Page 110 of Better Daddy

“My assistant just gave this to me. What’s going on?” I hold up the paper, figuring I might as well dive right in.

She sits across from me, perching on the edge of the chair. “Will told me you’ve been taken off litigation.”

Her tone is flat and unimpressed, which is not surprising in the least.

For once, I go with the God’s honest truth. “I like estates, and now that I’m pregnant, keeping up with litigation files is a challenge.”

My mother nods. “This case should help with that.”

Confused, I stare at her. “How?”

“This will prove that you can do it all,” she says like it should be obvious. “You’ll be in court. You’ll make a good impression. It’s a win-win.”

I grind my teeth together, though I can’t exactly shoot down her theory. And I do like being in court.

She isn’t wrong; the situation is pretty damn ideal, really. I just hate that she’s the one giving it to me. Again.

“Why didn’t you tell me you got me this job?” I ask pointedly.

“Why didn’t you tell me you’d dismissed the divorce?”

My jaw ticks. She’s too smart not to know the answer to that. She’s already looked at the file. She knows it’s still pending. A couple of months ago, Sully and I agreed to wait until after the baby is born to make any final decisions. Yes, we’re both in this one hundred percent, but we’ve had plenty of other things on our minds, so we’ve stuck to the plan and haven’t talked about the divorce proceedings at all.

But none of that is her business.

My mom huffs when she realizes I’m not going to give her a response. “I can only ask for so many favors, Sloane. You won’t make partner here if you don’t think outside the box. If you simply want to raise your babies and work on trusts, then it’s probably best you go back to your husband’s firm. It’s bad enough that you’ve stopped litigating. At least there you were a partner.”

Her words land, hitting me in a spot I don’t think she even knew existed. One I was wholly unprepared for. “I was never actually a partner,” I admit.

For the first time in my entire life, I think I actually shock my mother. She jolts backward. “What?”

I avert my gaze, peering out the window. “I wasn’t a partner.”

“What do you mean?”

I shrug, going for aloof, despite the way that fact has always bothered me. “The guys are full partners. I worked mostly from home after T.J. was born. I hoped that after he was in school…”

I don’t finish my sentence. My mother isn’t an idiot. She doesn’t need me to explain how I naïvely believed that when T.J. went to kindergarten, I’d have time to focus on myself and my own goals again. I was the one at the top of our class in Columbia. I aced all the tests. When I joined Sully at his father’s law firm, I had offers from just about every other large law firm in New York that was worthtalking about. I had fast-track to partner written all over me.Iwas the prize.

Until I had a baby.

He wasn’t an easy baby. He took more of my time and energy than I expected. Even after he went to kindergarten, someone had to do school drop-offs and pickups, and Sully never had time.

I was drowning, with a child who fought me every time I dropped him off, who would cry until I took him home with me. And on the days I could bribe him into going, I’d head to the office, only to be treated like I was there to catch up instead of work. Like I wasn’t a lawyer there too. Not one of them saw me, least of all my husband.

I blink, forcing the thoughts from my head. I don’t have it in me to go back to that time. Sully and I have worked through so much. Maybe we haven’t touched on these parts yet, but that’s probably because I’ve never mentioned how I felt about not being partner.

But we’re good now. We’re communicating. Every day, he goes above and beyond to show me that my career matters just as much as his. I’m not going to go borrowing trouble.

“I’m happy mother. I know this isn’t the career you pictured for me—” My mother scoffs, but I hold up my hand, forcing her to hear me. “My child is happy. My life is full. And Sully and I will figure out how to move forward, together.”

With a shake of her head, my mother stands. “I hope for your sake, you’re right.”

I hate that even after she leaves my office, her words stay with me.

Chapter 39

Sully