Page 57 of His to Love
“He’s not your son!” I shrieked at him, nearly going blind with rage. “You have no child!”
“I know you don’t mean that, Alejandra.”
“I was Alexa to you the last time I saw your face. Now, you’re back to calling me by Alejandra? Why is that? Because you think that will make me forget all the ugly things you told me when I drove across the country to tell you that I was pregnant?” My chest was rising and falling with rapid pants. I had never felt so angry in my life.
“I will never forget those words. You told me to get rid of it—as if our baby was nothing at all. You gave up your rights that very second. Do you understand that? You gave up the right to call him yours when you said those words to me.” My body shook so hard, and I finally was able to pull free from his grasp. “You are not welcome at our home. Not now—not ever. My husband and I have a son. You have nothing.”
“I want to see him.” He moved like lightning to get to my car then threw the back door open. “Ha! I knew he’d be in here!”
Pummeling his back with my balled-up fists, I screamed at the top of my lungs, “You get away from him!”
“Alejandra, stop. Let me look at him. He has my eyes.”
I heard the sound of tires screeching to a stop then felt hands around my waist, lifting me up into the air as I flailed around, trying to get away. Then I was placed back on my feet and I saw Patton dragging Alejandro out of my car. “Get away from our son!”
Alejandro’s body smashed against the gate as Patton tossed him like he was nothing more than a rag doll. He held his hands up in surrender. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You came here,” I pointed out. “You knew that would upset me.”
“You, yes, I did expect you’d be upset with me.” He jerked his head in Patton’s direction. “Him, I didn’t expect to encounter, quite frankly. I thought maybe you and I could talk about this without him being around. Iamthe baby’s father, after all.”
Patton’s hands fisted at his sides. “There are so many reasons why I want to beat you until you no longer breathe. But I won’t do that to you. And it’s not for you that I won’t kill you. It’s because Iamthat boy’s father, and I’m not about to go to prison for the likes of you.”
“I’m sorry,” Alejandro whimpered. “This was a mistake. I just wanted a chance to see my son. I didn’t mean to step on anyone’s toes. I didn’t come here to fight. It’s just that when my father told me he’d seen your baby, it hit me hard, you know? He didn’t even know that he was looking at his own grandson, Alejandra. You didn’t even let him know that. Me? Well, I understand that you wouldn’t want me in our son’s life. But my parents? You know they’re good people.”
For a moment, I almost felt bad. But then that feeling went away as everything he’d done and said came back to me. “They can’t be that good. They did raise you. They raised you to be a liar, a cheater, and a piece of crap not worthy of having a child. I wasn’t about to let your father know a thing. And I never will. You need to go and never come back. And you need to never tell your parents about this baby being yours. He’snotyours. My husband is the legal father on all the paperwork. That is how it will stay.”
Standing up tall, he asked, “And if I do tell them, then what?”
Patton stepped between us as I began growling like an animal. He put his hand on my shoulder as he looked at Alejandro. “Look, she’s going to rip you apart if you don’t leave. Let’s put what happened between you two aside for a moment to think about who really matters here. And that’s the baby boy in the backseat of that car right there. He’s all that really matters here.”
“Shouldn’t he have the right to know who his father and his father’s family are?” Alejandro asked.
“You have no right to say a thing like that, you piece of shit,” I growled at him.
Patton looked back at me with wide eyes. “Babe? Did that just come out of your mouth?” Stunned, he shook his head. “Don’t let him bring you down to his level. You’re better than this.”
Alejandro’s head dropped. “He’s right. You are so much better than I am. Both of you are. I’ll go. I’ll leave you two alone. I’m sorry I came here. I didn’t mean for things to go this way at all.”
“You meant to get me alone and overtake me so that you could see my baby.” I knew what he’d thought would happen. “If my husband hadn’t shown up, God only knows what you would’ve done. Isn’t that right?”
“Sometimes, desperation makes us all do dumb things,” he said. “I felt desperate to see my son. But like I said, I’ll go.”
Patton put his arm around me, pulling me close to his side. “Come on, babe. Let him leave. We’re done here. He understands now that he can’t be a part of our son’s life. Right, Alejandro?”
Putting his hands over his face, he sounded like he was crying. “Yeah, man. I get it. I can’t be a part of his life. Now, just let me leave. Please.”
“Go,” I snapped. “Leave! I never want to see your face again!”
Patton held me close. “Shh. It’s okay. He’s leaving, babe. He gets it now.”
I wasn’t sure he really did. “Only God knows what I will do to you if you ever tell your parents about this baby, Alejandro Soliz.”
