Page 9 of Laying His Claim
Kaiya said gently, too gently, Jalissa thought, “Jalissa, I think you’d better sit down.”
“I don’t want to sit down,” she shot back, hating the tremor in her voice. “I want someone to answer me!” Then she sucked her teeth in frustration. “No, you know what? You don’t need to answer. It’s as plain as the noses onboththeir faces!”
Tyler took command of the situation. “Let’sallsit down.” He began walking to the living room and everyone followed. Justin sat on the love seat and patted the cushion next to him, inviting Jalissa to sit there. Something inside her longed to be close to him, to be next to him, but she wasn’t sure what her reaction would be if she didn’t like what she was about to hear. Besides, being next to him would mean being next to the baby. Some strange woman’s baby.
Instead, she chose a chair opposite and sat, arms wrapped around her chest, trying to make herself small. Tyler took an armchair and Kaiya perched on the armrest. They looked so much in sync that Jalissa felt a momentary pang of jealousy. At least Kaiya would always have a man in her corner, a man who loved her and would be willing to throw himself in front of her to protect her from pain. What did Jalissa have? Lies. That was all.
“Jalissa,” Kaiya began, but Justin held up his hand to stop her.
“No,” he said firmly. “This is my story to tell.” He turned a little in his seat to face her. The child was alert, looking curiously from one person to the other. His handsome face was somber and intense. “This is my son, Sebastian.”
She knew it! She did some quick math in her head. The child looked to be less than a year old, which meant… “So what you’re saying is, while I was in a coma, you were busy screwing some other woman? What’s her name?”
Justin looked stunned. “What? No!”
“Well, that’s the only explanation…” she snorted.
“There’s another explanation,” Kaiya cut in gently, shifting the baby from one shoulder to the other.
Justin got up, crossed the floor, and knelt before her, taking her hand. In his, her hand felt small and vulnerable. There was something about him that always made her feel like that. “Sebastian is your baby, sweetheart.”
Her mind simply couldn’t process what he was saying. “What do you mean? How? What…”
“When you had your accident, you were around six weeks pregnant.”
“No!” she gasped.
“Yes, it’s true. You were pregnant and I am the father. The hospital took good care of you, and you managed to take him to full term.”
She looked around wildly, seeking confirmation, and finding it in a slight nod from Kaiya.
“The second crib in TJ’s nursery is Seb’s. We babysit Seb a few times per month,” explained Kaiya.
She tore her hand away from Justin’s. She couldn’t stand to touch him. What had made her feel protected by his touch just moments before? Now, it felt as if contact with him burned.
The baby’s eyes were fixed on hers, in that eerie way they sometimes had, with an expression that told you they were looking into your very soul. And what frightened her was that her soul heard his call and answered. It was like a blow to the heart, an intense overpowering emotion that she had never felt before.
She leaped out of her chair and backed away. “No! Take him away!”
“Jalissa!” Kaiya gasped, looking horrified.
Justin looked like she’d slapped him in the face.
“How could you keep this a secret?” she demanded.
“What was I to do? The doctors advised us to not tell you anything that could cause setbacks with your progress. We were waiting for the right time. Do you think I would do anything to hurt you? Did you think I would turn my back on you? On him?” He stepped toward her, closing the gap between them. This time his voice was gentle. “Look at him, honey. Look at how beautiful he is. He has your eyes.”
She clapped her hands over her face, trying to turn away but unable to. “I can’t.”
“Youcan,”Justin affirmed, his voice coaxing, soft.
Finally, she lowered her hands until her eyes were uncovered and looked at the confused toddler. Sebastianwasbeautiful, with dark eyes like hers and curly hair. Surely it wasn’t possible to fall in love in an instant. Was it? She felt thunder in her chest as her heart constricted and then swelled, opening up like a blooming rose. She was acutely aware of all eyes on her.
This is the explanation,she thought,of why I always sense an underlying connection with Justin, why I feel as if I’m being tugged toward him on an invisible thread whenever we are together.Our DNAs are connected.
What now?
Justin saw his opening and took the chance. “Your son needs you. He’s been waiting nine months for you to hold him in your arms and take care of him. I’m begging you, Jalissa, come home to him. I promise you, everything is there for you. You’ll be safe and comfortable. But most of all, you’ll have all the time you need to get to know our baby. Don’t you want that?”
