Days With Zion Dawsey

9. Come Back

"What are you doing here?" Bonnie was surprised as not even a full hour after being kicked out of his party, the great Zion granted her a visit. She was currently bouncing River on her hip as the baby was about to be changed into his pyjamas.

"I changed my mind, you can come to my party." Zion said, not knowing what to look at, so he looked at his shoes. Bonnie frowned and River let out an excited squeal upon seeing a new face.
"I can come to your party? What are we? Twelve?" She rolled her eyes.

"Do you want me to be there or did your mother send you?" She asked.
"Does it matter?" He snapped and glared up at her. The baby on Bonnie's hip seemed to be surprised by Zion's face as he let out another squeal and looked at him with his mouth in an o-shape.

"It does matter, because it is your party." Bonnie sighed.
"But she invited you in the first place, so she obviously wanted you to be there." He said, not once glancing at River, whose hands were now reaching out to him. When Zion saw the movement from the corner of his eyes, he took a step back, getting even further out of reach for the baby.

River seemed frustrated as he squealed even more now and was leaning even farther towards Zion.
"I came here voluntarily. My mother did not ask me to get you. There, is that enough?" He growled, taking another step back.

"Even if that were true, I can't. I already sent my babysitter home and River is ready for bed." He frowned. She named him River. Why did it surprise him?
"Just take him with you then. My mother has already seen him in the papers." Zion shrugged.

"She's seen him quite a few times actually." She said, making Zion frown. He figured they must've kept in touch for his mother to invite the woman over, but now he was wondering what type of acquaintance they have.
"Alright, so what's the big deal then?" He asked, daring a glance at River, who was distracted by his mother's earrings.

"It's the fact that I know you don't want me-"
"Oh, for fuck's sake! You're not gonna come for me anyways, you'd be there for my mother. Just keep her company." Zion was getting impatient.

"First of all, don't swear in front of him. Secondly, I told you I can't. It's his bedtime and I- I mean your whole family is there. Don't you think they're gonna get suspicious? He's your son, he looks exactly like you." Zion felt weird when Bonnie said that River was his son. He had never heard anyone refer to the baby as his son.

"So, I can't. I'm sorry." Bonnie closed the door, leaving Zion standing on the front porch. He could've accepted her no, could've just turned around and try to cheer up his mother on his own. But he didn't even know what cheered her up anymore, he was so determined to not see her as often, that he didn't even know his own mother anymore. Again, something in him churned. This time it felt horrible.

"Please, Bon!" He yelled at the front door, knowing she'd hear him. He sighed when there was no response.
"I know I was an ass to you but my mother needs you. She- We don't get along anymore and I took the probably only reason away that could make her forget our current situation this afternoon." He shoved his hands into his pockets and waited... still nothing came.

"Fine! Suit yourself. But it might slip my mouth that you don't want to come because it's our son's, oh I mean your son's bedtime." He knew he couldn't sweet talk her into coming with him, so why not hit her with her own weapon. Of course, he would never tell anyone about the whole deal but he figured bluffing was enough for Bonnie to give in.

And he was right, judging by the fact that her front door opened again and two narrowed eyes bored into his.
"You dare blackmail me?" She said, making Zion lift an eyebrow.
"Are you serious?" He sarcastically asked and Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest.

"Look, just come for an hour. Bring his stroller, so he can sleep inside." Zion shrugged and the woman sighed.
"It's not like I have a choice. Wait here." Bonnie said and then slammed the door into his face again. Zion took a deep breath and sat down on her porch, looking at the houses across the street.

Wow, he thought. If anyone told Zion yesterday that he would be in this position, sitting on her front porch and waiting for her to come to his party, he would've laughed at that person. Okay, maybe he wouldn't have laughed, but he would never in a billion years believe it.

Just thinking about her was already a sin for him. She did him so wrong, yet he cannot stop that weird feeling he has whenever even her name is mentioned. What was wrong with him? Zion shook his head, not allowing himself to get into that head conversation again. He stood up as soon as he heard the click of her front door.

Without glancing at him and wordlessly, Bonnie walked past him with the stroller in front of her. A chirpy baby was seated in it, looking up at all the branches above him. Well, at least one of them was in a good mood, Zion thought as he stood up and followed her with a fast pace.

The way to his mother's place was only a five minute walk but if the two kept up the tempo, it would soon become a two minute walk.

"You know, for someone that has gotten blackmailed before, you're pretty cold-hearted. You know how it feels, yet you do it to others." Bonnie stopped to let Zion catch up to her.
"Cry me a river, Stewart. It's not like I'm forcing you to give me a child or something. This is just a party." He snapped.

"Ah, I see. You're still mad about that."
"Well I'm sure as hell not happy about it!" Zion crossed his arms over his chest as they started walking again. River was gaping up at him again and Zion averted his gaze.
"I told you not to swear in front of him." Bonnie glared up at the man.

"Hell isn't a swear word. Hell, hell, hell-" That earned him a punch in the guts and he doubled over in surprise. Bonnie had to keep in her laughter as she turned and left him to follow her.
"So curse words are taboo but he can see you punch people? What happened to violence isn't the answer?" Zion caught up to her.

"It is sometimes. Especially when you are around." She looked at him from the side. Zion groaned, still rubbing his stomach.
"Don't worry, I won't be around." He murmured, meeting silence. But only for a few seconds.

"So how come you and my mother are so close?" He finally asked.
"Well, we just kept in touch after we first met. I didn't have friends in this city yet and your mother was just that for me." Bonnie shrugged, making him nod. Zion knew that she just moved back then when she was still an intern of his. He also did try to do a background check on her but there was literally no information online.

"Where do you come from?" He eventually asked her.
"Rian." She shrugged.
"Oh, I remember. You said you had four sisters?" He continued.
"You're in a chatty mood today." Bonnie stated, ignoring his question.

Zion took that as a 'stop talking to me' sign and clenched his jaw before silence surrounded them. Ebony glanced at him from the corner of her eyes and inwardly sighed. He was trying to have a conversation and she shut him off.

"Yes, I grew up with four sisters." She told him, only receiving a barely recognizable nod in response.
"Well, they're actually-" She started but Zion interrupted her.

"You don't have to tell me. I don't care anyways. I was just trying to make conversation." He said as their destination finally came in sight.