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“I found out I was pregnant a month after you left me. It was hard to think about raising a child on my own, but Henry said he would help. Henry took really good care of me and our baby. I wanted my child to have a father.” I said this while crossing my arms over my chest. My lips shivered as I remembered Miguel’s birth.
Four years ago
“Push, Aria!” the doctor yells as I grunt in pain and roll my head back while I push. I put my head on Ben’s hand, and my sweat dripped on it.
My whole body shook from the pain, and my breathing was heavy and uneven. I thought contractions were bad, but giving birth is a whole new level of pain. I screamed as I pushed my son out, and my body fell back in relief. Out of nowhere, everyone started to freak out and run around. I read enough books to know that babies are supposed to cry when they are born.
“What’s wrong? Why isn’t he crying?” I tried to hold my head up, but Henry wouldn’t let me. I pushed his hand away, but he just held me down with the other one.
Henry bent down to kiss my forehead and said, “You’re going to hurt yourself. He’s fine.” I believed him and lay back down.
My body was taking me into a deep sleep, and I was tired. I tried to stay awake, but it didn’t work.
I woke up to a beeping sound coming from the machine I was connected to. I sat up, ignoring the pain that was all over my body. All I wanted to do was see my son. The room was completely quiet, and the window showed that it was morning. I could feel something wasn’t right in the pit of my stomach. My mum opened the door and was shocked to see that I was awake.
I asked right away, “Where’s Miguel?” I didn’t care about anything else but him. I could tell my mom’s face was swollen and her eyes were red, like she had been crying. She walked slowly towards me, and I felt more and more panicked. My mum sat on my bed and put her hand on mine. She looked down at my hand and cried.
“Sweetie-
“No, I want my baby now!” I yell.
My dad came in right after I said that. I could tell my dad had been crying because his eyes were red.
“Daddy,” I cried. I didn’t get it; Miguel was fine. He couldn’t leave; I still needed him. Henry told me everything was fine, but I haven’t seen him yet.
“Please, he’s all I have left.”
My dad gets on the bed with my mom and puts his hand on my cheek. He was trying to calm me down, but it wasn’t working. I looked into his watery eyes, and he started to talk, but I only heard two words.
“Princess, he’s gone.”
My heart stopped, my world stopped, and everything got quiet. I started to cry when I saw my mother talking. Her mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying. All the kicks I’ve felt and all the heartbeats I’ve heard are gone. Everything is just gone now. I tried to get up, but my dad held me tightly and wouldn’t let me go. I screamed into his arms while my mum cried.
“No, no,” I said over and over again, not wanting to believe what I had just heard.
Flashback ends
Sebastian brings me back to reality by asking, “What’s his name?” I blinked away the tears that had formed in my eyes.
“Miguel.” I smiled when I said his name.
I looked up at Sebastian, and he was looking right at me. I finally saw feelings on his face. He looked sad and sorry. I wanted him to feel that way, but I also know how it feels. A part of me wanted to comfort him, but my mind told me it was a bad idea, and for the first time, I listened to it.
I can’t hate Sebastian now that I know Miguel looked just like him. I don’t hate my son, but hating him makes me feel like I do. He sat next to me with enough space for me to feel at ease. I didn’t think this would happen; I didn’t know he would care this much. Sebastian leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs and rubbing his hand against his beard.
“God.” Sebastian sounds like he’s crying and his voice is shaky. I turned around, and he was really crying.
He turned his head the other way to try to hide from me. I’ve never seen him cry before.
This is what I’ve been waiting for for four years. I wanted to see him hurt as much as I was, and I wanted to see him broken the same way I was.
This time, I didn’t listen to what my mind said. I listened to what my heart said. I turned around slowly and saw him cry more. I was finally getting to know the real Sebastian Devereux. I reached out to gently rub his back, but Sebastian turned all the way away from me. I held him close and rested my head on his shoulder.
He whispers, “My kid is dead.” I could hear the pain in his voice. “Dead is the only person who could ever love a monster like me.”
I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know what to say. He was still trying to hide his face so I wouldn’t see him cry.
“Please don’t hide from me anymore,” I said.
Sebastian’s shoulders and body became stiff. He took a long time to turn around and face me. I wiped away his tears with my thumb. Our faces were so close together again that his knee was touching mine.
“Aria, I’m sorry—”
The sound of his phone ringing cut off his sentence. Sebastian let go of the air he was holding in, and so did I. He took his phone out of his back pocket and looked down at the screen. I could see the anger in his eyes. I was curious, so I asked even though it wasn’t my place to do so.
I asked, “Who is it?” while I straightened my back against the couch.
Before looking up at me, Sebastian moved his jaw.
“Henry f*****g Benorik.”
Sebastian whispers, “What the f**k?”
I couldn’t help but pay attention to him because his eyes were glued to his phone.
What did Henry say?
I asked, “What did he say?” and stared at him for a few seconds, waiting for an answer, but nothing came. I got nervous and took his phone from him. He let me do it.
I saw the text message, and a picture of a boy came up. The boy had brown hair, big green eyes that looked just like mine, and scars all over his body.
Hold on, he looks just like Sebastian.
There were two words under the picture: “Miguel Devereux.”
No, that boy can’t be my child. I stared at his face for a little longer, trying to figure it out.
“Pumpkin, he looks just like me,” Sebastian says. He must have known I was unsure. I turned back around to face him, and tears filled my eyes.
My heart sank and shivers ran up my back to my neck.
“No, I held his dead body in my hands, Sebastian. He was dead.” I was able to say. I thought my son was dead for the last four years. Every night for the past four years, I had to sleep next to his kidnapper. It made my stomach turn.
Sebastian said, “I’ll kill him,” pointing at Henry. His voice was cold and cruel.
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