Page 7

NOELLE

“ I applied to a couple of schools here, but we’re almost to the end of the school year.

So even if I get accepted, I still have a couple of months of rest.” I take another bite of my pancake, savoring the warmth of maple syrup melting on my tongue.

Across from me, Adrian sips his coffee, one hand resting lazily on the table as he watches me eat with an amused smirk.

“Can I sit in on one of your classes?”

I snort. “Why would you want to do that?”

“I try to picture you in my head as this teacher, but all I can remember is the ten-year-old who used her mom’s lipstick and smeared it all over her face.”

“God, why do you still remember that? I’ve already buried the memory deep in my brain. I’m not even sure that actually happened. For all I know, maybe it was something you and Peter came up with.”

“You know what young kids say today? Denial is a river in Egypt.”

“Young kids? Adrian, there’s really no need to show your age. Just say Gen Z.”

He ignores the jab. “Still an expert at steering conversations, I see. Well, let’s talk about the time you?—”

A sudden knock at the door interrupts us. Adrian’s forehead furrows, and he sighs, setting his mug down. “Be right back. Must be one of my employees.”

I smile at him and keep eating, biting a big piece of bacon and absentmindedly listening to his footsteps. He makes a pretty mean breakfast. Yet another thing I admire about him. He can have an early start at work, but he always, always makes sure to have Thomas’s breakfast ready when he wakes up.

The door creaks open, and I wonder if he’ll need to leave for an emergency issue on site. It won’t be the first time it happened.

After he opens the door, there’s silence, which is pretty weird. Did he get out or something? Did the neighborhood kids ring the doorbell and run?

But no. Adrian’s speaking. His voice is low, clipped, and sharp.

I freeze mid-bite and blink slowly. It’s not a tone I’ve heard from him before.

Raw, unfiltered anger. It’s way more menacing than when he confronted the other dad at the game. I can feel his fury all the way from where I’m sitting.

My stomach tightens as I set my fork down, the food suddenly unimportant. Slowly, I rise to my feet, straining to hear. Who’s he talking to? Adrian’s not quick to anger, so there must be a reason.

His voice is firm, unwavering. “You shouldn’t be here, not after all this time. ”

A second voice responds, but it’s too low for me to make out the words.

Adrian again, sharper this time, like he’s trying to keep a lid on his temper. Very unusual for him since he’s one of the most patient men I know. “I don’t care. I stopped giving a damn about you the day you walked out on our son. Get the hell off my porch.”

A chill runs down my spine. Oh my God. It’s her.

I move cautiously toward the hallway, my pulse quickening with every step, taking care not to be seen but close enough to finally make out what they’re both saying.

“I just need money, okay? Then I’ll be out of your hair.

If you want me to stay away, just give me a couple of thousand dollars.

It’s not like you’re not loaded, and it’s not as if you’re ever short on funds.

” Her tone is enough to make me dislike her.

Smug, arrogant, and cold. She’s not even asking about Thomas, not begging to see him.

“No. You don’t even bother to send him cards on his birthday or call to let him know you’re still alive.”

She scoffs. “Stop being dramatic, Adrian. You’re the one who wanted a child, not me. Listen, I won’t disrupt your day again, just give me money, and I’ll run so fast you’ll forget I’m here.”

Adrian pauses, and for a moment, I’m scared he’ll give in, that she’ll get her way. But he answers with a firm, “No.”

“I’m going to fight for custody. That’s going to be more expensive, don’t you think?”

“You just said you didn’t have money.”

“Not at the moment, no, but if I really want to be vindictive, I can always find a way to make you suffer.”

Adrian lets out a sound that’s part laugh, part growl. “You want to put our son through all that? Leaving him when he can’t even sit on his own isn’t enough? You’ll go to great lengths to hurt him? Jesus Christ.”

“I told you. Give me money and I’ll be gone. What’s ten thousand to you? It’s just the price of the kid’s day care, I bet.”

“The kid.” Adrian’s voice has taken on an even more dangerous edge. “His name is Tomtom. He’s your son. You don’t refer to him as ‘the kid.’”

“Is that your answer? Because I can go to the cops right now and tell them you’re keeping my kid away from me.”

A beat of silence. And another. And another. I don’t even remember when I stopped breathing, but my palms are sweaty. I’m terrified for Adrian and Thomas.

Adrian has been doing his best to juggle his business and be a full-time father. He didn’t get everything he has now by sitting idly and asking people for money.

When he finally speaks, his tone is flat. “You see this thing by the door? It’s a camera. I’ve just recorded you trying to extort money from me in exchange for staying away. It’s gonna show the kind of mother you are. We’ll see how any judge thinks of that.”

The woman hisses and stomps her foot. “Fuck you, Adrian. You’ve always acted high and mighty. Someday, Tomtom will see that. He’ll see what he lacks. Someday, he’s going to ask for his mom.”

At this, Adrian’s voice softens. “I know, and Noelle will be there for him.”

My heart stops. Tears spring to my eyes at the conviction in Adrian’s voice.

I already knew I wanted to be there as Thomas grew up and became a good man just like his father.

I wanted to help raise him and be everything he needed.

I didn’t want him to feel as though something was missing from his life, as though he felt incomplete.

I already love Thomas as though he’s my own.

Side by side with the love is the anger toward the woman who birthed him. How can anyone, most of all his own mother, not care about that sweet, adorable, smart, and funny little boy? How can she walk away from him and not bother knowing him?

She has missed out on so many things, like him learning all the names of the dinosaurs in every period, him talking animatedly about the stages of life of a butterfly, him learning to ride a bike.

“Who the hell is Noelle?” she demands.

The anger rises to the surface, and I straighten, stepping into view. No more hiding. It may not be my place to talk to her like this, but I just can’t stand by and watch Adrian fight this battle alone. He has to know I’m here for him and with him. We’ll fight these battles together.

I lock eyes with her, and my first thought is, ‘She’s beautiful but empty.

’ Yes, she must be turning heads everywhere she goes, and perhaps she likes the attention.

But there’s nothing beneath that. No light in her eyes.

I believe, based on my experience talking to different parents, that this woman has never known genuine happiness. I’ll bet my life on it.

Besides, I can see it in the way she assesses me with her gaze—the haughty lift of her chin as if she already finds me unworthy and beneath her, the sarcastic tilt of her mouth as though she’s saying, ‘Is this her?’

Usually, I’d squirm under such scrutiny. But not today, and not from her.

Finally, I can put a face to the woman whom I’ve only known by reputation. Adrian didn’t talk badly about her despite everything, but it doesn’t matter. I see her for who and what she is.

Another thought pushes itself to the forefront of my mind. I will never ever let her hurt Thomas and Adrian. Over my dead body.

“I’m Noelle,” I tell her, accepting Adrian’s outstretched hand.

She turns her gaze from Adrian to me and to our interlocked fingers. “Why the hell are you with him?”

I squeeze Adrian’s hand, look up at him, and smile. This man I’ve been crushing on way before they met. “The question is, why aren’t you?”

“Dad! I’m home.” Thomas’s small, quick footsteps patter in the driveway, and Adrian stands rigid, his whole body tensed like a coiled spring.

He jogs toward us, hair messy from running around next door and playing with the other kids, sneakers kicking up little puffs of dust. His bright eyes dart between us, then land on the woman. He slows and scratches his cheek.

I stop breathing, curbing the urge to run to him, wrap my arms around him, and protect him from her. She is so not welcome here. I don’t even have to ask Adrian to know we’re in complete agreement.

Thomas stops a few paces behind her. “Who’s that?”

His voice is light, innocent. But the weight in the air is anything but. That simple question sucks the oxygen from the space between us.

The woman—I refuse to say her name or call her anything else—smiles wickedly and turns to face Thomas. Adrian takes that as a cue to rush to his side and hold his small hand.

“Hi, baby.” Her cloyingly sweet voice grates on my nerves, but I force myself to stay where I am. Adrian’s with Thomas. He won’t let her touch him. “I’m your mom.”

I can’t help the gasp bursting out of me. I’m rooted to the spot, a hand on my chest, a heavy weight in my belly, waiting for Thomas’s reaction. The boy hasn’t done anything, and yet, she’s using him to get to his father and manipulate him. All for money.

The air is thick with tension as his little fingers twitch at his sides. Uncertainty flashes in his gaze as he shifts his focus from her to me.

She crouches and motions with her hand. “Come on, baby. Give your mother a hug.”

My heart clenches, a tear sliding down my cheek. This can’t be happening. One minute, she’s demanding money and threatening to go to court. The next, she’s pretending to care for him.

Thomas hesitates. Just for a second. Then, his free hand balls into a fist, and he shakes his head hard. “No, you’re not.”

And then he runs. Straight to me.

My breath catches as his little arms wrap around my legs, holding on with everything he has. His cheek presses against me. My heart stops, stumbles, and soars.

“ She is,” he says.

I blink rapidly, my throat burning. I don’t move. I don’t breathe. Despite the tears welling in my eyes, I will myself not to cry because this moment isn’t about me. It’s about Thomas trusting me enough to call me his mom.

I look up, meeting the woman’s stunned, angry gaze, but I can’t focus on her. Because right now, this little boy is choosing me.

Adrian’s eyes glisten, and his neck flexes as he swallows hard. His voice cracks when he finally addresses her. “You need to leave or I’m calling the cops.”

She mumbles a response, but I don’t hear it. I don’t give a damn because Adrian closes the gap between us with a few long strides. Then, he pulls us both to him in a tight hug.

It’s only been a few days, and yet, I have found my home.

My family. My boys. The loves of my life.