Chapter 8

Amara's POV:

A week had passed since we started having dinner together, and Sebastian loved every moment of it. Zavier even bought him some toys he could play with at his place. Usually, Zavier would be home 15 minutes after I prepared dinner, but ever since we started eating together, he came home an hour earlier and would play with Sebastian. Last night, we told Sebastian who Zavier was. He had many questions, mostly wondering where Zavier was before, but luckily, he was only two, so the subject was brushed over quickly.

“Bash, are you ready, bud?” I asked, walking out of my bedroom and trying to tie up my hair.

“Yeah, Mommy!” he answered, looking up from the straps of his shoes and running to me, holding onto my hand.

“Okay, come on then, baby.” I squeezed his hand and winked at him. I helped him to the car and handed him a toy and book after strapping him in his car seat. When I got into the car, I heard a notification from my phone and went to check it.

“Do you mind if Tessa comes over for dinner?” Zavier texted as I put on my seatbelt. I thought about it for a moment.

“Uh, I suppose not?” I replied and started the ignition.

“She says it’s for a little business advice, but she was dying to get to know Bash, so I think it’s a cover,” he texted back. Of course, she’d want to meet him. She heard about him and even asked me little things about him whenever we saw each other in the morning.

“It’s okay. I guess it’s about time she meets him. She keeps asking about him whenever we see each other,” I replied.

“I see. Well, till later, then,” he texted back.

“Yeah, till later,” I replied, then put away the phone and started driving.

I won’t lie—we recently got very close. Nicole warned me to be careful, whereas Amelia was happy. She was always a bit more optimistic. I just tried being friendly. He was the father of my son, and he was genuinely good to him. Once we arrived at Zavier’s penthouse, we made our way up, and Sebastian ran off to jump onto the couch.

“Do you want to watch some cartoons while I cook, bud?” I asked, kicking the door shut gently with my heel.

“No, wanna help!” he replied as I sighed. He wanted to help cook.

“Oh, okay then. Come on.” I led the way to the kitchen, little Sebastian happily walking behind me.

I set him down on the counter and handed him a wooden spoon to hold onto, letting him feel like he was truly doing something. I decided to make chicken alfredo pasta. Tessa once mentioned that she liked my pasta. I let Sebastian add the pasta to the boiling water and stir it around for a moment before taking him away from the stove. He always wanted to be included in cooking, but I always feared he’d get burned, so I tried letting him do very little.

“I’m home,” Zavier said as he walked through the door.

“Daddy!” Sebastian said excitedly, running over to his father and hugging his leg.

“Hey, bud, Amara.” He smiled, looking down at his son and ruffling his hair. Zavier then looked over at me.

“Hello, Zavier,” I said, drying off my hands and then joining the two. I sat with them for a few moments before deciding it was about time to start the pie for dessert. I walked back to the kitchen, pulled out all the ingredients, and saw the two were still in the kitchen. “Yes? Can I help you two?”

“Wanna help,” Sebastian said, looking up at me and then at his father, who shrugged.

“Oh, dear. Come on, then.” I smiled. I decided to cut the apples and let the two start on the crust. I instructed them on what had to be done, which wasn’t much. It was just taking the dough out of the fridge and rolling it out. Zavier had a decent-sized kitchen big enough for all of us, yet they insisted on being so close to me. I pushed Zavier to the side with my hip.

“Snow!” Sebastian squealed, throwing some flour in the air and letting it fall on his father.

“Hey—” Zavier groaned, glaring at me as I chuckled. “Bash, why don’t you throw some at your momma?” He smiled mischievously.

Before I could say anything, Sebastian said, "Okay!" and threw some at me.

“Sebastian,” I groaned and wiped my face.

“Sorry.” He pouted and reached over to help dust me off.

“It’s okay—it’s your daddy’s fault.” I smirked and threw an apple at Zavier, who raised a brow at me and grabbed a handful of flour.

“No, no.” I laughed and ran away. I kept running from him, Sebastian laughing and giggling at us. I managed to stay away from Zavier, but once we got to the living room, he got a hold of my hand and pulled me to his chest, his other hand moving to my waist. I looked up into his olive eyes, slowly getting lost in them, and he did the same with my eyes, which trailed down to his lips as he licked them and opened his mouth. Then, just as he was about to speak, we heard a knock on the door.

I cleared my throat and stepped away from him. “That’s probably Tessa,” I said, and then quickly put the pie in the oven. Zavier dusted himself off before opening up the door, Sebastian at his leg.

“Zavier—oh my! Is this Sebastian?” Tessa walked in and looked at us, a little surprised, but was then awed by Sebastian.

“Mm-hmm. Who that, Daddy?” The little boy asked, and looked up at his father, slightly tugging at his pants.

“Um, this is my best friend, Tess.” He picked up Sebastian and brought him closer to Tessa, who held her hand out to him.

“Hey, buddy, I’ve heard so much about you.” She shook his hand, offering him a warm smile I was familiar with.

“Oh…wanna play?” He asked, reaching out to Tessa, and, with her permission, Zavier handed Sebastian over.

“Now?” She asked, a little confused.

“Please?” He gave her his pouty face.

“Hey, Tessa,” I finally greeted her once I came closer.

“Uh, can we?” Tessa asked, looking at both Zavier and me.

Before I could answer, Zavier did. “Um, yeah, sure. We need to clean up.”

She looked at our outfits again and chuckled. “I’m assuming there’s dinner, right?” She asked, setting Sebastian down, who was already dragging her to the living room.

“Yeah, don’t worry. This, uh, pie-making went wrong.” I laughed and shook my head. Zavier led me to a bathroom and handed me some towels to clean up the flour, though it would take more than that.

“I’ll just bring you some clothes,” he said after watching me struggle to clean up for a few minutes.

“It’s not necessary,” I mumbled, wiping the wet towel against my shirt harder, but it just made matters worse.

“Are you sure?” Zavier raised a brow at me. I bit down on my lip, sighed, and gave in.

“No…”

“I’ll get you some.” He chuckled and walked out. He came back with a sundress. It was quite chic, but then again, what else could be expected from a Fuentes? Their line of clothes was stunningly beautiful. I put on the dress, folded my previous outfit and put it in a bag, and walked to the dining table to set it for dinner.

“Can I help?” Tessa asked, joining me while Zavier was busy with our son.

“Oh, yeah, sure. Here.” I handed her glasses to place on the table.

“I’m glad you let me meet Sebastian. He’s a great kid, and Zavier wouldn’t stop talking about him,” she told me, eyes focused on me for a moment.

“You’re welcome…really?” I frowned a little and looked over to see the two boys laughing about something. I guess I never truly viewed it like that, nor did I even imagine he’d love Sebastian as much as I did.

“Yeah, and to think he wasn’t too sure about being a father.” Tessa laughed softly and helped arrange the plates as I placed the food in the middle.

“Sebastian is quite a charmer.”

“A true Fuentes, then.” She chuckled, making me laugh softly. There was no lie there. They were all the same.

“How’d the business thing go with Zavier?” I asked, taking interest in her.

“Oh, I forgot…it’s just some architect problem. The person I hired bailed on me,” she replied casually, though I could tell it was bothering her. God knows long she had planned this already.

“That sucks. You know, my friend’s an architect.” I shrugged and sat down.

“Do you mind sending me her work number? Maybe she’d be interested in working with us,” she asked, sitting down too.

“Of course.” I smiled and sent it immediately. Who knew—this could be good for Nicole. “Boys, dinner’s ready.”

We all ate our dinner and, of course, dessert. Tessa and Sebastian were both big fans of the pasta. Sebastian wanted more, but I knew if he had any more, there wouldn’t be room for some pie. Tessa stayed afterward to help clean up and then went to talk to Zavier about business stuff, I assumed.

“Come here, bud,” I called Sebastian over and started to pack up his things. I could tell he wanted to stay a bit longer, but we had to go home. It would be his bedtime soon. He sat down on the couch as I checked to see if I had forgotten anything.

“Hey, I can drop you two off,” Zavier said, peeking through the door of his office. I looked at him and bit down on my lip as I thought about it for a moment.

“It’s not necessary.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, raising his dark brow at me.

“What about my car? It’s still here.” I sighed. Deep down, I did want to be driven home. I was a little too tired to head back by myself.

“I can send a driver to come to get you,” he offered, shrugging.

“Um, it’s late and dark, so yeah, I guess I’d appreciate a ride,” I replied. Now that there was a solution to our problem, it didn’t seem too bad.

“Okay, give me five minutes so I can finish the conversation with Tess.” He grinned then disappeared back into the room.

“Okay, sure,” I mumbled. Once the five minutes passed, Tessa said her goodbyes, and Zavier helped me bring Sebastian to the car. The poor guy was knocked out on the couch. Zavier drove us back home, and our conversation was better. I didn’t know he was such a great guy. I had written him off as an asshole, but really, when you got to know him, he was very nice.

“I’ll help with Bash,” he said, unlocking the doors and stepping out. He carefully picked up Sebastian, who was still asleep, and I took my bag and pulled the keys out. When we stopped at my floor, I noticed a guy standing in the hallway. At first, I assumed it was my neighbor’s friend since he always had many people over, but as we got closer, the person turned around, and it was Micah.

“Who’s that?” Zavier asked, stopping by my door as he did.

“Micah, the little man’s father.” Micah grinned, looking at Sebastian and then at Zavier and me.