𝗱𝘆𝘀𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝘂𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮 || [1] Nate Jacobs

14

The morning after, I wake up to the continuous vibrating of a phone and groan in annoyance. "Turn it off," Nate mumbles sleepily, and I snap my eyes open. Oh god, I'm still with Nate. "Fuck," I whisper in horror, grabbing my phone from his nightstand. He must have put it there. "What's wrong?" I ignore Nate and look at the missed messages on my phone. Dad, Marta, Kyle, Rue, and surprisingly, Maddy.

"Who's Kyle?" Nate asks suddenly, and I look in the mirror across from his bed. He is staring over my shoulder onto my phone and his jaw is clenched. "A friend. I have to go now," I answer him curtly, picking up my clothes from the floor before putting them back on. "Why? Is he waiting for you, huh?" he continues to ask, his irritation evident. "No. My father is expecting me," I reply with a sigh and he grabs fresh clothes from his closet. "I'll drive you"

————

I nervously look out the window as Nate parks his truck right in front of my front door. After our night together, he decided to introduce himself to my dad as my boyfriend, even though we never discussed it. But he doesn't change his mind no matter what I say. "Nate you just got out of your relationship with Maddy. You didn't even tell me. I found out through your father," I try to change his mind again. "And I said I was sorry. Drop it" Sighing, I shake my head, catching sight of someone scurrying past our living room window.

Terror spreads through me as I recognize the person and all insecurities about Nate fade away. "You've got to be kidding me" I immediately unbuckle my seatbelt and get out of the car before quickly walking towards the front door and unlocking it. "Desi!" I can hear Nate calling after me, but he's my least priority right now. "Dad!" I call into the house, following the low whispering I can hear. Reaching the living room, I stop abruptly as I see dad turn around quickly, covering the person behind him. "Desi, there you are. I didn't know you were staying over at your friend's house. I was worried," he greets me and I guiltily, yet very tensely, look at my fingers. "I forgot to text you. I'm sorry"

At the same moment Nate enters the room and dad frowns in confusion. "Desi, why did you run away?" Nate asks, irritation evident in his voice. "Not now, Nate, I-" "I knew it. David, didn't I tell you she was sneaking around," the person behind my father speaks up and I ball my hands into fits. "Destiny, before you-" "Dad, this better be a sick joke," I interrupt him angrily and he takes a step to the side, sighing.

Furious, I look up into my mother's grinning face. But what makes me even angrier is that she is holding Rosalyn in her arms, even though my daughter is already reaching out for me. "Why are you here?" I ask Lilith and she continues to grin at me before pressing an almost threatening kiss to Rosie's cheek. "The more important question is where on earth have you been, young lady? Off to breed number two?" "Give me my baby," I say impatiently. I can feel Nate tensing beside me, but I don't care right now. "Your baby? So now you want to be a mother? You can't even take care of yourself and you push your little abomination onto everyone else. It's a shame how far you've fallen. I didn't raise you to become a hood rat, but oh well..."

About to lose my patience, I look at my father. "Dad, why is that woman holding my baby?" I ask him angrily and he rubs his forehead in exhaustion. "She wanted to meet Rosalyn, puddin," he replies. Is he stupid? He should've asked me to allow that witch to touch my child. "Okay, so I assume she likes to get beat up too? Did you not hear her call my daughter, your granddaughter, an abomination? And you just stand by?" I hiss at him. "Lilith, give her the baby," he orders my mother, but she just holds Rosie closer, which makes my daughter uncomfortable. She's still reaching out to me, but my mother doesn't care.

"Nate," I turn to him for the first time. "Yeah?" I quickly take off my jewelry and press it into his hands. I'm sick of my mother thinking she can ruin my life or steal my child. I'll show her what a real hood rat is. "Give my baby up or imma have to put my hands on you," I warn Lilith and she laughs in amusement, but I'm dead serious. "And then you'll go to jail for assault and I'll get what I want. And that's this little monster out of our lives" "Dad, I'm really about to touch her. Take my baby out of her arms right now," I threaten my father and Nate protectively walks up to my side. He seems confused, but apparently he still wants me in his life. "Are you really going to fight me in front of your baby? Wow, you're really the mother of the year," she teases me but all I can hear is my child crying for me.

"Listen, I won't do any more of this back and forth. Either you give my baby up and leave or I'm beating your ass and calling the cops and tell them you kidnapped my daughter. And with what you did to me during my pregnancy, you're definitely going to jail," I warn her one last time and she scoffs before handing me my daughter. Relieved, I pull Rosie to my chest and kiss her cheeks to calm her down. "Dad, remove her from this house. I don't want to see her here anymore," I tell my father and I don't care how disrespectful I just sounded. "Nate, my boyfriend, Rosie and I are in my room," I add just to spite her before pulling Nate up the stairs.

————

He closes the door behind us once we get upstairs but my focus is on Rosie. Her cute little face is red and puffy from all her crying. God, I feel like the worst mother ever. "I'm so sorry, baby. She'll never touch you again," I whisper in her ear, trying to soothe her. I know Nate is watching us but he'll have to wait. He keeps quiet while I rock Rosalyn in my arms but I know his eyes never leave us.

"So, uh, you have a child?" he says after a while and I feel guilt bubbling up in my chest. "Only a few people know about her. I'm sorry you found out that way," I tell him and sit down on my bed. Rosie is still clinging to me, but I can see her eyes fluttering shut. "It's okay, Desi. I just witnessed your fucked up family and I understand. Let me protect you, both of you," he replies and I look at him with tears in my eyes. I don't deserve him. He's willing to love and protect Rosie after just finding out about her...just because he loves me. "You would do that?"

"Of course. I love you"

————

I think that was the happiest Nate ever made her. He comforted her the entire day and fed her all those lies to keep her close. A child was nothing he felt ready for yet but he quickly realized that the baby would be a part of his life. Destiny would never give Rosalyn up and she proved that when she was willing to fight her own mother. But he could use that to his advantage. Get the child attached to him to make sure Desi never leaves. They could be a family and leave their fucked up parents behind.

But I don't think Nate never meant those things. He liked to believe that he did but his actions spoke louder than words. He would never be able to protect Desi and her child because he was the danger. And all of us were too focused on our own shit to notice.