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“Okay, Mommy. Can I show him my fisheees?” he asked, looking up at me with wide, innocent eyes.
“Of course, you can, baby.”
Spencer laughed as Jayden retrieved his collection of plastic fishes from his backpack including a shark, a clownfish, and a jellyfish. “This one is Mister Shark,” Jayden began to explain. “This is Clowny and this is Jiggly-Jelly!” He held each one out for Spencer’s inspection as he spoke and then looked up at the older man with a face full of wonder. “Mama bought them for me! My fisheees! All mine!”
I could see tears welling in Spencer’s eyes as he nodded at his son. “Of course, they’re all yours. Don’t worry, I won’t take any from you,” he reassured him. “But how about we see if we can get you some more while we’re away?”
Jayden’s little face lit up and he began to excitedly jump up and down on the spot. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” he cried.
“Okay, honey, that’s enough,” I interrupted. “Let’s put your fishes away now and get a move on, okay? The sooner we leave, the sooner we get to the beach.”
Jayden nodded and began packing everything away once more. Once he was finished, Spencer ushered all of us toward his fancy car. I took Jayden’s booster seat to the car and Mom insisted that I put it in the front seat so the boys could spend more time together.
“Jayden needs a good male role model in his life,” she explained. “Besides, he seems quite taken with Spencer, doesn’t he?”
I nodded as a wave of emotions rushed over me. I was excited and scared and happy and nervous all at once and it was making me feel a little bit queasy. When I finally sat in the car and Spencer started driving, my mind was a million miles away worrying about everything that could go wrong on this trip. While Jayden chattered away to his new best pal, Spencer, I wondered how I was going to manage to keep mine and Spencer’s sordid affair a secret from my mom. My thoughts were racing as I hoped that Jayden would get along with Spencer and not end up hating him. But worst of all, I was worrying about whether Spencer might make a move on me…
Or worse, what if he didn’t?
19
Spencer
It was the most bizarre day I’d ever had. Not only was I on my way to the incredible island of Hawaii for a much-needed vacation, but I was going with Rylee. The girl I had wanted to see again every day for the last five years. And the strangeness didn’t end there. We were going with our son. The young boy I hadn’t even known existed until a week ago and now he was here, lively as anything, and chattering away to me in the passenger seat.
“Car so fast!” he cried in excitement as I drove my sleek Mercedes toward the airport. “Faster, faster, faster!”
“I can’t go much faster, Jayden,” I told him fondly, glancing to my right to smile at him. “We have to stay under the speed limit.”
“Sp-speed limit?” he replied, sounding out the strange words.
“Yes, that’s it.” I gripped the steering wheel tighter under my palms and took a quick look in the rearview mirror where I could see Rylee biting her fingernails anxiously. I knew she was apprehensive about me spending time with Jayden, but I was determined to prove to her that I could be a great dad and an even better boyfriend.
“Are we almost at the fisheees?” he asked as he peered out the passenger seat window.
“Um, it’s a long way off yet,” I told him with a grin.
“I like fisheees. Fisheees swim. Fishees in sea and lake and house!” he explained excitedly, looking up at me with a big toothy grin. “Can we go swim?”
I couldn’t get over how cute he was. He obviously had a big interest in water and I was pleased that a Hawaiian vacation seemed to be a big hit with everybody. “Of course, we can go swim!” I replied. “I can take you swimming in the ocean or in a pool! Would you like that?”
“Yes! Yes!” he cheered.
“Has Mommy taken you for swimming lessons before?” I asked.
Jayden looked up at me with a confused look before Robin chimed in, “Oh, yes, Jayden and Rylee have taken classes at the community center since he was two.”
“Wonderful. We’ll definitely get you out in the water, buddy,” I promised him.
“Yay!” he cried. “Swim! Swim! Swim!”
I never thought joy could be so infectious, but Jayden’s happiness seemed to course through my own veins and paint a permanent smile on my face. I knew right then that this was going to be the vacation of a lifetime.
Within an hour, all four of us were climbing aboard the sleek, white jet awaiting us on the runway. Jayden was completely astonished by it, apparently having never seen a plane in real life before, while Rylee and Robin chattered excitedly about their plans for the trip. I walked on last and watched with glee as the others enjoyed themselves. I imagined luxury wasn’t exactly something they were used to in Halston and damn it, I was determined to make sure they indulged themselves a little more—especially Rylee.
