All At Once (Completed) - Finding You Book 1

Harper, cont.

       

       
Thirteen Years Ago

"I can't make it today," Rhys says quickly. We're on the phone, but I can immediately tell he's been drinking. College made alcohol more accessible and he isn't good with restraint.

"You're kidding me," I say angrily, resting the phone on my shoulder as I change Cade's diaper.

"It's his first birthday, Rhys! You're going to miss your own son's birthday?"

"Yeah," he says simply. "Do I need to repeat myself? I said I'm not coming,"

His words hurt.

"At least later? For cake and presents?" I beg. I don't want to do this, but I'm heartbroken for Cade. He doesn't deserve this.

"Can't," he says flatly, emotionless.

We're still together. Barely.

The news of my pregnancy shocked him. At first he accused me of sleeping with someone else. The kid wasn't his, he said.

I should've left him then, but I was afraid to be on my own. And I loved him.

How could he possibly think I'd cheat on him?

This child wasn't supposed to divide us. We're supposed to be together and happy, but we're neither.

"You're drunk, Rhys?" I look at my watch. "It's 10 a.m.,"

I think back to the times he had too many around my parents. My father is a patient man, but he knows what a father is supposed to be. Rhys is not the father his grandson deserves, he told me.

"I'm still drunk, Harper. I never went to bed last night," he sounds almost proud.

"I'm glad you're off doing whatever the hell you want while I'm here taking care of Cade," I bark.

It's a familiar argument. The moment Cade was born Rhys began shutting down, but over the last six months it's gotten worse. He went from seeing his son rarely to completely avoiding him. It's been at least two months since we've all been in the same room.

He's needed to control me since the moment we met. He managed to do so throughout my pregnancy and afterward. He doesn't want me hanging out with Avery. He says his sister will only make me feel guilty for what we'd done...that if she was a real friend, she'd understand. The truth is, he doesn't want to share me....with anyone...not even Cade.

His constant disinterest in his son changes things. At first I thought he was just afraid. But a year into our son's life, he's still avoiding him. I need to break up with him. I need to tell myself I don't need him and actually believe it.

He stopped yelling for a while, but he doesn't have to shout to hurt me.

Cade took me away from him, he said. Our son has become more important to me than him and he hates it.

He's begged me to stay over at his house and ask my parents to babysit. Each time he asks it breaks my heart. But this...his first birthday...this breaks my heart a little more.

"You know he's not going to just disappear because you don't want him," I scream into the phone. "Someday you're going to regret not spending time with him. You'll be sorry, Rhys. You'll see that I was right for you and you used me. You'll see how much time you wasted when he's grown and doesn't care about you,"

"And you'll regret the fact that you let something come between the two of us," he snaps.

"Something? He's our son. I didn't make him by myself!" I cry.