Handcuffed Rebel

7. What now?

7. What now?

Kaitlyn
"Niko, I didn't think, it never occurred to me that he, I didn't know. God I didn't know."

"How could you not have at least suspected? Do I mean that little to you? Did what we share mean that little to you?"

He turned his back on me. Never in a million years would I have thought something like this would happen. How could this happen? If I had been pregnant during that time I would have had some sort of symptom wouldn't I? How could I have gone three months without knowing I was pregnant?

Fuck! I had been taking pills that entire time to delay my period. Could that have been the reason why?

"I missed three years of his life. Do you know what that's like, to have a son you knew nothing about? Of course you don't. You were too self absorbed to think about anyone else but yourself. I don't think I can forgive you for this."

What? "It was an honest mistake. It's not like I knew and deliberately kept him from you. I had no idea. I thought he was Phoenix's." He spun around.

"Honest mistake? No. An honest mistake is forgetting to lock your door when you leave for work in the morning. This is not a mistake. It was deliberate. You should have known! You must have had symptoms. Those symptoms would have appeared before you left!"

This was ridiculous. Why am I defending myself to him anyway? It's not like I did it on purpose, regardless of what he might think.

"Listen, I've already told you it never occurred to me that he could have been yours. That's water under the bridge. The question is what happens now? I can't leave the country for another six months. I haven't told my family about Talon yet and I don't think now is the right time to drop that bomb on them." I ran my fingers through my hair.

"I'll keep him."

"What?"

"I said I'll keep him. He's my son. You had three uninterrupted years with him. I think you can manage six months without him."

"Excuse me?" Now he was just talking crazy.

"After you are cleared to travel you can come to Rome, or not. I don't care what you do, but that's where my son will be. That's where my child will grow up. He will be with me, his father."

"Have you lost your mind? My child will not grow up in Italy! He's American and as such he will be brought up here. I am here. His family is here."

"My child will grow up wherever the fuck I say he will grow up. You've lost whatever rights you had in making decisions about his future when you kept him away from me for three fucking years! And the last time I checked his father is Italian. That makes him half Italian! He will not grow up in this wretched country. The only way that will happen is if I die!"

I stared at him disbelievingly. There was no getting through to him if this is the way he's going to act. I'd rather not continue this back and forth argument.

"Listen, I'm not saying that you will not have an input in Talon's life. I'm just saying as his mother I think I have the right to decide where he grows up. I want him to grow up here."

"Do you want me to take him from you? Is that what you want? Any court would grant me sole custody based on the single fact that you kept my child from me for three years. And we both know you weren't a model citizen for those three years. Do you really want to go there with me?"

I scoffed. I just could not believe what was coming out of his mouth right now.

"Are you two having a screeching contest?"