Her Secret

Ivy

"Is that really you?" Nathaniel finally murmured after a few silent seconds and I quickly snapped out of my shock. "Uh y-yea, how are you?" I stuttered slightly and his smile lit up his face. "Wow, I'm- I'm great now. When did you get back?" he asked as he moved a step closer and I chewed my lip nervously.

"Just a couple of hours ago. Mom sent me to the store to get some ingredients she was out of so she can make homemade cookies for dessert tonight." I rambled before pressing my lips together in embarrassment and he smiled again.

"That sounds nice." he murmured and I nodded. "Yea..." I trailed off awkwardly and he cleared his throat a bit. "I really am glad to see you back." he murmured after a minute and I felt my heart flutter a bit. "Me too."

"Can I ask why you suddenly stopped talking to me in our sophomore year?" he asked suddenly and I immediately straightened up as I remembered who exactly was in the store with me. "Well it is a long story actually and I have something really important that I need to tell you." I said and he furrowed his brow in confusion. "What is it?"

"Well its not something I really want to talk about here." I said quietly. "Why not?"

"Because its-" I tried to explain but was suddenly cut off by a small voice. "Mommy! Aunt Jade and I found the choccy chips!" Aiden yelled as he ran to hug my legs and I watched Nathaniel freeze in shock as he stared at the toddler clinging to me. I knew exactly what he was seeing: a tiny version of himself with his unique blue-grey eyes and my wavy blonde hair. "Hey Ivy I think- oh shit." Jade cursed and I automatically shot her a glare but she was too busy staring worriedly at Nathaniel.

"That's great baby, you did a good job. Can you put them in the basket for me please?" I bent down to Aiden's level as I spoke to him, only shooting glances at Nathaniel's still frozen form. "Hey Nate I think I saw - never mind you found her. Hey Jade." a guy with blonde hair and brown eyes walked up behind Nathaniel and shot me a flirty smile.

"Hey I'm Ryder, what's your name pretty lady?" he winked playfully. "I'm Ivy." I introduced myself as I started to get a bit worried about Nathaniel as he was still frozen. "You're- oh shit," the guy, Ryder, muttered, then looked from Nathaniel down to Aiden and back to me, clearly making the connection. "Oh shit."

"Can you please refrain from cursing in front of my son?" I said as Aiden now hid behind my legs and Nathaniel finally snapped out of it. "Your son?" he said in a dazed tone and finally looked back at me. "Our son." I whispered a moment later and Ryder had to catch him as he fainted. "That is not the reaction I was expecting." Jade spoke up and Ryder looked up sharply. "You knew?" he asked in disbelief and she nodded slowly. "Of course, I'm her best friend." she shrugged and he pursed his lips before trying to shake Nathaniel awake again. Nathaniel slowly sat up and gazed at Aiden again.

"A son," he said faintly. "I have a son."

"His name is Aiden. Aiden Nathaniel." I murmured and Nathaniel looked up at me with wide eyes. "You gave him my name?" he whispered and I nodded with a smile as I blinked away tears. "Of course. I have hoped that you would want to be a part of his life for a while now." I murmured and he nodded. "Of course I do." he immediately agreed and Ryder helped him to his feet. "Mommy why did he fall over?" Aiden suddenly tried to whisper and my automatic smile matched Nathaniel's as I bent and picked Aiden up. "Because he was very surprised when he saw you." I said softly  as I looked at him and Aiden looked confused. "Me?" he asked and I nodded. "Yes baby you."

"Why?" he asked bluntly and I chewed on my lip for a moment. There had been a few times when Aiden, as smart as he was, asked who his daddy was. I always made sure he knew that he had a daddy but told him that he was far away and he would see him one day.

I decided this was as good a time as any and smiled as I looked at Nathaniel again. "Because he is your daddy." I said softly and I saw Nathaniel's eyes actually tear up a bit as he looked at our son again. "My daddy?" Aiden asked eagerly as he looked at Nathaniel again and I nodded. "Yes little man, he's your daddy."

Aiden stared at Nathaniel for a few moments before slowly extending his arms and Nathaniel immediately looked at me questioningly. I nodded and held Aiden towards him and he carefully accepted our toddler into his arms. For a moment Nathaniel's eyes almost seemed silver but I dismissed it as a trick of the light as I wiped a few tears away.

Nathaniel and Aiden both stared at each other in a mixture of curiosity and awe and I couldn't stop the constant flow of tears now. "This is touching and all but maybe we should move out of the center of the supermarket." Jade suddenly spoke up and I glanced around to see a couple of people watching us strangely and gave a strangled laugh. "Yea let's go outside at least," I said as I quickly wiped my eyes and picked up the basket, looking back at Aiden. "Are you okay baby?"

"Yes mommy, I wanna stay with daddy right now." he said and I nodded before following Jade towards the front. We quickly checked out and then headed to where we had parked with Nathaniel and Ryder close behind. "How? Wh-?" Nathaniel asked me and I sighed softly as I cut him off. "I really want to tell you everything, but as of right now I am utterly exhausted." I murmured and he frowned but nodded.

"I understand. Can I take you two out for lunch tomorrow and we can talk then?" he asked and I smiled. "Sure that sounds perfect." I agreed and Nathaniel smiled too. "Good, then I will see you tomorrow Aiden." he smiled down at the toddler and Aiden grinned before hugging his neck. "See you tomorrow daddy!" he exclaimed and then reached out to me.

I took him and buckled him into his car seat while Jade hopped into the driver's seat. "I'm going to go put everything in the car." Ryder said behind Nathaniel and disappeared into the cars, leaving us to stare into each other's eyes quietly for a moment. I could see the emotions flicking through his rapidly.

"I'm still in shock." Nathaniel muttered after a moment and I smiled slightly. "I know it's a really big shock. This isn't exactly how I had planned to tell you." I said and he looked at me. "So you were going to tell me?" he asked and I quickly nodded. "Yes of course, but I will explain everything tomorrow." I murmured and he sighed but took my hand.

I felt that immediate connection running between us like electric tingles and he closed his eyes for a split second before bending to kiss the back of my hand. "Until tomorrow then." he smiled and opened the car door for me, closing it behind me before turning and disappearing into the cars.

"Well that was completely insane." Jade stated a few minutes after we left and we both broke into fits of crazy laughter. "Mommy? Aunty? What so funny?" Aiden asked and I only smiled at him. "You will understand when you're older little man." I said as we subsided into giggles.

When we arrived home I took Aiden out of his car seat and looked at him seriously for a moment. "I want you to keep daddy a secret for tonight okay?" I spoke softly but clearly and Aiden quickly nodded. "Good boy. Now lets go eat some dinner." Dinner and dessert passed quickly and before I knew it I was collapsing into bed.

A soft ding from my phone made me check the screen and I smiled when I saw the message and sent a reply, glad I had unblocked him that morning.

'Goodnight.' - Nathaniel

'Goodnight.' - Ivy

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A/N: Hope you are all enjoying the story! So Nathan finally knows! Thoughts? Don't forget to comment and vote if you like the story!