Cuff Me

Noah glanced back at Wyatt and the man’s expression instant change to one of utter devotion. It was like watching the sun suddenly break through the clouds.

It made regret settle in my stomach. I really should have told him about Noah sooner. Because I hadn’t they had both missed out on so much.

“Oh, that we did,” Wyatt said, ruffling Noah’s hair. “Didn’t we, buddy?”

“Oh yeah.” Noah perked up at the attention. “Wyatt – he told me I could call him that – and me are best friends now,” he announced.

“That’s great,” I told him, injecting false joy into my voice. “But you have to say goodbye to Wyatt now. We gotta go baby, get you to bed.”

“Awww Mommy, do we have to? I want to watch Spiderman with Wyatt again. He promised we could.”

“And you will. Just not right now.” I made my voice firm and he settled down with a pout.

I went over to where his bag was on the table and shouldered it.

“Is all his stuff in here?” I asked Wyatt.

“Everything’s in there,” he confirmed.

I looked up to find him watching me with that cold expression so I turned away from it and went back to Noah. I lifted him into my arms

“Say bye to Wyatt. You will see him again soon,” I said.

“Very soon,” Wyatt interjected.

We left a few minutes later.

When the door closed behind us, the sound rang with such finality that I felt like I had just gotten my heart broken all over again.

“What's the matter, Mommy? You look sad,” Noah asked.

I was buckling Noah into his car seat when he asked. He touched my cheek and brought my attention to the wetness there.

A tear had rolled down my cheek that I hadn’t even noticed.

“There must be something in the air. I’m okay,” I lied, quickly wiping the moisture away. My cheeks hurt from the awkward smile I gave him. “Everything is fine.”

Seconds later we drove away from Wyatt’s apartment but I knew this was far from over.

I had built this nightmare, and now I had to figure out how to fix it.

Chapter Nineteen: Wyatt

I paced my apartment long after Hailey and Noah had left.

I had watched her taillights disappear and fought the urge to call them back. There was so much we still needed to discuss. So much I felt.

For her.

For him.

I also knew that Hailey and I needed some alone time to hash this out the right way.

The turbulent mixture of emotions made it impossible for me to sit still especially when it felt like the walls of the apartment were closing in on me.

It didn’t take me long to admit to myself what the real issue was. I missed them – both of them - and not even thirty minutes had passed since they left.

The somber emotion forced my anger into the back seat and for the first time in so many hours, my thoughts weren’t fueled by the heated force of it.