“I know.” He adjusted Rose in his arms, his voice lower. “I’m asking.”
The word disarmed me more than any demand could have.
Evelyn looked between us. “I can request a continuance. Given the circumstances, it will likely be granted. But there will need to be revised disclosures.”
“Do it,” Benjamin said.
“Wait,” I said.
Both of them looked at me.
I had walked into that office prepared to be dismissed, maybe challenged, possibly humiliated by legal language and wealth I could not match. I had not prepared for this sudden shift, for Benjamin holding Rose like she had altered gravity itself.
“I came here because I couldn’t keep doing this alone,” I said. “Not because I wanted to reopen old wounds or give you a chance to make decisions over my life again.”
His face tightened at the word again.
“Amelia, I never wanted you alone.”
“But I was.”
He had no answer.
Evelyn quietly excused herself and closed the door.
Benjamin looked down at Rose, then back at me. “Tell me what you need.”
It should have been simple.
Money. Support. Insurance. A proper home. Legal acknowledgment. A father for Rose.
But beneath all of that was something more difficult to name.
Respect.
Truth.
A promise that did not evaporate the moment his phone rang.
“She needs stability,” I said. “She needs a father who will not appear for one week out of guilt and vanish the next because something more profitable comes along.”
He flinched.
“She needs legal protection. Medical coverage. A schedule that works around her needs, not your board meetings. And she needs parents who can speak to each other without attorneys translating everything into ammunition.”
Benjamin nodded slowly.
