Escaping to Ireland

Liam

I woke to an empty bed and found an empty bedroom of Bennett's.

"Will there be a next time?" Bennett had just asked Vinessa.

"I believe there will be," Vinessa said, and I could tell she was resisting the charm of Bennett. The kid had a knack, and I had seen him make multiple women blush in Chicago while we had been there. My last three weeks had been in a daze. Luckily Bennett's stepfather, who had cared for him to an extent, did not mind seeing him leave with his biological father; that was, of course, after all the tests were run to prove that I was indeed his father. He did have an education, a nanny who took care of him, and I was grateful that Keith, his stepdad, had paid for a nanny to watch over him.

Keith had pushed his sunglasses down to the end of his nose. "The kid was easy enough. Just get him into some accelerated classes or something. I don't know if it was the drugs his mother was on when she was pregnant, but he seems to be a small genius." At that point, I had no clue what Keith had meant since I had only had a few minutes alone with my son. I had been nervous about the flight home, thinking he would throw a fit or cry to be leaving his house, but he didn't put a fight up.

"Where are we going?" He asked before we left for the airport.

"To my home in Ireland."

"That is where you live? And you are my father?"

"Yes and yes."

He shook his head in agreement and picked up his bags, quickly stuffing clothes and processions he wanted with him. Keith said he would ship the rest over to us, on my dime, of course. I had no clue if it was customary for the kid not to cry, he seemed to have some emotions, but most of the time, he was just curious about everything.

"Why do you not know?" Bennett asked Vinessa.

"Sometimes you just have to go off of your gut feeling, and right now, I feel like everything will work out."

"That's a relief," I said, stepping behind her. I had placed my hands on her shoulders and gave her a quick peck on her forehead.

She gave me a small smile, and at this point, I would take anything I could get.

"It seems she has forgiven you," Bennett said, looking up at me and giving me a small smile. He then looked to Vinessa to explain. "He was worried you would not forgive him. I was rather confused at first since he said you loved him?"

Vinessa smiled at him. "Well... Love is a funny thing."

Bennett shook his head and then asked, "And you moved to the United States? Why?"

Vinessa looked up at me, and I could tell she was wondering how much Bennett knew about her.

"I needed some sort of bedtime stories to tell him...."

"He told me about you," Bennett said, hopping out of his seat, which was unlike him. "I will be right back, pardon me."

"He is something else," Vinessa said when Bennett was out of the room. "Liam... What if..."

"What if?" I asked her knowing what she was thinking.

"I can't hurt him," she said, looking at me. "If we don't work...." She was cut off as Bennett walked back in with the journal from the weeks previous in his hand. He was my saving grace to having this conversation end. Vinessa just needed to be around me more. She would see that we could make anything work.

"What is this?" Vinessa asked when Bennett sat next to her, opening the black journal I had purchased for him.

"Your story."

"My story?" She asked him.

He flipped to the first page where I had written in block letters "The Story of Vinessa Dempsey"

Her eyes flicked to mine and backed down as Bennett turned to the next page.