When the unexpected became the inevitable

Chapter 18

-Alex

My body wakes up before my eyes do. I turn around and move my hands around without opening my eyes trying to recognise where I am. I reach to the bedside table on my side and put my glasses on then open my eyes.            

"What the heck?" I mumble, my voice still thick with sleep. I lift my glasses slightly and rub my eyes then put them back on and immediately sit up in surprise.      

"April!" I shout at look at the person sitting at the bottom of the bed. It's a child, a little boy. He looks at me and cocks his head to one side and then jumps on top of me. I groan which makes him laugh and he takes a seat right on my chest.

"Did you call me?"April asks while entering the room. I clear my throat and gesture to the...child.

 "Jackson would you please get off the poor man and sit on the bed." April says while looking at the kid, Jackson I guess is his name. He looks at me with a weird glare and sits beside me.    

"April do you want to maybe explain?" I ask.              

"Oh yeah right." She says and walks to sit down near my legs. I look to the corner of my eye and see the boy staring at me.              

"So..." She begins, "This is my son Jackson."

My mouth immediately drops open. I thought she was a virgin! Is this what Melanie meant by when she says her act is a load of crap? No. April wouldn't lie about this, It's nothing to be ashamed of.         

"Jheez Louise what are you thinking about?" She sighs.    

"Did you just say 'jheez louise'?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.   

"Shut up." She says and hits my leg playfully. 

"Apricot I'm hungry." I turn to left and realise the boy just spoke. He doesn't have a baby voice. He doesn't have a British accent either. It sounds, American which takes me by surprise. He sounds like a normal human being.  

"Is he actually your son?" I ask, still shocked at how she told me like it was so normal.       

"I'm her god son dummy." Jackson says while looking at me. The boy has attitude. I expect April to tell him off for saying dummy but she just laughs.           

"I'm ravenous can we go to that sandwich place?" Jackson asks April. She tells him that she'll think about it and then he leaves the room.           

"Did that 3 year old just say 'ravenous'?" I ask.      

"He's 4 and a half." She responds matter of factly, "And yeah he did. He is way too advanced for his age. It's pretty funny actually." April reaches to the floor and throws me my t-shirt. I shrug it on and pat the place beside me, inviting her to sit. She comes to sit beside me and gets under the covers.

"Holy Crap did you sleep on the sofa yesterday?" I exclaim. She nods and follows it up with,   

"It's really not a big deal. I fell asleep while doing work." She reassures.     

 "So the kid-" I start but April interrupts me.           

"You can't say kid. A kid is a baby goat." She says matter of factly, again.  

"Okay. Jackson?" I start again and she nods for me to continue. "Who are his parents? Are you the only god parent?" 

"Do you want the story everyone knows or the real more sad story?" She asks.       

"The real story."                           

"Jackson's parents were my brothers best friends. They were inseparable in school from what Conor told me. His two best friends got married really young, at 19 I think and she got pregnant a couple months later." She paused and took a breath before carrying on. "Jackson's dad passed away 2 months before he was due. In a car wreck. Jackson's mum passed away while she was giving birth. Conor was appointed god father before Jackson was born. Once social services saw that Conor could take care of Jack, he became his legal guardian. So Jackson is my nephew in a way and my god son. Conor wanted me to be his god mother because he didn't know if he could trust anyone else. Jackson calls Conor dad and his wife mum. Oh and he calls me Apricot because my brother never stops calling me it."                                            

"Does Jackson know about his biological parents?" I ask 

 "Conor tells him stories all the time but he doesn't know they were his parents. Jackson asks questions, he wanted to meet them. Conor will tell him one day when he's old enough to handle, I guess the truth."     

 "What a story." I sigh.        

"Crazy story." She repeats.

"So what's with his accent?" I ask.      

"Oh yeah that. My brothers wife is from New Orleans. After they got married they moved and obviously took Jackson with them. He 3 when they moved so now he has a bit of a weird accent. It's a mix of British and American. Plus he's surrounded by two parents who have different accents."    

"Have you been to New Orleans to see your brother?"               

 "Yeah loads of times and to see Jackson. I hadn't seen Jackson for half a year until today. I haven't seen my brother either." 

 "Wait. How is Jackson here?" I ask and she laughs.     

"I really thought that'd be your first question you know." She says while laughing and playfully nudges my shoulder.        

"My brothers wife is in London at the moment. Conor is going to come in 2 weeks but she didn't want to wait that long so she can early. I asked to see Jackson so she dropped him off at around 11, you were still sleeping but I told her that I have a friend over so she doesn't freak out if Jackson came across you and told her."    

"He got here at 11. What time is it now?" April glances down at my Rolex on her wrist and says,   

  "It's 2 pm." Once she speaks I immediately get up out of bed and push the curtains to the side.  

   "I don't think I've ever slept in until 2 pm." I say. I hear hear walking behind me, she appears at my side looking outside the window.    

"It feels good, sleeping in. You don't have any responsibilities." I look down at her while she speaks but her eyes are fixed on the outside sky. I turn back to look outside then I feel her eyes on me.              

 "Get dressed Mr Reed. Me, you and Jackson are going out for lunch."