Second Chance at Love

Chapter Ten

CHAPTER TEN

ELLA'S POV

Ella woke the following morning to an empty bed. Her son must have woken up early. Then she noticed the time on the digital clock that rested on the night stand. It was nearly eleven. She had overslept. All the activity of the past couple days must have knackered her more than she had realized.

She dragged herself out of bed and walked down the hall toward the stairs. When she was about halfway down, she could just make out the sound of her son's voice. It was coming from the kitchen. She could hear the sounds and smell breakfast being cooked. All the while, a conversation was being had between her mom and son over the din of noise.

"My mommy and daddy were together a long time ago, right?"

"Yes, they grew up together," Elizabeth explained to her grandson. "They started dating in high school and stayed strong throughout university. I thought they would marry after they finished their schooling, but they didn't. Your mommy ended up moving to New Zealand for a job."

"A really cool job."

"Yes, a cool job indeed."

"What about daddy?" Christopher asked. "What does he do?"

"He's an Archologist," Elizabeth said. "He digs stuff up for a living. He's also a university professor at one of the local universities."

"So they both work with dirt."

"I know, they're perfect for each other," Elizabeth said. "They've always been two peas in a pod. Soul mates."

"Why didn't my mommy get back with my daddy when I was born?"

"I don't know, baby," Elizabeth said. "She probably didn't want to leave the job she had strived to earn for so many years."

"But what about now?" Christopher asked, playing his favorite game of twenty questions. "We're not going to leave again, are we? I like my daddy."

"The only person who can answer that is your mommy," Elizabeth said. "I don't want to tell you one thing and it not be the right answer, but I like your daddy, too. I'm rooting for him, if it helps, to be the one to finally get your mommy to put her roots back down here."

Ella knew her mom meant well, but she had no right talking to her son about any of her past decisions. She felt like her mom was judging her for taking off all those years ago after graduating. She thought her mom would have been proud of her for following her dreams. Instead it felt as if her mother was accusing her of running scared from how she truly felt.

She finished her descend down the stairs and entered the kitchen.

"Mommy!" Christopher said, standing on a stool at the island with a bowl of pancake batter. "I'm cooking breakfast with Grammy."

"I see that, baby."

Ella couldn't hold back the smile as she felt all of her love for her son in that instant. She never wanted to hurt him. In that moment, Ella knew that she had to make sure things worked out for the better with John. She couldn't risk breaking her son's heart, nor her own. She hadn't realized it before, but her heart had been broken without John in her life. It was time to fix it by putting all the pieces together again.

#

Ella decided to bring Christopher along for the sleep over. They needed to make up for lost time as a family. For once, Ella made the right decision because John seemed thoroughly happy to see that she had brought Christopher along. They would still be able to have time alone after Christopher fell asleep around eight o'clock.

It felt like they had been a family for years, not a couple of weeks. Like no time had been stolen from Ella's selfish decision not to tell John about their son. She never wanted another day to go by without John in their life.

Hours after Christopher had fell asleep in the guest bedroom, Ella was lying under the sheets in John's arms, head resting on his bare chest. She listened to the thumping of his heart for several minutes before breaking the silence.

"I don't want to wait," Ella said. "I want to get married now so that we can spend every moment together. I also want more kids."

"Who are you and what have you done with the Ella Madison I grew up with?"

"I'm being serious."

"I know, just teasing."

"I don't want to miss anymore time with you," Ella said. "And if there's one thing I've discovered since having Christopher, it's that I love being a mother."

"Well, I'm glad," John said, "because I want raise a houseful of kids with you at my side."

Ella leaned in and sealed their promise with a mind-blowing kiss that led to some more tussling around between thin sheets.