Break In

Eight

"I went back that night and you were gone." Nestor said as we sat on the end of Ocean Beach Pier.

Their first dinner had gone surprisingly well that Ana had agreed to another, then another.
The more she spoke with Nestor the more she realised how easy he was to get along with. They had both been sharing how the last eight years had been spent. Nestor's being far more interesting than Ana's work. She hadn't told him yet that she was raising a child as she wanted to see how these dates went first.

"Donny fired me." She replied as she looked at the sunset.

"Sorry." Nestor said frowning.

"Don't be." She said smiling at him. "It was the best thing that could've happened. I went back to college and finished my degree. And he deserved more than a few punches."

"Yeah he did." Nestor smirked.

Ana's phone rang and she sighed at the interruption until she saw it was the sitter. She quickly answered the phone as she stood up. Laura never called when she was looking after Phoenix so already she was worried.

"Laura?" What's wrong?" She asked and saw Nestor tense as he heard her alarmed voice.

"Phoenix fell off the trampoline." Laura rushed out. "I think his arm is broken."

"Get him to the hospital and I'll meet you there." Ana ordered as she fumbled in her bag for her car keys.

In her panic the keys slipped from her grasp and fell right between the wooden planks and into the water below.

"Fucksake!" She growled and grabbed her phone to call a taxi.

"Ana." Nestor barked. "Take a breath. Talk to me."

"My son's just broken his arm. I have to go." She said trying not to panic.

"We will talk about that bit of information another time but right now, I'll take you to the hospital. Come on." He said leading her back to the car park with his hand on her lower back.

"You don't have to do that. It's my problem, not yours." She said.

"Let me worry about that." He replied as he unlocked his Escalade and opened the door for her.

They rushed to the hospital and Nestor followed her to the emergency room. He stuck by her side as she reached the reception desk and hit the call bell.

"How can I help you?" The receptionist asked as she came to the window.

"My son, Phoenix Cano, was brought in here." Ana answered as her hands shook.

"Date of birth?" The receptionist asked.

"9th July 2009." She quickly answered.

Nestor's eyes narrowed at the date of birth and mentally calculated nine months earlier. His own palms began to sweat as he thought about the night at the casino. Was Phoenix a product of that night? He was silent as he followed Ana into the emergency room and behind the curtained space.

"Mom." A boy cried out and Nestor stared at him.

The boy didn't look like Nestor or Ana but genetics were a strange thing. It left Nestor feeling even more confused at who the father was and whether he actually wanted it to be him or not.

"Hey baby." Ana cooed softly wiping the boys tears away. "You're going to be alright."

"Ana." Nestor said. "Can I have a word?"

She looked up and saw Nestor looking at the boy that was unknowingly conceived the night of her 21st. She could see the thoughts passing across his face and realised he was thinking the wrong thing.

"Outside, now." She nodded. "Mommy will be right back baby."

They walked down the hall to an empty exam room and closed the door behind. Ana held up her hands to stop Nestor starting an unnecessary argument.

"He's not yours." She blatantly said. "He's not even mine."

"But...what?" He froze.

"Do you remember Jazz? Her name was Cathy." She asked.

"Yeah, I remember her." He nodded.

"She asked me to take Phoenix before he was born. She couldn't afford to raise a baby and said she didn't know who the father was." Ana said sighing loudly. "She died giving birth to him and so I have raised him on my own."

"Shit." He said quietly as she ran his hand over his hair. "Sorry."

"I get it." She laughed. "You did the maths. We good?"

"We're good." He smiled and they walked back into the boys room to begin the introductions.

Phoenix had forgotten all about the pain of his broken wrist as he talked excitedly to Nestor. Ana hadn't realised that her son may have missed out on having a male connection because she didn't want to make one. Seeing the two together made her hide the smile that was creeping across her face.

She found Nestor was quietly taking down the walls she had built. Like a thief in the night, he was stealing a brick at a time until the space was big enough for him to break in. For the first time since Angel had left her broken hearted, she wanted to let someone in.