Mistakes We Made (Wattys2016)

Chapter Eighteen

Kade's POV

I didn't go to Emma's after I left the cemetery. I wasn't yet sure what to say. I was still trying to wrap my mind around it all. They'd been keeping that secret for well over two years. Could I fault them for that? Not really. I had known that Rae was pregnant, but did I reach out to her? No, instead I kept my mouth shut. If I had been there for them, gone to Rae when I had heard about it, maybe they wouldn't have felt the need to keep it from me. Now I'm not saying that I didn't still feel hurt, because I did. Emma has still lied to me, for a good reason but it was still a lie nevertheless.

Honestly though, I was just scared to see her again. I wanted to be mad at her, I wanted to be able to justify how I had acted, but I couldn't. I'd told her I was done with her and I had refused to listen, I wouldn't be surprised if she decided that she didn't want to see me. I wouldn't want to see me. Then of course there was John, he was completely innocent but I had no doubt that he was confused about what was going on. I hadn't seen him in two weeks. Him getting attached to me was exactly what Emma was worried about, she was worried I would leave and that it would hurt him.

It had been three days since I saw Rae at the cemetery. Three days of not sleeping because I still couldn't believe it. Three days of dodging calls and house visits from my mother who was now extremely worried about me. She knew something was up, I had barely spoken to her or my father in the past few weeks and that was definitely out of the ordinary. I decided that before I did anything else, I needed to see them. They needed to know what was going on.

They were sitting on their screened in back porch when I arrived. There were empty plates on the table signifying that they had just finished supper. Dad had a cup of coffee in his hand, while Mom was polishing off a pie of Apple pie. I could tell that they were surprised to see me, but they didn't say a word about my strange behavior. Instead, Mom tried to feed me.

"We had plenty left, would you like me to fix you a plate?" She stood up from her chair, ready to jump into action.

"I'm fine, Mom. Really." I took a free chair across from my dad.

"How about some pie? It's your favorite."

"No thank you." I smiled at her.

"Some tea or coffee?"

"Mom, really, I don't want anything." I assured her, then I cleared my throat unsure how to begin. Finally I said,  "I actually came to talk to you guys about something."

"What is it, Sweetie? Is everything okay?" Mom looked concerned.

"Everything is fine.. it's just.. I found out something the other day and it's going to come as a surprise to you." I tried to warn them.

My parents shared a look, then my dad raised an eyebrow at Mr, "What's going on son?"

I hesitated before deciding it would be best to just go ahead and get it over with, "Jace has a son."

My mother gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. My father blinked, staring at me as if I had grown three heads. Neither of them spoke, so I figured that I might as well tell them the other part.

"It's John."

My mother looked ready to faint, as my father's eyes grew even wider. I think that saying that they were shocked would be an understatement.  They had gone catatonic, they just stared at me not uttering a sound. They sat like that for a good ten minutes before Dad finally cleared his throat and sat up in his chair.

"So John belongs to Jace..?" He spoke slowly, obviously still trying to process it.

"There's a little bit more to it than that.. John isn't Emma's.."