Page 78 of Unspoken Obsession

He smiles up at me with a touch of sadness in his eyes.

I wonder what he is thinking.

Is it something to do with what he wants to talk to me about or what happened at the meeting he was supposed to have last night?

I push aside my worry and take the dishes through to the kitchen. Then I bring three bowls, spoons, and the ice cream back to the dining room table.

Damion jumps off Dante's lap and starts talking about ice cream. I dish up his bowl first and hand it to him. "Honey, look at me; hold it with both hands - no - both hands. Put down your toy. Yes. Ok, now both hands."

I watch as he carries the bowl to the living room floor and sits down to enjoy it.

Then I turn to dish up some ice cream for Dante and me.

But Dante, looking up at me, sends a shock wave through me with four simple words.

"He's mine, isn't he?"

He speaks, and he isn't really asking a question. He seems to just know. I sit down and take a slow breath, then nod as I answer.

"He is your son. You did the math?" I say, expecting him to be furious. I expect him to shout at me for hiding that truth - for not telling him as soon as I realized he was the man from the gala - I expect him to push me away.

But as I look at Dante his entire face lights up.

My heart stutters and stops beating for a moment.

He is smiling.

"I have a son?" He asks, to be sure he understands. His voice is shocked and joyous at the same time.

"Damion is your son, Dante. He is your little boy."

Dante laughs, then stands up and pulls me into a hug.

"I'm a father." He says, hugging me close.

When he sits down again, I can see he is holding a lot of emotion back. Perhaps he doesn't want to make a scene in front of Damion, but one thing is for sure - he is over the moon about this news.

He hasn't shown even a hint of being angry or upset. He has no trepidation or hesitation about being a dad. He is happy.

I bite my lower lip because my smile is too wide.

I can't believe he is this happy.

This is incredible.

This is making me the happiest I have been in a really long time.

After the ice cream, Dante waits in the living room while I put Damion to sleep. I think he is taking a moment to process what he has found out. I am a little nervous to go back in there and face him now that Damion is not there.

I read my son a short bedtime story, thinking about all the things that have been happening in my life.

This investigation into my father's activities is really taking a toll on me. I want to do more to help, but every move I make triggers more suspicion against me. His goons were back this morning when I went to the shops, and they were a lot more aggressive with how they followed me around. I was so overwhelmed with fear when I got home that I burst into tears, hiding in the bathroom where Damion couldn't see me.

I thought those men were going to take my son away this afternoon. I thought that somehow my father had found out what I had been doing, that I had been spending time with Dante Russo - and I thought they were there to take my son.

I am so stressed out, but I am doing my best to keep it together and focus on the fact that I am not alone in this. I have Dante.

It's just becoming more and more difficult to keep my emotions together.

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