Happy Reading Everyone!
Sorry about the late post... its been one of those days
Comment below, let us know what you guys think of all of this chaos
Can't wait to hear from you.
Chapter 12
Tris' POV
Surprise, It's a girl!
"Alright. Alright… I'll tell her." Christina screams out, her eyes remain on everything but the customer that just entered the bakery. "Tris, it's Zeke… His highness says to call him ba-" She stops mid-sentence, realizing that the customer at the door is none-other than Tobias Eaton. The same Tobias Eaton that is the father to my daughter that is standing just a few feet from us both. The realization of why Zeke has been hounding me with his phone calls all night and this morning finally hits me. "Oh fuck." She says just loud enough for us all to hear.
"OOooo, Momma said a bad word." Junior and Emily both say in 's attention turns to Junior who is smiling widely at his mother's slip, his crayon still on his paper. He can get so lost in his work sometimes… Just like his father… and yet he doesn't miss the little things around him.
"Not now, Junior." Chris snaps, as her eyes are glued to the man before us.
"Okay. Okay." He says, getting back to his art project.
I feel the tension in my body tighten as Tobias' eyes linger first on me and then on my daughter behind me who is still wiping the display case down, oblivious to the scene before her. I catch myself avoiding all eye contact, the feeling of guilt overwhelming me. I know I have no reason to feel this way, he left before I knew I was carrying Em. but still the guilt feels like it is eating me alive.
"Hello." Four says, finally breaking the silence between us. He takes a small step forward, but stops when he sees me recoil against him.
"Chris…. Christina… What the hell is going on?" We all hear Zeke's loud screaming coming from the phone that Christina is still holding frozen in the doorway to the back room. She finally snaps out of it when she realizes that all the attention is on her. Her eyes snap shut and then reopen as if to awaken herself from a trance.
"Hey, I'm here…" She begins, she turns around heading back the way she came from. I don't blame her. Although she should have taken the kids with her. I hate the thought of us having a show in front of them.
"I guess that works." Tobias says, jokingly, remembering that he did always find it like nails against a chalkboard when it came to her. I guess some things never change.
"Tobias… What are you doing here?" I finally ask, thankful that my voice is steady and not portraying how I truly feel with his presence near me.
"Well, I was going to get something to eat before I head back to my hotel." He answers, gesturing towards the counter. His hand lifts behind his neck, scratching it. It was always a nervous habit he had growing up.
"Right," I whisper. I take a deep breath, wishing for my emotions to get a hold of themselves. I still don't risk moving from my spot. It's as if I'm bolted in this one place. "Your hotel? Are you visiting?" I blurt out, catching on to what he just said.
"Sort of…" He answers. "Whose this?" He asks, gesturing to my mini me behind me. I swear my heart stops as Emily finally looks up. She innocently smiles up at Tobias, as she jumps between us, still holding her spray bottle and cleaning cloth, she bubbles at his attention.
"I'm Emily." She introduces herself. "Who are you?"
That's when I can see the wheels in Tobias' head begin to turn. As if realizing just who this little person between us truly is. His eyes almost jump out of his head, as he looks her over once and glances up at me. His complexion is a little bit lighter than when he first came in. Crap, please don't pass out.
I feel the guilt become more powerful, as I can no longer hide my emotions any longer. My eyes involuntary water, threatening to spill the unspeakable truth without so much as a word.
"How old are you, Emily?" Tobias asks, not giving Emily another glance, but instead staring down at me like I was the one that betrayed him and not the other way around.
Wasn't he the one that left me? Wasn't he the one that wrote me that letter that said he used me? It's no lie, I didn't believe that shit for a minute… But where does he get the nerve to look at me this way?
"I'm 8!" Em blurts out, proud of herself like I am everyday of her.
"8?" He whispers, making the number sound more like an accusation than a confirmation.
"Yeah. Who are you?" Emily asks, once more.
"That's a good question." He says…. "Is she?" He finally asks me. "Is she mine?" He asks, I can hear the betrayal and the irritation in his voice as he asks with suspicion, as he puts two and two together. I can't bring myself to answer him, afraid of his reaction, afraid of Emily's expectation of the unknown, afraid of my own. I stare down at our daughter, who is staring at her father. The man that she never got to know growing up. The man that she always needed, wanted, and asked for…Here he is, before her and he doesn't even know her.
"And you never told me?" Tobias says, his voice deeper than it was before, betraying his true feelings. How could I have told you, you left. I say, pissed.
"Told him what, Momma?" Emily asks, looking up at me with her innocent, blue eyes. My mouth opens as if to say something, anything, but nothing comes out, nothing dares to come out. I finally look up as I hear the door chime open and close. He left? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, that's what he does best.
Tobias' POV
I take a deep breath, enjoying the stinging feeling in my lungs as they fill. I wipe the sweat from my forehead. I reach down for my water bottle, taking a large gulp, relishing the cold liquid going down my throat. I slam my bottle down harder than I need to on the floor before I turn my attention back to the black punching bag.
I lift both my hands up and spread my legs apart, as I bounce from one foot to the next. My mind plays this morning's events over and over again. I have a child, a kid…. A fucking daughter. I didn't know. The wheels in my mind turn with unanswered and unspoken questions, trying to make sense of all of this. Why didn't she tell me? Did she not want me around? Around our daughter? Did she think I would be like Marcus? No, she never knew about that. She couldn't have. I wouldn't let her. I made a promise to protect her from everything I could. That includes my special lessons that my monster of a father paid me. She didn't need to know anything about that…. We promised to keep us a secret no matter what. No matter what! That doesn't mean until I'm out of sight and then she can spill her guts to everyone. Did everyone know about the baby? It sure makes sense why Zeke seemed so guarded the other night. But not to tell me. Did Marcus know? Did he keep me from them? The chance at a real family. To be there for my daughter. I missed everything: her first word, her first cry, first step, her first day at school. Fuck!
I try to picture the little girl that was cleaning the glass display case over and over again. I admit it all happened so fast… I smile thinking about Tris' blonde long hair on our daughter, her bright smile that could light up the room, and her eyes… the eyes of my father, my eyes. She's so beautiful. So perfect. The best thing that could have come out of a secret love, that's for sure.
I lose myself in my thoughts, punching the bag, one after another. I left. I left just like I did years ago, this morning. I know that I fucked up, but I needed time to think. Time to figure shit out. I mean where do we go from here? I can't just leave knowing what I know now. But I also know I can't just pretend like my disappearance, out of my daughter's life didn't happen. And what about Tris?
"I Knew I'd find you here." My hands stop mid air, as I turn to see Zeke standing on my right. He holds up his hands, steading the bag in place.
"I'm not in the damn mood," I warned him.
"I see that…" He says, raising his right eyebrow. "I also see old habits die hard." He says, gesturing towards the bag. I let my hands fall, taking a deep breath. He always did know where to find me when shit hit the fan and I couldn't be found.
"Yeah, well apparently some things have changed," I answer, taking a jab at the bag. I pretend to not care when the bag nearly hits him in the face.
"Four, bro…" He stops himself, his lips pressing into a straight line showing both his disappointment and frustration towards me. I admit most of it is well deserved, but I still can't handle the anger I'm feeling. "Fine." He snaps, pushing the bag forward before moving off to the side of the mat. I take a deep breath already anticipating what he is about to do before he retrieves two sets of boxing gloves. He tosses one pair at me, as he pulls one set for himself. I guess he is right about one thing, old habits do die hard. I can't count how many times we took to the mat when either one of us had shit with the other one. Often more than most it would call for a large crowd to gather around us when shit hit the fan.
"Same rules apply." He says, bouncing his weight from side to side and moving his arms to warm them up.
"Couldn't forget it even if I tried," I say, my voice deep and full of hostility.
"I bet you tried too. Asshole." He says, right before taking the first punch. I duck, dodging him I punch his stomach catching him off guard.
"What's wrong Zeke, are you a little rusty?" I asked teasingly, as he rubs his ache away. I chuckle, unable to hold back my laugh.
"Fuck you, Four." He says, getting back into position. This time I don't wait, taking another swing at his jaw, he easily blocks it, hitting me in the face instead. Fuck.
"Na, I don't think so," I say, as if I didn't feel a thing.
"Why not? Gotten some lately… What, too tough to share?" He says, turning around to deliver a kick to my thigh. I block his leg with my hands as I push him to the floor.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask. I get that I never told him about Tris and me, but I didn't tell anyone.
"It means I thought we were brothers, man." He continues, as he bounces back to his feet. "You know the kind that told each other everything, trusted each other…" He takes another jab at me, this time hitting me in my right rib cage.
"You mean like the other night, when you could have told me I have a little girl." I snap back, jabbing his right side and then his left. He falls back a few feet from me, trying to recover from my blows.
"What the fuck man... How the fuck were we suppose to tell you…. You disappeared on us. Were we supposed to send a fucking stork after you?" Zeke takes another jab at me, as I block his hand.
"You had your chance the other night," I pointed out, returning a jab to his back.
"What was I supposed to say…. Welcome back, you got a kid?" He says, breathlessly. "Don't you think that should be between you and Tris?" He asks, as he takes a hit to my face. Son of a….
"You had no problem getting in the middle for the past nine fucking years," I point out, kicking him in his side. He whines as he falls to the floor. I take pride as I bounce back and forth, waiting for him to recover.
"What the hell was I supposed to do, Four? You disappeared and Tris was pregnant." He says, getting to his feet. His right hand supporting his back as he turns towards me, defeated. "I didn't know what else to do. We tried everything to find you… Even facing your asshole father!" The mention of my father stops me dead cold in my tracks. My father knew? "I did what I always did Four, since we were kids… I helped clean up your mess and had your fucking back. I stepped up, took care of business… You fucking asshole. Tris was alone, pregnant and scared…She needed support to put the pieces back together that you broke. I won't apologize for that, so you need to crawl out of your fucking ass and get your shit together and man the fuck up." He finishes.
We finally stand still, our hands at our sides at a face off. Knowing damn well that Zeke is right about one thing, it's time for me to man up.
A/N
Now, come on… You gotta tell me what your thoughts are on this chapter… Do you think Four will man up?
Revised by: FDFobsessed
Like always, happy reading, be safe and stay healthy
Trini
