all bad ↠ blake griffin

49 • expectations v. reality

Alexandra's POV:

After Michael left, I just stood in the same spot. I was still in shock that he was in my house, asking to see my child.

"Blake?"

He came from the kitchen and when he realized I was upset, he gave me a hug. "What happened? Who was that?"

I picked my head up off his chest and sniffled, and he wiped my eyes. "That was Michael."

Blake just looked at me without saying a word. The look on his face was kinda like shock mixed with a littler anger. He wasn't really Michael's biggest fan but then again, who was?

"What'd he want?" he asked, pushing some hair out of my face.

I sighed. "He knows about Jaden now, and he wants to see him."

"Are you gonna let him?"

I shrugged and put my forehead against his chest. I wanted to be petty and tell Michael to kiss my ass because I was never gonna let him see Jaden. But then I thought about all the times he asked me about his dad, and I knew I couldn't do that to him.

"You want my advice?" Blake asked, rubbing small circles on my back. I lifted my head and nodded. "Maybe you should let him see Jaden. He'll finally get to meet his dad, and Michael will get to see that he missed out on having an amazing kid."

I smiled for the first time all day and gave him a hug. I didn't know why Blake was so good to us, but I appreciated it.

"I'm gonna call Michael and tell him to meet us somewhere. Will you come with us?"

"Of course."

He kissed the top of my head, then he went upstairs with the boys. I looked at the card in my hand, took a deep breath, and then dialed the number.

"Hello?"

Just hearing his voice again made me want to hang up, but I had to remind myself that this was about Jaden — not me.

"Hey, it's Alex. There's a park not too far from my house. Can you meet me there?"

"Yeah, sure!"

I looked down at my phone and rolled my eyes at his excitement, then hung up because I had nothing else to say.

--+--

"What if Jaden likes him more than me?" I whispered to Blake.

He looked at me like I was stupid. "You and I both know that could never happen."

"But —"

"Babe, you have got to stop worrying," he chuckled. "Everything will be fine. Now if you need us, we'll be at the swings."

He & Ford went to the swings, and Jaden & I walked toward the bench Michael was sitting on. He smiled when he saw Jaden, and it made me want to vomit.

"Mommy, it's that man again," Jaden said with his eyebrows knitted together. "I thought you said he was nobody."

"Trust me, he is," I chuckled to myself. "But I want you to meet him."

I sat on the bench, and Jaden sat on my lap. Michael nodded toward Jaden, signaling me to introduce them, and I rolled my eyes.

"Michael, this is Jaden. Jay, baby, this is Michael...and he's your daddy."

The reaction I got wasn't what I expected. I thought he'd be happy that he finally met his dad but instead, he just glared at Michael.

"Hey, Jaden."

Michael stuck his hand out for Jaden to give him a high-five, but Jaden just looked at his hand. He's never been this cold toward anyone in his life. He was always friendly to everyone, so this was weird.

"Why didn't you want me?" Jaden asked bluntly.

My mouth fell open, and Michael looked like he was about to start sweating. This isn't how I pictured their first meeting, but apparently Jaden had other ideas.

"I...I —"

"You wanted Brandon and Layla." I heard him sniffle, and my heart sank. "Why not me too?"

Michael looked at me so I could help him, but I looked in the opposite direction. I refused to help him look like a good guy in this situation.

"Jaden, it's not that —"

"I don't care!" Jaden cried, jumping off my lap, which honestly scared me. He looked at me with tears running down his face, and my eyes watered. "I don't want a daddy no more."

He ran off to where Blake was pushing Ford on a swing, and I assumed Blake said something to him to try to calm him down.

"That didn't go well."

I turned around to look at Michael, and I wanted to punch him in the throat. "What were you expecting? Him to just welcome you with open arms?"

"Well...yeah," he answered honestly. "I mean, he's six. I wasn't expecting him to hate me."

I sighed, still not feeling sorry for him, and pinched the bridge of my nose. Was he really that dumb?

"Yeah, he's six, but that doesn't mean he's stupid." It was uncomfortably quiet for a few seconds because he was visibly upset, and I was debating on whether I should help him or not. "Look, I'm gonna take him home and see what's going through his head. If, and only if, he wants to talk to you again, I'll call you."

He smiled weakly and nodded. "Thank you."

I stood up to leave and he tried to give me a hug, but I took a step back. I didn't know why he wanted to touch me so bad, but he needed to get a grip.

"I guess I'll talk to you later," I mumbled.

"Okay."

I walked toward the swings and smiled seeing Jaden talk to Blake. When he saw me, he frowned and ran to the car, and it broke my heart.

"I'll go see if he's okay." Blake kissed my forehead, then he & Ford went to check on Jaden.

I mumbled a few curse words to myself, then slowly headed toward the car. Maybe letting Jaden meet his dad was a bad idea.

______________________________

Jaden finally got to meet Michael, and he was not here for it. How do y'all feel about his little outburst?

P.S. I hate writing about Jaden being sad.