Soft Spot

FORTY

SIX YEARS LATER

The sound of my heels hitting the floor eched throughout the hall as I walked. I sighed as I finally got to the office door. I opened it and walked in, walking to the front desk.

"Hi, I was called in about Noah Walker, is she okay?" I asked the lady, tapping my foot impatiently. I had somewhere to be and I couldn't be late.

"Oh yes, she went to the clinic today claiming she was sick. We had to call you to come pick her up." The lady said.

"Well where is she?" I asked, looking around. A door opened and Noah walked out, a sad look on her face. I kneeled down infront of her and brushed her hair out if her face. "Whats wrong sweetie?" I asked her frowning.

"I don't feel good, mommy." She cried, hugging me tightly. I picked her up and signed her out before walking back to my car. I put her in the backseat and she immediately sat up, a grin in her face. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Were you faking?" I gasped. She giggled and nodded, hiding her face. "Sweety why did you lie? You know lying is bad." I sighed, buckling her in her seat and getting in the drivers side.

"Because mommy Alex was being mean to me and I was upset." She pouted, crossing her arms. "Hes suppose to be my friend." I chuckled and shook my head, pulling out of the parking lot.

"You want to go see aunt Amber?" I asked her as I drove to the park. Amber called me today to ask me to meet with her at the park.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Noah cheered from the back excitedly. I chuckled and put the radio on for her. She loves to listen to music. When we finally got to the park Noah ran over to Amber and jumped on her. I walked over to them and sat next to Amber.

"Whats Miss Noah doing out of school?" Amber laughed as Noah ran to play on the playground with Maddie, Ambers daughter. She was only 4, so she didn't go to school.

"Alex was apparently being mean so she faked sick to come home." I laughed, sighing.

"Sounds like someone I know." Amber snorted and I rolled my eyes.

"So whats up?" I asked her, watching Noah help Maddie onto the slide.

"Chris and I are going on vacation and we were wondering if you could watch Max." She bit her lip. Max is her fat cat. When I say fat, I mean fat.

"Yeah sure, Noah loves him anyway. She'll be so happy. How long are you guys going to be gone for?" I asked her.

"Just a week, we're going to visit Nat." Amber cleared her throat. I nodded and looked away from her, back at the kids.

"Tell her I said hey." I smiled. I haven't seen Nat since she moved back to New York a few years ago. She only comes to visit a few times a year.

When I found out I was pregnant I gave up my spot at Juilliard and I moved to California with Lily until I got my own place. I kept in touch with Amber and Nat, and they eventually moved in with me and Noah for awhile, but then Amber met Chris and they moved in together, and Nat decided to go back home.

"I will. She said shes coming down to visit for thanksgiving." Amber said, "Maddie don't go up those steps!" She yelled, sighing. I chuckled and called Noah back over.

"Well im going to get this little one home. I'll see you later, love you." I hugged Amber before grabbing Noahs hand and walking back to our car. "Guess what sweetie?" I said as I got in the car after buckling her in.

"What?"

"Max is going to come stay with us for awhile." I told her, and she screamed excitedly.

"Yay! I love Max" she cheered, clapping her hands. "Mommy can we get icecream please?" She pouted her lip, looking at me with her puppy eyes.

"Yes, but not because you gave me the puppy eyes." I narrowed my eyes and she giggled. I stopped at the icecream shop down the road from the park and we got out, walking inside. We stood behind a man that was at the counter ordering.

"Thank you." A familiar voice spoke. I frowned, I knew that voice from somewhere. The man turned around and I gasped, my eyes widening. Once he saw me his eyes widened as well, and we were both frozen, staring at each other.

"Nathan?" My voice was barley above a whisper as I said his name. I haven't seen him in 6 years.

"Mommy whats wrong?" Noah asked, tugging at my hand. "You're crying mommy." I hadn't even realized that I was crying. I quickly whipped my tear away and smiled down at Noah.

"Nothing sweetie, mommy just yawned." I lied, looking back at Nathan. "What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I-Im here on business." He cleared his throat. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Oh yeah, the business you left me for.

"Hi, im Noah! Are you mommys friends?" Noah stuck her hand out to shake Nathans. Thats when he noticed her, he looked down at her, then back up at me. This is another time I hated the fact that they looked exactly alike. Its easy to notice that hes her father.

"N-noah?" He asked, and she nodded looking at him like he was dumb.

"Yes, Noah. Didn't you hear me?" She tilted her head.

"Noah, be nice!" I scolded her and she apologized. Nathan frowned and looked back at me. Hey don't blame me for her rudeness, she definitely got that from you big guy.

"I'm Nathan, and no im not your mommys friend." He bent down infront of her. I tried to ignore the way my heart stung when he said that. "How old are you?"

"I'm almost 6!" She chirped happily. She's always happy. "If you aren't friends with my mommy why are you talking to her?" She asked him, squeezing my hand. He didn't answer, he just looked at her. He was connecting the dots. Nathans smart, he doesn't need me to tell him something he already knows.

"Noah sweetie, why don't you go sit down over there, alright? Mommys gonna get the ice cream." She nodded and skipped to the booth, sitting down and looking out the window. Nathan just stared at me, waiting for me to say something.

"Nathan I-" he shook his head, stuffing his hands in his pocket.

"She's mine, isn't she?" He asked, glancing at Noah.

"You already know the answer." I whispered, looking at him. "Yes, Nathan, shes yours."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He was clearly shocked.

"You left." I told him, "I wasn't going to hold you back with a baby."

"Shes my daughter!" He yelled suddenly, "You should have never hid that from me." Everyone looked at us weirdly. I glanced at Noah who was looking at us, too.

"Nathan." I warned, looking back at him. He glanced at her too, before taking a deep breath.

"I deserve to be in her life." He told me, "if you don't let me then I'll just go to court." With that he walked out of the shop, leaving me standing there.