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Sebastian was a guardian angel when I needed one. He came out of nowhere when I thought the world was going to rip the one thing from me that was mine: my baby boy Van. He saved us both. I don't know what would’ve happened if he hadn’t come along.
“All these years and you don’t have a better word for my family than weird?”
“I’m trying to be nice,” I mutter. “Glass houses and all.”
“Fischl.” Sebastian's hand snaps out to grab my wrist. “We’re family. Fuck the rest of them.” I’ll never get tired of hearing him say those words. Not only are we best friends but we are our own little family.
“Sebastian, I’ll never make you do anything you don’t want, but no one is buying what we’re selling.” I shake my head, wondering where he comes up with some of his ideas.
I met Sebastian when I was barely seventeen. He’d come to rehab or whatever messed-up name our religious nut families called the place they sent girls in my situation to. He was looking for a girl he’d knocked up. She wanted to give their baby girl up for adoption, but Sebastian wasn’t having it. In the end, the girl signed over her rights to him.
It turns out my best friend had banged his way through half the cheerleading team in high school. This was all information I found out as he sat holding a baby in his arms next to me in the nursery. We bonded at that moment. When he finished telling me all about it, I looked him dead in the eyes and asked if he was going to accept that he was gay.
After a long moment of silence, we both burst into laughter. It was the first time I’d laughed in months. A small pressure having lifted off my chest. We’ve basically been inseparable from that day forward.
“It’s not you making me do anything: I’m asking you to do it for me.”
“I, ah—” I stall. I shouldn’t be. This is an easy yes for me. Sebastian and I might as well be married. His daughter even feels like she is mine.
Sebastian comes from a wealthy family. They had mixed emotions about him showing up back home with a kid, but he was twenty and had his own place near the college he attended. There was a trust already established in his name, so finances weren’t an issue for him. But he had to follow certain guidelines in order to maintain that trust. Continuing to get an education was one of them.
He promised his family he would finish getting a college degree. That settled them some, but they’d been prickly toward me at first. Sebastian didn’t care what they thought; he moved me right into his place.
I took care of our babies while he buckled down to get his college degree finished. With time, his family came around a little more. Even more so when I agreed to let Sebastian pretend we were engaged.
Wearing the ring felt wrong, but it did help keep men away from me. That last thing I wanted was a man. One that would fill my head with lies.
As long as it appeared that Sebastian and I were together to the rest of the world, that kept his family off our asses. And we never told anyone differently. The only thing that mattered to us was that our kids grew up in a happy and healthy environment.
That had been working great for awhile but now people are starting to pressure us to actually get married.
“I’m only asking for you to think about it. Plus, I could adopt Van. You both would forever be secure,” he points out. Yes, having Sebastian’s last name would carry weight to it.
Hell, Sebastian had his architect company up and running the day he graduated and was certified. That was another thing his parents weren’t too happy about; they wanted him to go into business or law. But it was clear early on that Sebastian was going to be a gifted architect. And he is. He got so big that we’re expanding. At first, Sebastian was coming to this new city all on his own to open another branch of his architectural firm, but the kids didn’t want our family to be separated. They’ve always been each other’s best friend, so they weren’t scared of a new school like I would’ve been at their age.
I should honestly be jumping at marrying him, but something is holding me back. I know exactly what it is, but it feels selfish of me to admit it. I need to let go of the past. Of him. I remind myself of that every day. Yet I still hold out hope that someday our paths will cross.
That he had a change of heart. That he made a mistake. God, I’m pathetic. I saw the papers that had been sent to the center. He was handing over his rights to our baby. So that I could give him up for adoption, but that hadn’t been what I’d done.
Those papers had been a smack in the face. I didn’t expect papers to show up. I thought he’d find me, but nothing. For years, I held out hope that he’d come, but he never did. He was never who I thought he was.
“Promise me that you’ll really think about it.”
“I promise.”
Sebastian isn’t the love of my life, but he’s never let me down. He’s safe, and I know how scary it is to not have that. Not only for me but my son too.
At least I know with him I can’t get my heart broken again.
CHAPTER3
COOPER
“Mr. Donovan.I’m Hanna, your son’s homeroom teacher.” A woman who looks hardly older than Dunc approaches with her hand held out.
I know I’m supposed to shake it, but it feels wrong somehow. I doff my cap and then hold my hands up. “I’ve been roofing all day and only scrubbed the topmost layer of grime off. You probably want to keep at least a desk or five between us.” I look around. “Which one is Dunc’s desk?”
She points to one in the back corner next to the window. Dunc’s a better student than me. If I had sat in that chair, I would have been daydreaming about escaping every minute instead of excelling in school. I wander over and take a seat. The desk is low, and my legs barely fit underneath. Dunc must be cramped as hell. I swing toward the wall and stretch my legs out, understanding why he chose this spot. It’s not for the scenery but for the extra space.
