Chapter 127
you want to be part of Alden’s life,” I said finally, softer now, “then you have to show up. Not just with “presents. With presence. With love. With support. You have to earn his trust. His love. Not buy it.”
He didn’t argue, he just nodded slowly, like each word I’d spoken had cut through to something deeper than pride
DEREK
I leaned back against the wall in the Moonstone hallway, every breath fight in my chest. The excitement of seeing Aiden awake and alert dimmed under the weight of what Elena had just said.
She wasn’t wrong.
Not about any of it.
I had come here thinking I could fix things with gifts–thinking that showing up now, with the biggest, flashiest tokens of affection, would be enough to make up for everything I’d missed.
It had worked before, with allies, with business deals, even with Cassandra. But this wasn’t a negotiation. This
was my son.
Cassandra, I thought again.
I ran a hand through my hair, cursing under my breath. Of course she hadn’t told me Elena had called. Cassandra must have known exactly what that message meant–and what it would mean for us. She hadn’t said a word.
I clenched my jaw.
Elena didn’t need to know everything about the situation with Cassandra right now. Hell, I wasn’t even sure I understood what the hell was going on.
When she dropped the bomb about being pregnant something I hadn’t even had time to process–it was all I could think about.
But right now, all that mattered was that I’d missed something I shouldn’t have missed.
“I should’ve been here,” I said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
Elena didn’t nod, didn’t smile. She just looked away.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Ladmitted, the words scraping out of my throat.“… I don’t know how to be someone’s dad.”
Elena looked back at me, softer now, but still guarded. “You learn. You show up. And you try. You don’t disappear when it’s hard. And you don’t make promises you don’t plan to keep.”
“I want to try,” I said, voice firming, “I want to be here for him. For you, if you’ll let me. But even if you don’t…. I won’t walk away from him.”
She studied me like she was trying to see through every layer I had. “You’ll have your chance.”
I nodded. “Just tell me what to do.”
“You can start,” she said, stepping slightly closer, “by doing something harder than buying a bike or a video. game.”
I blinked. “What do you mean?
H
Chapter 127
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She hesitated. “Aiden doesn’t know you’re his father.”
Foa moment, I thought I’d misheard her.
“What?”
“He doesn’t know,” she repeated. “He thinks his father is.. someone who died. I told him that when he was little. When I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again. When I didn’t know if I could trust you.”
It felt like the floor shifted beneath me. My knees went a little weak, and I had to press a hand against the wall to steady myself.
ng his father was gone.
I had a son who didn’t even know I existed. A little boy who had spent six years thinking his
I thought about the way Aiden had looked at me just now. So bright, so eager. Full of excitement. There had been something familiar in his eyes–something I’d felt without fully understanding.
And now I knew why.
“I want to tell
him,” I said. “But I don’t w
want to confuse him. Or scare him.”
“He deserves the truth,” Elena said. “Even if it’s hard. Even if he doesn’t understand it all today, he needs to hear
it from us.”
A beat of silence passed between us. I could feel it all closing in–my failure, my fear, the reality that I wasn’t just going to be a father to Aiden, but maybe to another child soon, too.
The pressure nearly crushed me. I didn’t know how to do this with one child, let alone two. Especially when one
⚫ht be with a woman who had just deliberately sabotaged a message that could’ve changed everything.
I would deal with Cassandra later.
Right now, I had to be here.
Be present.
“Okay,” I said, the word trembling a little. “Let’s do it. Let’s tell him.”
Elena’s eyes.
widened a little, surprised maybe that I’d agreed so quickly. Or maybe surprised that I meant it.
She nodded. “All right. Then let’s do it now. Together.”
I took a breath and followed her down the hallway, back toward the little boy waiting in that hospital bed. My son.
No more gifts. No more distractions.
Just truth.
And maybe, just maybe, a chance to earn his love for real this time.
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