It's Time

The Bakers

I pulled up to the back entrance of my favorite sandwich shop just as I have a million times before. This time feels much heavier. I send my wife a quick text to make sure she's alright at home with the kids and the parent show. I feel bad for leaving her alone and even worse for being evasive about my whereabouts, but this conversation is long overdue. The sooner I put this situation to rest, the sooner Liv and I can move on.

I wave at Ty, the shop owner, and he greets me with his warm smile. He has a table reserved for me in the back corner, and I notice it's empty, which means my guest hasn't made it yet. I wouldn't be surprised if they don't make it at all.

"Your usual, Spence?" Ty questions.

"You know me too well, my guy!" I slide out some cash to cover mine, and eventually, my guest's order.

I anxiously watch as the minutes on my watch tick by. This was a mistake. I should just go home to my family.

"Hi. I'm looking for Spencer." I finally hear the voice I've been waiting for as Ty points in my direction.

I look up, and our eyes connect for a brief moment. This was a mistake, and if I were smart, I'd make a run for it.

"Spencer." My guest finally reaches the table.

"Gabriel." I reach out my hand, honestly expecting him to leave it hanging there. Much to my surprise, he meets me halfway and shakes my hand.

"I owe you a conversation, man to man." I decide to skip the pleasantries. I slept with this man's wife. I'm sure he's not interested in how my day is going.

"Why wouldn't you say anything when we first met?" Gabriel inquires, obviously co-signing my approach to get right to the point.

"I didn't know you were the husband, her husband. Hell, I was with her for seven months before I even found out there was a husband. I was in so deep by that point that I didn't ask any questions." I respond honestly.

"And you had zero remorse?" Gabriel's eyes are a mix between disdain and anger.

"At the time, all I cared about was myself. Olivia was moving on, and I had this silly need to prove I could too. Even if it was with someone else's wife." I know it sounds harsh, but it's the truth, and Gabriel deserves that.

"So, if my son would've been yours?" I'm not sure why my wife and Gabriel both have an affinity for torturing themselves with their line of questioning, but I would never want to talk about this again if it was me.

"Gabriel, there's no need to go down this road because he's your son. But if you need to hear it, I would have still found Olivia because that's always the way it was meant to be, even if he was my son."

"Well then, I think there's something you should know about the paternity results." He drops his fork and steadies his gaze on me.

My breath catches in my throat. My wife is going to kill me. She's going to take my kids, and they'll be on a red-eye to California but not before she kills me. My hands begin to shake, and I feel the sweat drops forming on my forehead. I knew this meeting was a big mistake.

Gabriel laughs before taking a bite of his salad. "Relax, Spencer. I just wanted you to feel a second of the torment I felt when I found out my wife was parading around with another man." He laughs more before taking a sip of water. "He's my son."

"I guess I deserved that," I mumble.

"You know what makes this so hard, Spencer? I can't quite make sense of the man sitting in front of me being the man who broke my family. The man who I've gotten to know over the past few months can't possibly be the same man who had zero regard for what it would do to two small children as he obliterated their home, their safe space." He stabs at his salad, and I guess the meal portion of this hang-out session is over.