Blinded By Destiny

Chapter 9

Emery's POV

My heart clapped in my chest like thunder.

If I wasn't frozen where I stood from what had erupted out of my mouth like lava from a volcano, I would have keeled over dead.

My skin was slick with sweat but it did nothing to cool the blood rushing to the surface.

Colton stared at me, mouth agape, as if I had just done a naked jig. I think he would have preferred that actually.

I rubbed my forehead.

When I woke up to Asher running a fever, I knew the day wasn't going to be the best but I hadn't thought it would end like this.

I usually dropped him off with my aunt in the mornings and she would take him to his Kindergarten class. And then I would pick him up after my shift at the hospital was over in the afternoons.

But I couldn't leave Asher this morning. That had been my plan, my aunt had offered to stay home today to watch him. However, when my sweet little boy looked at me with those tear-filled, doe eyes of his, I was helpless to resist.

Thankfully, Asher had slept most of the day after my aunt left for work. He loved it here at her house, but especially the big yard for him to run around in.

This was where he had grown up for the first few years until I could plant my feet on the ground and navigate life.

And it never failed, fate kept throwing obstacles on my path.

I inhaled deeply. "Say something?" I asked softly.

The silence was unbearable. I expected Colton to start quickly backing away as he rushed to get to his truck.  Guys looked at you differently once they knew you had a child.

His eyes were widened in shock but they were devoid of judgement.  "I'm trying to find the right thing to say." His hand rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm just surprised." He stepped closer to me. "Why didn't you say anything?"

I swallowed hard around the emotion creeping up in my voice. "Why would I? This isn't exactly something you shout from the rooftops. You're a smart man, Colton. I am sure you can do the math. I'm twenty-one, he is five. It doesn't take a medical degree to figure out I got pregnant in high school."

His brows furrowed in concentration. "So, this is why you are so guarded? And why you hide everything? You don't want people to find out." The wind picked up, blowing my hair across my face, blocking my view. It was a nice reprieve from Colton's searching eyes. "Are you ashamed?"

My heart squeezed tightly in my chest. "Of Asher?" I breathed. "Never!" I choked. Of myself? Definitely. "He is the only good thing that came out of all this."

"Then, why all the secrecy? It's like you are living two separate lives. I get why you wouldn't tell me. Really, I do, because we don't know each other that well, yet. But, what about your friends? Friends that are not Kennedy, like the people you work with. Do they know?"

My shoulders stiffened at his insinuation. There was some truth to what he said and it made me feel defensive of my choices. Very few people knew. It was like the world's best kept secret. That was the way I wanted it and the wrongness of the situation soured in my stomach. 

"I just don't want people to talk. People are judgmental. They like to obsess and gossip because it makes them feel better about their own problems." I sighed, wearily. "I don't care what people have to say about me. I've heard it all before, I'm used to it. And a lot of it is deserved. I made my bed and now I have to lie in it." I pointed to the house where my son had run off to. "But, I do care what they have to say about him. He isn't deserving of people's hurtful words. I don't want him to be touched or judged by my actions, my mistakes." I tapped my chest.