“I know this is going to sound a little crazy, but…she and I have a son.”
Uh…what?
Sorry?
Did I just make that up in my head?
He studied my face. “Yeah, I know.”
“Sorry, could you repeat that? Because it sounded like you said you guys have a kid…”
“That is what I said, baby.” He looked into my gaze, his eyes a little soft, but there was distinct happiness there. “I told you we were trying when we were married. I guess she was pregnant without knowing it. We got divorced, she realized it sometime after that, and then…yeah.”
“Wait, let me get this straight…she had a child and didn’t tell you?”
He rubbed the side of his face and sighed. “Yeah, I know.”
“So, she blames you for her father’s passing, leaves you, devastates you, and to top it off, she has your kid without mentioning it? She gave birth, and you missed it? She just…became a mom without telling the dad? Who the fuck does that? Bitch…”
“Look.” He held up his hand to silence me. “Catherine has no excuse for what she did. But let’s not throw the bitch word around like that. She’s the mother of my son now, you know?”
I was instantly annoyed that he defended her. “Is your son here?”
“Baby, come on…”
I shook my head slightly.
“Yes, I was pissed off and I may have called her that myself, but I also realized it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter that she lied. It doesn’t matter that she took away special moments I’ll never get to have. We have a son together. It’s time to move forward and be parents. Period.”
I realized he’d had some time to process this, but I didn’t. I was reacting to it in real time. “I just can’t believe she did that.”
“Yes. Unacceptable.”
“How do you even know if he’s really yours?”
He fished his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “I’m getting a paternity test to be a hundred percent certain, but he is. Look at him.” He tapped the screen with his finger, and the picture appeared because it was his screensaver.
A beautiful little boy with a face identical to his sat there.
Yeah, that baby was totally his. “What’s his name?”
“Ryan Allen Hamilton.” He set the phone on the coffee table then rubbed his palms together, growing quiet.
The man I loved was a single father now. Now he had to share his son with his ex-wife, so she would never be out of our lives. Or maybe he didn’t want to be a single father. Maybe…maybe this changed things. “Are you…going to go back to her?”
He turned to look at me, his eyebrows raised. “No.”
“Are you sure? I mean, you have a kid together—”
“It’s not the Victorian era where I have to marry a woman I’ve knocked up, Sicily. I’ll still be a great father, and we can still be partners in raising him, but we don’t need to be romantic partners to do that.”
His words didn’t chase away the fear in my heart. In fact, it continued to grow.
He must have seen it in my eyes because he said, “I love you, Sicily. You’re the woman I want to be with.”
Maybe he felt that way now, but the more time he spent with his son—and by extension, Catherine—that might change. His feelings could slowly sway, just the way they slowly swayed for me.
“Baby.” His eyebrows furrowed even more, like he was physically pained.
“I just…I don’t know. It changes everything, you know.”
“It doesn’t.”
“Have you met him?”
“No. Tomorrow. Why?”
“Seeing him and seeing her…might change your mind.”
“It won’t.” He reached out his hand to touch mine, to grab it tightly. “I know I hurt you before, but I’m not going anywhere. My devotion is to you and my son. That’s it. Not Catherine. I’m happier with you than I ever was with her.” His gaze continued to burn into mine, forcing his passion into my skin. “Baby, come on…please don’t doubt my love for you.” His hand slid into my hair, and he brought me close to kiss my forehead. “I’m not doing my job right if I ever give you any doubt. If a man ever makes his woman feel insecure, then he’s not a man. That’s what my father has always told me.”
“It’s not you, Dex. I just… A kid changes everything, changes your whole life.”
He pulled away so he could look at me again. “I know it does. But it’s not going to change that. It’s not going to change us.” He tucked my hair back before he slid his fingers down my cheek and to my jawline. He moved his arm around my waist and shifted his body closer to mine, his chin resting on my head.
“How do you feel about all this?”
He rubbed my back. “Happy.”
“You are?” I asked in surprise.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”