Billionaire's Feisty Redhead

22| dead wrong, mister

SETH

Waking up to the smell of freshly ground coffee, pastries, and eggs was quite weird in his penthouse, especially because he was the one that did most of the cooking.

Lance had left to visit his sister in Dallas and he wouldn't be back till next week so it was strange that someone was cooking around the house. Seth rubbed his eyes pushing away the covers from his body before he lazily walked his way downstairs.

The sun had already set but the morning breeze was still as damp and as cold as ever. He could feel the cool air brush his naked chest without mercy and the sting of the rays peering through the windows hurt his eyes. With his fingers running through his shaggy morning hair, his steps neared the kitchen.

Her nut-brown hair greeted him on the way in. She whistled a familiar song multitasking between the fizzling hot bacon and the scrambled eggs.

"Mom", he called and Mikaella turned around with a spatula in hand.

"Look who's awake", she smiled, and Seth sighed before seating on the red vinyl stool in his kitchen.

"What are you doing here?"

"Good morning to you too. A healthy breakfast ought to whip you into shape and not the junk I found in your fridge. Honey, protein shakes are not in any way healthy!"

Right. The protein shakes that Lance drank every day like water.

He took an apple assessing his mother before speaking up,

"Are you sure you should be doing this? Mom, you need rest. You shouldn't be..."

And his words caught in his throat the minute his mother turned the heat down to face him.

"I'm pregnant, not handicapped or crippled...Honestly, I-I missed you. You barely come home, you barely talk to me. Did I do something?"she asked sniffling a few tears back and Seth felt guilty.

He could have easily blamed her mood change on the bump hidden by the cardigan she wore but she was right. He had avoided them.

"Hey," he stood up walking around the kitchen island to hug her, "I'm sorry. A lot of things happened but that doesn't make up for the fact that I didn't come to visit"

"I know I'm not like your Aunt Elizabeth but you can always come to me with your problems too"

"I know"

"Then why didn't you tell me about Jessica? Or...or my grandchild?"

The last part came out as a whisper and he parted from the embrace facing her.

"You have a lot to deal with at the moment. Mom, I couldn't--I couldn't add to that", he said honestly and his mother held onto his hand.

"Seth, you are my son and you'll always come first no matter what. I'll always be here for you anytime you want me to be"

"I know and I'm sorry. About Viv, I-can we not talk about it?"

"Fine but if I see Jessica I'll be sure to give her an earful", Mikaella said taking out the plates from the top shelves and Seth helped.

"She lost our daughter too. It was not her fault...can you imagine how hard that was for her? Pregnant at seventeen with no one to support her?"

"What about you, huh?" she asked setting the plates harshly against the countertop," you are also suffering from her death, aren't you? Seth, she's just like Tessa. Selfish and--"

"She's a good woman. She's not Tessa, she'll never be because Jessica has a heart of gold"

He couldn't believe he had uttered those words about Jessica and when his mother gave him a funny look, he realized the gravity of that statement. A normal person listening to the conversation might have thought that he had a crush on Jessica.