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She gathers all the dinos into the little backpack while he hands Ollie a wad of stickers he keeps in the drawer for the little warriors.
Surprise, surprise, they are dinosaurs. Ollie's little face lights up, and his heart gives a squeeze. He wants to find more ways to make this little one happy. He searches Ollie's face once more, finding more of him and Melody in its depth.
"You have your momma's eyes," Graham tells him. Ollie nods enthusiastically. "I do! And I have my tia’s hair and chin. She says I look just like my daddy did when he was little."
"Did she now?" Why wasn't he surprised that Marisol knew before he did?
Thinking back, it all made sense. How protective she had been of Melody that winter break. How she would spend months at a time in California with Melody. She knew this kid was his.
"I'll meet you guys in a bit.” His voice was gruff with emotion. He had to get out of that room. He makes a hasty exit, making a beeline for his office.
Who else knew about this? His mom? No, she would have made him step up. Her parents? Duke? He closes the door behind him roughly.
Plopping down on his chair, he braces his hands on his desk.
He knew she had a kid, but the reality of this child was so much more than the thought of him.
He expected to see a shock of blond hair and pale skin, but instead, he saw... well, fuck, he saw himself.
Melody
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She sits in a booth facing the play place, moving her fries around on her basket. She is waiting for Graham. Never did she think she would use that sentence again. Never did she think this would happen.
How the hell did she get here? In her mind, Graham was still in college, living life to the fullest. When did this happen? When did he become a productive member of society? And why, for fucks sake, did he have to fill out that stupid polo so well? She groans, taking it out on her fries.
"What did those fries ever do to you?" She hears him before she can see him, a burger and bottled water on his tray.
He chooses to sit next to her instead of opposite her. At first, she thinks, with her lust-filled brain, that he chose this seat to be near her. She quickly realizes her mistake when he only has eyes for Ollie, tracking his movements in the play place.
Silence befalls the table as she takes him in, watching him take in her son.
Their son.
She can see the tick of his jaw when Ollie falls and the amused smile that graces his face when Ollie tries to share his dinosaurs with a young girl, who quickly rejects the dinosaur but asks Ollie to go down the slide with her.
“Is he mine, Melody?” He whispers, eyes still on Ollie. “Please, don't lie to me.” He turns his full attention on her. And the effect is haunting. His eyes pleaded with her not to lie to him, full of tenderness. That was not an emotion she thought she would ever be on the receiving end of again, least of all from him.
"Yes."
He stays quiet. The silence is threatening to swallow her up.
Ollie zooms up to the play place with a dino in one hand. laughing and giggling to himself when the toy dinosaur bounces its way down the slide before him, and he goes diving in after it.
A soft smile pulls at his lips.
"He is a cute kid." He says to her "You did good, it couldn't have been easy doing it alone." His hands are clenched at his side, opening and closing like he is trying to control his reaction.
"I had help, a really great support system." He nods once in understanding.
He picks up the cookie that he brought with his food. Everything was still in a to-go bag.
It didn't look like he had any intention of staying. She didn’t really expect him to stay and eat with her, but the rejection still sat in her stomach like a dead weight. Would they ever be able to share the same space without that resentment bleeding through him?
"Does he like cookies?' He asks. She nods. Ollie would do anything for a chocolate chip cookie. She wasn't above bribing the little gremlin with cookies to clean up his room.
He unfolds himself out of the booth and walks straight into the play place all without saying a word to her. He sits on a bench watching Ollie with a similar fascination he had only ever reserved for her.
