“Is there any reason for you to fear his father at all?”
“Absolutely not, and I think you know that, Detective,” I grumble while my hands shake.
“Then why not tell him?”
“Because… because he didn’t want to be a dad.”
“Who the hell is it?” Tag almost blares, making Trip whimper.
He quickly turns around and scoops him up to soothe him, making Trip’s sleepy eyes close again.
“It looks like things have changed, Ms. Branderwood,” the detective sighs, and Tag’s eyes widen in disbelief.
He looks stunned, and tears teeter on the edge of his lids as he stares at me with judgmental, icy blues.
“He’s mine? This whole fucking time you’ve been lying to me?” he hoarsely releases.
***
Tag
How could she?
She’s sitting there, fighting back her tears as she lowers her shameful eyes to the floor. This whole time I’ve been right here, and yet she didn’t tell me. I was on the verge of telling her I love her, and yet she kept my son a secret.
“Why?” I prompt.
“You know why, Tag. Don’t act like being a father was on your to-do list,” she whimpers, her eyes still not meeting mine.
“Not on my to-do list?” I almost whisper in disbelief as I cradle my son to my chest. “Ash, do you think that little of me?”
Her eyes finally look up, the tears dripping in streaks as she shakes her head.
“No, I think that much of you. You would have stopped everything. You would have given me money, possibly even tried to be with me for the sake of the child you helped create. I didn’t want that. I didn’t want to try to push you away because I knew I couldn’t. I couldn’t let you feel guilty for something you didn’t mean to do. I’m in… I’m sorry, but I couldn’t take it.”
“You didn’t have that right,” I scold, my own tears threatening to drip. “I missed the entire pregnancy. I missed the sonograms, the doctor visits, the damn birth of my son. I missed the first three weeks of his life, and I would have missed all of it if it had been up to you. How could you do that to me?”
She looks away, and then she stares at her hands as she almost whispers, “Either you hated me beca
use you knew, or you hated me because you didn’t. I thought I was helping you. I’m sorry.”
I can’t even look at her right now. I can’t believe she could do this to me.
“When you find this guy, tell me he’s going to jail for a while,” I growl to the forgotten detective.
“We should be able to get him for attempted murder, thanks to the gunshot he delivered against Ms. Branderwood. We’ll be assigning a protective unit to you. Where will your son be staying?”
My son.
“We’ll go to Melanie's,” Ash says while fighting off more tears.
“Not a chance,” I snap. “I think you’ve kept him from me long enough. You can go if you want, but he’s staying here.”
Her thick tears fall harder as she looks up at me with those stormy eyes stinging with pain.
“I can’t leave my son, Tag.”
“Then you know how I feel. You can keep your room. He’s not going anywhere. In fact, there’s a lot of shit that will change. Starting with where he sleeps. You had four weeks, I get four weeks. I’ll get his crib tonight.”