Page 64 of Seduction

He turns pleading eyes toward me. “I wanna stay with Ice-tie.Please, Momma.”

“I’m sure Einstein has things to do. We can go home and watch cartoons.”

I lift him from Jon’s lap, placing him on his feet and taking his hand. During all of this, I also try to ignore the man’s stare. I can feel his eyes on me, every hair on my body standing at attention from his mere presence in the room. When I attempt to walk away, Mikey drags his hand from my hold, trying to climb back onto Jon’s lap. He still doesn’t say a word, only taking a drink of his beer. Mikey’s face begins to scrunch up, tears forming in his eyes.

“Stay!”

With a frustrated huff, I pick him up. I’m frazzled enough as it is; I don’t need a tantrum on top of it. I only manage a few steps before he stiffens in my arms.

“Mikey.”

He ignores the warning in my voice, struggling to be released. Out of the fear of dropping him, I put him down. Falling to the floor, his arms and feet flail as he begins to throw a fit.

“No. I wanna stay, I wanna stay!”

Daddy comes over to help, but gets a kick to the shin for his trouble.

“Michael Hunter Raymond, you stop it this second!”

His cries only intensify. Jon comes over, kneeling next to the screaming child. Mikey jumps to his feet, throwing himself in Jon’s arms.

“Please, Ice-tie. I don’t want to go home.”

“It’s okay, buddy.” He stands, picking the boy up. “Calm down. You’ll hurt your mom doing that.”

“Okay.” He presses his face into Jon’s neck.

“Tell her you’re sorry.”

He raises his head, gives me a quick “I’m sorry, Momma,” then returns it to its previous position.

“Let’s take a walk,” Jon says, jerking his head toward the door.

We walk away to chuckling and a few mumbled “daddy” comments from the other guys. I watch Mikey cling to him, and for the first time, I’m not wishing it was Eddie. Instead, I’m relieved my son has someone other than Gage and Daddy to look up to; someone who could be a real father to him. As we head for my car, Jon and I don’t speak. The only sound is of Mikey’s sniffles. Jon sets him down on the trunk. I stand back, observing them.

“I need you to help me out, Mikey. Can you do something for me?” Jon asks in a soft voice.

Nodding, Mikey wipes at his cheeks with the backs of his hands.

“Go with your mom. She’s going to give you a bath, and then you’re going to watch cartoons together.”

“Are you coming?”

“Another time. I think your mom wants some cuddles. Can you do that?”

My baby turns his gaze to me. He’s caught me crying too many times to count, always trying to console me like he’s the adult. Whatever he sees in me makes him nod, agreeing with Jon.

“What about our ins… insp…” His little face scrunches up with effort. “Insperon-ment?”

Jon and I chuckle, and he ruffles Mikey’s hair as he corrects him, sounding out the word.

“Ex-peri-ment. How about tomorrow? We’ll do our experiment after school.”

“Promise?”

“I promise, buddy.”

“Okay.”