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I had a son—someone who didn’t even know me. How did I navigate this new reality? I never thought I would ever be in this position.
It didn’t take long for me to reach the hotel. Quickly finding the room, I knocked on the hotel room door and it swung openalmost immediately. My eyes met a disheveled Jessica, dressed in nothing but a white bathrobe.
“Uhm, yeah, come in,” she said fumbling to open up the door.
I regarded her with a suspicious glare, wondering what was going on and if she was hiding something. As soon as I stepped inside the room, I started looking around, trying to make sense of the situation. It didn’t take long before my eyes fell on the small figure of the boy I had seen days before, fast asleep on the couch with a stuffed dinosaur clutched tightly in his arm.
My heart squeezed in my chest as my legs instinctively carried me toward him. Leaning over his small frame, I ran my hand gently through his hair. “Why is he sleeping here?”
“He fell asleep while watching a cartoon. I was going to carry him to the bed later,” she answered, hurrying over to him.
“Let me do that,” I said lifting the boy carefully. As I carried him toward the big king-sized bed, I couldn’t help but wonder about his favorite things and if he had friends. I wanted to know everything about this little brown-haired boy.
I placed him gently on the tousled bed, tucking him in tenderly. I pushed back the urge to ask why the bed looked so disheveled—probably due to a young boy’s antics—instead I turned back to Jessica. She looked more composed than when I first arrived.
“We need to talk,” I stated, walking to the small couch and taking a seat.
“I thought you’d never come to your senses,” she said haughtily, striding over to sit opposite of me. “So what questions do you have?”
“What do you want from me?” I inquired, even though I already had a pretty good idea.
She shrugged. “To embrace your responsibility as Parker’s father.” Her eyes welled with tears and she began to blinkrapidly. Jessica had a way of crying for every little thing. “Believe me, being a single mom and raising him all on my own hasn’t been easy.”
“Is that all?” I asked, my voice devoid of emotion.
Jessica sat up straight, wiping away her tears. I could tell she was about to get serious. “And I was thinking maybe we could work things out between us. I still love you, Ethan and I’m sorry for what I did to you.”
“You want me to take you back now just because we have a child together?” I asked, suddenly realizing how absurd the idea sounded.
“You know it’s the right thing to do. You always said a child deserves both his parents. I don’t want our child to come from a broken home!” She ranted, her voice rising in pitch.
“Well, you didn’t seem to care about that when you had him all on your own, never telling me, only deciding to show up six years later!” I snapped, getting riled up by her tone.
“I already explained to you why. I was too ashamed to face you after what I did,” she pleaded. “And what’s stopping you? You’re not married, are you? Do you have another woman in your life?”
Yes, I wasn’t married, but I did have a woman in my life. Did I still have her though? I couldn’t be certain, but Jessica was right. Even if I did have another woman in my life, I was ready to work things out with her for my son. But since that woman was Olivia McKenna, whom I’m madly in love with, I wasn’t so sure.
“Ethan.” The close sound of her voice jolted me out of my thoughts and I turned sharply to find Jessica already seated beside me. How had she moved so quickly? She placed her hand on my chest, fluttering her eyelashes and biting her lip seductively. “You remember how great we were together. We can go back to being that way.”
Unfortunately for Jessica, I didn’t remember how things used to be between us. Whenever I tried to picture myself being intimate with her, all I could see was Olivia and the way she made me feel. Moreover, Jessica’s hand trailing across my chest only irritated me. I couldn’t even believe there was a time when I used to be attracted to her.
I shrugged off her hand and stood up. “Sadly, Jessica, I remember nothing.”
Her face contorted in anger. “You’re lying!” She rose to her feet, realization dawning on her. “Do you have another woman in your life now?”
I sighed, running my hand through my hair. “Yes, I do.”
“And you love her?” she asked, her face falling. She must have guessed the answer. Jessica’s despondency didn’t last long. She wiped away any trace of sadness. “Well, it doesn’t matter, Ethan. I’m back now, and I am the mother of your child.”
“That child is the only thing that can bind me to you,” I stated matter-of-factly, my expression firm. I glanced toward the sleeping boy. “Take good care of him,” I said as I turned on my heels. That was all I could say until I figured things out.
“Are you leaving?” She asked.
“Yes.” I turned back to her. “I’ll be in touch, and then we can discuss how to make this partnership work.”
“This is not a business partnership, Ethan!” she snapped in anger. “It’s about family! It’s about feelings.”
I understood that, but all of my feelings were currently held by a woman who had abruptly walked out of my life, even if I didn’t blame her. This new situation would need a lot of getting used to. Without giving Jessica an answer, I left the hotel room, feeling more confused than when I had arrived.
