If || rsl & r5 (SLOW UPDATES)

• 10 •

Charlotte's POV

I tiredly unlocked the front door, gasping when I was attacked in a hug by Ian. "Mommy!" I scooped him into my arms and carried him to the couch, cradling him close to me.

"Hey, baby." I gave him a tired smile as I brushed his locks out of his hair.

"Did you know that Ross looked after me today? He's so awesome! He told me he plays hockey and football and he said you're very pretty." He gave me a cheesy grin and I couldn't help but blush, soon remembering what had happened yesterday. I still didn't know how to feel about it and now I was desperately trying not to make the situation more awkward than it already was.

"Where is he now, honey?"

"In the kitchen! He said he's making us dinner. Oh, and auntie Mel went out which is why he had to take care of me."

I nodded slowly as I planted a kiss on Ian's nose and stood up to go to the kitchen, only to find Ross by the oven with the aroma of fresh food reaching my nose.

"Oh, uh..h-hey Charlie." He turned around to face me with a nervous look on his face.

"Uh, hi. Ian told me what happened-"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I know I should've called you that I'll be looking after him but Mel called me saying she had an emergency at work and I had to urgently come over." He rambled and I couldn't help but bite my lip to suppress a smile.

"Wait, aren't you mad?" He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Of course I'm not. At least she didn't leave him alone in the place. I wanted to thank you for looking after him. If she had called me, I would've got out of work to come home."

"It was no problem, Charlie. It was fun looking after him. He has one hell of a load of energy for a five year old." Ross grinned.

"Yeah, I don't know who he gets that from." I rolled my eye and Ross chuckled, nodding and turning around to serve the food before setting the plates down on the table.

He straightened himself up and I felt his hand on my shoulder, making me look up at him from staring at the floor. "I wish I stayed in New York longer so I could get to see you two more often. When a-are you going to tell him about me being his...dad?" I watched Ross as he swallowed, seeming as if it was so difficult to say the word dad. If it was that hard for him to say the word, I don't know how he'd ever manage to actually be one.

"I'm not going to tell him now just because you're leaving, Ross. Don't try pressuring me into doing that." I sighed, leaning against the counter, feeling my legs ache from working all day.

"I'm sorry. You know that's not what I meant, Charlie. I just want him to know who I am to him and... to you. Ian, bud, dinner's ready." He called.

I sat down at the table, followed by my son who ran into the kitchen, taking his seat next to me. Ross took a seat across from me and I looked up at him in disbelief when I realized he had prepared my favorite meal; spaghetti.

"Oh my god! You remembered my favorite food!" I noticed Ross' eyes widen.

"Oh, come on, how could I ever forget? You were obsessed with it at one point." He laughed as he stared at his plate whilst poking at the pasta with the fork.

"This is so yummy! How did you learn to cook? How did you know what my mommy's favorite food was?" Ian fired question after question at Ross.

"Well, my mum taught me and... I know because we hung out a lot and my mum would always make food for us. Your mommy seemed to enjoy the food more than hanging out." Ian nodded, intently listening to Ross' stories about when we were younger.

"Can you blame me though?" I propped myself up on my elbow as I sipped on my water, trying to stay in the conversation.

"Hard day at work?" I forced myself to open my eyes when I felt Ross' hand grab mine.

"Yeah. There were way too many customers today." I yawned, ruffling Ian's hair.

"We were gonna watch a movie, but you should go to sleep, Charlie. I think Ian will be sleeping too, huh?" Ross arched an eyebrow, giving our son a knowing look who pulled an angry face.

"Fine." He yawned, rubbing his eyes and I stood up, taking him to his room. He got changed quickly and I tucked him into bed. Just when I was about to close the door behind me with the light turned off, I heard Ian speak up, "Mommy?"

"Yes, darling?"

"Do you like Ross?"

"Uh..yes of course. He's a good friend."

"I mean like like." I heard him whine, knowing he didn't get the answer he expected.

"Go to sleep, baby boy. I love you. Sweet dreams." I closed the door and went back into the kitchen, sitting down to finish my food.

"You know what happened yesterday?" Ross attempted to start a conversation again as he sat next to me and I looked up at him whilst slurping on a piece of pasta.

"What about it?" I questioned.

He chuckled, wiping at my mouth corners with his thumb, "Even your way of eating spaghetti still hasn't changed - still so adorable as ever."

"Oh, shut up." I shoved him lightly, rolling my eyes.

"Look, Charlie, all I wanted to say is that I don't regret what I did yesterday when I kissed you, but I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable-"

Before I could say anything, I heard a knock on the door and I reluctantly got up, going to open the door, seeing the person I would least expect.

"Mom?"

I'm so hyped because I'm meeting r5 on Friday so I don't know how I'm going to manage the week in college until Friday!! Btw thank you for 1.4K reads on this book 😘