Your Last Everything

Chapter Twenty-One - Ava

"A son?" Noah repeated, "I...no we...we have a son together." I stayed quiet, giving him the time to process the new information. "A baby. We have a baby together. How...how old is he?"

"He's almost six months." I played with the spoon in my latte, "His name's Aiden."

"Can I see a picture of him?" He asked, and I nodded my head.

I pulled out my phone and went to my photo gallery. I clicked on my favorite photo of Aiden playing in the park, wearing his striped overalls.

I handed it to Noah, who took it hesitantly. I saw his finger run down the screen, and something unexpected happened.

Noah started to cry. He covered his face with his hand, and this man's body began to shake as he cried.

The icy part of my heart that I put up around Noah melted at the tortured emotion he expressed towards our son.

I told myself he would run the other way, that he's always hated kids, that he wouldn't care. Yet this grown man was sobbing at the image of his child.

A child we shared. A child I never told him about until now.

"My God, Ava." He choked out, dropping his hand to look at the photo, "He's beautiful. He looks just like you. A son. Our son." He corrected.

"Yeah, our son." I reached over and placed my hand over his. I squeezed his hand tightly and felt him squeeze back.

"He's a good baby. I love him very much. I know I should have told you when I found out, but I was scared, Noah."

"No, you did the right thing." He spoke, his eyes still on the screen.

"I wasn't in the right mindset to be a father. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I made you feel scared that I left you alone to raise our son."

"I should have been there with you. I know I can say nothing to take away what I did to you and how I treated you, but I wish there were. If I could go back in time...I'd take it all away."

"I know. I know, Noah." He handed me my phone back, "If you want to meet him, I can set it up."

"I would love to meet him, darling." He answered, the endearment falling off his lips like when we were dating.

"I'm sorry, habit." He apologized once he saw my eyes go a little wide.

"It's fine." I shook it off with a wave of my hand, "Next Thursday is good for you? Noontime, we can meet him in the park over on 7th street."

"That sounds great. Thursday is fine for me."

"I just want to get something out of the way. When you first showed up at my parent's house, you said...you said that you still have feelings for me."

"I just want you to know that I'm dating someone right now, and it's serious. I didn't meet up with you because I wanted to rekindle our relationship."

"I'll respect your relationship, but I want you to know that my feelings won't ever disappear."

"I've loved you from the second we met, and getting back to you was the only thing that helped me through therapy and rehab."

"I don't know what to say to that."

"You don't have to say anything. I'm not saying this to make you uncomfortable or trying to guilt trap you. I promise."

"To be honest with you, darl-Ava, I love you, and I know I will love my son just as much, if not more. I'm laying it all out on the table."

"I appreciate your honesty, Noah. Let's just take our parenting relationship one step at a time," I suggested, and before he could say anything, the sound of my phone ringing cut him off.