#Chapter 307: Paternity

The morning sun was beginning its ascent into the sky by the time we reached the clinic, casting a dim glow through the clinic’s frosted windows as I stepped into the examination room. Layla followed, cradling her son carefully in her arms. The weight of the situation loomed over us, a palpable tension that we both tried to brush off with forced smiles and polite small talk. The nurse handed me a cotton swab and explained the procedure. Simple enough. A cheek swab for DNA. I rubbed the cotton against the inside of my cheek and handed it back. Done. But the real weight of the moment hung suspended, unresolved, like a storm cloud about to burst. “The doctor will be in to speak with you shortly,” the nurse said tersely, casting Layla and I both a strange glance before she slipped out of the room. I had expected that people would gossip and look upon our situation with disdain. This town wasn’t the biggest, and word spread fast. I already knew that word had begun t