No.
It was not possible.
The paper Rodgers had just hand-delivered told him in black and white that Lucy Eames, born on April twenty-fifth, in New York state, was his daughter.
How could this be.
He must have been in the middle of a nightmare.
It couldn't have said that.
And yet...
The DNA test was conclusive.
Lucy Eames was his daughter.
But then, why, if he was the father, had Eames never told him the truth about her paternity.
Why had she done this, kept this secret.
Which sooner or later would have blown up in his face.
Admittedly, Goren had understood what Eames was blaming him for long enough.
Of having cowardly abandoned him.
Which was absolutely untrue.
But that didn't mean she couldn't tell him she was his father.
Did Eames hate him so much as to keep something so important from him.
Lucy was his daughter after all.
She was his flesh and blood.
A violent rage surged through him, and he angrily clutched the paper in his hands, crumpling it.
Had he known, despite Alex's father's threats, he would have come back to marry Eames, even though he knew Jonathan Eames would have refused.
But he would at least have taken responsibility for his daughter.
But because of Jonathan Eames, he'd not only lost Eames, he'd also lost thirteen years with his daughter.
Thirteen years he would never get back.
Goren had to talk to Eames, find out why she'd done this, keep her paternity a secret from him.
He couldn't bear to know that he had a child, and that he hadn't even been able to enjoy that child.
His own flesh, his own blood.
Not wasting a second, he left Rodgers, took the elevator up to the homicide offices, hoping to find Eames there.
On the way here, he'd done everything he could not to run into her.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, Goren didn't waste a second, and rushed out, determined to have a chat with Lucy's mother.
But when he got to the homicide and Eames' office, there was no one there, no Eames.
Maybe she was on a case.
And if so, well, he'd be waiting for her.
- A returner...
At Deakins' words, Goren raised his head as he approached.
- If you're looking for Eames... She's already back.
What do you mean, he...
If he was looking for Eames.
What made Deakins think he'd come to see Eames.
But his eyes fell on Eames' desk, the place where he was standing right in front of it.
And that could be confusing.
Deakins had told him she'd already gone home...
Well, he was going to go to her house and ask for an explanation.
And if he wasn't mistaken, given the early hour of the afternoon it was, Lucy wouldn't be there.
And it was better if she wasn't there.
He didn't want her to witness the scene.
It was hard enough knowing you had a thirteen-year-old daughter, but for a thirteen-year-old teenager, it could be terrible.
And so, Goren preferred her not to be there.
Especially as he was very angry, and he knew he was going to have trouble controlling himself.
- I just dropped by to say hello... I came to pick up a piece of paper.
Was it true...
Goren had just come to say hello.
And what exactly was this paper he'd come to collect.
Deakins took a quick look at the paper Goren held in his hand, but quickly tucked it away in his briefcase, hiding it from him, as if he had something to hide.
What's more, Deakins had thought he'd read the initials dna on it.
Goren would have done a dna test.
And for what reason.
Strangely enough...
Deakins' gaze fell on Eames' desk.
Thinking about Eames, Deakins couldn't remember Eames ever having spoken to him about his daughter's father.
Was it possible that Goren had done a test, because Eames' daughter had asked him to, and was looking for her father.
And if so, who was the person Goren had given the DNA test to.
It was getting weirder and weirder.
First, on the first day they'd met, they'd reacted as if they already knew each other.
And lately, the way they acted.
Which had prompted Deakins to suggest to Goren that they go to svu for a while.
Yes, it was all beginning to look very strange.
And especially that dna test, which Goren had just hidden.
- Well... I'll be off, Deakins.
At these words, Deakins snapped out of his thoughts to look at Goren, who was already striding away.
- Can you explain this...
Goren handed the paper to Eames, who took it in her hands.
But as soon as she laid eyes on the paper, reading what was on it, she nervously squeezed the paper between her fingers, and felt a violent anger rise up inside her, shocked that Goren could have done this behind her back, without her opinion.
DNA paternity test.
That was what it said.
No.
It couldn't be done.
Goren could never have done this.
He wouldn't have dared.
In addition, he had no right to do that without her permission.
And yet...
He'd done it, without even asking her, if he could do it.
And the two names she read on it were those of the father, none other than Robert Goren, and of the child, Lucy Eames, who could only confirm that he had done a paternity test.
She had done everything she could to make sure he didn't find out.
Not after what he'd done to her.
But something must have set him off.
Lucy's age, perhaps...
No, it couldn't be that.
The vision of the color of his daughter's eyes appeared in her mind.
And she understood, or he had suspected her paternity.
Lucy had the same unique brown eye color as him, and as she'd noticed too, as Goren's mother.
So how could he not have made the connection.
My God.
No.
It was a nightmare.
Anything but this.
If he decided, he could take her daughter away from her.
And she wouldn't stand for that.
- You had no right to do that. She tore up the paper, which fell to the floor in several pieces. It's just a piece of paper.
Just a piece of paper...
Eames was wrong.
It wasn't just a piece of paper.
It was proof that he had a daughter, and that Lucy was his daughter, whether he liked it or not.
Blood couldn't lie.
- Whether you like it or not... Lucy is my daughter.
No.
Lucy was not Goren's daughter.
Lucy was hers and hers alone.
She'd raised him.
She had cared for him when she was ill.
He had never been there.
And for nothing as far as Lucy was concerned.
So no, for Eames, Lucy was her daughter first and foremost.
- Blood doesn't prove you're her father. Especially when that father had abandoned his mother.
Blood didn't prove he was her father...
Especially when the father had abandoned his mother.
Even then, he would have had to know that the mother in question was pregnant.
Had he known, he would have come back, even against his father's threats.
- Why didn't you tell me.
- And you... Why did you take the liberty of doing a paternity test.
Good God...
The more he tried to stay calm, the more he felt that in a few moments, he was going to lose all control.
In addition, he'd done the dna test for Lucy, to prove to her that he wasn't her father.
And that she would be surprised to discover that he was her father.
But he wouldn't betray his daughter.
And he wouldn't tell Eames it had come from Lucy.
- It's not what you think.
Not what she thought.
He'd done this paternity test without her consent, and it wasn't what she thought.
Goren had taken everything from her the year she turned fifteen.
Now he had to steal the most precious thing in her life, her daughter.
No, she wouldn't let him.
Lucy was her daughter first and foremost.
- Don't you dare tell Lucy you're her father.
Pardon.
Eames forbade him to tell Lucy he was her father.
Eames wasn't serious.
Lucy had a right to know.
She was desperately looking for her father.
And the moment she found her true genetic father, she shouldn't know.
No, Goren wouldn't let Eames.
- And why should I keep quiet.
Why.
But because he already knew the answer.
What did he believe, that she'd forgotten the past.
- For you to abandon her as you did me... Eames screamed red-faced. It's out of the question.
And there it was again, Eames kept coming back to this.
That he'd supposedly abandoned her.
And worst of all, she was capable of thinking he'd do that sort of thing to his daughter too.
Did Eames think he was a heartless monster.
And now he was seriously getting tired of her believing him capable of the worst attentions, and above all, of her throwing false accusations in his face.
- Now it's getting to be too much. Goren screamed, his hand raised in anger, his face contorted in rage. I'm sick and tired of being the bad guy in this story. The hand that had remained against his thigh, he squeezed with all his might, until his knuckles were white. I never gave up on you.
Never abandoned…
He'd left without giving her the slightest explanation, and he'd never come back to her, not even when she'd found out she was pregnant.
- You don't know the truth. Eames looked at him with such anger, and pain, that his anger fell back, and so did his arm. If I'd known about Lucy...
- What the hell... you'd have come back and married me.
Of course I would.
He would have come back to marry her.
Even with her father's threats hanging over her head.
- Yes... I would have taken responsibility... Eames looked at him with such rancor, doubting his words, and himself, that his heart clenched. And above all, prevented Lucy from being left fatherless.
Was it true...
Would Goren really have come back to her, and married her, without any quid pro quo.
But if he'd come back because she was carrying his child, that didn't mean he loved her.
Taking responsibility wasn't the same as love, they were two totally different things.
- And more, I'm tired of being the bad guy in the story. Goren, his face red with fury, screamed madly, startling Eames, who hadn't expected such a reaction from him. Go to your father and ask him the truth.
Pardon.
Go to her father...
And ask him the truth.
Goren wasn't serious.
She didn't have to, she knew who was lying and who was telling the truth.
- But I know the truth. She looked at him, her big hazel eyes shining with resentment, and her face filled with pain. You cowardly abandoned me.
Goren couldn't utter a single word in the face of this unjustified accusation.
Whatever he said, Eames wouldn't believe it.
So what was the point of trying to talk sense into him?
He was wasting his time.
But Goren was sure of one thing, learning that Lucy was his daughter.
He wanted to take advantage of her.
And make up for all the years he'd lost.
And even Eames couldn't stop him.
- I won't tell Lucy if that's what you're afraid of... But I'd at least like to make up for the years I've lost with my daughter.
At his words, Eames felt his anger gradually evaporate, and reconsidered what Goren was asking of him.
He wanted to take advantage of Lucy...
But he wouldn't tell her who he was.
She could only trust him, and be sure he wouldn't tell her the truth.
But on the one hand, Eames wanted to give Goren a chance to get to know his daughter.
He had as much right to as she did.
So maybe...
- Very well... I don't mind Lucy spending time with you.