12. Talia

Talia's shirt was soaked through when she awoke.

Grumbling, she checked the bed beneath her, relieved to feel that her breast milk hadn't leaked through to the mattress. She squinted at her phone, the bright light almost burning her retinas to a crisp, and sighed.

It was three o'clock in the morning.

Because of course it was.

Pulling a clean shirt on and throwing the wet one into her laundry basket with an audible slap, she made her way into the living room, intent on going through to the kitchen and putting the kettle on. Now she was awake, she'd never get back to sleep; she might as well get a head start on the day. But light caught her eye as she exited her bedroom—Felix's nightlight spilling through his open bedroom door.

His happy gurgles filtered through as well.

That made her pause.

Children's laughter at three in the morning. The stuff horror films were made of.

It sparked her curiosity, however—given the child in question was hers. What was he laughing at? Hopefully he hadn't got his nappy undone again. Then it really would be a horror film.

If he saw her looking in, there'd be no getting him back to sleep tonight. She settled on poking her head round the door, anxious to see what he was laughing at.

Her entire body seized with fear at the sight of the empty cot.

Instead, Felix was in the armchair with his father, standing upright on Jay's lap, smack in the middle of a fit of giggles.

At her gasp of horror, Jay's head snapped over to the doorway, lips tightening. "Talia," he stood, holding her entire world in his arms.

"What the fuck are you doing in my flat?" she whispered, fear paralyzing her. "Give me my son."

There was no malice in his eyes, but he remained still. "Our son."

"My son," she spat. "How did you even get in?"

His eyes slid over to Felix, who was busy tugging at Jay's shirt collar, and his gaze softened. But there was something broken there too. "How could you keep this from me?"

Her voice was hushed. "What?"

"I would have been there every step of the way, Talia. From the morning sickness and stretchmarks and swollen feet to caring for you during the birth. I would have been there for every sleepless night, every nappy change, every tantrum, everything." Pain threaded every word, but he didn't stop. "I would have loved him from the beginning, as he deserved."

Talia wanted to believe it, for Felix if nothing else. But…

"It's a little difficult to contact someone who vanishes before you wake up. Especially when they give you a fake name." A name she'd given to her son. Another heartbreak for him.

"It was never fake," he said quietly, the ghost of a smile on his lips. "It's what my father called me."

Her heart calmed somewhat, seeing Felix happy and relaxed—currently slapping his hand against Jay's chin and thinking it was the funniest thing in the world. She'd been trying to coax him out of hitting for the past couple of weeks, but at this very moment in time, she was glad she hadn't managed it. At least one of them was getting a few slaps in.

Was he being truthful? She hoped so. It meant that Felix had something of his father. It was why she'd given him the name Jay in the first place. The only thing she could give.

"And what does everybody else call you?"

"Jensen."

Her eyes went as round as saucers, but she choked out a laugh. She knew that name very well; it was the name of her father's business partner—and closest friend. All this time…

"Jensen Stone?" she asked, her voice faint with disbelief.

He nodded.

"My dad talks about you all the time. Alison talks about you all the time."

Felix's father had been a stone's throw away, and she'd never known it.

"Alison is my aunt," Jay—Jensen—said.

"Your aunt?!" Talia gestured to her son. "She sees Felix constantly. She babysits him, for Christ's sake."

For some insane reason, Jensen smiled, and Felix giggled. "I bet she loves you, doesn't she, my wee man?"

"She dotes on him."

"Good," he said sincerely. He let out a long exhale, taking in Felix's features. "Thank you, Talia."

"For what?"

He gave a simple shrug. "My son."

Talia couldn't stop the hateful question that burst from her lips. "Then why did you leave me? Leave us."

She wasn't expecting him to approach her, but he did, taking soft steps across the plush rug beneath their feet.

"Because I was a fool." Jensen reached out, his hand coming to rest under her chin. "Why did you never call me? Why did you never tell me you were pregnant?"

Rearing back, she shoved his hand away. "How was I supposed to call you? Yell it from the fucking Empire State Building and hope you were in earshot?"

Despite her anger, he remained calm. Irritatingly so. "Using the note I left you? I'm pretty sure there were three different numbers on that bloody business card, and my email address."

"What note?"

"The note on the bedside table," he stressed, horror dawning over his expression.

Disbelief began to build, but she shoved it back down. He couldn't be serious, could he? "There was no note. No nothing."

His expression was equally as incredulous as hers must have been. "I left my business card. I wrote a note. I said I wanted to… to look after you after that night." His eyes flicked to Felix before refocusing on her.

It felt as though the floor was falling out from underneath her. "There was no note. Do you think I didn't look? Do you think I didn't want there to be a note? There was nothing, Jay. Nothing at all." Her voice broke, but she didn't stop. "I woke up in that place and when I saw that you weren't there…"

Jensen pulled her close, and she burrowed into his warmth, letting her tears fall against his shirt.

"And then when I found out I was pregnant," she sniffed, clutching him with all her strength. "Do you think I didn't want to tell you? Did you think I wanted Felix to grow up without a father? I wanted to tell you more than anything."

"Hey," he whispered into her hair, kissing the top of her head. "Felix won't grow up without a father. I'm here, Talia." He pulled her head up, wiping away her tears one-handed, those sapphire eyes burning bright with sincerity. "I will never leave you again, do you understand? I will never leave Felix again. I'm here now, baby girl, and I will make up for every second you had to spend alone. Okay?"

Her head was a whirlwind of emotions. Today had been a roiling mass of feelings, and between Quinn and Jensen she didn't know what way was up anymore.

Did she want to give Jensen a second chance? Did she want to give Quinn a first chance?

The disappearing note… Had that just been something he'd made up? Was Jensen telling her the truth? Was he wanting a relationship with Felix? How had he broken into her fucking flat? What would Dad's reaction be? What would Quinn's reaction be? How many more men was she going to cry in front of today? What if she gave Jensen a chance and he let Felix down?

Anguish stabbed into her chest at the thought, and she realised in that moment that it wasn't about her, or Jensen, or Quinn, or even Dad.

Felix was the most important thing here.

She owed it to her son to give Jensen a chance. Talia didn't want him to end up like Quinn, alone and angry at the world. She wanted to be able to look her son in the eye and tell him that she'd given Jensen a chance to be a father, she'd given him a chance to be all the things he promised.

Jensen wanted to make up for the time he'd lost? "Okay," she whimpered, letting his strength hold the three of them up. "Okay." Prove it.