AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Do you think she will come around?”
Honestly, I was truly hoping she would. Jeremy needed at least one grandparent, and it wasn’t going to be mine. I hadn’t even told them that Jeremy was my son, and that wasn’t a conversation I was looking to have. They weren’t going to be happy and that was not something I was looking to deal with currently. Eventually, I would have to tell them, but that day was not today.
“I hope so. My mom is a wild card and very hard to read. She normally does whatever my father wants, but I’ve noticed a few cracks over the years since I got pregnant. I hope she takes a bit of time and reaches out to me. Only time will really tell.”
I knew she wasn’t happy about it, but I also could tell she was trying not to be hopeful. She didn’t want to be disappointed when her mother didn’t support her and continued to stand by her father. Again, all of this was a problem for another day, because we couldn’t do anything to fix it right now. Everyone needed time to relax and process what they learnt and how they felt about it. The best thing we could do was eliminate ourselves from the situation temporarily and let the dust settle.
“Francis was not happy; the best thing we can do is focus on us and let the dust settle. They will do whatever they want, and there’s no way we will be able to predict their actions,” I said as I opened the car door for her.
She waited until I got in before she continued our conversation, “He’s going to do something, but you’re right. We can’t predict nor control them.” She let out a deep sigh before she continued, “I just want to get home to the boys and have some fun.”
“Why don’t we pick them up, grab some pizza and go and head out to the beach? We can do some cave exploring, and there is a spot where we can see whales.”
Jasmine and Jeremy haven’t really have much of a chance to explore the city outside of the main village. It would be nice to get them out for a little while and show them the hidden beauties that Newport has to offer.
“That sounds amazing. I would love that,” she said with a warm smile, and I knew she was starting to feel better. A day out together was exactly what we all needed, and I was hoping it would rejuvenate her spark. Some time together as a family was what we all needed.
Jasmine
Ithadbeenacouple of days since the shitshow that was my court hearing. So much had happened, I didn’t even know where to start by the end of it. I had needed the past couple of days to process it all and try to figure out the best course of action. Liam and I had spoken and he had given me advice, but he was also allowing me to make the decision on how to handle Jeremy, something I respected him for. Even though Jeremy was ours, he was still giving me control of my life. Adam was my ex, not his, and it was on me to deal with him. Just like it was his responsibility to handle Ellis.
I had decided to reach out to Adam and speak with him. I was hoping that Adam was in the mood to speak to me. He’s had a couple of days to process all of the information that got dropped onto him in court. My hope was that he had calmed down and would be able to handle a civil conversation between two adults.
I headed inside the cafe to see Adam sitting at a table already. There was nothing in front of him, and I knew that wasn’t a good sign. He loved coffee and would drink it anytime day or night. If he wasn’t drinking coffee, then he was worked up still and that didn’t leave me feeling good.
I made my way over to the table and sat down. His whole body was tense, and it reminded me of a cobra just waiting to strike out. I needed to be careful. If I said the wrong thing at the wrong time, he was going to snap; the whole point of meeting him was to be able to have this conversation in a calm manner.
“Adam, thanks for meeting with me,” I started.
“It’s not true right? You were lying about Liam being Jeremy’s father.”
The deep hurt that flooded his entire body was a massive sucker punch to my gut. It hadn’t even crossed my mind that he would have assumed I was lying about Liam being Jeremy’s father. As if I would use that as a strategy to win.
“Adam, I would never lie about something like that. Liam is Jeremy’s father. I’ve known since he was one years old when I did a DNA test from a glass of yours that I took. He’s not yours Adam.”
I expected for Adam to be pissed off, but my mind never thought he would be so devastated by the news. Maybe that was petty or stupid of me, but he didn’t seem to care very much about Jeremy to begin with. I guess I figured he saw him more as an annoyance. Someone he had to take care of and deal with to better his image. There had been plenty of times that I doubted his love for Jeremy. But it was real. Despite what happened between us, I never wanted to cause him pain, especially a pain like this.
“How could you keep this from me? I had the right to know. Did you think it would change things? That I wouldn’t love him?”
“I honestly didn’t think about that. I know this is hard, but you need to understand I was young when all of this got dropped onto my lap. I never anticipated telling anyone. If Liam hadn’t been in the crowd at the church, I would have married you. I would have continued to pretend like we were a happy family.”
“And you can’t do that now,” he sadly stated.
“No, I can’t. You can’t unring a bell Adam. Honestly, I didn’t think you would feel this way. I didn't know how you would treat Jeremy if you knew the truth. All I knew was how you treated him when you did believe he was your son. You weren’t exactly loving Adam, even you have to admit that. You would go days without even speaking to him. He seemed more like an annoyance to you than anything.”
Maybe that was harsh, but it was the truth, and I knew Jeremy had felt the same at times.
“I never saw him as an annoyance. He was my son and I loved him, love him. If you had talked to me we could have worked something out. I could have done better if I had known there was an issue. I didn’t know I was doing anything wrong. My father was the same way growing up; it was normal to me.”
Fuck, now I felt like an asshole. I knew Adam’s father wasn’t loving. I tended to avoid Henry whenever I could, because I just couldn’t deal with him. He wasn't a good man, and there had been plenty of times during our relationship that I had excused his behavior because of being raised by Henry. I didn’t where Jeremy was concerned because if you knew how it felt to be ignored by your father, why would you turn around and do the same to your own child?
I felt like he should have known better. That he should have been hypervigilant about his actions and emotions towards Jeremy. It has never sat right with me and hearing that he was hurt by all of this did show me that he had what it took to be a good person. It wouldn’t be with me and with a lot of luck; it wouldn’t be with Jeremy. However, his next relationship, maybe he would be better at it.
“I know. It’s why I didn’t get on your case about other issues we had. But Jeremy, he’s a person. You looked at him everyday, and you wouldn’t even ask how he was. You can’t tell me you don’t remember what it felt like to be in Jeremy’s position. I didn’t see love, and at times, he didn’t either.”
His jaw clenched, and I could see the start of tears building within his eyes. Fuck, this man has never cried. I’ve seen him furious, now right out for blood. But I had never seen him this deeply hurt, and I felt just horrible that I was the cause of this level of pain in another human being.
“I’m not saying this to hurt you. I don’t want to hurt you, believe that or not. But I also don’t want you to make the same mistakes going forward. One day you are going to find an amazing woman that you love and who loves you. Maybe you’ll have kids, and you can make your own family.”
