“Sam, you’re Maya’s father.”

After lobbing that grenade, Tara had continued talking but Sam was so stunned that none of what she said registered at all. Maya was his daughter? His mind flashed back to that night in his trailer thirteen months ago; the night before Tara had taken off. Maya had to have been conceived then. But why hadn’t Tara said anything? When he’d heard of her pregnancy it had been months after she’d left. He’d assumed she had met someone new and moved on with her life. He had spent the last year damning the son of a bitch who had run off and left her alone, never imagining that the son of a bitch was actually him. Sam felt the air rush out of his lungs, and he wasn’t at all sure he’d be able to breathe more in.

He had a daughter. He was momentarily speechless, but quickly roused from his stupor when Tara made to leave.

“Let’s talk about this now,” he said catching her arm.

Tara felt a wave of anxiety ripple through her. This was every bit as difficult as she’d thought it would be. But at least Sam seemed to be more stunned than angry. In fact, he looked like a man who’d just been run over by a freight train. And she couldn’t blame him.

“I’m sorry this is such a shock,” she said, wincing at the inadequacy of the word.

“Shock?” he snorted, shaking his head. “That has to be the understatement of the year. Tara, how the hell could you keep a secret like this?”

“I wasn’t sure how you’d react,” she said quietly. That wasn't quite the truth. She wanted to say because you would have taken over, but wisely, didn't.

“It would have been nice to have been given the chance to react!” Sam’s emotions were in turmoil, vacillating between joy, hurt, and anger. “Did you really think that I’d turn my back on the two of you? Your opinion of me must be pretty damned low!”

 “Of course not. But this is the first time we’ve really talked since I left,” Tara said.

“That’s bullshit and you know it. I called to congratulate you after she was born, you could’ve–“

Tara remembered that phone call all too well. Sam had sounded so sweet and caring, and she’d wanted to tell him about Maya so badly it hurt. But she'd been afraid that he would have rushed to Shreveport and moved them back to Bon Temps that very night. And she hadn't been emotionally ready to return to Bon Temps just then.

“This isn’t the sort of thing you tell someone over the phone, Sam,” she said in her own defense.

“And this isn’t the sort of thing you keep secret for a goddamn year either!” he roared.

 Maya apparently didn’t care for her father’s tone of voice. She screwed up her face and began to wail loudly.

Sam quieted immediately and looked concerned. “What made her cry?” he asked.

“You did,” Tara replied darkly, stroking Maya’s back in an effort to calm her. “You scared her with your shouting.” Tara rocked the baby in her arms and cooed to her while Sam watched. Tara saw the guilty expression on his face and took pity on him. “It’s okay, Sam. She’s fine.”

He nodded, then walked over and used his finger to gently brush the tears from Maya’s chubby cheeks. “Yeah it’s okay, sweetie. Daddy’s sorry.”

Daddy. Sam couldn’t believe how easily he accepted the fact that he was a father. Maya smiled up at him and his heart melted. Having been abandoned by two sets of parents, Sam vowed to himself that he would always be there for her. Especially if…

He remembered Tara’s words on the day she left town and his blood ran cold.

“You left Bon Temps because you wanted to get away from everything supernatural. I’m a shifter and so are my mother and brother. Has it occurred to you that Maya could be one as well?”

“It has. And I’m perfectly okay with that,” Tara said, looking him straight in the eye.

“Are you?” Sam asked, returning her gaze. He knew what it was like to be alone and afraid, abandoned by family and dealing with shit no child should ever have to experience. Although it was less than an hour since he’d learned that Maya was his daughter, he already felt fiercely protective of her. He was determined that she would have a better childhood than his. If Tara wavered in the slightest, he would hire an attorney and challenge her for custody with no feelings of guilt whatsoever.

 “I said I’m okay with it,” she replied firmly. “Maya wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t. She’s my baby and I love her unconditionally. I left town because I'd gone through so much hell in those past couple of months and I blamed it all on supernaturals. The truth is that some of the worst shit ever done to me has been done by my mama, and there’s nothing supernatural about her. And two of the best people I know happen to be a mind reader and a shapeshifter.”

Her words took some of the sting away, but they still didn’t change the fact that she hadn’t told him about his daughter. He should’ve been there to help. Sam collapsed onto the sofa.

“Damn it, Tara, I had the right to know,” he said wearily.

“Yeah, you did,” she agreed.

“I would have been there for you. Both of you.”

“I know, Sam.” Tara took a deep breath. “Look, I know I was wrong not to tell you sooner. I’m sorry, and I don’t expect you to forgive me. But right now we need to figure out a way to get along because this is no longer just about the two of us. We have Maya to consider now, and we need to decide where to go from here.”

“You’re right,” Sam said, standing again. “And where we go from here is the Renard Parish Courthouse.”

“For what?”

“We’re getting married.”

 ********