Page 24 of Baby for the Professor
Chapter 14
Sabrina
We arrived at the small family-run restaurant. It had been popular during my college years, and it still was, judging from the crowd. They had remodeled the place and added more tables.
We sat down at a table against the wall and checked the menu.
"I'll have the barbeque beef."
"And I'll have the ribs."
Soon after we ordered, the server brought us a tray of complimentary side dishes, including kimchi, fried fish, and cucumber salad.
"Yay!" I said, rubbing my hands. Frankly, these little dishes were the main attraction for me.
After the server was gone, I picked up the barley tea and was suddenly nervous. Time to get to the point. What did Jackson want?
I was relieved after revealing the truth to Jackson until I told my mom about our dinner date. She was wary of Jackson’s motive. Mom said I should agree to let him spend time with Aiden, but nothing beyond that. If he wanted custody, we would have to fight. It sounded so ugly I didn't even want to think about it. Well, hopefully, all he wanted was to see Aiden once in a while.
"This kimchi is really good," Jackson said. "You should try it."
"I will," I said. "But don't you want to discuss Aiden first?"
"Right. We could do it as we eat."
"Okay." I tried the kimchi and moaned out an appreciation. It was very tasty.
Jackson stared at me, chuckling. "You haven't changed much, at least when you aren't with your son, our son."
Our son. Shit. It sounded pleasing...and scary.
I swallowed my bite nervously. "For your information, I did look for you after I found out I was pregnant. But you had already moved."
"I see," he said. "But were you planning to tell me after we met again?"
I paused. "I...I had the thought but wasn't sure."
"Why weren't you sure? What was stopping you?"
"I didn't think you would like the news. I didn't want to shock you with it. You know. It was a one-night stand and didn’t mean to last."
His eyes narrowed. "Well, you were wrong. I was thrilled."
"You were?"
"Yes. And I want to be part of his life. I'm sorry I've missed five years of it, but I won't anymore."
Tears welled in my eyes as I stared at him. I was so overjoyed I didn’t know how to respond to his declaration.
Jackson reached a hand to wipe my tears and stroke my face. "Please, Sabrina. I promise I'll make it up. Please let me."
"Okay," I said.
The rest of the dinner was fantastic. Not only was the food delicious, but the illusion that I was a carefree young girl having a night out with a hottie was also intoxicating. We chatted in the restaurant long after we cleaned our plates. Jackson asked me a lot of questions, mostly about my pregnancy and how Aiden was like as a baby.
“He cried a whole lot in the first month,” I said with a fond smile. “But later on, not so much.”
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you,” he said remorsefully, reaching across the table to hold my hand.
