Chapter 36

SEBASTIAN

Sebastian ran his fingers through his already messy hair. His life was way more complicated now.

“Where is he?” he asked, referring to Aaron.

“Taking a nap, but he should be up by now,” Katie said before making her way to Aaron’s room.

What type of a father would he be if Aaron was truly his son, and he chose not to be in the little boy’s life?

Katie came back with Aaron on her hip. The little boy was still kind of sleepy. His head rested against Katie’s shoulder.

Sebastian could not see his face properly, and Aaron hadn’t seen him either.

“Aaron, your daddy has come to see you,” Katie said to her son.

Aaron looked up and became alert.

“Daddy?” He smiled, showing his dimples. The dimples were the only thing Aaron inherited from his mother.

KATIE

Katie had tears in her eyes. She knew it was a dream come true for Aaron to finally meet his daddy. He’d asked her about his father for many months, and she’d always done the best she could to avoid the question.

“Yes, love. Your daddy is over there.”

That was when Aaron noticed Sebastian standing beside the couch.

He gestured for his mommy to put him down. As soon as she did, he ran toward Sebastian.

Sebastian squatted, and before he could utter a word, Aaron hugged him.

“I missed you, Daddy,” the little boy whispered against his chest.

SEBASTIAN

Sebastian wiped a tear that unintentionally rolled down his own cheek. It felt amazing to hear Aaron call him “Daddy.” He hadn’t expected to hear that word until his child with Jayda started talking.

Sebastian pulled away from the hug and took in Aaron’s features. The small boy was a replica of him. In addition to other similarities, Aaron had Sebastian’s beautiful eyes. The same eyes that Jayda confessed she could stare at all day.

More tears welled up in Sebastian’s eyes, but he managed to hold them back. He was sure Aaron was his. He could see it. He could feel it.

Sebastian took Aaron’s hands in his. “I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you. I promise to make it up to you, okay?”

Aaron smiled and nodded.

Sebastian managed to return the smile and then kissed his forehead.

“Daddy, I want to show you my new toys,” Aaron said excitedly.

“Sure, I’d love to see them,” Sebastian replied.

Aaron happily took Sebastian’s hands with his own tiny ones and led him to his room, where his toys were.

Halfway through Sebastian and Aaron getting to know each other, Aaron told his mom that he was hungry. She made his food, and Sebastian offered to feed him.

Sebastian enjoyed spending time with Aaron. The little boy was smart and polite.

When Sebastian announced that it was time for him to leave, his heart broke when he saw that Aaron was almost in tears.

He dropped down to his knees and consoled him. “Don’t cry, buddy. I’ll come to see you tomorrow.”

“Promise?” Aaron asked with tear-filled eyes.

“I promise. Do you want me to buy you anything before I come back tomorrow?”

“I don’t want anything. Just come and play with me.” Aaron pouted.

Sebastian smiled. “I’ll be here tomorrow evening with a surprise for you, okay?”

Aaron nodded.

Sebastian pulled him into a hug and then showered his face with kisses that made the little boy smile. Now that he’d met his son, he couldn’t imagine a life without him. He would never be able to ignore him again.

***

SEBASTIAN

Even when he knew deep down that Aaron was his, Sebastian wanted to leave no stone unturned. He was able to get a hold of Aaron’s drinking straw and fortunately, he’d helped him cut his fingernails so he had Aaron’s nail sample too.

Sebastian made his way to the hospital as soon as he left Katie’s place. He gave them Aaron’s samples and his own samples and paid extra for the results to be fast-tracked.

He was assured he would get the results via email in the next few hours.

***

SEBASTIAN

Sebastian had mixed feelings on his ride to Caleb’s office. His visit to Aaron went well, but deep down he was so damn scared as to how Jayda was going to take the news.

Sebastian had already missed out on the first years of Aaron’s life, and he didn’t want to miss any more of it. He’d just met Aaron, and he loved the little guy already. He felt the need to protect him and make sure he never lacked anything. For the first time, Sebastian understood what a parent’s love felt like.

He pulled up in the parking lot of Caleb’s building and made his way to his best friend’s floor.

“You’re lucky I’m still here. I just told Caleb that if you don’t show up in the next ten minutes, we will have to reschedule whatever you want to see us for,” Lilian said to her cousin before lifting her glass of wine to her lips.

Sebastian was about half an hour late.

“I’m really sorry guys, I honestly lost track of time,” Sebastian said as he approached Caleb and Lilian who were sitting on different couches at the far corner of Caleb’s office.

He took a seat on the empty couch that was beside Lilian.

“Should I pour you a drink?” Caleb offered.

“Yes, please,” Sebastian answered immediately.

“Okay, now I’m getting nervous,” Lilian muttered.

“What do you mean?” Sebastian asked, confused.

Caleb spoke as he poured Sebastian a drink and handed it to him. “I’m your best friend, and Lilian is Jayda’s best friend. You said you wanted to meet both of us to discuss something, so it’s reasonable to conclude that you wanted us to help you plan your proposal to Jayda.”

Sebastian let out a sigh. He planned to propose to Jayda. He would love nothing more than for her to be his wife, but he didn’t know if it would be possible anymore.

“I’m in deep shit, guys, and I’m here because I need you to tell me what to do before I go crazy,” Sebastian confessed.

“You didn’t cheat on Jayda, right?” Lily asked nervously even though she was sure he wouldn’t dare to do that to her best friend.

Sebastian shook his head. He took a sip of his wine and started telling them the whole story. He covered all that Amelia said and all that happened earlier today with Katie and Aaron. He also showed them Aaron’s picture.

Caleb and Lilian were short of words. Especially Caleb. Whenever Sebastian ran to him for advice, he always had one or two things to say, but this time around his mind was blank.

Lilian’s voice rasped. “This is a very delicate and serious issue, Sebastian.”

“I know, I’ve been a mess for three days now.” He ran his right hand over his face.

“Katie told me that if I want to be in Aaron’s life, I need to create time for him. Aaron is a sweet and obedient kid. He almost started crying when I told him I had to go. I promised I would check on him tomorrow evening.”

“Do you plan to tell Jayda?” Lilian asked.

“I don’t know. What if she wants nothing more to do with me after I tell her everything? Life without her is not the same. I love her so much!

“Besides, I don’t want her to worry because of her blood pressure. The doctor said we shouldn’t engage her in things that will make her worry or depressed.”

Caleb shook his head. “So, when you spend time with Aaron, where will you tell Jayda you went? The lies will keep piling up, and she will eventually find out the truth,” Caleb reasoned.

“Jayda is very unpredictable with how she handles different situations, but one thing I can tell you as her best friend is that she hates lies. Aaron is a part of you. I understand the fatherly love you have toward him, and I understand your desire to make it up to him especially after you’ve missed so much in his life,” Lilian said kindly.

“Jayda will be taken by surprise when she hears about it, I mean who wouldn’t? You never saw it coming. Caleb and I even thought you called us here to help you plan a surprise proposal to Jayda. But all I can say is that Jayda deserves to know what’s going on.”

Sebastian sighed. “It’s not that easy, guys!”

LILIAN

Lilian and Caleb’s hearts went out to Sebastian. They could see the stress combined with nervousness and fear on his face.

Lilian wished there was something she could do to help, but sometimes in life, there were things we must accept because we have no control over them. She had known Jayda since forever and one thing was for sure, Jayda wouldn’t take the news well.