Chapter 9 As soon as Jeff’s car came to a stop in the parking place at the hotel, Harley jumped out of the car and headed back towards her room leaving Jeff sitting in the car.  But something made her stop - something she couldn’t explain.  What if she’d been wrong about him all this time?  What if he was the ONE good guy left in the world?  Maybe he would have taken care of Joey and been a great father. It was too late now, she would never know what might have happened.  She was suddenly overcome with guilt.  Here was this man, Joey’s actual father who now knew about him.  Harley, for some reason, felt like she was already in this situation so why not give Jeff a chance.  If he didn’t want anything to do with Joey, or the responsibility of  being a father, then there’s no harm done.  But what if he really wants to be his father - to be a part of his life?  She couldn’t take that away from Joey….or Jeff for that matter.  She turned around as she wiped away a single tear that had spilled onto her cheek.  She looked at him.  Jeff was still sitting in the car, his head on his arms that were draped on the steering wheel.  Her heart went out to him.  Unnoticed by Jeff, she walked over to the driver’s side window which he had left rolled down.  "Jeff?", Harley said softly as not to startle him.   He looked up at her with a tear stained face.  "I’m sorry.  I’m sorry if this is hard for you and I’m sorry that you never knew.  But I did what I thought was the right thing - for me and my child.  I honestly thought I’d never see you again.", Harley said as she too was now crying. "I understand.", Jeff stated, "So….what do we do now?"   "I don’t know.  I guess that’s up to you."   "Up to me?", Jeff asked as he wiped the tears from his face and stepped out of the car.  "Yeah.  It’s your decision.  You can walk away right now, and nothing will change - Joey will never know.  Or….you can be his father.  But if you decide to do that, you have to BE his full time father, not just some guy that sends cards and letters and visits once a year."   "But I’m on the road all the time, so how could I do that?"   "I realize that, but you can still be his dad and be on the road.  You can call him and visit with him whenever you can."   "But that’s what you just said I couldn’t be.  You said I had to be a full time father."   "Being on the road with work and just not being around are two totally different things.  You just have to make a little bigger effort.  You can still be his Dad.  As long as you are there for him, love him, and he knows it - that’s all that matters."   Jeff seemed to understand a little more.  Jeff stood there, deep in thought.  "You don’t have to make this decision right away.  Take your time and think about it.  Think about it really hard because if you decide to be his father, your whole world is gonna change in the blink of an eye." Jeff agreed and exchanged phone numbers with Harley.  He promised to call her as soon as he had made up his mind.  They said goodbye and Jeff got into his car and drove away.  Harley hoped that she had done the right thing this time.           Last Chapter ..*.. Next Chapter ..*.. Chapter Index ..*.. Home