Better for Us by Vanessa Miller

to the days when I didn’t know I had a child, and even if I could, I don’t want to.”
    “I’m not asking you to deny your child, Noel. I know that you can’t do that.”
    Noel shrugged. “Well, then, I guess that’s it. Low-life reporters like Gary Morrison will try to make something of this, but I think people will understand that I didn’t just run out and impregnate some random woman while handing out Vote for Noel Carter buttons. Jaylen is seven years old.”
    “I know that, and you know it, but if this news continues to circulate, we both know that you’ll lose this election.”
    “What do you want me to do about it, Ian?”
    “I’m glad you asked,” Ian said with a sly grin. “Because I do have a solution.”
    “How painful will this solution of yours be?” Noel knew that Ian had his best interests at heart, but sometimes the man asked too much of him.
    “That depends.”
    “On what?” Noel asked cautiously.
    “On how you feel about marrying Ryla Evans.”
    “What? Have you lost your mind?” Noel prided himself on keeping a level head at stressful times. But Ian was raising his blood pressure with the nonsense he was talking. “Did you just ask me to marry the same woman who kept my child from me for seven years?”
    “I know it’s a lot to ask, but you really need to think this through. If you want to win this election, I think you need a wife in order to convince your constituents that as an elected official you won’t be spending your time chasing women and missing important votes on the House floor as an elected official.”
    “I hear what you’re saying, Ian. But I just can’t trust Ryla. If she could do what she did to me and Jaylen, what else is she capable of?”
    “Maybe she had a good reason for not telling you about Jaylen. Did you ever ask her why she left without telling you she was pregnant?”
    “I don’t have to. I figured out what happened about two seconds after she demanded that I fire Cathy.”
    “She did what?” Ian’s eyes grew big with Noel’s pronouncement.
    “You heard me. And I think I know why,” Noel said with a smirk on his face. As Ian listened intently, Noel continued, “Somehow she got it in her head that Cathy and I had something going on in college.”
    * * *
    “Mommy, why don’t you and Daddy live together?” Jaylen asked as Ryla was helping her out of the tub while drying her with a towel.
    Ryla sighed, as she wrapped the towel around Jaylen and walked her down the hall to the guest bedroom her aunt allowed them to stay in. She didn’t like having conversations with Jaylen about her father. Jaylen always ended up asking questions that were painful for Ryla to answer. “Your daddy and I aren’t married, sweetheart, that’s why we don’t live together.”
    Jaylen lifted her arms and let her Princess Tiana gown slide down her body. “Why didn’t you marry my daddy?”
    “It’s complicated, Jaylen. I really don’t want to discuss this tonight.”
    As Jaylen climbed into bed and pulled the covers up, she said, “But you told me that you wanted to marry Daddy and that if you had the chance you would.”
    Ryla remembered their conversation well. Jaylen had been five and her best friend’s mom had just remarried her children’s father. Jaylen came running home with the news. Once she’d told Ryla everything about her friend’s mom and daddy being so happy together again, she’d asked Ryla if she would remarry Noel. Ryla hadn’t even bothered to correct Jaylen with the fact that she had never been married to Noel in the first place. Ryla had thought the entire conversation was moot because she never expected to see or hear from Noel again. So, she smiled and said, “If I ever got the chance, I would marry your dad in a heartbeat.” Now those words were coming back to bite her.
    Sitting at the edge of Jaylen’s bed, Ryla tried her best to explain the situation. “Your dad and I are two different people now. He’s changed and so