Page 8 of Lore
My fingers tighten. The truth is, I need a little time to process this. “I don’t know how you kept him from me, Butterfly.”
Her eyes flicker with pain. “I honestly didn’t think you’d care. You told me you never wanted kids, Hunter. Do you remember that conversation? It was right before I caught you cheating on me.”
I was waiting for it. “I never cheated on you?—”
She lets go of my hand and stands. “Yeah, she was just in your lap, without her fucking top on. I’d just found out I was pregnant, and that’s when I came to tell you. I was already nervous because I knew you didn’t want kids in the first place. Instead, I got the surprise of my life, didn’t I?”
Fuck.
She had come home early from work that day, and that’s when it all went to hell.
“You should have fucking told me,” I grit out, my voice catching. “I deserved to know that I had a son.”
“I’m sorry, Hunter. You’re right, I should have told you. I know that now,” she admits, her eyes pooling with unshed tears.
“But think of what you were like back then. You literally told everyone who listened that you didn’t want kids. I’m surprised you didn’t get a vasectomy. It’s basically your brand, or has that changed? Between you never wanting the responsibility of children and being a cheating asshole, you weren’t screaming father material.”
She’s not far off the mark. I booked myself in for a vasectomy, but for some reason, I couldn’t go through with it.
Atiana always wanted kids. Maybe subconsciously, I knew if she came back to me one day, that wouldn’t change.
“Was it that, or that I could no longer commit to you?” I snap, her shot hitting its mark and pushing my temper over the edge. “Just because I could no longer be with you doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have been there for my child. I didn’t have to want you to want him!”
She stands and looks down at me with such sadness, my breath hitches. “Maybe I didn’t want you breaking my son’s heart like you did mine. You weren’t ready to be a father. You know it as much as I did. I don’t even know if you’re ready now. But he’s here. You want to be a father to him? Now’s your chance. Just stay the fuck away from me, Hunter.” She turns on her heel and storms out.
Fucking hell.
I didn’t even mean any of that shit I said.
But what she said isn’t wrong.
And I think that’s what hurts the most.
I’ve never seen myself having children, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have taken responsibility. Seeing that boy in front of me, it kind of changes things, doesn’t it?
I had always said I didn’t want kids. I didn’t have the best childhood. I didn’t know my father, and my mother was constantly bringing man after man into her life, like a revolving door. She prioritized them over me at every opportunity. I don’t know anything about raising children. It’s a responsibility that terrifies me.
But things have changed.
I have a son. It’s not a hypothetical. He’s here.
It might not be the road I’d have chosen, but sometimes fate has other plans.
Sighing, I open the refrigerator and pull out some drinks and snacks for her and the kids. I’m still wrapping my head around it all. Atiana, my fucking butterfly and the only woman I have ever truly loved, is in the Serpents of Chaos clubhouse.
And she just told me to stay the fuck away from her.
My past, present, and future are colliding.
I can’t remember the last time I felt this out of control.
And I don’t fucking like it.
However, at the same time, having Atiana back in my life again has made me feel more alive than I have in a long time.
With my hands full of juice and child-sized snacks, I run into Rose. “Hey, there you are,” she coos, running her pink fingertip down my abs. “I was waiting for you to pick up where we left off.” Her hand slides lower, over my cock through my jeans.
Before I can grip her hand and tell her now is not the time, Atiana walks around the corner, pausing when she sees me standing there.
