Beautiful Mistake (Mistake #1)

by Laiza Millan

She couldn't help but notice the way Drake's eyes kept lingering on Aidan, as if he couldn't bear to not look at him.

  Why was he looking at Aidan like that?

  Drake blinked, and his expression was wiped off his face, being replaced with the sneer that he reserved only for Emma.

  "Right." He gave her another glare before leaving them alone.

  What the hell was going on? Emma was so confused. She didn't know what to think.

  "Emma," Rich started, nudging her arm, "I know you're probably extremely pissed off right now and I -"

  Emma threw him a dark look, causing his to pause. "Oh, you have no idea."

  "But, please," Rich laughed breathlessly, "let us explain everything."

  "Where's Alona?" Emma asked suddenly, noticing her absence.

  "Oh, she's with Ian," Nancy said nonchalantly. "She needed to pick out new bridesmaid's dresses at the shop he works in."

  "Right," Emma mumbled. It was so awkward, she just wanted to leave.

  "Please, Emma," Nancy said softly, "just hear us out before you leave."

  Emma looked at Nancy and Rich for a few moments, contemplating whether she should sit down and listen to whatever excuse they had, or just leave.

  She knows that Nancy wouldn't do any harm on Aidan because the poor older woman's face is marked with stress and fatigue.

  After a few minutes of more inner battles, Emma felt like easing poor Nancy's stress away. Plus, she wants to know what bullshit Rich cooked up for her so this should be amusing. "Fine," She huffed, walking towards the sofa, Aidan still in her arms, "tell me."

  Rich sighed. "First of all, it was my idea. When you told me that you needed someone to watch over Aidan, I asked Nancy if she wanted to be part of my plan."

  Huh?

  "What plan?" Emma asked, frowning.

  "I..." Rich hesitated before sighing. "All right, I already knew that Drake was the father of Aidan."

  "How did you know?" she asked furiously, looking at Nancy and giving her a questioning look.

  "No," Rich laughed nervously, noticing her look, "no, Emma, I knew because it was so obvious that day we all ran into each other at the shops. I mean, come on, Aidan looks so much like Drake!"

  "Rogers isn't the only man in the world with brunette hair and blue eyes, you know!" Emma snapped quietly, noticing Aidan squirming in his sleep.

  "Plus, I saw the way Drake was looking at Aidan that time, "Rich said. "It was strange. So, I put two and two together."

  Emma rolled her eyes, "Okay, but what does this have to do with your so-called plan?"

  "Well, I knew that Drake wanted to get to know Aidan, because Nancy told me." He shot Nancy a glance. "So, I told her that this would be a great chance for Drake to do so!"

  Emma still looked confused. "What in the world are you talking about?"

  Richard's turn to roll his eyes as he explained, "See, my plan was to have him realize that maybe having Aidan isn't so bad as he thinks, and that he would probably learn to... to maybe... well, you know -"

  "To love him, Emma," Nancy interrupted, cutting off Rich's stuttering. "For Drake to learn to love Aidan."

  Emma stared at them in silence before bursting into laughter. After a while, she quieted down, seeing Aidan shifting in his sleep. "You're joking. Really, you two. Drake Rogers? Love? Rubbish."

  "I beg to differ," Nancy said, feeling insulted. "I mean, my son may not be the most expressive -"

  "You've no idea what he did to me and Aidan before, do you?"Emma snapped back, feeling her anger rise again.

  "She's right, though," Rich said, not wanting another fight to arise. "While Drake was watching Aidan, Nancy and I watched over him."

  "You should have seen him," Nancy sighed. "He was completely different -"

  "You should have seen Aidan too!" Rich added. "He was crying until Drake held him. It was really great -"

  "Drake immediately took to the father role, it even surprised me." Nancy smiled, placing a hand on Emma's shoulder.

  "I've never seen him act like that before," Rich agreed enthusiastically. "It was as if he'd seen the light -"

  Emma rolled her eyes, laughing. "What? 'Seen the light!' Please."

  "But it's true!" Nancy pleaded, squeezing her shoulder. "Emma, all I'm asking is please, please give him another chance."

  ''No," Emma said, moving out of Nancy's grip. "No. I gave him a chance and he didn't want to take it -"

  "Yes, he's a bloody moron!" Rich snapped. "We all were! I'm sure you weren't a total saint when you were in high school, right? Now look at you! You helped my case that time I was accused of stealing, when I didn't! But was I grateful to you? No. But look at us now!"

  Emma continued to shake her head.

  "Drake was a former gang member," Rich continued, "Remember he could have killed that stranger, but he didn't? Don't forget, Emma. He was the one who -"

  "Don't!" Emma interrupted him.

  She doesn't want to be reminded of that. The case she helped him win.

  Not once had he even thanked her, sincerely.

  "Do you get what I'm saying though?" Richard pressed on.

  "That doesn't mean he can change too!" Emma argued. "There's no way. There's too much bad blood between us to even raise Aidan in a healthy way."

  "How about we compromise?" Nancy offered. "That way, you both win."

  Emma looked uneasy. "What do you suggest?"

  "What if you bring Aidan here again and watch Drake with him?" Nancy suggested. "You can watch him, stay close to him, and make sure he's doing everything right. At the same time, Drake would be happy that you're giving him a chance."

  "Everyone deserves another chance, Emma," Rich said softly.

  It depends on the person. "Not everyone," Emma mumbled under her breath.

  Rich ignored her and continued. "You should have seen him. He looked..." His facial expression changed comically as he tried to find the right word. "He looked happy, almost."

  Emma looked down at Aidan and was surprised to see he had awakened, staying silent as if he was listening to their conversation.

  She smiled down at him and grinned when Aidan grabbed a few of her curls, playing with them on his fingers.

  Sighing, she looked up at the other woman's hopeful face. Fuck, what kind of heartless bitch would she be to say no to that kind woman? She had been nothing but nice to her in the beginning. "I don't know, Nancy. But just for you, I'll think about it, yeah?"

  Nancy beamed. "Thank you, Emma. Please feel free to contact me. Thank you."

  Emma smiled with pursed lips. "I said I'll think about it, I'm not saying I agree just yet."

  ''Well, knowing you, that usually means yes." Rich grinned, pinching Aidan's hand, causing the baby to let out an annoyed gurgle.

  "I'm still mad at you," Emma muttered, slapping Rich's hand away. She took Aidan's palm and kissed it. "I mean, how could you? I trusted you to take care of Aidan, and what do you do? You take him to see the one person I wanted him to stay away from."

  "I'm sorry, Emma," Rich sighed. "I was just tired of seeing Drake like -"

  "You're a really good friend to him, Rich," Emma interrupted, looking up and smiling. "I hope he knows that. But I'm still angry."

  "He really isn't all that bad." He shrugged. "You should get to know him properly."

  I already know what kind of guy he is, Emma thought to herself, before nodding. "Not likely." After a long pause, she spoke again. "Well I should go. I need to change Aidan and get ready for bed.''

  "Thank you again for thinking about it, Emma," Nancy repeated. "Really. Thanks."

  "I didn't say yes yet." Emma said again, walking away before Nancy could reply. "So don't get your hopes up."

  .

  .

  "Drake?" Nancy called, knocking softly on his door.

  The door opened immediately, revealing a tired-looking Drake.

  "Are they gone?" he asked, leaning against the door frame.

  He kept an expressionless look on his f
ace, but his mother knew better.

  "I talked her into thinking about bringing Aidan back," she said hopefully. "You might get to see him again."

  Drake blinked before scoffing. "Right. As if I care."

  Nancy refrained from rolling her eyes. "Do cut the act, Drake. You may act like that towards her but I know you. I know what you're really thinking and I know what you felt when you held him."

  "And how would you know?" Drake snapped stubbornly, crossing his arms.

  "Because," Nancy shrugged, "as a new mother, I felt the same way when I first held you."

  Drake continued to stare at her before finally, finally, the cruel blank look on his face crumpled into the emotions he really was feeling.

  His eyes dropped to the floor, and his shoulders sagged.

  Nancy immediately wrapped her arms around her son. "Drake, don't worry. She's a great woman; she knows what the right thing to do is."

  "Oh, mother," Drake shook his head, wrapping his arms around her in comfort, "You don't understand, she hates me."

  "She's not the type of person to carry hate," Nancy said with a sigh. "Just wait."

  You've no idea what I've done to her, Drake thought miserably. "I've done things to her, mother. Bad things I've said to her, that even I would not forgive."

  "Like what?" Nancy asked, curious. "I can tell there's something going on between you two. You both need to learn how to overcome this. You're not 18 years old, anymore."

  "I lied to her." Drake honestly said. "I lied to her about everything, said horrible things."

  He lied about not wanting to see Aidan. Lied about not wanting to father Aidan. He lied to himself, his denial and stubbornness getting the best of him.

  All to protect them.

  Fuck his life.

  Nancy could tell there was something her son was hiding, but she didn't push him. "She'll forgive you."

  Drake wanted to shout "No! No because I was horrible to her and her son" Instead, he sighed. "I don't know."

  "She will," Nancy said, rolling her eyes at Drake. He was always such a dramatic person. "By the way, what was it that you were going to say?"

  "What do you mean?" Drake asked, leaning away from her to get a better view of her face.

  "Before Emma came here. You wanted to tell me something?"

  "Oh," Drake mumbled, "I just... I was just going to say... I don't want Emma to take Aidan away from me."

  Nancy watched at Drake disentangled himself from her embrace. He walked over to his bed and sat on it.

  "Whatever you've done to her, you have to take it upon yourself to do something about it," she sighed, taking hold of the door handle. She went to turn it, but paused. "I got her to think about letting you see Aidan again. Now it's up to you to make her see how much you love that boy."

  Drake looked up in surprise, but she had already closed the door, leaving him alone in his room.

  Chapter 14

  .

  Drake, still lying in bed, folded his arms behind his head and turned his face to the right to watch the dust particles drifting in and out of the sunbeam that was piercing through the window.

  He could hear birds chirping on the trees outside, but his mind kept him from getting out of bed. The past few days flashed through his mind and he didn't know what to do about it.

  It had been nearly three days since he had seen or heard from Emma Collins about Aidan. He desperately wanted to see Aidan again. But the thing was... how? There was no doubt that Emma Collins would not hesitate to kick him out of her and their son's life.

  But that was the thing... it was their son. Not just hers.

  He had the right to see Aidan if he wanted to, didn't he? What would she do if he just stopped by without warning and said that she was denying him of his rights as the father?

  Then again... by his actions in the past, he doesn't deserve to even call himself a father. She had made that very clear to him.

  Drake groaned loudly, irritated by his thoughts. He threw the blankets aside and sat up, harshly rubbing his face with his hands and letting out another tired groan.

  KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

  "Drake! Mate, are you awake?"

  He growled in annoyance, burying his head in the pillow. "No, I'm fucking asleep. Leave me alone!"

  He strained his ears to hear the person on the other side of the door.

  KNOCK, KNOCK!

  "Open the door, Drake," Rich's voice reached his ears. "I know you're lying. If you were asleep you wouldn't have answered back."

  Drake scowled at his friend's idiocy and inability to comprehend the fact that he wanted to be left alone. "What do you want, Rich?"

  "Open the door!" Rich shouted, pounding on the door. "Why is it locked anyway? Hold on a minute, are you jerking off in there?"

  Drake let out a string of curses before shooting out of his bed and throwing the door open. "You bloody idiot! My mother could be only a few feet away!"

  Rich grinned, "Only joking. No need to get all defensive. Besides, Nancy is downstairs with Alona at the moment, talking about some boring women stuff."

  Without waiting for permission, he walked inside his friend's room and threw himself on the bed. "Ah, no wonder you didn't want to get up. This shit is comfortable!"

  Drake glared at him, and sat on the armchair chair. "What do you want?''

  Rich smirked, "Good morning to you, too."

  "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Drake asked, annoyed as he grabbed the cushion pillow and threw it at his friend.

  Rich caught it with ease and grinned, "Oh wait, no. My apologies, it's the afternoon. Good afternoon, Drake -''

  Drake growled. "Richard, what the hell are you doing here?"

  Rich smirked, shifting his body and lifting his feet to rest on the bedside table. "Fix yourself up, Drake. We're going to see your son."

  Drake stiffened. "What?"

  "We're going to see your son." Rich repeated, looking amused.

  "Emma is okay with me seeing him?" Drake asked doubtfully.

  Rich opened his mouth to answer but changed his mind, sighing loudly. "Well, no. But I'm going to help you. C'mon, I'll drop you off work."

  Drake rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Then fuck it. Emma will never let me see my son again."

  "Well, not with that attitude," Rich shrugged. "Seriously, if you're going to try to prove to her that you're a changed man -"

  Drake snorted. "What the hell are you -"

  "Then you need to get up," Rich interrupted him, his tone growing louder than his friend's. "Shower and change because honestly, you stink like a fucking -"

  "You prick!"

  "Listen, do you want see your kid or not?" Rich asked, irritated by the interruptions. "Because if you do, then shut up and listen to me, for once in your pathetic life!"

  .

  .

  The previous night

  .

  "No."

  "What?"

  "No,'' Emma snapped, tucking a sleeping Aidan in with the blanket. " My answer is no."

  Rich gawked at her. "But you told Nancy that you would think about it!"

  "Yes, and I have thought about it," Emma interrupted him, pushing him out of the way as she headed towards her door. She then ushered Rich out of the room and sighed. "I really think it's a bad idea for Drake to be so close to Aidan."

  Rich shook his head in disagreement as he followed her downstairs into the living room. "Oh, come on! I mean, you saw how he was towards Aidan! Well, you hadn't seen him when you were out, but Nancy and I were there. Emma, I'm telling you, he was different!"

  Emma rolled her eyes and threw herself on the sofa. "I don't know, Rich. I'm really not comfortable with Aidan being with Drake. Have you forgotten about all those things he did to us?"

  It's completely ridiculous that he expects her to just immdiately be comfortable with the idea of leaving her child with that kind of man. Sure, he may seem decent now but wasn't he decent with her before he knocked her up and kicked them
out? She's not naive enough to risk that same mistake again.

  "Emma, we've been over this before..." Rich groaned. "You really need to stop being so stubborn and let go of this whole pride thing."

  Oh shut the hell up. She bristled. "It's not about my freaking pride!"

  "This is about Aidan," he continued, completely ignoring her. "What will Aidan think when he gets older? Don't you think he'll be curious about his other parent? How will he feel when he finds out you've been hiding him from his own father? When I was with Drake that day... you should have seen him. It was as if he were a completely different person."

  "You keep saying that! But he's not," Emma sighed. "He is still Drake Rogers. Who wants to raise a child with a man who can't even respect the woman?"

  She's got a point. But c'mon, Drake can learn... can't he? "How about this," Rich tried, taking her hand. "How about you spend some time with Drake?"

  Emma snatched her hand away from his reach and made a face. "Not likely."

  "No, hear me out," he said, not at all looking bothered by her gesture. "If you want, your friends and I can come along too. That way, we can keep an eye on things. Hell, we can even bring Alona and Ian along, if you like. But you can just focus on Drake and what he's like when he's with Aidan. You'll be there too, of course. It's not like you're going to leave Aidan alone with him."

  Emma bit her bottom lip and sighed, feeling irritated. "Again, I'll think about it Rich, but -"

  Rich beamed in satisfaction. "Brilliant!"

  "Now, I didn't say yes yet!" Emma snapped, giving him a glare."But if I do agree - and I mean IF! - to meeting with him, and he somehow manages to mess up this time, yet again, then I'm done. Completely this time, no more chances."

  "Well, you know what they say, third time is the charm!" Rich said with a grin, getting up and heading towards the door. "I'll be sure to let Drake know!"

  Before Emma could remind him again that she didn't actually say yes yet, he was gone.

  .

  .

  Two days later

  KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

  Emma paused during a sentence in her notes and looked up at the door. "Come in."

  Pushing the papers to the side with a tired sigh, she watched as the doorknob turned to the left, before the door swung open to reveal the one man she had never wanted to see again. Her face was drowned in disgust just by looking at him.