I don't own Hadrian or Sheshona; they belong to Disney. I do own Kane, Isabel, and Jason.
10: Coming back to bite
"Bella, the phone," Kane reported as he picked up the aforementioned object and held it out for his beloved, who was lounging on the sofa and watching Hadrian and Sheshona mimic martial arts stances that she recently taught them.
"Who is it?" Isabel asked curiously, hand lazily rubbing her slightly swollen abdomen. She was showing enough for someone to guess that she was pregnant. One of her favorite pastimes now seemed to be rubbing her stomach.
"Some guy named Jason," Kane answered with a shrug. He did not think anything of a man calling his wife for the simple fact that Isabel's business had her typically dealing with men. In actuality, Kane was typically more shocked if a woman called to speak with Isabel than a man.
"Jason?" Isabel echoed as if she did not understand the name. Her face scrunched up and twisted into something so foreign that Sheshona started laughing.
"Funny face!" the little girl declared while pointing to her mother.
Isabel ignored her daughter's outburst, although it should have earned the child a scolding for the simple fact that she broke her stance. Isabel was too puzzled by the call to think about reprimanding the girl, though. Hadrian pulled Sheshona back in line while Isabel accepted the phone from her husband.
She wondered, could it be Jason Gooding? She had not dealt with him since Hadrian was born, which was almost three years ago. She did not see why he would be calling her now. She did not know any other Jason, though. She considered that someone could have recommended her out, though, and the Jason calling her could be a stranger, hopefully looking to offer her some work.
Yes, Isabel still worked even though she was pregnant. She just did not work as long as she used to. Doing fight choreography was something that she felt that she could do no matter what her state. She did, however, stop street fighting since finding out that she was pregnant.
"Hey," Isabel answered the phone in a blunt tone. It was generally how she answered the phone and people that dealt with her were used to it.
"Isabel?" a hauntingly familiar voice asked.
Isabel's expression dropped while her body tensed. Her children regarded her with curious expressions, letting her know that her demeanor had taken a clear nosedive if they could tell. She waved them off, also signaling that they needed to continue doing what they were doing. She glanced over at Kane, who was looming behind her with an interested look in his eyes. She wondered if she should venture speaking to Jason with Kane in the room. She supposed that she did not have a choice because leaving would look suspicious considering the fact that she never left the room to take a phone call before.
"How'd you get my number?" Isabel demanded with a growl. The house had two separate lines; business calls came on the extra one. She was on the business line right now, so at least he did not have her private number. But still, who the hell gave him my business number? As soon as I find out who did, they're dead!
"You're a hard woman to catch up with," Jason commented, not sounding amused, but not sounding quite angry either. It was as if he was simply stating a fact.
"Maybe I didn't want someone like you to catch me," she remarked, not that she thought he would bother chasing. She really did not want him to chase her, especially now.
"Same Isabel, snippy as ever," he stated. Now, he did sound amused, almost smug. She dismissed his tone.
"What is it you are calling for?" she pressed, ignoring the stares coming from her family. Their eyes seemed to want to know what was upsetting her so much.
"I was told that I should contact you because of a certain child."
Isabel froze. He can't possibly be referring to Hadrian, she told herself. He left her and Hadrian and Kane had claimed Hadrian as his own. Kane seemed to be utterly convinced that Hadrian was his son, enough so to name the boy, not just Hadrian, but the boy had the last name "Go." Kane was listed as the father on Hadrian's birth certificate. Hadrian was Kane's little prince. Jason could not show up now, messing up their family atmosphere.
"I don't have any business with you, Jason," Isabel stated soundly.
"I've been told otherwise. If that boy is my son, then I should get to spend time with him," Jason argued in a strong, determined voice that made it seem like he would not stand for things going any way but his way. There was an edge in his tone that indicated that he was losing patience.
"You didn't want to spend time with him before. You didn't want to spend time with him when he was growing in my womb. You didn't want to spent time with him when he was born. So, why do you want to spend time with him now?" she demanded, another growl escaping her throat.
Kane's eyebrow arched; who the hell is she on the phone with? They certainly were not talking business as far as he could tell. Sounds like they're talking about my son. He hated to consider whom she was speaking with because then he was going to have to fight down the urge to grab the phone and start a scene within his own home.
"If that is my son, I have a right to spend time with him!" Jason stated, almost screaming in her ear.
"You don't have any rights! You lost those the second you disappeared, the very second you turned your back and walked away. You didn't give a damn then, so stop pretending to give a damn now!" Isabel ordered heatedly. She would not allow him to ruin her family.
"Bella, calm down," Kane said as he came around to the other side of the sofa. He put his hand on her stomach, reminding her of the baby.
"Kane, can I have a few minutes alone?" Isabel requested through clenched teeth. She wanted a chance to express herself to Jason without having to worry about what she might say in front of her family.
Kane nodded. "Sure thing. Come on, munchkins. Let's go jump out of the tree in the backyard," he suggested, which earned him cheers from the two children.
Hadrian and Sheshona practically flew to the backdoor. Kane gave his wife a supportive kiss to the cheek before marching off behind the kids. Isabel sighed and turned her attention back to the phone rather than worrying about how Kane was going to kill their children.
"You know you have a lot of fucking nerves calling here after all this time demanding fucking time with a child you never fucking met and you didn't fucking want," Isabel pretty much roared into the phone, but did it in a surprisingly controlled manner.
"If that's my son, I have a right to see him," Jason stated again.
"You lost that right when you walked out on us, boy. We moved on. You can't just interject yourself into his life and not think you're going to hurt him or confuse him or bother him. Besides, what makes you think he's your son?" she inquired. He did not seem all that concerned before about Hadrian being his, but now he was making a big stink about it when, as far as she was concerned, it was no longer true. Hadrian was Kane's, just like Sheshona was Kane's, just like the little one growing inside of her was Kane's; those were his babies. Her children were Kane's children.
"I've heard through mutual friends that he looks just like me. Don't try to deny it," Jason ordered.
Isabel was silent for a moment. As time passed, Hadrian did continue to look like Jason. He was taking on some of Kane's attributes, but she figured that was because the boy was around Kane so much. It was fairly easy for people to see that Hadrian was Jason's son, or so they made it seem when speaking to him.
"You're not his father. You don't have to trouble yourself with him," Isabel informed her former lover.
"You weren't saying that before."
"Before was almost three years ago! You walked away. We don't need you anymore."
"Isabel, if you want to be stubborn about this, we could easily go to court." He spoke those words as if they were a deadly threat.
Isabel was a breath away from taking him up on that challenge, but then she stopped and thought about it. She could imagine trying to fight Jason in court over the rights to see Hadrian. He was a white, middle-class, college student and to make matters worse, he was a star football player. She was none of the above, but she was plenty of other things that would not fit well with a judge. She doubted that it would help matters that Hadrian did look like Jason or the fact that back when she was pregnant with Hadrian, she was certain that the pregnancy was a result of time that she spent with Jason.
She rubbed her forehead, searching her brain for something; she was not sure what. Aside from the fact that she considered that she could not win in court against Jason, she did think about how it would affect her children to put them through such a thing. She did not want to harm them mentally or emotionally. She imagined that Kane would not even allow her to put herself through such trouble because of the pregnancy. She also did not want to put Kane through such turmoil.
"Leave your number, Jason. I'll call you back in a couple of days," Isabel promised in a flat tone. She needed to talk things over with Kane to find out what he thought on it. After all, Hadrian was his son, too.
"Why?" he demanded in a gruff tone.
"Dammit, just leave the fucking number or I'll just hang the fuck up right now and never take a call from you again," she replied with a huff.
Jason, remembering that tone of voice apparently, did as ordered. Isabel sighed as she reached out to put the phone back on the cradle. She closed her eyes and wondered how she was going to approach the subject with Kane. What will he say? What will he do?
"He's going to get all serious or something …" Isabel frowned. She hated it when Kane was serious, despite the fact that she seemed to hate when he was being immature and playful, too.
Isabel remained on the sofa for a few more minutes before deciding to go check on her "darling" husband and the children. As expected, Kane had them doing something incredibly stupid. He was helping them up to high tree branches and just letting them hang there until they could not support themselves anymore. He then just let them drop to the ground; they were not really falling far, only a couple of feet, but that short distance was more than enough to freak out any mother of toddlers.
"Kane!" Isabel barked.
He knew that tone well, so he flinched before turning around. A big, apologetic grin was already in place, but that did not save him from being slapped in the head. The children laughed, thinking that it was hilarious to see their mother hitting their father.
"Bella, they're not hurt!" Kane pointed out. The kids were sitting in the dirt, having fallen from their branches seconds ago.
"Stop being so careless with them!" Isabel ordered while leaning down to pick Sheshona up and she took Hadrian by the hand. With her hands full, Kane knew that he could not be hit anymore. Time to say something stupid and get out of serious trouble, but into fake trouble!
"Can I be careless with other things then?" Kane then reached out and gripped his wife's plump ass.
Isabel turned around to glare at him. He merely offered her the wide, cheeky grin he was pretty much known for. She practically growled.
"Pervert," Isabel hissed.
"Pervert," Sheshona echoed, as she had the habit of doing. She pretty much parroted her parents when they spoke and she was close by.
"I hope she stops using that word by the time she goes to school," Kane remarked under his breath. The last thing he needed was for someone wondering why his barely year old daughter was calling him a pervert.
The rest of the day was normal, which meant that there was a lot of yelling at Kane, a lot of urging Isabel to calm down, and a lot of the kids jumping off of things. Isabel sometimes wondered if she had actually given birth to frogs.
-8-8-8-8-
"I can't believe they thought your bedtime story was better than mine," Kane griped while carrying a sleeping Hadrian in his arms. He and Isabel were walking to Hadrian's room to put him down to bed. They had just left Sheshona's room, where they had told bedtimes stories as always. Sheshona was out halfway into the fourth story while Hadrian hung in there for three-fourths of it.
"Yeah, Kane, how could they not like zombie ninjas?" Isabel asked in a dry voice with a deadpan expression.
"I know!" he agreed.
"I was being sarcastic, darling," she informed him.
She nearly died laughing as Kane's face twisted into quite the confused expression. She knew what his problem was; she knew it was going to happen, which was why she spoke those words. They got to the bedroom as Kane finally found his voice.
"Were you being sarcastic when you called me darling or not?" he asked curiously. She never said the word before and then she said that she was being sarcastic, so he was not sure what to think.
"Of course, I was being sarcastic, sweetheart," Isabel replied with a small smile.
"Wait, are you being sarcastic now?" he inquired in almost a panicked tone. Why the hell is she always messing with me like this? Probably revenge from when I goosed her earlier, as if she didn't like that, though.
Isabel only smiled. She leaned down to fix the covers on Hadrian after Kane laid him down. She kissed the boy's forehead. Kane did the same, but he did not let the subject drop as they headed to their bedroom.
"Okay, seriously, Bella, were you being sarcastic then or the first time or what?" he pestered her.
"You should know by now. We have been living together for so long, after all," she teased him.
Kane frowned, not taking the taunt as well as she would have liked. She wrapped her arms around him before placing a kiss to his forehead; she enjoyed the height difference between the two of them. He put his arms around her too, in spite of the fact that he disliked her comment.
Isabel frowned a bit, too. She wished that he had not taken that remark poorly. Now, he was already in a serious-mode and he would be like that for the rest of the night more than likely. She supposed that she would not be getting any action tonight either when she was done. Dammit.
For a few frustrating seconds, Isabel silently lamented over things in her life. Damn Jason for calling! Damn my pregnancy for making me constantly and consistently horny! Damn Kane for not getting the joke for the first time in who-knew-how-long!
After that, they were at their bedroom. They usually spent the night in their room after putting the kids down for bed at the decent hour of eight o'clock. Sheshona typically woke up again at midnight, wandering the halls and oddly enough, cursing at imaginary friends from what her parents could tell. She was a strange, but funny child, Kane liked to say. Not that Hadrian was any less strange; Isabel was convinced that her daughter actually got her weird habits from her son. Although even with his odd mannerisms, Hadrian did not partially awake in the middle of the night to insult and bark at shadows.
The couple worked out together in their room. They had a gym in the house, but they just preferred to be in their room at night. They did some weight training, but Kane did not let Isabel work out as long as they usually did.
"Gotta think of the baby," he reminded her.
"You're always so worried about the baby. You were this annoying with Shona too," she pretended to whine as he helped her to the bathroom in their room.
"I wasn't this annoying with Hadrian? Damn, I need to make up for that!" he remarked. "Note to self: be more annoying to Bella."
She swatted at him for that. They showered together, also the usual. But, as suspected, Isabel was not allotted any playtime in the shower. She did try, though; boy, did she try. Kane probably had never been groped so many times in his life and was probably not going to be able to sit down for a day considering how many times she pinched his ass.
Kane had to settle on his side when they got into bed. Isabel noticed it, but did not say anything. She did not care if his butt was sore if he was not going to play with her. Well, she told herself she did not care, yet a hand did make its way behind Kane to gently caress him.
"You're in quite the mood," he observed, starting up a conversation. It was not strange for them to talk for hours while lying in bed. The noise often attracted their children.
"I am unsettled," she admitted in a low voice.
"The phone call earlier?" he guessed. That was the only odd thing in her day to "unsettle" her.
Isabel nodded. "The guy that called. Jason. He was my boyfriend a couple of years ago," she said.
Kane nodded slowly, not really getting what she was getting to just yet. She knew that it would take him a moment to catch on. She could tell the moment the light bulb went off in his head; his jaw practically hit the bed.
"What the fuck did he want?" Kane demanded as his face tense and his brow wrinkled.
"Kane, he called about Hadrian," Isabel said, eyes daring to look away briefly. It was a moment longer than she liked and she made sure to turn back to him as soon as she realized that she looked away.
His mouth quickly twisted into a scowl. "What does he care about Hadrian?"
"Hell if I know, but he claims to want to see him." Isabel wondered just when she was going to have approach the five hundred pound gorilla in their relationship: Hadrian's paternity.
"Why the hell would he want to see Hadrian?"
Isabel gave Kane a look, as if pleading with him to make her not have to say it out loud. He sighed and rubbed the side of his face with his hand. She offered him an apologetic expression. He only sighed again.
A few seconds later, Kane looked away. His heart beat abnormally in his chest and his eyes seemed to focus intently on nothing at all. When he finally looked back at her, she noticed moisture in his eyes.
"I'm sorry," she apologized in a low tone.
Kane did not respond. Part of him wanted to scream, wanted to holler at her and her damned "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry" was not fixing the situation that they were in. "I'm sorry" was not taking away the pain in his chest, but it did let him know that he was not the only one hurting. So, he did not yell or let his emotions reign over his brain.
"Hadrian …" he trailed off for a moment. His voice sounded so weak, even though he had tried his best to sound normal. He started once more. "Hadrian is my son," he said soundly. No one was taking away his son.
"I'm not disagreeing there, sweetheart. I know whose son he is and he is most certainly your son. I'm just informing you that Jason was calling about Hadrian. He claims to want to spend time with him and he's willing to take us to court for it," she replied in a calm, even tone. Her eyes betrayed her slight panic, though.
"He could win?" Kane asked incredulously.
"Yes," she answered honestly.
"I don't … I wouldn't mind him being around Hadrian if I was certain that he genuinely cared for the little prince, but this is a man that left you alone when you were pregnant. He never even came to the hospital!"
"I know. I know. This is pissing me off just as much as it's doing to you. I don't want him around Hadrian if he's going to do damage to the little prince either, which I'm damn certain will happen. But, if we go to court, I'm damn sure they'll rule in his favor … for various reasons."
"Like?" he inquired because he did not see what was so great about Jason that would allow him to have access to Hadrian.
Isabel sighed; she really did not want to go into the possibilities with him. Aside from the fact that it was damn obvious that Jason was Hadrian's biological father, there were the reasons that she had already gone over in her own head. She doubted that she would compare well to Jason in a court of law; she did not have much faith in the judicial system anyway for plenty of reasons of her own.
"Sweetheart …" she said, trailing off because she was not sure what to say.
"Why do you keep calling me that?" he asked, as if he was annoyed with the term of endearment.
"Should I not call you that?" she countered, eyes focused on the mattress, voice and body close to trembling. What the hell is his problem? Why was it that his annoyance doesn't annoy me as it should, but sadden me? Why does he have this goddamn power over me? He could actually make her feel ashamed of herself. No one else had that power.
"I don't know," he answered honestly. He was so confused right now that he did not know what to say anymore. His jaw tensed more so than it already was and he silently ached to do something with his hands as if that would keep him calm.
Isabel felt the urge to apologize, but she bit her lip and held the words back. Like hell I'm going to apologize twice to the same person in less than five minutes! Even if that person was making her feel like she was going to be sick from the seemingly disappointed, disapproving, and frustrated look in his usually bright and loving eyes.
Kane seemed to sense her tension and found himself unable to focus on his anger anymore. He reached out for her, rubbing her stomach. She took the gesture to mean that he was worried about her being upset and bothering the baby.
"That's really the only thing that matters to you, isn't it?" Isabel said before she could think. She wondered where the hell those words came from and the sudden intense burning emotion that she felt.
"What?" he asked in a bewildered tone.
"The fact that I just keep getting pregnant and can give you this tribe you so desperately want!" she huffed. "Bastard!" she suddenly cried and slapped him hard in the head.
Kane chalked the outburst up to her hormones and her undoubted frustration with the situation, too. But, he did catch her hand when she came in for the next hit. Multiple hits was a sure sign of anger; pure anger, not the usual petty annoyance that he drummed up in her.
"You only get one, Bella," he reminded her in a serious tone while holding onto her hand.
"You're just using me!"
"Dare I actually say how stupid you sound right now? You know how I feel," he replied, adjusting his body so that he could cradle her to him. She did not resist him, curling into his solid and assuring form.
"You're just with me for the kids. That's all you want." She sounded so … broken.
"Bella, I was with you before the kids and hopefully you'll let me be with you long after they're grown and having their own insane relationships. Now, I know you're upset, so take a deep breath and calm down."
Isabel took his advice instead of yelling right off of the bat. She figured that if she took his advice and it did not work, she could scream at him twice as loudly. She might even be able to get in a few hits.
But, she felt his hands caressing her, looking to soothe her. God, they're doing a damn good job. She then remembered who was lying in the bed next to her. He was the man that stuck with her through everything since their second meeting. He was the man that actually made her feel secure, safe. He was the man that she married. He was the man that made her feel … loved. The man that she … loved … in return.
"I'm sorry. I'm going out of my mind now," Isabel muttered as she cuddled closer to her husband.
"It's okay. You know you shouldn't get upset, though. Your hormones make you crazy enough without you letting anger add fuel to the fire," he remarked, earning a very weak hit on his shoulder.
"I can't believe this is happening," she mumbled while curling into her shorter husband as much as she could. She sometimes imagined how silly they had to look together on the outside, so she knew that when they were together inside the house, in their bed, they had to look downright ridiculous, not that it mattered to either of them.
"It's okay. We'll get through this. Now, do you want to take this to court or do you want to just give into his wishes? That's really the only choices we have, correct?" he asked to be sure.
"You know what, I'll go with whatever you decide."
Kane nodded; she had to be weary if she was leaving such a decision in his hands. He knew that he was going to have to think long and hard on it. Why not just go to court? It was not a given that Jason would win. There was no exact proof that he had had any relationship to Hadrian, blood or otherwise. Besides, this guy just walked away when Hadrian was born. How could a judge just force Jason into Hadrian's life without proof of any relationship?
That bothered him, though considering what Isabel said. He did not know how the court system worked … anywhere really. He had lawyers, yes, but really only used them for business reasons. Maybe he should give a call to Charlie Darrow, his main attorney and somewhat friend, and get some legal advice. Surely Darrow would be able to win in court against whomever Jason brought to the table.
But, he stopped himself as he glanced down at his worn-out wife. He felt her swollen abdomen pressing against him. Winning's not the real issue, he realized. The process was the actual issue. How would my Bella manage going through the process in her condition? She could barely make it through talking about this. Would the baby be bothered if Bella is stressed out? And what about Hadrian? How would any of us take going through the process? I'm ready to pull my hair out just from listening to this.
Then there was the possibility of Hadrian finding out years from now that Jason might actually be his … be his … Kane could not even allow himself to think it. But, the fact of the matter was that Hadrian might want to know the man. Really, he considered, the choice is Hadrian's to make. Sure, the boy was only two years old, but it was his right. He could meet the man that possibly helped lead to his birth and as he got to know him, it would be his decision as to whether or not he wished to know Jason.
"Bella …" Kane said, almost scared to voice his conclusion.
"Yes?" she asked in a low voice.
"I believe this is actually Hadrian's choice. I know right now, he's just a baby, but he will have to decide if he wants this guy in his life. I mean, Jason is nothing to us, but he could be something to Hadrian. I mean, isn't it kinda like being adopted?" he wondered aloud. He was about to digress if his wife did not rein him in.
"He's not adopted. Hell, we don't even know if Jason is his …" she trailed off.
"But, we both know he could be. This is Hadrian's choice. We can present him this guy and he can make a decision. Sure, I know he's only two, but he can say 'yes' and 'no' quite well. We also know that he has no problem with saying he doesn't like something."
"But, he's only two. He doesn't know what's good for him."
"He knows what he likes. He'll know if he doesn't like this guy. We can start in small doses and see how things go from there. Okay?"
Isabel sighed; it would seem that she did not like that response. It was better than what she had, though. She doubted that she was in any condition to put up a real fight with Jason or to deal with a real fight right now. She guessed that Kane was making the best decision for them all.
"When did you get so smart?" she teased.
"Eh, I have to have a moment or two in this lifetime, right?" he countered with a small smile.
"I suppose." She leaned up and placed a gentle kiss to his lips. They lay there silently until falling asleep.
-8-8-8-8-
Jason sat at the table in a plain fast-food restaurant. He was tapping his hand against the freshly wiped table. He kept looking out of the window, anticipating her image. He was shocked when he finally saw her. He almost tried to convince himself that it was not her, but when she stood before him, he knew that the heavily pregnant woman before him was Isabel Han.
"Hello, Jason," Isabel said in an almost cold tone.
"Isabel. Where's …?" Jason seemed to blank on his name, which earned him a deeper frown from the pregnant woman.
"Hadrian will be along shortly. For the moment, we need to talk. I need you to know that I love my little prince very deeply as does his daddy. If you hurt our little prince in any way, shape, or form, you're going to regret it for however long we decide your life will be. Hadrian will only be around you for as long as he wants to be around you," Isabel stated bluntly.
Jason was not sure what she meant by that and he was not totally sure how to argue the point. He was thrown by the fact that she was standing before him obviously pregnant, too. And did she just say, "his daddy"? As in Hadrian's father, which he was almost certain he was thanks to other people telling him about the boy.
Isabel walked off, leaving the restaurant again. She returned quickly with Kane by her side. He was holding their "little prince." He followed her to Jason. He craned an eyebrow, realizing that Jason looked familiar, but he could not totally place the face at the moment. Jason thought the same.
"Hadrian, this is Jason," Isabel introduced the two rather briskly. She rubbed the top of her son's head, wanting to focus on him rather than her former lover.
"Hello, Hadrian," Jason says, extending his hand to the boy. He was a bit shocked when Hadrian reached out and gave him a powerful handshake. Jason then continued speaking. "I'm your father."
Kane went rigid, a vein in his thick neck bulged out. Hadrian glanced back at Kane and then looked at Jason with a confused expression in his deep blue eyes. The boy then pointed at Kane.
"My daddy," Hadrian said. It seemed that he thought Jason was asking for his father. Naturally, he would point to Kane.
"No, no, no," Jason said. He was certain that the boy was his. Hadrian was almost a clone of himself when he was little; his parents had more than enough pictures of him for him to know exactly what he looked like as a baby.
"I think he's got this one right," Kane stated bluntly. Jason glared at Kane, who glared back. It would seem that the challenge was issued. Isabel hoped that if there were going to be any casualties, it would be Jason.
-8-8-8-8-
Next time: the new baby arrives and Isabella does some babysitting.