Taken (Dark Desires 1)

As dinnertime approached, I found myself pacing the living room, a knot and a side order of butterflies battling it out in my stomach. Eli was playing on the floor and I was keeping an eye on him, making sure he didn't go near those damn birds again. But I was beyond distracted and couldn't focus on anything.

I listened for any sound that would signal Reese's arrival. I listened for a car pulling up. Footsteps on the front porch. The sound of his voice. Since he and my brother often came in through the back door off the driveway – through the kitchen – I felt relatively safe in the living room. At least, for the moment. I couldn't help but pace as I listened and tried to prepare myself for what was about to happen.

He'd be what, twenty-five now? Like my brother? He could have changed and grown up a lot since I'd last seen him. Maybe he was a completely different man. Perhaps life in LA had changed him. Maybe for the better. Maybe, he'd become a responsible adult who was putting his life in order.

Maybe, he had the right to know he had a son.

I looked down at Eli, at his sweet face, and it broke my heart that he might never know his father. Every little boy deserved to know who his dad was. But that competed with my belief that not every dad deserved to know who his son was. Some men wanted to be in their lives and others didn't. Would not knowing his father be better than the rejection of a man who wanted nothing to do with you?

And what kind of man would Reese actually be?

So many thoughts. So many questions. None of them had answers.

“Hey, Maya.”

Reese's voice surprised me, caused me to jump, and made a fist seemingly made of ice squeeze my heart painfully. I literally screeched when I heard him. I was facing away from the kitchen and somehow, he'd managed to slip inside without me hearing him. And there he was standing there, bigger than life, and was even saying hi to me.

I turned and put on a fake smile. “Hi Reese. How's it been?”

I didn't know if he noticed Eli at that point or not, because he just stared at me and smiled. That smile that always pulled me in and made my heart flutter. The one that had never been directed at me until the night I'd conceived our son. And yet, there he was, smiling at me again.

Oh, and he was still so gorgeous. Tall, dark and handsome as ever. He was no longer wearing the super baggy jeans and baseball caps he wore in his younger days. But he was still looking every bit the part of the big baller – just a little bit nicer. Nicer jeans, a nicer shirt. And he'd grown up a bit too. His face had stubble on it, just a light dusting of hair that made him look more like a man and less like the boy that he was before he left town.

“It's been good,” he said. “Glad to be home though. I missed Chicago.”

“Missed it here? While in LA?” I asked.

I was nervous, not really sure how to make small talk with the father of my child – especially given the fact that he didn't know he was the father of my child.

“Yeah, the weather is nice out there,” he said. “But it's just not the same as home, ya know?”

“Not really. I've never been,” I said. “But I guess home is where the heart is, right?”

“I suppose so.”

That's when Eli pulled on my pants leg and said, “Mama, hold me?”

Reese's gaze fell on the toddler, and there was a moment of surprise in his face – but also a question in his eyes. I could see it on his face, plain as day, as he studied the child in front of me. I picked up my son, cradled him in my arms, facing him away from Reese.

“Listen,” I said, “It was nice catching up, but I really have to help my mom in the –”

But Reese stopped me from walking past him and into the kitchen. He stopped and looked at the child in my arms, then back at me, then back at Eli again. Eli looked back at him like he would any new person – with a wary curiosity.

“You have a kid?” Reese asked.

“I do, yes,” I said. “His name is Elijah. Eli for short.”

“How old is he?”

I could see Reese putting the pieces together, one-by-one. He was doing the math in his head, trying to find proof that this wasn't his kid.

“Three years old,” I said. Almost four now, but Reese didn't need to know that much.

“And what about medical school?” he asked me quietly.

“It didn't work out,” I said. “Now if you'll excuse me –”

Luke came down the stairs at that point, pulling Reese away. Thankfully so. Eli and I escaped into the kitchen, and I tried to remain calm.