Page 89 of Begin Again, Part 2

SORRY AND HURT AND IN LOVE

Liam was in such a hurry to get out of the kitchen and leave all the tension behind, he forgot this was his first meeting with Aiden. Now, as he hovered on the threshold, anxious out of his wits, he realised how unprepared he was. So for a brief moment or two, while he summoned the courage to meet his son, he was happy to just stand there with one foot in the door and watch Aiden babble away at the plushie in his hands. But then his son looked up from the toy and gazed at him with the same denim blue eyes they shared, and all the air left Liam's lungs.

"Hello." Aiden waved his tiny hand at him.

Liam stood dead still as love, unlike anything he'd ever felt, filled his heart to the brim, rendering him weak. He wondered if it was possible to fall in love with the same person twice, especially one so tiny.

"Hi." He smiled, his rubbery legs pushing him deeper into the room, his heart pounding louder than ever the closer he got to the little boy with his flame-coloured hair.

"What's your name?" Liam asked as he crouched on the floor and rested his arms over the crib, his vision blurred by his tears.

"Aid-Aid-en."

"It's so good to finally meet you, Aiden." He took his tiny hand and held it in his big one. "I'm your daddy."

"Daddy?" Aiden said as he snatched his hand away and held his toy up in the air.

Liam laughed tearfully, completely in love with the word rolling off his son's lips.

"Yeah, I'm your daddy. You can call me Dad or Daddy."

"Daddy, Daddy!" Aiden chuckled, flashing the tiny dimple he shared with his mom. It was the only thing he inherited from her, it seemed, and Liam's heart exploded again.

"Let's get you out there," he said as he stood up and reached inside the cot.

Aiden instantly burst into tears, screaming his little lungs out the minute Liam scooped him up.

"Hey, Kool-Aid." He kissed his hair, trying to soothe him. "It's okay. No need to be scared. I'm your daddy, and your mom's here."

Big fat tears rolled down his son's rosy cheeks as he cried, "Mommy!"

Liam wiped them away with a tissue and tried to get him to blow his nose, but Aiden pushed his hand away, shrieking bloody murder at the top of his lungs.

"Let's go find your mom, okay? She's downstairs," he tried to reassure him. Aiden wasn't having any of it.

Eden stumbled in a second later. "Aiden, baby, I'm here. No need to cry. This is your daddy."

Their son paused his mournful cries long enough to throw himself in her arms. She caught him swiftly and rocked him on her chest, and within seconds, he'd quietened down. "It's okay, baby. Mommy's here. Daddy, too. We're both here. Say hello to Daddy."

Liam held out his hand. Aiden grabbed his thumb and pulled and twisted as he chuckled gleefully, happy to be in Eden's arms.

"Whoa!" Liam was completely smitten with him and pleasantly surprised he had such a firm grip for someone so small.

"Can I please hold him?" he asked. Eden hesitated briefly before handing him over.

"Hey Kool-Aid, do you like your new room?" he said as he clutched him close to his chest. Aiden didn't like being held so tightly. Not by him, at least. He squirmed and dissolved into tears again. Eden stepped in quickly and spent a few moments calming him down.

"I'm sorry, he's not used to strangers," she said as she bounced him on her hip.

The words meant to reassure Liam that his son didn't hate him, and he was just scared because he was a new face in his little world—something dark stirred to life in his heart, and red hot anger throbbed in his veins, threatening to take over him completely.

"I'm not a stranger. I'm his father!" he bellowed.

"Keep your voice down!" Eden said. "You're scaring him."

"I'm sorry, baby. It's okay. Daddy is a little upset right now, but not at you," he gently patted his son's head and kissed his cheeks.

Yes, he was sorry, hurt and in love. But he was also furious. Too many emotions in one go for one man to handle, and the longer he stayed in the room, the more he ran the risk of slipping into a blind rage—

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