𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 || baxter radic

62.

◈ 𝒃𝒂𝒙'𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒗 ◈

As my eyes shift back toward the house, I see Wren hovering in the doorway. Something feels off, I almost unbuckle my seatbelt but then I see Summer's mom come to the door holding a baby in her arms and my heart sinks. I slouch down in my seat feeling both rage and fear.

Wren notices my immediate reaction as she heads back toward the car. The moment she opens the door words are flying from my mouth, "tell me that is not my child." There's a lump formed in the back of my throat and it physically pains me to even let the words out.

Her face drops and I'm out of the car headed toward May, who—for some reason—has still yet to leave. I bang my knuckles against the passenger side window to be met by the man she was calling hers now. I ignore him directing my focus toward her. "Really?" It's all I can focus out.

"We're running late Bax, I'm sorry I don't know what you're questioning." The window is up before I can force out the rest of what I want to say. The only reason it instantly pang to my focus was because that's all I've thought about for the past two years—how I left her because of her never ending list of lies. The biggest one leading to this, obviously.

I start to storm toward the house but Wren quickly stops me, digging her nails into my skin. I swear it's enough to make me bleed, but when I check, I'm safe. "Not now Baxter." She warns me.

"Drive yourself." I motion toward the car. "I don't feel like escorting you to a little date with my ex. I'm sorry I can't do it Wren. I know I said I could, but I can't." I shake my head and walk away from her. She takes off with my car, leaving me sat in the driveway lost for words.

I'm literally sat on the ground, in the center of May's driveway, unable to move. I intended on escaping to the water, but I couldn't pull my feet to move. So, instead I've just been blankly existing for the last five minutes doing nothing. Not thinking, not moving, not existing.

"Hey." I feel a gentle touch to my shoulder as Summer's mom sits down on the ground beside me. "Not doing too good huh?"

"Why'd you do that? Why'd you come to the door? Why did you have to suck me in? It should have been May. May should have fought. I should have known. That's not fair." I'm crying before I even finish speaking. I honestly don't even know how I'm forming full sentences by the end.

"I didn't know you were here with Wren. I'm sorry sweetheart." Summer's mom pulls me into her chest as I sob.

I want to scream. I want to be angry, but the sadness is too overwhelming to fight through. There's so much I want to ask—so much I want to know. But none of it escapes my mind. It's stuck going in loops like a car on a racetrack moving a million miles a minute.

I don't know how long it takes, but it's quite some time before the sobs stop and my questions begin to start. "She got pregnant didn't she?" I ask for my own sanity. Even though I already know the answer. "Why did no one tell me? That's not fair." I clench my fist to fight myself from exploding. It wasn't anyone's fault but my own. I left, no one else did.

"Maybelle thought that if she told you, you'd make yourself miserable—you'd suffer—to make it work for the baby. She threatened going back home to New York if anyone told. Her mom's out now and no one thought that was smart for anyone." I feel a gentle kiss to the top of my head and a bit of the anger leaves but not enough.

I understand her reasoning. I would have come back. I would have made it work. It was just further proof that May hadn't fully changed. It was still May's way or no way. It was still manipulation tactics and hovering dark clouds. She still didn't care about my feelings, she didn't fully take them into account because if she did she would have known that I would have wanted to be here for this.

"So she's still manipulating everything?" I finally look up at Summer's mom, and despite expecting a face of sadness there's a bit of a smile on her lips.

"Actually, after having Max, she's completely resolved her issues. She wants to be a better person—" I cut her off, not to be rude but because I'm already questioning if I heard her correctly.

"Max?" I raise my brows at her in an attempt to fight off their tears trying to make their way back up.

"Yeah, Maxwell Cooper Radic." My heart sinks. Even when she wanted to keep me away, she still thought about me. She still gave two parts of me two our child. My middle and last name given to a kid I didn't even know existed. A kid that was half me.

"That wasn't hard for her to choose was it?" My vision is completely blurry. I look up at the stars hoping to stop the tears from falling, but they escape anyway.

"Didn't hesitate for a second. She didn't tell us for months that she was pregnant. She hid herself in her room for a while. That made it easier on her to hide it. But when she did tell us, it was letting us know she was bringing us a new Max. A Max she'd give her life to save this time. A Max built stronger and better because one day he'd have two parents that loved him, maybe even four." My heart shatters at her last three words, maybe even four.

"Can I meet him?" I say below a whisper. I say it so quietly I feel like I've only asked it in my head. But when she stands and holds her hand out to me, I know I haven't. I take her hand and follow her into the house I haven't been inside in years.

"Summer's watching him so I'm going to grab him from her." She smiles, disappearing toward the girl's rooms. When she returns, Summer's following behind her carrying my baby.

"Say Hi Dada." Summer grabs his hand and waves it at me before holding him out for me to take. He's giggling as he's handed over. He seems so happy. And despite my tear stained cheeks, and the anger I still hold, it's all washed away as he looks up at me with the brightest of smiles.

"You just have to go before she comes back." Summer warns. "She texted me to not let you see him. But he is your kid Bax. I can't do that to you. I still care about you. Even though you did leave. Even if you ignored us all."

I can't look away from him. He's wiggling in my arms, a smile from ear to ear. His head is way too big for his body. His eyes are a dull blue. There's a light dusting of hair on top of his hair but it's barely visible from afar. He was a carbon copy of me. She had to deal with staring at me every day since he's been here. She's had a part of me with her, she didn't need to miss me. I guess that's why she moved on, and why I had been long but forgotten about.