Page 4 of Against My Fire

“I know that. And I am not that cocky cowboy that jumps on everyone. You know me better than that.” He laughs at my words before he claps a hand on my shoulder.

“I do. That is why I am warning you. She will break you in half if you mess with her.” He removes his hand from my shoulder before he walks over to his truck. I could tell that she was an independent and strong woman that can take care of herself. She made that very clear a few minutes ago.

My phone ringing brings me back to the current situation. I pick it up to see Sasha’s name flashing on my screen. I roll my eyes before answering it. “Sasha…”

“Mr. Walker, you are late. I take it that you do not take this seriously and that your son means nothing to you.” She interrupts me.

“Listen here, I was in an accident and was just sorting things out. I am on my way. I care about my son. I will be there in five minutes.” I spit out as I jump into my truck and pull back into the street. I don’t give a damn who Sasha thinks she is. The way she’s been treating me is just unacceptable.

A few minutes later I pull up to the courthouse. I jump out of my truck and make a beeline for the doors. We are meeting in the Judge's chambers and I know this won’t be easy as Sasha already hates me without even knowing me.

I make it to where I see Sasha waiting outside for me. She glares at me as she taps her shoe on the tiles. “You’re late. And I don’t care about your pathetic excuses. From what I am seeing, you are not fit to be a parent.” She writes something on my file before she turns her attention back to me. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” I answer her with a little more distaste than I wanted to. She knocks on the door and we wait for the Judge to call for us to enter. When she does Sasha opens the door and walks in. I follow her before closing the door.

“Mr. Walker. So nice of you to join us. You’re late.” The judge announces as she doesn’t look up from the documents in front of her.

“Sorry for being late. I had an accident and was just exchanging insurance information.” I apologize and the Judge looks up as she motions for us to sit.

“Are you alright? I heard about the accident in front of the firehouse.” I see the concern in her eyes as she looks me over. I swear I can hear Sasha roll her eyes next to me.

I give her a confirming nod. “I am. Luckily it wasn’t that serious. Only our trucks were damaged.” She lets out a relieved sigh before she pulls out a document. She hands one to me and one to Sasha.

“As you can see those are the results of Taylor Walker and Jaxon Walker’s DNA test.” I swallow as I try to understand what this says. My eyes land on a line at the bottom that says Positive. That small word makes my heart jump with joy. Taylor is mine. I am sure that’s what they are saying. “From the smile on your face, I take it that you understand what the results say.”

“I do. He’s mine?” I half stated and half asked.

“He is. The results are positive. Now the next order of business is, are you claiming him as yours or are we putting him in the system?” The judge keeps her eyes on me.

“I want to take my son home. He is mine and even if he wasn’t he’s part of Tanya. I would still have wanted to raise him. Whatever reason she had to keep him a secret from me, isn’t more important than my son.” I answer her truthfully.

Sasha shakes her head next to me before she clears her throat. “Your Honor, I feel Mr. Walker is not ready to raise a child. He not only just found out about him, he doesn’t take his son seriously.” The judge holds up her hand as she shakes her head.

“This is not for you to decide. The case will be handed over to Carmen Ortiz. So far we have no reason to believe that Mr. Walker is unsuitable to raise his own son. Carmen will check on them from time to time.” She turns her attention back to me. “I hereby declare that Taylor Walker be released in his father’s custody.” She closes the file and stands up. Both Sasha and I stand up as she does. She walks out of the back door. Sasha and I walk out through the door we came in.

Sasha turns towards me with a scowl on her face. “I will bring Taylor over to you tomorrow morning. Think you can have everything ready for him?”

“Listen, I know you don’t like me for some fucked up reason but my son will have everything he needs. I am his father and I am stepping up to my responsibilities.” I pull my keys out of my pocket. “I will see you tomorrow morning.” I turn and leave her standing there. That is one lady I will never like no matter what. She has a massive chip on her shoulder. Yes, I won’t deny that learning about Taylor wasn’t a shock. And I know there are parents out there that treat their kids like crap. But don’t judge someone you don’t know. Don’t put us all under the same category. Some of us want to have our kids with us. I would have done everything for Taylor if I knew about him sooner. Whatever Tanya’s reason was, I hope it was worth it to keep my son away from me for three years. I missed most of his firsts. I missed her pregnancy. I missed his birth.

I can’t get all those times back. But I can make the best for our future. I will raise him as my father raised me with loyalty, respect, and love.

Chapter Five

? Bentley ?

Luckily the body shop had a light in stock and they were able to change it for me. I will have to take the truck back there tomorrow for them to fix the few small dents on the bumper. It’s not that noticeable but I want to get it fixed. I want my truck the way it was before that cowboy rammed into me.

I park in front of Bessies Groceries, the local grocery store. One of the best there is according to Shelby. If I didn’t need to eat I would have just skipped shopping today. I get out of my truck and make my way toward the front door. I grab myself a trolley and walk inside ready for this to be over.

I’m about halfway through the store when I see the sexy cowboy looking at diapers. Figures that he would be married and have a kid. I grab what I need and start to walk past him, but his gruff voice stops me in my tracks.

“Bentley?”

I turn around to see him staring at me. His green hypnotizing eyes pull me right into him. “Jaxon.”

He takes a step closer to me and my eyes flick towards his left hand where I notice no ring. “Are you in a hurry?” He rubs the back of his head and I can’t help but smile.

“Not really. What do you need?” I am curious as to what he wants from me. In the baby aisle.

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