"He died before he ever knew."
I nodded. "I'm not here to take anything from him."
Mark studied me, weighing that.
"Good," he said. "Because I'm his dad in every way that counts."
"And I respect that," I replied.
"I need some time to swallow this, Ivy, but we're going to handle it like adults," he said.
He took a deep breath before continuing.
"Ma'am, I don't know what you expect, but Theo is my son in every way that matters. This can't be a tug-of-war."
"I don't want that," I said. "I just want a chance to be there for him... within reason, of course. Financially, too. Owen would have wanted that. He's my blood, too."
