Wrestling ONE SHOTS and IMAGINES

20 Adam Cole (Part 2 for #19)

It's been two days since the incident with Adam in the parking lot, but I didn't even have time to waste many thoughts on it. By the time I picked Aiden up from my parents', he was already starting to show signs of not feeling well. He was quite grumpy and restless. It was not like him. Aiden was usually the happiest baby there is. Always cooing and babbling to himself, simply a little sunshine. When we got home I immediately took out the thermometer to see what was wrong. At that time he had no fever, at least not yet.

During the night, however, he got the stomach flu. And let's just say it wasn't a pretty thing with babies. One diaper explosion after another, but the puking was even worse. Thank God he only did that two or three times. 

Since it was the first time that Aiden was really sick, I called our pediatrician immediately. The doctor said that there was no need to worry as long as Aiden was drinking enough so that he did not get dehydrated and didn't get a high fever. And that I should come with Aiden to his office the next morning.

That's exactly what we did, because after the first exhausting and sleepless night the little man got a slight fever after all. Luckily Aiden still drank his formula and tea, even though he didn't want to eat any of his other baby food. The doctor examined Aiden and gave him, among other things, medicine to lower the fever. He also gave me some tips on what I could do, such as giving the baby a lukewarm bath to reduce the fever and massaging his tummy.

But all this seemed to help only partially. The day went mostly like the previous night and the next night was not much better. Sleep was not on my mind. When Aiden finally slept for half an hour I was busy doing the laundry. Besides I was much too tense to sleep out of fear that something could be wrong with Aiden.

So after the second sleepless night I was pretty exhausted. But at least the baby was better. His temperature had dropped. I noticed that the stomach flu was still bothering him and he also lacked a lot of sleep. 

We had just come home from the doctor and from buying diapers. I fed Aiden some baby food, glad he was finally able to keep it down. This was definitely a sign that he was on the mend. I was glad that he was better, because I was totally exhausted. Now that he had a little more in his stomach, I hoped he would sleep longer than 30 minutes. I needed some sleep too.

I had just put Aiden in his crib and was on my way to the bathroom to take a quick shower and then go to sleep myself when there was a knock at the door. I groaned in frustration, it really couldn't be true. So I went to the door to shoo away whoever it might be. But the person in front of me I had not expected at that moment. It was Adam. Suddenly, I remembered what had happened a few days ago. My concern for Aiden had completely taken that out of my mind. I was even too exhausted to get angry.

"What are you doing here, Adam?" I asked, but I had to concentrate really hard to keep my eyes open.

"What am I doing here, Y/N? I want to see my child!" Adam replied in a demanding tone.

"No, you won't see him now! And if you keep talking to me in that tone, you're never gonna see Aiden! He's sick, and I'm glad he's finally asleep. I don't have the energy to argue with you right now, so please just leave," I said and tried to close the door. Adam prevented this by pushing it open again.

"Listen Y/N, I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you and what I did, but please, please let me see my child. Just-just five minutes. I'm begging you." he said, his whole body language completely changed. As angry as I was at Adam, he was still Aiden's father and now that he knew about his son, I could hardly forbid him to see him. No matter how much I might have wanted to. Adam had the right to know his son. And I didn't want the worst-case scenario to lead to a lawsuit.

"Adam, I said he is sleeping and that he is sick. So this is not the time. And I haven't slept in two days, so please let's delay this discussion," I said exhausted.

"What's wrong with him Y/N? Please let me see him. I promise I won't wake him up," Adam replied in a pleading tone. I sighed and stepped aside to let him into the house where we once lived together.

"Take off your shoes and go wash your hands. And please hurry so I can get to bed before I fall asleep on my feet."

 He did what I said and then we quietly walked into Aiden's nursery together. Fortunately, he seemed to be fast asleep. Adam just stood there looking down at the baby. I tried to interpret his face but it seemed to show many different emotions. Pride, worry, sadness, joy and maybe even some anger. It was hard to tell. After a few minutes I let Adam know that it was time to go. He nodded and followed me somewhat reluctantly out of the room.

"So you've seen him and now please go. You know where the door is." I said as I turned away from Adam and sat down on the couch. I pulled my knees up to my chest and closed my eyes. A moment later I felt the couch move and opened my eyes again.

"Adam please go home. I need to sleep before Aiden wakes up again. What more do you want?" I asked as I rubbed my eyes tiredly.

"I wanted to apologize to you Y/N. I'm sorry I just left. I'm sorry that I didn't trust you. I'm sorry that I ignored you. And to be honest, I have no idea what went through my head when I believed her. I barely recognize myself in the mirror anymore. You can believe me that I hate myself more every day for what I did. If I had just talked to you, none of this would have happened, and I would have found out about our baby right away. It makes me think about all the things I missed Y/N. Your growing baby bump, the baby's first kick and his birth, of course. It will haunt me for the rest of my life and I know I can never make up for it, but I want to be a part of Aiden's life Y/N." I could only vaguely catch all this as I slowly fell asleep. I had forgotten that Adam's voice always made me relax. 

I had no idea how long I'd been asleep. I slowly woke up to the sound of Adam's voice talking to someone. I kept my eyes closed and decided to listen. Beside Adam's voice I could make out the soft squeaking of Aiden. He sounded like himself again, he really felt better. Thank God.

"It's all right, little man. I'm your daddy. We better let Mommy get some more sleep. She was pretty exhausted. God, I can't believe you were born. You are so beautiful. You seem to have a lot of me, but you definitely have your Mommy's smile. Oh, I miss that smile. I really fu... messed up big time Aiden.

What's wrong with me? I messed up the best thing that could have happened to me in my life. And why? Because I believed that b... that woman more than I believed your Mommy. I'm so stupid. But I promise you that I will always be here for you. I'm gonna do everything I can to make you and Mommy happy. I know she'll probably never forgive me, but I'll never stop trying to make it up to her." I opened my eyes very carefully and saw Adam sitting on the couch next to me with Aiden in his arms. The baby cooed the whole time while he held on to Adam's finger. 

Although it was the first time Aiden saw his father, it seemed as if he knew exactly who Adam was. It warmed and broke my heart at the same time. I wanted to believe his words, but it wasn't that easy. A part of me still loved him very much and yet the trust I once had in him was no longer there.

But for Aiden's sake, I had to try to be on good terms with Adam. Time will tell if we could be friends or not. As long as Aiden is happy and content, the rest would work out somehow. I had to try to regain trust in Adam, even though it would probably take a while. Trust is a fragile thing and once it was broken it was very hard, if not impossible, to repair.

However, if there was something worth trying for, it would be the child we had together, a child who needed both. A mother and a father.

Published August 5, 2020

(Full story > Last shot to redemption < on my profile)