I nodded as politely as I could while inside, I felt like I was in turmoil. I didn’t want to hear all these details about my potential son’s life from his grandmother. I wanted to learn about them first hand or at least be able to speak to Rylee about it all. I couldn’t help but stew on it all the while Robin told me about Jayden’s life in excruciating detail.
“What does he look like?” I asked, feeling unable to censor myself even though I knew it might make Robin suspicious.
She looked at me funny for a moment. “Well, if you’re that interested, you can always meet him,” she suggested with a kind smile. “But if you must know, he’s the spitting image of Rylee! He’s got blond hair and blue eyes just like the rest of us Brattons.”
That didn’t answer any of my questions. I’d been hoping Jayden might look more like his father, no matter whether that was me or not. Throughout the rest of dinner, I fought with myself in order to stop myself from asking further questions. After all, I’d promised Rylee I wouldn’t tell her mom that anything had happened between us and I didn’t want to raise Robin’s suspicions, but still, I was desperate to know whether I was the father of Rylee’s child.
I needed to get to the bottom of this—and fast.
12
Rylee
On Saturday afternoon, I was getting ready to attempt to do some laundry when Jayden ran up to me and grabbed a hold of my leg. He clung to me and started to shake me while I giggled and looked down at him.
“What’s up with you, baby?” I asked with a smile.
“I’m bored!” he cried out.
“I’m sorry, Jayden. Mommy has to get some chores done,” I explained to him. “If I don’t do the laundry then you won’t have any clothes to wear to pre-school on Monday.”
Jayden pouted. “But I wanna play with you, Mommy!”
I looked down at him for a moment and sighed before rubbing his head and messing up his blond hair. “Maybe later, okay?”
“But Mommy!” He began stomping the ground and I knew he was on the verge of having a tantrum when my mom came rushing in.
“Hey, Jayden. How about Granny takes you to the park around the corner?” she said with a wink in my direction.
The young boy’s eyes lit up instantly and he let go of my leg in favor of running toward my mom. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” he cried in excitement.
“Okay then, little man, go get your shoes on then,” she told him and Jayden rushed off down the hall toward the shoe rack.
“Thank you,” I whispered and gave my mom a grateful hug. “You’re the best.”
“No, if I was the best, I’d let you go to the park and I’d tackle the laundry!” she joked with a laugh. “Instead, I get to spend some quality time with my grandson while you’re stuck here doing chores.”
I shrugged. “I don’t mind the laundry,” I told her. “But seriously, Mom, thank you. You’re always here for me when I need you.”
“Isn’t that what moms are for?”
Before I could reply, Jayden had returned with his shoes firmly on the wrong feet. We both laughed and Mom helped him to correct them before they headed out the door and finally, I had some peace and quiet. Ideally, I’d love to spend the time away from Jayden having a nice relaxing bubble bath, but of course, I had to try to get caught up on the never-ending pile of laundry I had. Luckily, however, doing the laundry was probably my favorite chore. As I gathered Jayden’s soiled clothes with food and grass stains covering them, I relished the thought of being able to clean up the mess and give Jayden back some of his favorite clothes so he could wear them again and again.
Laundry was simple. It was a simple process of collection, washing, drying, and folding, maybe a little bit of ironing here and there, but my point was that laundry was a much easier task than other things I had on my to-do list. For example, telling Spencer he was Jayden’s father. I’d been so busy the last few days that I’d not had time to arrange a sleepover for Jayden to get him away while I spoke to Spencer. Hell, I hadn’t even seen Spencer himself.
No, but I’d heard about him of course. When Mom got home the night before, she told me all about her fantastic date with Spencer and how everyone there had totally believed they were a legitimate couple. She’d gushed about how well it had gone and how Mr. Jenkins would never ask her out after he’d heard about it.
I tried to pay attention and listen to her, but in all honesty, my heart broke at the very idea of my mom being seen on Spencer’s arm. I hated the thought of other people thinking Spencer was dating her when I wanted him to be with me.