Chapter 21

MELISSA QUIZON

I woke up when something squeezed my head. When I woke up, I saw my son's shiny hair, and everything that happened yesterday came to my mind. What else could this day bring for my son and me?

I kissed him on the forehead before slowly getting up. He moved a bit to face the other side and hugged the teddy bear Eugene had given him.

I was cooking our breakfast when I heard a knock on the door. I was surprised when I saw Wright outside of our house and immediately opened the door, but the screen door remained locked.

"What are you doing here?" He was wearing a white V-neck T-shirt and faded jeans. He also wore a cap and Ray-Bans. He also had a dog tag hanging around his neck.

"I cooked breakfast for us." A smile spread across his lips, and he even lifted the bag he was holding. I immediately smelled the burger inside.

I sighed. "I told you to give my son time so he can absorb the situation."

"Our child," he corrected me.

I raised an eyebrow. "Go home."

His shoulders dropped. "I want to start my day eating breakfast with my family."

"Bobbie is also your family. And we are not family. Family is the people you cannot leave behind."

He sighed heavily and moistened his lower lip. "Do we have to go back all the way, babe?" Babe.

I was frustrated. "Don't call me 'babe.'"

"Why? It's our term of endearment, babe. Don't you remember?"

"Yeah. I remember it clearly, Wright. I'm not the one who can forget, right?" I said sarcastically.

"Are we…We are talking about the past, aren't we?" He gulped, feeling bothered. I arched my eyebrow. "Look, can we just eat the breakfast I made? Maybe...Maybe our son will be late for school."

"He's your son too, huh?" I took a deep breath. Relax. My son needed him. I wanted my son to be complete, even if the healing meant the return of painful memories to me.

I opened the screen door, and a triumphant smile flashed on his lips.

"Sit down first. I'll fry some more rice," I said rudely and stared at him before turning away.

I even heard him laugh faintly.

When I got to the kitchen, my phone suddenly rang. I answered, knowing that Eugene was the caller.

"Good morning," he greeted me.

"Good morning," I answered. I put my phone in between my shoulder and ear so that I could cook properly.

"Melissa. Have you...Have you changed your mind about giving him a chance to make it up to you?" That was a poor question.

"What? No. The chance I gave him was just for Reid, Eu. Nothing more, nothing less," I answered quickly.

He took a long time to answer. "I hope you won't change your mind, Mel. Because if you do… I'll be hurt too much." I heard the difficulty in Eugene's voice. "Anyways, I just happened to pass by and saw you talking to Wright. That's why I asked. What is he doing there?"

"He brought breakfast. For us."

I heard him sigh. "Okay. Call me if something comes up, okay?"

"All right."

I waited for him to hang up when he spoke up. "I love you, Mel." I suddenly felt goosebumps.

I turned off the stove before touching my phone. "I..."

"That wasn't a question for you to answer, Mel. But even if it wasn't, I still hope for your response." I wasn't able to speak, and then he cut the call.

Only now did I find out that I had been holding my breath for a while and felt my heart beating fast.

Why did I have this feeling that I wanted to hug him just to get rid of all the pain that I had caused?

I returned Wright to the living room. But I stopped when I saw my frowning son approaching Wright. Reid was still yawning as Wright stood up and stared at Reid as well. I couldn't see him because I was hiding behind the side of the wall.

"Daddy.." We were both surprised by what Reid said. He raised both his hands to Wright. "Daddy, cargo."

I saw Wright standing stiffly in front of his seat. He didn't know Reid often sleepwalked, especially when he was tired like last night.

My son longed to know his real father. I had made the right decision.

"Daddy…" He repeated with his eyes still closed.

Wright picked him up, and Reid immediately wrapped his legs around his father's waist. He hugged the nape of Wright's neck and pressed his head against Wright's neck. I saw Wright's eyes twinkle, and Reid rubbed one hand over his left eye. He was happy.

Wright started to sway slowly and hummed, which seemed to put Reid to sleep even more. Maybe for him, it was like a dream come true. I let them go first.

"Mommy!" I heard Reid shout from the living room.

"In the kitchen," I answered. Just a few seconds later, someone immediately hugged my waist. Fortunately, I was able to lower the plates. When I looked down, Reid seemed to be hiding. My forehead furrowed.

I heard a chuckle from my back. "He's already wide awake."

I immediately smelled a masculine scent. I slowly turned around and averted my gaze. I couldn't meet the intensity of Wright's stare. I cleared my throat. "Let's eat."

"Wow! Burgers! Your cooking is delicious, Mommy," Reid said as he sliced ​​the meat.

"Thank you. I meant to cook that for you." Reid looked at Wright and frowned. Wright just smiled at him before going back to eating.

Reid would always be the most precious person for me. I knew he was just holding back because of his promise to protect me. He was patient with me.

"Mommy, why would he deliver food for me? Don't you love me anymore?" my son said with a sigh. We were now upstairs, and I finished dressing him, and now I was combing his hair.

"Of course I love you. I love you so much. But it's true, baby, that you also need your daddy's time."

"I promise I'll protect you."

"You're only six years old, baby. For now, I'll protect you first." I kissed him on the forehead. "Mommy loves you."

"You mean when I'm seven years old, I can protect you?"

I smiled. "You're late."

Reid kissed me on the cheek before we left his room. We caught up with Wright, who was playing with his car keys in one hand while leaning against the side of the passenger seat door.

"Secret handshake!" Reid and I said together. We had fun doing that, which we created after we watched a movie with a secret handshake.

Wright carried Reid into the passenger seat and put the seatbelt over him. Wright turned to me after he closed the door. "Don't you have an order?"

I shook. "Nothing. Just pick him up on time. Don't take him anywhere without telling me. Don't feed him anything with shrimp either because he's allergic. It's Thursday today, so there's a piano lesson. And watch out for him in your theatre. Wait—you're famous. I don't want the public to know about Reid. I don't want other people to disturb his quiet life. "

I felt insulted when a smile spread across Wright's lips. "Any additional orders? Is that it?"

I raised an eyebrow. "And one more thing. He doesn't want anyone to touch his ears anymore. He might punch you if you do that. The last time someone touched his ears, I was called to the guidance office. He gets irritated. "

"If you were still my girlfriend now, I probably would have silenced you with my lips." I was surprised by what he said. He approached me a little, and I backed away. "But you'll be my wife someday."

I raised an eyebrow and folded my arms on my chest. "In your dreams. Hey, the heat of the sun is affecting your brain so much that you're hallucinating. Take my son to school now because he might be late."

"Our son. You're not the only one who made him."

I blushed because of what he said. What the heck! What obscenity was this man saying?!

He stared at me.

I stared back.

His eyes dropped to my lips. I could feel the intensity of his gaze there. I unconsciously licked my lower lip. "Stop looking at me like that, Wright," I ordered him, frowning as his gaze lifted to my eyes again.

"But I like looking at you, Melissa." A grin tilted one corner of his mouth as he stared down at me. "I like looking at you a lot. Did I ever mention how much I miss the days when you still wore thick glasses, and I had to remove them so I could kiss you properly?"

What the hell!

My nostrils flared. Why did he have to go back to my stupidity then? I was about to say something when Reid shouted. I was barely able to see Reid's face through the tinted window. He looked sharply at Wright. "I'll be late."

Wright looked at me again while holding his jaw. My eyes followed how his finger caressed his lips. I averted my gaze. "Take him. He'll get angry when it's too late."

"Roger that," he said huskily.

Reid waved at me as the car sped up. I stayed outside until I lost sight of their car.