Scream For me

I finally jerked into action, but instead of inviting Sabrina in, I stepped out of the apartment and shut the door behind me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked tightly.

“Is that how you greet the mother of your child?” she asked and flicked her sandy hair over her shoulder. She wore designer clothes that screamed money and taste, but her eyes were lifeless, her jaw set, and her expression was hard as nails.

I didn’t answer herI wanted an explanation.

She sighed. “I’m here for Ben.” “What?” I asked, shocked.

“You heard me. I’m here for my son.”

I shook my head, trying to understand what she was saying.

“It’s been nine years. You can’t just show up here and demand Ben. Where the hell have you been all these years? He hasn’t heard anything from you, not a phone call, a card in the mail, nothing. Now you want him?

What does that even mean?”

“I’m his mother, Aaron,” Sabrina said.

“No, you’re not. You’ve been missing in action for nearly a decade. You have no right to come here and claim any right to his life. For all I knew, you could have been dead. And you areyou’re dead to me.”

Sabrina folded her arms over her chest. “You have no right to keep him from me. I’ll take you to court if I have to, but I wanted him.”

“Why now?” I asked. My head spun, and my emotions were all over the place. Seeing Sabrina was like a blast from the past. I’d been heartbroken when she’d chosen someone else over me. I’d been shocked, rocked to my core, when she’d dropped Ben off, leaving him on my doorstep. I’d lived for nine years in the aftermath of her poor decisions, with the mistake I’d made of being with her. I wouldn’t change a thingI loved Ben to death, and he was everything that completed me when I’d thought I was enough on my ownbut Sabrina had ruined my life in every way possible.

Now, she was back to ruin it all over again.

“You don’t have to know my reasoning,” Sabrina said tightly.

“Damn straight, I do,” I clapped back. “You can’t waltz in here after so long and try to take him away from me without at least an explanation.”

Sabrina narrowed her eyes at me. “Fine, let’s go inside and talk.”

I shook my head. “No, now isn’t a good time. You don’t get to show up here and make demands.”

“Dad?” Ben called from inside, and Sabrina’s ears pricked up, her blue eyes interested.

“I’m coming, Ben,” I said. “I’ll be there in a sec.” “Let me see him,” Sabrina said.

“Not until I get an explanation. You can come to my office tomorrow, and we’ll talk there. We’re doing this my way.”

Sabrina narrowed her eyes, and she opened her mouth to say something. She was unhappy with the arrangement, but I wouldn’t let her see Ben in a million years until I could figure out what the hell was going on. How could I do that to him? It would tear him apart, create so many questions, and the last thing he deserved was for his life to be turned upside down just because Sabrina had decided after all this time that she wanted him in her life.

“Here,” she said, and offered me a business card. I studied it. She was some kind of executive consultant, and her offices were based right here in Seattle. “That’s my number. Text me the address. I’ll meet you in the morning. I’ll clear space in my calendar.”

I frowned, still staring at the card. “You’ve…been based in Seattle all this time?”

“We’ll talk tomorrow,” Sabrina said and turned away from me, walking to the elevator on high stiletto heels. She didn’t look back while she waited for the elevator. When it arrived, she stepped in and pressed the lobby button as the doors slid closed.

I stared at the closed elevator doors, trying to figure out how to breathe again.

“Dad?” Ben asked, opening the front door. “What are you doing?”

“Thinking,” I said. I tucked Sabrina’s business card into my pocket.

“You have to unpack.”

“On my way,” I said and smiled at Ben. I ruffled his hair and stepped into the apartment with him.

“This is my least favorite part of going on holiday,” Ben said.

“What?” I still struggled to keep my mind on the conversation. My mind spun. I reeled with the shock of seeing Sabrina, and I had so many questions. How was it possible she’d been here all this time? Why had she disappeared and left me with a baby I hadn’t even known about? Why had she never been a part of Ben’s life? And the most pressing of allwhy did she want to be in his life now?

Ben ran to his room to show me what he had done. He’d unpacked his bag.

“Good job, buddy,” I said. “How about we get takeout tonight?”

“Yeah!” Ben cried out. “From that cool place?”Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

He was referring to Skylark. Ben loved getting takeout from there. He liked pizza and chicken nuggets, like other kids, but he was also open to trying new things from the menu.

“Okay,” I said with a grin. “From the cool place.”

Thinking of Skylark made me think of Jadeher best friend worked there, and she’d seen me before. Thinking about her made me smile, the pressing stress of seeing Sabrina slowly lifting. I was excited to see Jade again.

I just had to figure out this shit with Sabrina so I could put it behind me and move forward with Jade.

Life was suddenly an amalgamation of my past and my future, and it scared the shit out of me that it had happened like that.

I would deal with it, though.

Sabrina wasn’t going to ruin things for me; I wouldn’t let her.

Because, damn it, I deserved to be happy.