Page 54 of Secret Baby for Mr. Grump

From the day we slept together, she was mine, and both she and Caleb became my responsibility.

But I knew telling her would be difficult.

So, instead of replying to the text, I decided to just show her instead.

Now I pushed past her, walking into the kitchen and feeling her eyes on my back. Caleb was at the dining table, eating his pancakes. He glanced up when I came in, and his gaze skittered away.

“Hello, son,” I greeted, undisturbed by his silence. The boy was mercurial. Yesterday, he’d held my eyes for the first time. And I felt like we were gaining ground on equal footing then.

But today, he was back to not looking at me again. After a few seconds, it was like I wasn’t even there. Like I had ceased to exist to him.

“He’s like that,” Allie murmured, coming up behind me. I turned to catch her watching Caleb with a worried look on her face. “He does well for the first few days or even weeks, and then bam. With no explanation and no warning, it’s like he regresses to how he was before. It’s a constant uphill climb.”

“Mm,” I said, watching the food on his plate as he stared at his fork stubbornly.

“I still don’t think you should come over every day,” Allie said, concern on her face. “I told you we can work out some kind of timetable to start with.”

I cocked an eyebrow at him. “I’m his father.” I didn’t say it loud enough for Caleb to hear, but Allie glanced at him anxiously anyway.

“I know that,” she said exasperatedly. “But we need to ease him into this. We can’t just uproot everything he knows so suddenly. We should take it gradually, one day at a time, and then slowly, you start showing up more and more. He’d get it then.”

“Mmm.” I considered the thought. I knew she had a point, but I didn’t like it. The possessive beast inside me wanted to lay claim to my son immediately and didn’t like the idea of him thinking someone else was his father, no matter how nice the damn bastard was.

“Just for now,” Allie said, her eyes pleading. “I promise.”

I nodded, but although I conceded, I secretly made a note to ask the doctor what he thought. We were easing the boy into a lot, but sometimes, a good shock was needed.

I went over to the table anyway, and Caleb cautiously watched me approach, our previous easy camaraderie too tentative to be permanent. But I only sat and gestured to his plate.

“You’re not eating much, are you?” I said.

He didn’t answer, blinking at a spot below my collarbones.

“Is it because of the eggs?”

He glanced at the plate and then back at me without answering. There was surprise in his features.

“Yeah, growing up, I wasn’t much of a fan of eggs either,” I said. “Hated the damn things. But they’re good protein. You know what protein is, don’t you? It will help you grow up strong, so you’re not so scrawny.”

Caleb frowned, obviously displeased at the description, and I nearly smiled. At least the boy wasn’t timid. Looked like he had a lot of heat inside him that he needed to get out.

I decided to prod him a little. “Hey, don’t get mad at me. I don’t make the rules. But I do know if you don’t eat those, you’re not gonna grow much. It’s a scientific fact. Then you’re never gonna get any stronger.”

The change in his expression was comical. His eyes widened, and then he peered at me closely as if trying to decide whether or not he believed me.

He must have decided I was telling the truth because he speared some of the food on his fork and then stuck it in his mouth, chewing determinedly while glaring at me.

I nearly laughed.Got ya.

I looked up at Allie, and her expression was funny. She didn’t seem to know whether to laugh or frown at the exchange, but she ended up with a resigned sigh, taking a seat right next to us.

And that was how we began eating breakfast together every morning.

Allie was reluctant at first, but after speaking with Dr. Hammond, who assured us that my slow but determined integration into the family might do good for the boy, she relaxed. I also began to show up more after work too.

It happened like this: I was there during breakfast, then Allie and I would go to work at the resort, and I would drive her home at the end of the night and spend some time with Caleb before I left.

I didn’t sleep over after that first night, and we hadn’t made love since then, either.

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