A/N: This is the third book in the Unexpected series.
Evan Campbell had to grow up quickly. From getting kicked out of his house to becoming a teen dad, he had no choice but to let go of childish behaviors. Now, Evan is handling life pretty well. He...
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After Travis left this morning, not long after my beautiful son returned to me. He was more excited than I was but it wasn't because he got to be home. Once Caleb walked through the door with Gabe attached to his hip, my son blurted, "Uncle Pretty is coming to my party!"
"WHAT?" I didn't even try to hide my shock as my son bounced towards his room and I looked towards his uncle for clarification of what he just said. Just like I thought he would do, Caleb ran towards the door but even in baseball I was faster than he was. I closed the door before he could get to it and blocked him from getting out. He bit down on the side of his lip before making eye contact with me and answered, "I thought Darrius was going to tell you."
My face was hot as a boiler as I tried to hold on to the last bit of calmness I had. I breathed in and said, "Why is your fiancé hellbent on making my life harder?"
"I mean technically Gabe invited him."
"GABE IS FUCKING THREE!" I let loose a small bit of my anger before I caught myself by putting my fist over my mouth. I let my hand drop before I continued calmly, "Gabe is a child. He would invite the homeless man on the street if he could. However, I say who can and cannot come and I say no."
Caleb sharp matching ocean colored eyes stabbed through mine as he aggressively says, "Then you go tell Gabe that he isn't coming."
I wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. He went on, "Go tell him that the person he personally invited and loves, can't come because his daddy is butthurt over his mere presence."
He made space for me to walk through, daring me to go and tell Gabe. I looked at his bedroom door and I could easily hear him singing, "Uncle Pretty! Uncle Pretty! He is coming!"
"He has been singing that since last night," Caleb mentioned still daring me, "So go ahead. Break his heart."
For a moment I stood there. Hearing how excited he was to see him, made me think about how excited he was as a baby to be around Marcus. Even though I hated to admit it, Marcus was a big part of his life. I really wanted to be the bad guy for my own selfish reasons but remembering the glow in my kids face just now, I couldn't do it. I had to suck it up.
Caleb grinned as I groaned going towards the couch. He followed behind me before I sat down to drag my hands across my face.
"It's one day Evan," he stated, "Don't act like you aren't happy to see him."
"I'm not Caleb!" I yelled, "You don't understand what he did to me."
"I would if you would tell me anything," he said sitting down, "I mean we were all blindsided when you guys just fell off. He seems content with what's going on but I could tell it's hurting him."
Hurting him? I didn't respond because I would have gone into a long rant about what happened and I promised myself that I wouldn't speak about it again. It was one of the worst moments in my life and I don't plan on reliving it. However, it seems inevitable that I can't keep hiding from the person that caused it.
