I ignore Quinton’s joke. My eyes find Aspen’s baby blues. This is it. My chest tightens, and for a moment, I think I might be having a fucking heart attack.
“What’s wrong?” Aspen’s concerned tone doesn’t make it better. If anything, hearing how similar her voice is to Charlotte’s only makes it worse.
“I asked you here to tell you…” The rest of the sentence gets stuck in my throat. Fuck me. When have I ever been at a loss for words? Never, that’s the answer. I clear my throat and try again. “So… erm, there is someone here to see you.”
“Lucas, please tell me what’s going on. You are really freaking me out.”
“Seriously, spill,” Quinton interjects.
“It’s me. I’m here to see you,” Charlotte pipes up behind me.
Aspen pushes past me to walk into my apartment. Quinton follows closely behind. All I can do is close the door and helplessly watch the trainwreck that’s about to happen in my living room.
“Who the hell are you?” Quinton questions Charlotte.
“I—I’m Aspen’s mom. I mean… birth mom… mother. Birth mother,” Charlotte stumbles over the words. She gets up from her seat and faces Aspen. “I’m sorry. I’m so nervous. I’ve been waiting, dreaming of this for so many years. I’m sorry, I just came here. I realize this must be a huge shock to you, but I couldn’t wait any longer.”
Aspen remains stoic, her eyes wide, her mouth hanging open in shock. Quinton grabs her hand, covering it with both of his. “Babe, you okay?”
It takes her another few moments before finding her voice. “Did you know?” She asks Q first. He immediately shakes his head.
“I had no idea.”
Then Aspen’s gaze is on me. “Did you?”
“Just for a few weeks—”
“Weeks?! You’ve known for weeks!” She is angry, but it’s not the anger in her voice that’s the worst. It’s the hidden disappointment in her words that slices through me like a dull knife. “You had all this time to tell me. We spent all afternoon together yesterday…”
“I know. I just didn’t know how to tell you.”
Aspen shakes her head like she doesn’t want to hear any of my excuses. “I can’t believe you. I trusted you.”
“You can trust me.”
“All I can trust is that you keep things from me.”
“Aspen, I…” The apology lodges in my throat.
“Aspen, why don’t you sit down, and we all take a minute to breathe,” Lauren suggests, but Aspen is already shaking her head.
She turns to Charlotte, her gaze filled with so many emotions as she sees her mother for the first time in her life. “I’m sorry,” Aspen apologizes, although she is the one who has nothing to be sorry about. “I can’t do this right now. This is too much.”
“Come one, let’s go back to our place for now.” Quinton wraps his arm around her waist and pulls her toward the door. Aspen leans into Q for support and lets him lead her away.
The door closes behind them, and I can feel the fragile relationship between Aspen and me crumbling to the ground. She might be a forgiving person, but even her kindness has limits. How often can I disappoint her without her turning her back on me?
“Lucas?” Charlotte’s timid voice pulls me out of my self-loathing thoughts.
“This is exactly what I wanted to avoid.” I know this is not Charlotte’s fault, but it’s hard not to snap at her.
“I know, I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Lauren comforts Charlotte. “This isn’t easy for any of you, and it would be a shock to Aspen no matter what. Give her time to process, and I’m sure she’ll be happy to meet you.”
“What if she won’t?” Charlotte sobs, hanging her head low as she buries her face in her palms. “What if she never wants to see me again.”
“That’s not gonna happen. If anything, she is going to hate me for this.” I take a seat on the couch next to Charlotte. There is a foot between us, but she still scoots an extra few inches away from me.