Page 90 of Back to Willow

“It’s alright,” Liam chimes in, cutting me off. Then he crouches down and talks directly to Dylan. “I’m sorry too, buddy. I didn’t mean to make your mother cry, but we both got emotional.”

“She told me,” he answers, still with a cold demeanour. “She even told me you were best friends.”

“She did?” he asks, clearly surprised. When he nods, Liam questions, “So, am I forgiven?”

“Yes.”

“Then, how about a handshake to make the truce official?”

They shake hands, with this boy still giving him the side eye now and then. It’s so natural and spontaneous that it’s entertaining. It’s a good restart for them to be friends. It makes me wish they are father and son when they clearly look so much alike. Not only physically but also personality-wise.

The reminder of those times the condom broke sparked a tiny bit of hope inside my heart. I just hope it doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass because apparently, that is what life enjoys doing to me.

But as I look at both of them, in the same space, knowing about each other’s existence. It takes such a heavy weight off my shoulders because this was what I dreaded the most. And the world didn’t fall apart in the end, even if it felt like it for one night.

“Do you want to stay for lunch, Liam?” Nana asks, catching my attention.

“Uhm.” He looks at me with panic in his eyes. It’s too early. “I can’t actually. I have a shift starting in a few hours, so I need to rest. Maybe some other day, if Willow and Dylan don’t mind,” he answers with an easy smile.

Dylan hums in approval at the fact the he was included, and I suppress a snort. This is exactly how one conquers my son, and Liam has just gained his one positive point.

Is my kid six years old or sixteen?

“I have to go now,” Liam warns, looking at his watch. “Thank you for giving me a second chance, buddy. I promise we will be great friends.” He winks at Dylan and ruffles his hair.

Then he proceeds to hug Nana and shake Jake’s hand before turning to face me. He caresses my cheek before giving it a lingering kiss. Then, he murmurs, “Sorry for everything and thank you for this.”

A sudden movement rips Liam’s body from mine, making me gasp.

“Don’t you have to go?” Dylan grunts, a frown marking the spot between his eyebrows.

Instead of being able to keep serious, Jake snorts, and Nana starts laughing loudly, immediately cancelling any kind of authority I could try to invoke.

I am about to apologise to Liam for my son’s rudeness when he starts laughing out loud. Then he nods and ruffles Dylan’s hair again before walking back to his car. He laughs all the way.

“Let’s go have lunch,” Nana decides after a few moments.

They chuckle and taunt Dylan as we go inside, completely ignoring the rising curiosity they have about how the conversation with Liam went. I know they want to give me space and not overwhelm me, but it’s visible in their eyes every time they glance at me.

“How about you watch a movie while we make lunch?” I ask my boy.

He nods, and we walk inside the kitchen. Nana and I start the food while Jake sets the table.

“Ask away,” I give in, letting them harass me with whatever questions they are keeping inside.

“Did you finally tell him everything?” Jake is the first to ask. “Can you finally tell us?”

I’ve talked about it twice by now. A third won’t kill me, right?

So that’s what I do. I spend the next hour preparing lunch, telling Jake and Nana everything. Even more than I told Liam.

I tell them everything carefully and make sure Dylan doesn’t hear. Nana cries with me while Jake goes into shock before hugging us tight against him.He too blames himself, just like Liam did, thinking about how he could have prevented it when he couldn’t. No one could.

And no one did.

And that’s fine; I’ve accepted it by now.

It’s my life, my pain, and my burden to carry. No one else’s.

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