The Quarterback's Baby: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (8 page)

Chapter Twenty Four

We were in bed touching each other, relaxed in the knowledge that we felt the same way about each other
. 
I didn’t want this to end
. 
He told me about college and I listened attentively.

 
I knew I needed to tell him the truth
. 
In hindsight, looking back, it made no sense, bu
t 
it just didn’t feel that way at the time
. 
If anything, it made complete sense at the time.

 
“So, tell me about yourself? I have been going on about me and my sporting career
. 
How many houses have you sold since high school?”

Wow, now the awkwardness started. I was hoping to avoid speaking about me altogether. My life was completely boring, and the only thing that he would want to know was the reason why
. 
How could someone be so passionate about selling houses and not want to do it anymore
? 
He wouldn’t understand, and I wasn’t in the right position to explain it to him
. 
Being in bed, being wrapped up in his arms, I was getting lost in the moment
. 
The moment I thought would never, ever happen again in my life.

 
There was a loud knock at the door
. 

“Ignore it.
”
Noah looked up and said, “I still have time before the wedding.”

The wedding. Holy crap, that was why we were here
. 

The knock turned into a thump as my dad started shouting, “Ava, I know you’re in there
. 
It’s Nathan, he’s sick
. 
We need to go back home.”

I jumped up immediately
. 
Here I was enjoying being in Noah’s arms and Nathan wasn’t well
. 
Guilt washed over my body as I grabbed my dress and quickly put it on
. 
Quickly my real responsibilities in life became my reality.

 
Noah watched me and in his confusion he grabbed my arm and said, “Who is Nathan?”

I thought about my response for a brief second and then I responded, “Our son.
” 

Noah released my arm and then I heard him repeat my words
. 
“Our son.
” 
I couldn’t deal with his confusion or explain to him about what had happened, and why I had kept it a secret for so long
. 
I knew that I shouldn’t have come
. 
He was a baby, only three months old. I had expressed enough milk for him for while I was away, but I really shouldn’t have left him. Not with Grandma and Grandpa, that was too much responsibility. Besides, I was going to tell Noah, just not like this. Not today. After the wedding. That was my plan. One that I had wanted to hold on to, until now.

Chapter Twenty Five

 
I stared at him for a brief second, taking in the hurt that flashed through his eyes
. 
Shit, I had psyched myself up to tell him. I would sit down and explain about him being the all-star player
. 
It made sense to keep the secret
. 
I mean, if I had told him, he probably would have done something silly like give up his career to look after me and the baby
. 
Keeping it a secret felt like the best choice, the only option
. 
Besides, it was weeks before I officially knew
. 

The past flashed through my mind like a bolt of lightning, and I ignored Noah sobbing on the bed
. 
My son was sick, and that was all that was on my mind. His feelings and our talk had to wait. I shut the door behind me in silence
. 
Dad stood with his phone in his hand, nodding and heading towards the elevator.

 
I pushed the button, only to discover I had left my purse. I couldn't go back in the room, but Nathanwas sick and I needed my ID to go back home. I thought about going downstairs and then sending Dad into the room to grab i
t
, bu
t
I needed him to get off the phone to explain it all.

"Did you tell him?" Dad questioned as we entered the elevator
. 
I hadn’t noticed when he finished because he never spoke
. 
He’d just simply nodded whenever someone said something on the phone
. 
I could tell from the high-pitched shriek that he was talking to Grandma
. 
My hair, which had been beautifully done by his girlfriend this morning before we took our flight, was now a bird’s nest
. 
I managed to find a pin and tie it up into a bun as we stood by the doors.

“No, you did,
”
I replied as I pressed for us to go downstairs and out of the hotel.

“Oh,
”
he breathed out
. 
I was unclear if he was feeling guilty or if the meaning of his actions just occurred to him
. 
He could have simply said “Ava, we need to go, something has happened.
” 
Or maybe just “Ava
”
and then waited to tell me what the issue was
. 
I shook my head as I realized that what I wanted Dad to keep a secret was not fair on anyone
.
 

“Ava, it was a false alarm,” he blurted out as I stood as if I was frozen in time. I didn’t know what to do or say anymore, but his words they brought comfort.

A sigh of relief entered my mind as I listened to his explanation. Baby boy was okay and Grandma had just panicked, the same way she did every time I used to have a cut on my finger as a kid.

As we reached the lobby, I grabbed Dad’s phone and called Grandpa. He was reassuring. “All this fuss about nothing
. 
The boy is fine. Stay, enjoy yourself, and I am going to have strong words with Grandma.
” 
I knew what he was doing, avoiding me sweet-talking him into giving me a reason to leave
. 
Preventing me from finding an excuse to leave.

I didn’t go back to the room. I couldn’t face Noah alone. Not yet. I had been through a wave of emotions and him finding out like that wasn’t right. What I had done was wrong, he deserved better then that, I just had to be in the right frame of mind for him to forgive me.

***

 
The wedding party stood on the stairs by the entrance to the hall, on their way to the wedding
. 
The flower girls were all excited and so was the bride
. 
I rushed over to Mia like a gust of wind.

“You look beautiful!
”
I said, wiping the tears that were still sitting around my eye
s-
they were unclear what to do, as the last couple of hours had been so emotional. They couldn’t fall, because I had nothing to be scared about
.
  Nathan was fine and I was staying for the wedding
. 
They couldn’t go back in, because at the back of my mind I knew that one way or another I had to face Noah, and that alone made me want to cry, but I was trying to ignore it
. 
The more I tried, the more I wanted to cry.

Mia’s dress was pure white, and she had white rose petals perfectly scattered to the right side of her head where her hair was tied. Her makeup was simple, but with her pale skin, she glowed, and her bright red lipstick made her lips shine
. 
The young tomboy, who used to tease me about my crush on Noah, was replaced by a beautiful swan
. 
Mia was a stunning bride
. 
I could see her excitement at her wedding, and everyone was complimenting her on her dress.

“Ava, you okay?
”
she asked, with a look of concern in her eyes
. 
It almost felt as if time stood still.

I didn't know what to say. I adjusted my dress and thought about her big day. The reason we came, the reason I had to face Noah, the reason I needed to pull myself together. I nodded as she gave me a big hug and ushered me into the reception.

“Go take your place.”

The bridesmaids and the flower girl continued fussing as they had before
. 
Dad held on to my shoulder and guided me to the reception
. 
The hall was beautifully decorated
. 
There was a violinist playing at the front, and beautiful white and pink roses were strapped to the top of the chairs along the aisle leading to the altar
. 
A priest waited with the groom
. 
I politely nodded as I passed the guests, trying to avoid all eye contact
. 
I felt out of place. When we arrived, I’d felt radian
t;
my hair had been perfectly arranged, and my pink silk dress matched my heels and the purse that I had left in Noah’s room. Now, I had spent maybe an hour having sex with Noah, my panties no longer were fresh, and my hair was far from perfect. Dad sensed my awkwardness and as we sat down he said, “You look beautiful.”

Then, he gave me a kiss on the cheek. I relaxed and the music changed to announce the arrival of the bride. It was a welcome distraction from the one that kept flashing before my eyes. Noah’s disappointment and hurt at knowing that
I’
d had his baby and the question, ‘Were you ever going to tell me if there wasn’t a wedding?
’

My reply would have been, ‘I don’t know.’

I knew that was the wrong answer. But I thought that seeing as we were being honest with each other, I needed to be honest. He deserved that much.

Chapter Twenty Six

We sat in our row as the crowd followed the couple and were led to the reception area
. 
It was then that I looked up and saw who was standing at the edge of our row
. 
It was Noah. He paused a moment and then he said, “You and me, we need to talk. Now!”

Dad stood up to say something, but the fire in Noah’s eyes told him otherwise
. 
He took my hand and led me to a reception room. I knew that I wasn’t the one in control of our talk, he was, and it made me feel so scared.The room appeared to get dark as they all started to leave
.
 

It was just us, alone in the room. As he walked up to the door to shut it, he announced to one of the maids who was going to enter to start clearing it, “Don’t let anyone in here until I am ready to leave.
” 
I wanted to run out of the room, but my legs wouldn’t move as he sat beside me and demanded, “I want to know, right no
w,
why did you keep our son away from me?
”
 

“Noah, what was I supposed to do?
”
I said, trying to hold back the tears, but they were dropping like a monsoon
. 
I was pathetically explaining myself and failing miserably.

“You were in college. Your mom said that you lost your first game because of me. How did you think that made me feel?”

He held on to my hands, and I had never seen him so angry, “You talk to me. You don’t send me fucked up messages and then expect me to respond.”

I shook my head, “Why were my messages fucked up? I wanted you with me. I wanted you to fight for me.”

He choked, “Fight. I told you that we would speak after the game. What do you do? Send me a message to your new man by accident right before the game.”

I was completely lost. What was he going on about?

“
Kevin baby, meet you after seeing my bro play
or something like that. I just kept looking at it each and every night thinking that it was all some kind of fucked up scheme.
”
He dropped my arms and paced the room.

“Michelle,” I whispered. She had gone to such desperate measures to keep us apart.

“Mom, I can’t believe that she would stoop so low. That poor girl, Stacey. I even went out with her just to get you out of my fucking mind. Made her life miserable and mine too. I don’t do rebound well…
”
Then he stopped as if he had just thought of something
.
“Is Nathan mine?”

I felt insulted. Cheap. The same way that Michelle used to make me feel.

“I never sent you that text. He’s yours. I came here to tell you, not for you to find out.
”
I sat slumped on the chair, feeling like such a fool. All this time Michelle had been  playing us. She led me right into her trap and I fell for it.

He laughed, “I never believed it. I wanted to talk to you about it. Until I saw your email, text…”

It was all so clear now, it had been so easy for Michelle to trick me. But that didn’t take away the fact that I had let my best friend down. I startedpacing up and down, avoiding his eyes
. 
I coul
d
feel the fury coming from him as he sat with his fists closed, slowly moving them up and down on his knees
.
 

“You had no right,
”
he said as he made his way towards me
. 
As much as I had to stay focused, the only thing I could think to do to calm the situation was to kiss him
. 

I raised myself, and he bent down slightly and welcomed my lips
. 
I sighed as, for the first time since he’d found out, I felt he was calming down
. 
He lifted me up to bring me to his level, and I wrapped my legs around his waist.

The wedding party weretaking photos
. 
He should have been involved, but how could he when he’d had such a shock to the syste
m;
finding out about a son that he never knew existed, plus his love coming back and welcoming him with open arms after a year of shutting him out.

I hated myself for doing it, but at the time it had been the right thing to do
. 
Dad had asked once in a while if I had changed my mind, but the more I followed Noa
h’
s career, the more I was sure that I shouldn’t tell him.

I’d made the wrong choice.

He gently lowered me down and whispered, “You should have told me.”

No more excuses.

There was no justification.

The only thing that I could say at that precious moment, escaped my lips in a heartbeat. “You’re right. Sorry
.
  I’m so sorry.”

He wrapped his arms around me and made me feel safe and warm, the same way he used to when we were kids
.
  Like the time that my mom said she was coming to visit. I had spent the whole day waiting, but she never came. I’d gone across the street to tell Noah about it. He’d come back to my room after sneaking out and held me all night, telling me that he loved me. A girl. His best friend. His soul mate. He made me feel that way right now. Yet, I had done something so terrible to him.

Kept him away from his son.

I had kept it a secret, made family and a close friend do the same, because I deemed it to be the right thing to do
. 
What did I know? I was young and should have listened to the advice of others
. 
Dad had told me many times that I ought to tell Noah, and I shouldn’t have made that decision for Noah
. 
If the wedding hadn’t happened, I might still have been doing it.

“I need to take photos,
”
he sighed as he released me from his arms
. 
I wanted to stay in them forever
. 
I had missed them so much. His touch, embrace, warmth, and especially the comfort he provided
. 
I had subjected us to a life without each other, but it was what I craved more than anything in the world.

“I know, I know,
”
I replied as he wiped the tears off my face
. 
I gazed into his dark eyes and kissed him gently, as I had once before.

“This is not over. You are not leaving here without me.
”
He nodded as confirmation as he took my hand and led me to the grounds to take the photos
. 
I knew what he meant
. 
He wanted us to go and see our son together. That was one thing I was going to do. Listening to and seeing Noah at the wedding had made me realize that not only did I love him, but he was my soul mate.

My one true love, that I had let go and hurt so badly - and I had no intention of ever doing that to him again. Not only for his sake, but mine too.