Love Me

Chapter Nine

A son? Nathan has a son?

“N...no. He n...never mentioned he had a...a child.” I answered her question.

“Oh, dear.” She commented.

Oh, dear indeed.

“Um, well, surprise!” She said desperately, trying to lighten the mood.

It didn't work. She was tense, I was tense. All that was going on in my head was that Nathan had a kid and didn't tell me. If I marry him, I'm going to be the boy's stepmom. That can't happen. I have no experience with children whatsoever. I can't be a stepmom, I can't.

“Honey, sit down, you look like you're going to faint.” I heard Sophia say as she led me to a chair.

I took a few deep breaths, calming myself before I spoke again.  “Sorry, I'm acting like this.”

“It's alright, dear, I know how I felt when Nathan's father told me he had another child.” She told me compassionately. “Nathan should have told you beforehand.”

He really should have.

There's a lot you haven't told him, so stop being a hypocrite.

I sighed softly. My subconscious was right. I shouldn't be judging Nathan when I had secrets that I had no intention of telling him about.

“I missed you a lot, Dad.” I heard to the boy say from the living room.

“I missed you too, Olly.” Nathan replied.

“Why didn't you take me with you?” The bo... Oliver whined. “I thought you were going to bring my new mum for me, where is she?”

So Nathan told him about me. Hm.

“You'll meet her soon, Oliver, but...” I couldn't hear the rest of their conversation as Nathan began to whisper.

Among all the questions I had, there was one that I was particularly curious about.

“Where's Oliver's mother?” I asked Sophia.

I noticed the anger that filled her eyes before she took a breath, giving me a small smile. “That's a story you have to hear from Nathan, not me.” Was her reply. I just nodded, not having anything to say. “Lunch is ready, I think you should meet Oliver before we eat.”

“Okay.” I breathed.

Nervousness gnawed at my insides as we walked out of the kitchen. Nathan was the only one there, making me think maybe I imagined the child. That was until I heard the sound of little feet on the floor and a boy came running in.

He stopped, staring at me and I did the same. He looked so much like Nathan. Curly brown hair, grey eyes. But his skin was a little paler than his father's.

Wow, this is really happening.

I was surprised to see the excitement that filled his eyes and the bright grin on his face after a few seconds. It was so sudden. I had to steady myself to prevent falling because the little boy had launched himself over and was hugging my legs.

“Um.... Hello.” I said awkwardly and pat his head just as awkwardly.

“Hi, it's so nice to meet you, I'm Oliver. I don't know your name, what is it?” He pulled away and started rambling. “Are you really going to marry my Dad? Do you like cartoons? If yes, what's your favorite? And between a super-powered SpongeBob and Batman, who would win in a fight? What's your favorite...”

“Calm down, Olly.” Sophia said with a laugh.

He immediately stopped bouncing with excitement and looked down shyly, his cheeks colouring. “Sorry, I'm just really excited.” He muttered, looking at me through his eyelashes. He had a British accent too and it was absolutely adorable.