Hidden Beneath Brown Eyes (A Zayn Malik Fanfiction)

Chapter 26 - The Ex

"Mommy! Mommy! Can we get this one? Pwease?" Jack begged, running up to me with a box of his favorite cereal.

"Alright. Alright. Put it in the cart." I rolled my eyes with a smile on my face as he jumped up and down, hugging the box tightly before throwing it up into the cart, then running off to go find some more junk food that he'd beg me to buy.

Going to the grocery store with Jack was always fun, but it was also stressful. He was a very adventurous little boy, and he even at only four years old, he would run off to go "explore", leaving me in a hyperventilating mess, pleading with every store associate to send out an Amber Alert for my missing child.

Eventually, I learned how to keep him within eyesight, but that didn't mean that he didn't sometimes slip under the radar. The only difference was, now I actually knew how to deal with it, and rather than letting my anxiety and panic take over, I would calmly walk to an employee and ask them to help me find my son.

All the store employees knew Jack and I both by name, and after so many times of having to help me search for him, it had become almost routine and we found out where all of his hiding spots were.

So, when I called out for Jack and he didn't come running, I knew exactly what to do and went to go find the closest employee.

"Hey Austin. Jack's run off again." I calmly said to the 17 year old stocking the shelves who had aided me multiple times in finding Jack.

"No problem Miss Carraway. I'll go check the bakery."

"Austin, just call me Ada already."

"Uh...okay....Ada."

We roamed the store, checking all of the usual hiding places; the bakery, the deli, behind the customer service desk, but something was different this time, he wasn't in any of these places. My heart started to race and the fear of my son actually being lost started to take over me.

Poor Austin was starting to have a panic attack as well. He was young and the least experienced with Jack, so he probably felt responsible.

We ran up and down every aisle, and Austin called for Jack over the intercom.

"I need you to wait here Miss Car - I mean Ada. Just in case someone comes by with Jack. I'll keep looking." Austin said before dashing off to go frantically searching some more.

Oh god. What if some psycho made of with my baby? What if he's hurt somewhere? Oh please god let him be alright!

As if all my prayers had been answered, moments later Jack came jogging up to me, like nothing ever happened. The relief you feel when you find your child is like no other. I scooped him up into my arms and kissed him all over, holding his little body against mine, while his beautiful laugh sounded in my ears.

I turned around and told Jennifer at customer service to notify Austin and the rest of the employees that Jack had been found and was safe with me.

As I was busy coddling him, Jack pushed away from me, demanding to be let down, and while I wanted to hold onto him and never let go, I put him down. It was only then that I realized that he was pointing at someone.

"Mommy! Mommy! Come meet my new friend mommy!" he delighted as he took my hand in his little one and led me over to the man he claimed to be his friend.

"This is my new friend. His name is Spencer!" Jack squeezed as he pointed right at my old high school boyfriend.

I hadn't spoken to Spencer in over five years, and I hadn't seen him since high school. I thought for sure that he would have gone off to college, but I suppose that he would have graduated by now anyway.