Page 55 of The Paternity Puzzle

Royce swallowed hard and faced Dr. Flores. “Do you accept hugs?”

She laughed and opened her arms. “Bring it in.”

Sawyer, Kelsey, and Royce gathered Dr. Flores into a group hug before they turned her loose. Kelsey stopped at the counter on their way out to schedule her follow-up blood tests before the trio strolled into the sunlight.

“Are you guys going back to work?” Kelsey asked.

“We took the day off,” Sawyer said. “We knew there was no way we’d be able to concentrate.”

Kelsey giggled and shook her head. “I’m not going back to work either.”

Sawyer ran his hand through his hair. “How are we supposed to keep this news to ourselves for like ten more weeks? I feel like I’m going to burst.”

“Maybe tell the people closest to you,” Kelsey suggested.

“My closest people already know,” Royce said, gesturing to her and Sawyer. “I can think of an activity that will help Sawyer work through his excess energy.”

“Yeah, I hear you’re good for that,” Kelsey teased.

“Not that.” Royce tilted his head. “Well, not yet, anyway. Let’s paint the nursery. Kelsey can float around the pool like a water goddess and maybe boss us around.”

Kelsey hitched her purse higher on her shoulder and strode to her car. “Damn, I’m loving this idea. I’ll meet you there.”

Royce watched her walk away, and Sawyer took advantage of the distraction to send the Maury Povich GIF he’d found on the internet. It showed the talk show host holding up a manilla envelope with paternity results and the words, “You are the father,” flashing across the bottom. He tucked his phone away so he could watch Royce’s face when he opened the text. “Who’s bugging me?” Royce saw the sender, then quirked his brow at Sawyer.

“Just open it.”

Royce tapped his phone and watched the GIF play on repeat for a few seconds. He snapped his head up and met Sawyer’s gaze, a big smile on his face. “I’m the father.”

“Hell yeah, you are.”

“I’m the father!” Royce’s shout startled an elderly lady going into the medical building next door. “Sorry, ma’am.” He turned back to Sawyer with a look of pure wonder on his face. “We’re going to have a baby,” he whispered.

“We are.” Sawyer would never forget the moment in the clinic when Royce offered to give him the one thing he wanted most in the world: his baby.

“Whose last name will we give her? We can’t do a hyphenated double-barreled last name. Can you imagine? Key-Locke. Locke-Key. I refuse to be one of those parents who set their kids up for relentless bullying.”

Sawyer hooked his finger through Royce’s belt loop and tugged him forward. “I’m already one step ahead of you.” Hereached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. “I have a surprise for you. It’s a little something I worked on this week.”

“My birthday isn’t until October.”

“Father’s Day is next weekend.” Sawyer pulled his driver’s license from the clear plastic slot and handed it to him.

Royce stared at it for the longest time before lifting his head. Joy shimmered in those pale gray eyes he loved so damn much. “Sawyer Locke.”

“I changed my name to Locke legally, though I’ll continue to use Key professionally. I checked with HR, and they said it—”

Royce smashed his lips against Sawyer’s right there on the sidewalk. “Fuck. You went and did it.”

Sawyer chuckled. “Surprised you?”

“Yeah, that too,” Royce said. “But I didn’t think I could love you more.” He held up Sawyer’s new license. “I was so wrong.”

To be continued in…

The Sinner’s Sonon September 9, 2025. You can preorder now here

and…