do the mom-and-dad thing….be at games together, PTA's, all that stuff that regular families do…all that stuff that Mom's had to sort of do alone…So here's the ground rules. You two have to get along. No snide comments….no cutting each other down…at these events, or in front of me or my friends. Somehow, someway….you two are going to have to work it out so that you remain at least civil and things are comfortable while we're together. I don't want to end of being one of those kids who have to have two birthday dinners, or both parents can't be at the same school activity, because their split-up parents can't at least get along with each other for a couple of hours. Is that clear?"

"Yeah," Jordan said, looking over at Woody to see how he was taking their son's usual bluntness.

Woody nodded. "No problem."

"Good," Will answered with a smile. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go eat with Stephanie."

"Stephanie?" Jordan asked.

"Yeah…she's new…" Will said, getting his drink and leaving the table. Woody's eyes followed him across the room to a booth where a pretty blonde sat.

"Is he always like that?" he asked Jordan.

"What…blunt or flirting?"

"Both."

"Then yes, and yes. He was born with my ability to be blunt…and probably Cal's ability to womanize."

Woody groaned. "And you got him through puberty, how?"

Jordan grinned. "It wasn't pretty."

Woody chuckled. "He's an amazing kid, Jo."

She blew out a breath she felt she had been holding for sixteen years. "He is. He's taking it a lot better than I expected he would."

Woody was silent a minute as he traced the rim of his iced tea glass with his finger. "So…what do we do now? Decide who gets what weekend….do I plan on paying child support…how does this go from here?"

"I think we need to let Will decide the weekend thing. And a far as child support goes….I don't need it. I've always been able to take care of Will."

"Is that the reason you wanted Garret's job so badly? The higher salary?"

"I can't deny it's not a big part of the reason, because it was."

"I'll help you with him now, Jordan. And try to make up for lost time."

Jordan absent-mindedly shredded her napkin. "We're fine…just if he mentions needing something, you may want to pick it up…and if it sounds out of the ordinary, give me a call and I can verify it. Then I guess we can split the cost of big ticket items, like his class ring, trips….and college."

Woody was silent for a moment. "So how do you feel about this?" he asked quietly. "How do you feel about having me back in your life? I mean…at this level?"

"I guess it's better this way. Will gets to see more of you…I always assumed I'd be putting him on a plane a couple of times a year for San Diego."

"Instead you have me in Boston, being able to drop in and out of your house and life at a few minutes notice…how are you going to handle that?"

"It will be convenient for Will…"

"But what about you?"

"I won't be paying air fare."

"That's not what I mean…now I'll always be in your life...we have a son together….how's you're personal life going to take this?"

"Ah… you mean my social life…Will is my social life. He's the only man I need in my life until he's twenty-one."

"Glad to hear it…"

"Really? You don't think I can be a good mother and date, too?"

Woody shook his head. "No, that's not it. If you're not dating anyone…and I'm not either…maybe we should get married…for Will's sake."