I couldn't shake the feeling that he was going to run. I left the restaurant but I waited all day across the corner from my car. I saw a woman take Felipe around 3pm when the restaurant opened. I followed her to a house where she picked up another little boy and a little girl. She took the three of them to the park. She was obviously a baby sitter.
Eventually, she took Felipe to a house that was in the outskirts of town, in the country. There were some houses around but they were far apart giving the home some privacy. I parked my car in the trees away from the house and I climbed a tree to watch the house from afar. It was exhausting but I waited there knowing that Nahuel would not leave without his son. At around 1am, Nahuel showed up. He paid the woman and the woman left. He looked worn and it made my heart ache. How difficult it must be for him to be a single father and a chef. Nahuel went into his house and soon I saw a light upstairs. I climbed down and went back to my car. I should have just drove home. I was being paranoid but the idea of leaving made me panic. I was too exhausted to drive regardless, so opted to sleep in my car.
Just as I was starting to drift into sleep, I heard someone knock on my door. Nahuel. He looked angry. I opened the door but I didn't get out of the car.
"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked me. I sighed, I was just as tired as he was.
"I just wanted to make sure you were both home safely." I told him. He crossed his arms. I sighed and got out of my car.
"I'm sorry. I was afraid you would run." I confessed. He shook his head angrily.
"If I am to trust you then you have to trust me as well." He told me irritated. I nodded.
"I can only imagine how frustrating this must be for you. I'm sorry. You obviously work so hard to care for your son and I am only making it harder." I told him. He looked at me as if he were examining me.
"You look tired." He noted.
"So do you. Go sleep. I'll drive myself home now." I told him even though I was exhausted. He shook his head.
"You look too tired to drive. You may be immortal but the other driver won't be." He told me.
"Why do you even care? You threatened to kill me earlier today." I told him. He looked away.
"I'm not a monster anymore but you have to understand that I would do anything for my son even if it means killing you." He told me. I nodded.
"I can respect that." I told him. He sighed.
"It took a lot of restraint not to kill you on the spot. I haven't hurt someone in almost 20 years, not since your mother." He looked at me again examining me. I was surprised by this revelation.
"Thank you." I said simply.
"Come. You can sleep in the guest room." He told me. I was surprised by his offer.
"Really? Why?" I asked surprised. He nodded.
"I've hurt you enough for one day. Just please accept my apology and lets go inside. This day has been long enough." He said frustrated. I nodded and followed him back to the house.
The house was a two story farmhouse style home. It was simple but pretty. I went in and was greeted by the scents of herbs mixed with Nahuel and Felipe's scents.
"The guest room is there to your left. The bathroom is right next to it." He told me.
"Thank you." I said quietly. He nodded and turned to go upstairs.
I couldn't believe I was in his house. I went into the guest room and collapsed into the bed. This had been a long day. Too damn long for my liking. Even though, I've only known Nahuel for 2 days, I felt like we have been going at it for years. Had it really only been two days since I walked into his restaurant? With that thought I finally fell asleep.
In the morning, I woke to the scent of coffee and something baking. I didn't have any clothes or a toothbrush so I felt a little dirty. I went to the bathroom and I was glad to find a toothbrush under the sink. I took a quick shower and decided to wear my same clothes but when I returned to the bedroom there was a long t-shirt and sweats waiting for me. When I saw, I felt an emotion surge through me along with confusion. Why was he being so kind to me?
I put on the clean clothes and walked out to the kitchen. His kitchen was definitely a chef's kitchen. The windows were covered in shelves of fragrant herbs which permeated the entire house.
"French toast are his favorite." Nahuel said as soon as I went into the kitchen. He was taking a large pan out of the oven. His back was towards me.
"Thank you for the clean clothes." I told him. He nodded but he still wasn't looking at me. He was making 3 plates of breakfast.
"Sit." He said without looking and I sat on his dining room table. I was nervous. I stared at his back memorizing the dark warm color of his skin and daydreaming about touching his smooth black hair when he turned to me. I blushed and looked down at the table.
"How do you take your coffee?" He asked me. I noticed there were dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn't slept at all.
"Cream and sugar. Extra sweet." I told him. He nodded and poured extra sugar and cream into a mug. He beat it with a whisk before he poured some coffee. It looked frothy and delicious. He handed me the coffee and sat on the table with his own mug.
"I don't know what to do about this." He started. I nodded.
"I know. Its confusing and weird for me too." I told him. He lowered his head and his brows furrowed.
"Last night… Did I hurt you?" He asked me while looking into his coffee.
"No. Not physically." I specified. He looked at my arms.
"May I?" He asked me. I wasn't sure what he wanted but I nodded. He looked at my arms examining them carefully. Then he examined my neck and shoulders applying pressure to different areas.
"Are you in any kind of pain when I touch you?" He asked. I shook my head. His touch felt like the opposite of pain.
"No." I whispered hesitantly. He sighed.
"I don't want to start a war and I certainly don't want to hurt Renesmee's child but I don't want you near my son. The idea of a wolf…"He growled unable to finish. I shrugged back. He ran his hand across his face and shook his head.
"But if you did imprint on him, it means you are his soulmate and I cannot take that away from him either." He explained. I could see the agony he was in. I realized that he had been giving this a lot of thought while I was sleeping.
"The wolf becomes whatever the imprint needs. I'm not his mate now and I don't ever have to be. I can be his babysitter, his friend…" I suggested. Nahuel looked at me, his eyes narrowed slightly.
"What if we share him somehow? Maybe on the weekends I can visit you both. I mean, you must share him with his mother already so…" He shook his head stopping me.
"My son doesn't have a mother. I asked Hulien to steal him from the hospital after he was born and then we brought him here. He was growing quickly so we had no choice. After about 8 months he stopped growing like one of us and started growing as a human. By that time he looked like a two year old so I never let her see him again and he hasn't had any more growth spurts since." Nahuel confessed.
"Why didn't you just turn her? Her pregnancy must have been accelerated." I asked him.
"He was born at 6 months. She just thought he was born prematurely. She gave birth to him naturally so it didn't seem right to turn her." Nahuel explained. I touched his hand again and stared into his eyes. This time he took his hand back and placed both his hands under the table.
"I know you feel connected to me but its probably because I am his father. Its not me Ella. You're wolf would never imprint on a monster which makes me wonder what will happen if I turn my son when he becomes of age." He told me worriedly. I realized why he was being kind to me. It was guilt.
"You're afraid that the imprint will be broken if you turn him. That you would be taking me from him either way." I said. He nodded.
"There's also a small chance he'll stop growing at a certain age and turning him wouldn't be an option anymore. But then again, perhaps the imprint will become stronger after I turn him. Either way I see it, he will chose you over me. My son is everything to me. I don't want to hurt him but I don't want to lose him either." He said with a frustrated sigh and he got up from the chair. He leaned onto the table shaking slightly as if he was about to explode. I felt a strong wave of emotion in my chest and I reached out for his hand. He just glared at my hand over his.
"I wish you had never walked into my restaurant but if its fate then it was inevitable. I just don't want to lose him Ella. Can you understand that?" He asked me. I nodded and he sat back down on his chair.
"You won't lose him." I tried to assure him.
"How can you possibly know that?" He asked me frustrated.
"So your son never had a mother and I can't have children. My skin is unyielding. I can't phase and I will never be able to be anyone's mother so maybe that's what I can be for him. A mother." I suggested. He glared at me.
"My son thinks his mother is dead. I'm not going to confuse him." He said to me.
"That's not what I meant. I wouldn't want to lie to your Felipe. I meant that I could be like a surrogate mother. I could pick him up from school, help him with his homework. I could even move in here or he could spend some weekends with me as if we had shared custody?" I suggested. Nahuel tensed.
"Whatever, you feel comfortable with." I added quickly. He relaxed slightly but only slightly.
"That might work for a while but you are his soul mate." Nahuel said shaking his head.
"It doesn't have to be like that. Like I said, I feel something strong but it doesn't feel like when other wolves imprint. That fact that I feel connected to you both just as strongly is making this whole thing even more confusing. I think that if he grows up seeing me as his surrogate mother and friend, he won't see me as any other way. We don't even have to tell him about the imprint. I can just be in his life, in both your lives." I suggested.
"And if he wants more?" Nahuel asked me.
"We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it." I told him. He contemplated for a long time. He looked at his coffee with a deflated, defeated expression.
"Let's just take this slow until I decide what to do. My babysitter picks him up from school every day and brings him to the restaurant to have dinner with me. Why don't you join us for dinner and then you can bring him back to the house and you can both work on your homework." He told me. I nodded.
"I would love that." I said with a small smile. He looked at me and sighed.
"I still don't want your family involved but if you can respect that, I think I might be ok with letting you be around my son. Its not like you turn into a damn mutt so maybe it won't be so awful." He said seriously. I smiled at his rationale.
"Thank you." I told him. He looked at me solemnly.
"What happened with between us before… That can never happen again. You might be my daughter someday." He told me. I knew exactly what he was refereeing to. Even though we hadn't even kissed, there was definitely a strong connection and attraction between us. I felt a sharp pain in the middle of my chest. I wanted to argue but we both heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Felipe entered the room and smiled at us as soon as he saw us. The pain on my chest nearly disappeared as soon as I saw smile and we both smiled back at him.
"Buenos días mijo." Nauel told him.
"Buenos días." I added. Felipe smiled at me and went over to kiss his dad good morning. Nahuel brought him to his lap.
"This is my friend Ella. She is a college student so she will be picking you up from the restaurant and helping you with your homework." Nahuel told him. I extended my hand out to him and he took it quickly.
"Gusto en conocerte, Felipe." I told him in broken Spanish. He smiled.
"And maybe you can help her with her Spanish." Nahuel added making his son giggle. Nahuel got up and set his son on his chair. Then he proceeded to get our plates.