Please Forgive Me

Chapter 12 - Madison

Mrs. Blake and I sit in the living room, sifting through Maxon's baby pictures.

"Look at this one!" Mrs. Blake beams as she hands me the picture. I take it and see a naked baby Maxon lying face down with this thumb in his mouth.

"Wasn't his booty adorable?"

I smile. Indeed his booty was adorable. Still is.

"He always fell asleep like that. Hated wearing clothes. Probably got it from his daddy." She lets out a sad chuckle and I can only imagine how lonely she's been since he left us. Maxon told me that his father passed away just before his graduation from high school. He was an architect and had gone to visit one of the construction sights that day. One of the elevators wasn't working properly...you can guess the rest. Grief fills my heart imagining both Maxon and his mother receiving the news of his death. Him looking towards the stands at his graduation and not seeing his father there. I can only imagine the pain he's gone through.

Pulling out another picture, Mrs. Blake stares back at me and must see the agony on my face because she says, "Has Maxon told you about him?"

I nod solemnly. "I'm sorry." I genuinely tell her.

Her gaze goes back to the picture in her hands, tears pricking at her eyes. "It's okay, dear." She holds it for a moment longer before handing it to me. "That was our first date together." She tells me.

I survey every inch of the image. There, facing the camera, stands a younger Sofia Blake, grinning widely. It's clear that she was extremely happy that day and it's all because of the man next to her. With an arm draped over her shoulder is Maxon's father.

Holy shit.

Maxon is a freakin' carbon copy of him. The same handsome face, physique. Everything except for the eyes. His eyes were a dark brown compared to Maxon's green ones. Oh and the lips. Maxon's lips are the same as his mother's. Heart-shaped.

That aside, his father is Maxon. Maxon is his father.

"Handsome, huh?"

I blink and find Maxon's mother staring at me with a memorable smile. "Uh, he was. I was just thinking about how much Maxon resembles him. You were also stunning. I mean, you still are but––"

She lets out a soft laugh.

"I know what you mean, Madison. Thank you." She inhales a shaky breath as she confesses, "Sometimes it's hard to look at my son. When he is Ben's exact replica."

Ben. Ben Blake. Maxon's father.

It suits him.

"I remember the first time I met him, I fell in love." She shakes her head and I know she's reminiscing. I sit back, curious about how she met the father of the man I love. "Girls thought I was stupid, naive. A guy like him would never look twice at a girl like me. But they were wrong." It hits me then that I thought the same about her son, now look at us.

She stares at the picture in my hand and I hold it out for her to take. She does. With a fondness in her tone she continues, "He fell just as hard. I met him in university. He decided to go on a study abroad program from New York to Italia––where I was born and raised––to study architecture." She runs a finger down the picture. "We hit it off pretty well from the beginning. Unfortunately, we never hung out outside of classes and I was crushing very hard at the time. Hell, the majority of the girls were. I knew I had to think of a way to go out with him so I did." She grins at the memory. "I told him if he wanted a tour around Italia. You know, since he was new and all." She bites her lip and I let out a hearty chuckle at her boldness. I would never have the courage to do something like that. "He said yes and I was over the moon. Turned out, we had a lot in common and he didn't hesitate to ask me out again. 'It's a date' were his exact words. I almost passed out in that moment." I let out a giggle. I see Maxon gets the ability to not waste any time from both of his parents.