Chapter One: What?
I grabbed my keys and started putting on my shoes. I stood up and headed for the door. I was half way there when a knock sounded. I looked down at my watch confused. I wasn't late so that shouldn't be Rachel to kick my ass. I quickly answered the door. On the other side of the door was an average height woman with long brown hair and a little boy holding her hand while staring down at his shoes.
"Can I help you?" I asked. They must have gotten the wrong house.
"Yes. Are you Paul Lahote?" The woman asked.
"Yes and you might be...?" I asked, dragging out the question.
"Miranda Long. I'm Hannah Long's sister; you dated her when she was sixteen, roughly four years ago." I nodded. I remembered Hannah; she was the first girl I made it to home base with.
"I remember Hannah. Is this about her?" I asked.
"Yes and no." She said and then placed her hands over the little guys ears.
"Hannah died in a car accident about three weeks ago." She said and took her hands away from the kid's ears.
"This is her son, your son." Miranda said. My eye snapped down to the kid as he continued to stare at his feet.
"No I don't. I didn't know she had been pregnant. How can he be mine?" I asked starting to panic.
"After we moved she found out she was pregnant and she said that it was yours. I have his birth certificate." Miranda said and pulled a sheet of paper out if her bag. The certificate was for Jackson Paul Lahote, I was listed as the father. I looked between Miranda and the boy that still hasn't looked up.
"Do you need money or for me to take him for weekends?" I asked. The thought was starting to sink in; I have a kid, a son.
"Our parents died two years ago and I can't take care of him. Hannah never wanted you to know, but I can't take care of him. His things are in the car." Miranda said. SHE EXPECTS HIM TO LIVE HERE?! I only have one guest room and I use it as storage, there isn't a bed!
Before I could say anything she had walked back to her car and grabbed out three bags. She dropped them just inside my door. She kneeled down in front of the kid and tipped his chin so he looked at her.
"I'm going to leave you here with your father. You be a good boy. Okay?" She talked looking him straight in the eye.
"Yes Aunt Miranda." The boy said in a soft voice. She didn't give me time to ask anything before she ran to her car and drove off. She didn't even wave at her nephew. The kid stood in the doorway looking up at me, he looked a little scared. He had my black hair, but he had Hannah's eyes, a unique light blue that looked grey.
"Come inside." I said and stepped out of the way. He shuffled in with a small backpack secured on his shoulders. He took a seat at the dining table. I sat in the seat next to him and leaned to make myself look smaller and less scary.
"How old are you?" I asked.
"This old." He said and held up three tiny fingers. I nodded, he was definitely my kid. He even look a little like me.
"What's your name little man?" I asked softly.
"Jackson Paul Lahote. Mommy said she named me after my daddy." He said with a sure nod and I smirked at his little attitude.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"My name is Paul Michael Lahote. I was named after my dad, I guess I'm your dad.
"Really?" Jackson asked and a little spark seemed to come into his eyes. I nodded.
"Cool! Mommy said my daddy didn't know about me and that he was a cool guy with lots of muscles. Can I see?" He asked getting excited. I smiled and pulled up my shirt sleeve to show my bicep and flexed for him to see.
"Awesome!" He said and tried to do the same with his arm. He flexed his tiny bicep with a small pout.
"How come I can't do that?" He asked and pointed to my arm. I didn't know how to explain it.
"Well when you get older your arms will get bigger and them you'll be able to do it." I said he nodded and tried to flex again with a small pout. I looked up at the clock and saw that I was late to pick Rachel up. She was going to be pissed.
"Hey little man. I have to call a friend of mine. Can you sit right there for me while I make a call?" I asked and he nodded. I ruffled his hair and grabbed the phone off the hook. The phone rang a couple times before Rachel answered the phone.
"Paul Lahote, you better have a good excuse why we aren't at dinner yet damn it!" Rachel said into the phone causing me to cringe.
"Babe I do. Can you drive yourself over to my place? I'll explain when you get here." I said and something in my voice must have told her it was serious because her voice softened.
"Alright, I'll be right over." She said before she hung up the phone. I walked back to Jackson, he hadn't moved from his seat, but he now had a pad of paper on the table with some crayons and the backpack was on the ground by the leg of his chair.
"Hey buddy, a friend of mine is coming over. She's really nice, but she doesn't know about you and she's gonna seem upset, but she'll calm down and you'll end up liking her."I assured him. He nodded and kept on drawing. I saw the headlights turn into the driveway and got up to answer the door. I step outside and closed the door quietly behind me.
"What the hell Paul? We make plans to go out for your birthday and you bail!" Rachel exclaimed as she walked up the sidewalk to the front steps. I sat down on the top step and motioned for her to sit next to me. I rubbed my hand down my face and Rachel looked concerned.
"I have a son." I said in a low whisper.
"What?" She asked looking shocked.
"You have a son and you never told me?" She screamed, jumping up from the step and turning on me.
"No! I didn't know. Keep your voice down." I said and she slowly settled back onto the step next to me.
"What happened?" She asked, I could tell she was still pissed at me.
"The kid's aunt knocked on my door as I was grabbing my keys to come pick you up. She told me my ex died in a car accident almost a month ago and that she can't take care of him. She dropped him off with three bags and a backpack. Didn't even wave good bye to him when she left." I said and sighed as I put my head in my hands.
"I don't know what I'm going to do. I only have that one extra room and it doesn't have a bed. Hell I don't even have a car seat! How am I supposed to go get him things if I can't take him with me?" Rachel placed her hand on my shoulder.
"Everything is going to be okay, Paul. Is he inside?" Rachel asked softly. I nodded and stood up.
"Yeah, he's at the table drawing." I said.
"I wanna met him." She said with a soft smile. I smile back and led her into the house toward the table where Jackson was still sat quietly drawing away on the pad of paper. She gasped as we turned the corner.
"Paul, he looks like a mini you." She whispered looking at Jackson in awe. I looked at him a little closer and started to see it. He had my jaw, my nose, my wavy pitch black hair, I saw earlier that he a little attitude, but Hannah had had an attitude too, and he definitely got Hannah's eyes. Rachel walked up to the chair and kneeled down to his level.
"Hey. My name is Rachel. What's your name?" Rachel asked with a soft smile when Jackson looked up from his drawing. He gave her a shy smile.
"Hi Wachel. My name is Jackson Paul Lahote." Jackson said and extended his little arm out so Rachel could shake his tiny hand. Rachel's smile widened at the gesture.
"It's very nice to meet you Jackson. I'm a friend of your dad's" Rachel said taking his hand for a little shake.
"Do you have big muscles too?" Jackson asked, brightening at the thought. Rachel and I burst out laughing at his question. He looked between the two of us confused. Rachel shook her head coming out her laughter faster than I could.
"No, I have little muscles." She said and took off her jacket so Jackson could see.
"Like me." He said putting down his crayons so he could flex for her. We smiled at him. I looked at the clock and saw that it was getting close to eight.
"Jackson? Do you have a bed time?" I asked. He turned to me with a pout as he nodded his head.
"What time do you go to bed?" I asked taking a seat on the other side of him, opposite from Rachel.
"Eight thirty. Mommy said I go to bed early so I can get up early. Early birds catches the worms, but I don't like worms." He said making a face at the idea of catching worms. Rachel and I chuckled.
"Well then I think you should get ready then." I said.
"Okay." He said sadly, getting down from the chair and walking over to one of the bags that I had moved into the living room. He opened the bag and pulled out a pair of pajamas and a toothbrush with toothpaste.
"Where I gonna change?" Jackson asked.
"Here I'll show you." Rachel said and took him down the hall to the bathroom. They came back a couple minutes later. Jackson was in some pajamas with animated dogs on them dressed like public service members. Jackson came and stood in front of me, I looked down at him.
"Can I watch TV till I have to go to bed?" He asked and folded his hands under his chin in a pleading motion. I caved and nodded my head. I got up and showed him how to work the TV. He turned on the same show that was on his pajamas, Paw Patrol.
Rachel and sat at the table. We could still see him as he laughed and talked back to the TV. In honesty it was the cutest thing I had ever seen.I started thinking as I watched him. I needed someone to watch him when I couldn't; I had to work and patrol. Rachel had to work and my father died last ear and my mother lived in Tacoma. The only person I could think of was Emily. That was another thing; I was going to have to tell the pack.
"Where is he going to sleep?" Rachel asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. I shook my head.
"He's gonna stay in my room till I can clean out the spare room and get a bed in there. I think I have an old air mattress that can go in there till I can get an actual bed." I said and Rachel nodded.
"Where are you going to sleep?" She asked.
"The couch." I said, she smiled at me.
"You're gonna become a great dad to that little boy, Paul." She said and gave me a kiss goodbye before going into the living room and saying goodbye to Jackson before leaving. I sat at the table a little longer watching Jackson interact with the TV. I glanced up at the clock and saw that it was creeping toward half past eight and the show he was watching was ending.
"Time for bed, kid." I said. He pouted, but got off the couch and with some help followed me up the stairs to my bedroom. I scooped him up and set him on the bed. I grabbed two of my pillows leaving two on the bed for him. He wiggled his way under the covers and snuggled in.
"This is going to be your bed until I can get you one your size. You'll have your own room down the hall, but it will take me a couple days to get it ready. If you need anything during the night I'll be down stairs on the couch. You need anything to go to sleep?" I asked. He seemed to debate with himself for a second before he nodded.
"Can you tell me a story?" He asked, giving me puppy eyes. This kid was too much like me for my own good. I thought about what I could possibly tell him and the only thing that I could think of are the tribal legends. I started to tell him to story of the last spirit warrior. How the men left their bodies with the women while they protected their homes from enemies. Before I was halfway through the legend, Jackson was out cold snuggled into the blanket. I smiled at how tiny he looked in my bed. I walked to the closet and grabbed out a thin extra sheet before I settled down on the couch to get a little rest of my own after the emotional rollercoaster.
A/N: This is just a thought that came to mind. I'm not planning on this story being very long. This story was just an itch in the back of my mind that I just had to write to relieve the itch. The story will fifteen chapters MAXIMUM, thought I doubt it will even be that long. Hope you enjoy.
~Miss. E. Thompson
