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Knocking on the door, my heart leaps into my throat. After a long second, the door opens, and he’s standing there. He looks worse than he did the day I left him.
“Kyla,” he says my name softly, and then Axel steps over in front of me. His eyes move down to my little boy and hold there. He has to see what I’ve been hiding from him.
“This is Axel,” I tell him. His eyes never leave his as we stand in awkward silence. Axel, on the other hand, holds his hand out to Mystic.
“I’m Axel,” he states, his voice small. Mystic doesn’t look at me; he just takes his small hand in his and shakes it.
“I’m Jake.”
“Hi, Jake.”
“Hi, Axel.” Then the awkward silence lingers once more. I watch Mystic blink a few times before stepping aside to allow us in. He ushers us in the front door and closes up behind us.
“You didn’t tell me.”
“I was starting over. You were starting over,” I reply as if the thought never crossed my mind. I thought about it. I thought about telling him but for what? We were both going our own ways.
“He … he is mine, isn’t he?” I shift from foot to foot, unsure what to say here.
“He is.”
“And you didn’t tell me?” Now he sounds angry.
“It was one night, Mystic.”
“Jake. I’m fucking Jake to you. Not Mystic, not anymore. This changes things.”
“It was one night, and I didn’t think it would have made a difference.”
“We have a lot to talk about,” his voice calming a little. “I didn’t plan on kids, not after …” I don’t need him to finish that. I know what happened, and it’s all probably still fresh in his mind.
“I know. I didn’t plan on you finding out,” I admit. He nods his head as Axel fidgets with his shirt.
“Can I watch TV?”
“Axel, don’t be rude,” I tell him.
“Yeah, you can. Come on, and I’ll show you where you’re going to be sleeping.” Axel has no fears of new people. He never has. So when Jake starts walking, Axel follows him.
“You’re mommy’s friend,” he says as they walk down the hall.
“Yeah, I am.”
“I like mommy’s friends.” Then they disappear into a bedroom, and tears I’ve been holding back fall down my cheeks. I reach up to wipe them away, but they won’t stop. They keep coming.
A few minutes later, Jake is back, pulling me into his arms.
“I messed up, Kyla. This is all my fault.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know who else to call when Jeremy showed up. I ran. I had friends who hid me, and I ran,” I tell him truthfully.
“I’m sorry. I should have done it. I was just so … drunk. That’s all I’ve been doing.” Finally, I pull away from him and wipe my eyes.
“I wanted to tell you about Axel, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to interrupt your life; it was so soon after they died. I just couldn’t, Jake.”
“You’re sure he’s mine?”
“That one night. That’s all it took.”
