Page 22 of The Regrettable Mistake

“I don’t know. I said the idea has just been stuck there in my mind since the day she left. When I found him on the porch, I honestly expected her to pop out of the fucking bushes and tell me she would never leave him alone like that. I kept thinking that she would be back, she would make up for it somehow. And I told myself that so many fucking times, because I didn’t want to disappoint my son with the truth that his mother didn’t give a shit about anyone but herself.”

“The truth is sometimes easier to digest than the lies,” I said. “You’ve been doing more harm than good. All this time, you’ve had him waiting for some miracle where she was concerned. Whether he wants to admit it or not, your son has waited for Julia to come back because you kept promising it would happen. She’s been back in your life for months now. Has she even asked to see him in all that time? Has she even bothered to ask how he's doing?”

Ollie shook his head and cried. “I knew that night. The night I first ran into her. After…” He choked on the words, cutting off what ‘after’ meant. “I asked if she wanted to come see him and she laughed and asked why she would do that when I went and found him a mom to do all that shit with him.” Ollie winced as his eyes moved to his son’s. “I’m so sorry buddy. I’m sorry your mom isn’t a better person.”

“She’s NOT MY MOM!” Denmark shouted at him again.

“No, you’re right. She never has been. You’re right about that and I should have admitted to that a long time ago. The only good thing she did was bring you into this world so that I could have you in my life.”

I didn’t say a word, even as Ollie looked up at me. There was no doubt in my mind that he was about to make things difficult for me.

“Can we talk?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea right now,” I explained as tactfully as possible considering his son was standing there.

“I want to live with Momma Steph.” We both turned to see Denmark stubbornly cross his arms over his chest as he issued that demand to his father.

“Hey bud, why don’t we leave them alone to talk out the logistics of where you’ll be sleeping and we can go grab an ice cream.”

I turned accusing eyes toward my brother then because it seemed an awful lot like he was helping my soon-to-be ex-husband out by leaving him alone with me. Steve glanced down at my belly that was pooched out even more today than it had been before. He wasn’t helping Ollie out. He wanted me to do the right thing and tell the man he was about to be a father again amidst the horrific drama he had caused by cheating on me.

Great.

I would never deny my child the right to know their father, but I wished that it was something I could keep from Ollie because he didn’t deserve to know. Ollie hadn’t missed the pointed glance my brother threw toward me, or what specific part of my body it landed on. He stared as Steve helped Denmark get his shoes back on.

“Don’t make my mom upset or angry,” Den warned his father.

“I promise to keep her calm, Den.”

His son nodded once, ran to give me a quick hug, and then followed my brother out the door. Once they were gone and the door shut behind them, I reluctantly turned my attention back to Ollie.

CHAPTER 10

Ollie

I might have been slow on the uptake when Julia set me up for her little blackmail scheme, but there was no way to miss the pointed glances between Steph and her twin brother. Once I took notice, there was no way to miss the fact that Steph had filled out quite a bit. Her breasts were noticeably larger, but so was her midsection.

She couldn’t possibly be pregnant. We hadn’t… I hadn’t been able to be intimate with her after that night with Julia. Not because I didn’t want Steph more, but because I felt dirty and guilty and a whole lot of other shit that I didn’t want to transfer to her unwittingly. Instead, I’d alienated her.

Three months earlier

Work was miserable. All I wanted was to come home, say goodnight to my boy and curl up in Steph’s arms. The woman had a way of making me feel like I was home and nothing could go wrong.

Den was already asleep, so I kissed his head, whispered goodnight, and left him there to sleep peacefully in his room. He was the one person in this world I never had to worry about because my kid was happy, smart, healthy, and well-adjusted. A lot of that was down to my wife. She made him feel loved and accepted from day one even though she wasn’t his mother.

The only thing that would have been better is if Denmark’s real mom had stuck around and filled the shoes that Steph now did. It didn’t seem like that would ever be a possibility, and I’d almost given up on her ever coming back. Some days, I didn’t even want her to. When I really let myself think about it, there was no way she could ever compare to Steph. It was a fantasy that I carried over from my time with Julia.

By the time I made it to my room, the stress of the day settled onto my shoulders again. Steph was asleep already. A glance down at my watch showed that it was nearly midnight. Fuck! It had been one hell of a day with back-to-back meetings and then Demetri Vasilyev wanted to go out for drinks to seal the deal. He was one of my clients that would never take “No” as an answer, so I went and we spent far too much time at his club. Far more time that I wanted to spend, considering the day I’d had.

After I showered and climbed into bed, I slid over to wrap myself around my wife. Her warm body felt so soft and welcoming against my own. My lips met the arch of her neck and I planted a sweet kiss there as my fingers trailed up and down her thigh.

“Mmm.” Steph moaned sleepily before turning her head to look over her shoulder at me. “You were really late and I couldn’t stay awake. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, precious.” I almost cringed at the endearment, but managed to keep a straight face before offering her a smile. I’d started to call her that years ago when my best man, Caleb, had said she was just too precious for me at my wedding. For the longest time, it was almost an insult that I used to maintain the distance between my wife and me. She was too precious to understand the real reasons I’d married her.

These days, it had taken on a slightly different meaning. There was more affection behind the endearment than the old, teasing, taunt the word used to signify. Not that Steph knew the difference. To her, it was a real endearment that showed I loved her.

“Rough day?”

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