by Mia Ford
I didn’t know what that man wanted but I was sure he scared me half to death. I knew I shouldn’t have stopped in front of Dex’s building. I had no idea where his head right now. I didn’t know if he was thinking about coming back, ignoring us completely, or worse, trying to take me to court to get custody of Seth. The thought of facing a court battle with Dex and his barrage of corporate lawyers terrified the hell out of me. I lived in an apartment in Brooklyn with my mother and he owned a multi-billion-dollar company. He had all the money in the world to take me to court every single day until Seth was eighteen and I could barely even think about hiring an attorney. What would I do if I was faced with that kind of life changing event? I couldn’t compete with Dex’s lawyers, they were loaded and could take this as far as they wanted. Dex had everything I didn’t.
When we pulled up in front of the apartment, I was paranoid as I looked around me to make sure I didn’t see any suspicious men in suits. We were alone but that didn’t calm my fears. Dex knew exactly where I lived and he could send a lawyer here at any point. Sure, my apartment was nice and homie for the three of us but it was no Canton Commons and I couldn’t give Seth the best of everything like Dex could. I was terrified that a judge would think money was more important than a mother’s love. I looked up at the door as we climbed the stairs, wondering if I should think about moving somewhere else. The biggest problem would be that my mother would never agree to move and she was the person who took care of Seth when I worked. There was no way I could afford childcare and an apartment in this city by myself. I wanted to give Seth the best life I could muster.
After we got inside, I plopped down on the couch while Seth ran off to finish his new drawing at the desk I got him for his room. It wasn’t much but it gave him something other the dining room table to draw on. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the wall, replaying the vision of the man running after us across the courtyard. Was it possible that Dex knew we were there? Or was it just a coincidence? Did the security guard just want to make sure we weren’t doing anything wrong out there on the marble fountain in the Canton Commons Courtyard?
Either way, I could feel sadness overflowing in my chest. Not only was I terrified to lose my son but I was now faced with the idea that I might have to fight the man I loved for custody of our child. I couldn’t figure out how everything got to this point. How did I let things get this far?
Chapter 17: Dex
Maybe I was wrong, maybe I shouldn’t have just dropped by Casey’s house. I stood outside of the walk up, looking up at the twinkling lights from the Christmas tree inside. I knew there were cars passing, horns honking, and the normal sounds of the city going on around me but I couldn’t hear anything. My heart was beating so hard in my chest that it filled my ears and took over my ability to think straight. Casey and Seth were right inside those doors, going on with their normal lives and trying to move past everything that happened. But I knew I would never have a restful soul if I didn’t come here to confess my feelings to the mother of my child. She held this secret in for a very long time and it was my turn to step forward and take responsibility. Besides, I wanted to see the boy that I now knew to be my son. I wanted to get to know him, to see him smile, to hear his laugh.
I turned toward the driver who had popped open the trunk and was grabbing wrapped boxes from the inside. I knew it was going to be quite a shock to find me on the doorstep so I figured I better not come empty-handed. Instead, I stopped by the toy store and bought everything I thought Seth would like. I didn’t know the kid very well but he seemed to be a lot like me, so I picked out anything I knew I would have wanted at his age. It took a while for them to wrap everything but we got it done and packed into the limo. I leaned in and pulled the biggest of the boxes out, grunting at how heavy it was. We moved up both stairways and stood in front of Casey’s door. At first, I couldn’t bring myself to lift my hand and knock. This interaction wasn’t going to be simple or pleasant. There was no way Casey was going to welcome me with open arms.
I balanced the box on my knee and knocked quickly on the door, my heart beginning to beat even faster. What would I do if she didn’t answer? What would I do if she refused to allow me inside? I left that night without saying a word, except for the horrible ones I threw at Casey. I should have come back in and apologized but there was so much going on that my head was filled with fog. I could hear footsteps inside so I knew someone was home. I leaned to the left, hoping she wouldn’t see me through the peephole. I didn’t want her to see it was me and decide against opening the door.
“When she comes to the door she will want to talk to me,” I said to my driver. “Just go ahead and bring everything in and set it in the living room.”
“Yes, sir,” he replied, struggling with the gifts he was holding.
Slowly the doorknob began to turn and I took in a deep breath. Ready or not I was going to have to face this head-on without letting my anger spill out again. I needed to keep a level head, understanding that Casey had been through so much, regardless of whether I thought it was wrong to keep Seth from me. She carried the intense pressure of raising a child without his father. The door swung open and I stared at Casey who looked at me with an expressionless face. I stepped inside and set the large box down before turning to face her.
“What are you doing here?” she said with a bit of anger in her voice.
“I came to spoil my son,” I said triumphantly, quickly realizing that was not the right answer.
Casey stepped forward and grabbed my arm, pulling me down the hall and into her bedroom. I stepped forward and looked around. It was simple but elegant, just like Casey. I could hear her breathing heavily behind me as she closed the door and turned around. She was more than fuming and I could understand why. She was ready for a fight but I didn’t want to let it get to that point.
“Casey,” I said calmly, putting up my hands. “If you could just hear me out.”
“Hear you out?” She exploded. “You think after how you acted, after what you said, after you just disappeared again, that I should take two seconds to hear you out? You complained that I was basing my decision of not telling you about Seth on the fact that you just get up and leave. You said that it wasn’t fair to judge you on your actions before you knew you had a son. And what did you do? You ran off and jumped on your plane. That little boy does not need a part-time man in his life, he is perfectly fine with a full-time mother.”
“I’m not here to be a part-time dad.” I pleaded.
“And your little antics when we were at your building the other day.” She scoffed. “That was really rich, having a security guard chase us down in the courtyard. If Seth had noticed he would have been scared to death.”
“A security guard? No, Casey, you have it all wrong,” I said, shaking my head. “The fountain is under construction. He was probably trying to make sure you were safe.”
“I’m supposed to believe that?” She was crying and there was nothing I could do to calm her. “If you think you can come bulldozing in here with your money and your lawyers and try to take my son, you have another thing coming. I will fight with everything I have to keep Seth here with me. You are not going to bully me into a custody battle. I am not some pawn in your game and neither is Seth. He isn’t a shiny new toy that you can just come in and take because you have money and power. I don’t care how many lawyers you throw at me, I will make sure that my son is protected every single step of the way.”
“I’m not trying to take Seth, Casey,” I said weakly. “I swear, I have no intentions of taking you to court or anything like that.”
I watched her face as her shoulders relaxed slightly. I hadn’t even thought of the fact that she would be afraid I was going to try to take Seth from her. Seth loved his mother and his grandmother, I would never try to disrupt his life that way. I could understand Casey’s fear though, especially since Seth was her entire life and had been since the day he was born. I had no idea how she felt and I was trying
to be as empathetic as possible. I didn’t want to fight with her, verbally or legally, and I needed her to calm down so I could explain that. She was scanning my face to see if I was telling the truth. My eyes saddened at how far we’d fallen, how little she trusted my word. Casey was an amazing woman and now she was standing in front of me, afraid that I was some kind of monster who came here to take her child. I was more worried that she would never forgive me than I was about devising a plan to steal Seth right out from under her. I shook my head and stepped closer to Casey, reaching down and grabbing her hands.
“I’m not here to fight and I am not going to take you to court,” I said calmly. “I just want to get to know him and try to make up for the time I lost.”
She looked up at me with tears still streaming from her eyes. Her hands shaking. I pulled her over to the bed and sat her down, sitting down gently beside her. I turned toward her and forced her eyes to connect with mine. If we were going to get anywhere, I needed to be one hundred percent truthful and open with her.
“Look,” I said calmly. “I’m sorry that I left the way I did. I had just been hit with some of the heaviest news I’ve gotten since my father and mother were killed. It took me by surprise and I lashed out. By the time I said all those horrible things, my head was reeling. I know you have done this on your own this whole time, but I just needed to breathe and calm down. I wanted to think about everything logically, make good decisions, and know that I could offer Seth something exceptional.”
The look on her face was fear and hurt but she had calmed down enough to hear the words I was saying. Her desperate attempt to protect Seth at any cost showed me just how amazing of a mother and a woman she really was. Her love for that boy knew no limits and she was willing to stand up to an entire empire to protect him and his home. I realized at that moment that I really admired the person she was and that her exceptional mothering ability was the root of all my fears about being a father. Part of me didn’t want to tell her about my fears but the other part of me knew I needed to let it out. Who better to tell than the woman who knew the awesome power of being a parent?
“I never thought I would be a father,” I said slowly. “At least not for a long time. I thought I would be able to control it like everything else in my life. When I found out about Seth, fear completely took me over. My father was an amazing dad and I have no idea how to be the same. I hemmed and hawed over it for days and not because I didn’t want to be, but because I wanted to make sure I could be the man Seth deserves in his life. I don’t want to be the on again off again father that you are so terrified I will become. Of course, I still have to run my business but that doesn’t mean I can’t change my life to put my son first like my dad did for me and Natalie. In the end, as I stood out on the balcony of my hotel in Caracaras, I knew what my decision was. I want to be part of Seth’s life, a real part of it. If you will let me.”
With those words, I took a deep breath and leaned away from Casey. I could see her mulling my words over in her head as she wrapped her arms around her waist. I knew she was scared. I was absolutely terrified myself but I also knew I couldn’t live the rest of my life knowing I had a son out there somewhere. I knew I could provide for Seth in a way that would make all his dreams come true. I knew that, regardless of her fears, Casey wanted that for him too. She was working so hard to give him the best life possible, I knew she would be able to breathe a little easier knowing there was someone else around to help. Those few minutes sitting on Casey’s bed were the longest of my life. I stared at her, waiting for her decision, knowing whichever way she went, it would change my life forever.
Chapter 18: Casey
Finding Dex standing outside my door was not how I expected to shape the events of my day. Immediately, I was livid that he just showed up, carrying presents, and thinking he could march right into Seth’s life without even a conversation with me first. This was not how everything was going to go down. I was not going to allow him to march in and throw our lives into an upheaval, all while wondering what other secret agenda he had. However, after listening to his words, seeing his pained face, and really understanding what he went through, I felt like it was my duty as Seth’s mother to at least consider his request. He wanted to be part of his son’s life and if he was telling the truth about custody and working his life around his son, then I could see giving him a chance. But with his past, I was absolutely terrified that it was all just words. I was terrified that he would find out it was too hard and go back to his privileged life in the city, leaving me to clean up Seth’s broken heart. The idea of Dex hurting my son the way he’d hurt me was heart-wrenching. It was almost enough to make me refuse Dex and send him away for good.
I wasn’t going to lie, there was part of me that was trying to protect my own heart just as much as Seth’s. I fell in love with this man and I knew he had feelings for me too, at least I used to believe so. Would him being in Seth’s life bring him back into mine as well? Did I even want him back in mine? Knowing how easily I melted for this man, it was hard to believe that I could stand by and spend so much time parenting our child together without falling into that trap again. I couldn’t spend the next twenty years as his side project, as the woman he slummed it with after leaving the high life, the woman who had to deal when he found a rich, beautiful woman from his own world. No, I couldn’t do that and just thinking about it made my stomach turn. I couldn’t allow that to happen but at the same time, I couldn’t use that as a deciding factor in whether I allowed him to be an active participant in Seth’s life.
My mind was reeling and I couldn’t slow it down. He was asking me to make the biggest choice of Seth’s life right then and there in my bedroom. I didn’t know if I even had the strength to say yes. If I did, and if he failed again, Seth’s broken heart would fall on my shoulders because I told Dex the truth. What if I said yes and he abandoned us again? I had never seen Seth be faced with anything of that magnitude and I didn’t know if he could handle that. The fact was, he shouldn’t have to handle that but that was the life that was handed to him. If Dex left again, I knew there was no way I would be able to handle it. I knew I would end up packing our bags and moving to somewhere far away like Wyoming or something, just so Dex couldn’t ever just show up at our house again. The constant roller-coaster of emotion was making me sick and even right then, sitting still in my emotions, I felt like I was going to puke. I was pained in ways I could have never imagined I would be. I was trying to protect my little boy and myself at the same time. I looked at Dex who was sitting quietly, panic spread across his face as he wondered what I was thinking. Part of me wanted to tell him that he had left me with that same feeling every time he walked away but I didn’t want to fight anymore.
“I can see the pain on your face.” He sighed. “I understand that you are really wary about this. I understand you are trying to protect your little boy but please, Casey, please let me be a part of his life. I cannot live the rest of my life knowing I have a piece of me growing and learning without me there to watch and help.”
I opened my mouth, ready to say something hurtful but I quickly shut it again. I realized my hurtful thoughts weren’t coming from my need to protect Seth, they were coming from my own broken heart. I rubbed my hands against my thighs, drying the tears and sweat that lingered on my palms. I looked up at the door as the handle turned, quickly wiping my face and staring down at my little boy as he let himself in. He smiled big at Dex as he entered and ran over to me, throwing his body onto my legs.
“Mommy,” he whispered. “What are all those presents for?”
“Oh,” I said, laughing and crying at the same time. “Those are from Dex. He brought them for you for Christmas.”
“Oh.” He sighed, obviously disappointed that he had to wait.
“How about we do this,” I said calmly, leaning down and kissing him on the cheek. “You and Dex go out in the living room and pick one present. You can open it right now but then the rest have to wait until Ch
ristmas.”
“Okay!” he exclaimed, grabbing Dex’s hand and pulling him toward the door. Dex looked back at me and mouthed the words, thank you, before disappearing around the corner. I hadn’t made up my mind yet but I wasn’t going to deprive Seth of all the gifts Dex had brought him. In fact, I was curious to see what he bought him. Had he sent someone to pick out the hottest new gifts to impress Seth or had he actually thought about the gifts before bringing them over?
“That one,” I heard Seth yell out loud.
“Okay,” Dex said, laughing. “Let’s pull it over here and then we’ll wait for your mom.”
I could hear Seth grunting as he helped pull whatever it was into the middle of the floor. I took a deep breath and wiped the rest of the tears from my face. I stood and walked out of the bedroom toward the living room where I saw Seth standing triumphantly next to the biggest box in the group. Of course, he would pick out the biggest one, he was four. The box itself was larger than Seth and it was wrapped in a beautiful metallic paper with a paisley print and large green bow. I leaned against the doorway and watched Dex pull the bow off and set it on top of Seth’s head. Seth laughed and giggled at his new velvet hat before reaching over and pulling the paper down.
The sound of ripping wrappings made me smile, thinking about Christmas morning when Seth wanders out in his new pajamas with crazy hair and sleepy eyes. I watched Dex help him pull the big pieces of paper off. They danced around the box like two crazy elves. Dex opened the top of the box and pulled the gift out, setting it on the floor. It was a drafting desk, obviously specially made, and came with a small chair and everything. It was absolutely gorgeous with its dark stain and exact likeness to one you would find in some luxury architect’s office. Seth pulled the chair up to it and sat down, putting his hands out in front of him and smiling.