Unexpected (Lerrie)

3

Richard

I head upstairs with heavy shoulders. I've been doing a lot of thinking since I left Chris's. In the six years Leigh and I have been together, I was never unfaithful.

The last thing I wanna do is lie to her or keep this from her. I can feel her leaving me already as I take off my work hat and grabbed some things for a shower.

"Papá?" I hear a tiny voice call out to me. I turn towards the door and see Duke standing in the doorway wearing a black cowboy hat. I smile at him, "Hey, mijo." He runs towards me and I bend down to pick him up.

"How was your day?"

"Good. We went to the park and I made a friend," he starts to play with the small hoop in my ear. "That's good, papá," I smile at him.

"His name is Tom and he's in our room and we're playin' Cowboy," he says the last three words in a southern accent. I chuckle, giving his little stomach a tickle. He giggles, swatting my hand away.

"Papá's gonna shower now," I then set him down on his own feet. "Okay," he puckers his lips and I let him kiss my cheek before galloped off, making horse noises.

Guilt fills my chest to the hilt as I get ready for a shower.

As I let the water pour on my bowed head, all I could think about was our conversation later. The boys were right. I cheated on my family. My sons are gonna have a sister they don't know about.

I have to come clean and it has to be very soon.

Once I was washed, I shut off the water, keeping my chin to my chest with a deep sigh. I grab my towel and dry my hair a bit before wrapping it around my waist. I step out into the steamy bathroom, then sat down on the edge of the tub.

Six years. Leigh-Anne and I have been together for so long. We're pretty young with three almost four year olds; I recently turned 24 while she practically just turned 23.

I love Leigh with every fiber of my being. I'm not gonna say that it was a mistake, I chose to sleep with Yocelyn. I developed sexual feelings for her since Leigh and I hadn't done it in a long while.

I thought with my other head and I feel like such an asshole.

Leigh deserves better.

"Babe, you okay in there? You've been in there for a long time," my heart clenched at the sound of my girlfriend's concerned tone. "Uh, yeah," I answer, but my voice came out a little hoarse.

"Are you sure? You've been home for over and hour and dinner's almost ready. The boys wanted spaghetti," she says the last sentence in a singsongy tone. I crack a smile since spaghetti is my favorite.

Though, it falls almost instantly when I think about what I have to tell her.

"Baby, can you come in here for a minute?" The knob turns and the door opens to reveal my girlfriend wearing her hair in a messy bun without any makeup on. She's effortlessly gorgeous.

"Everything okay?" Her eyebrows furrow as she closes the door and approaches me. When she gets close, I wrap my arms around her legs and she starts playing in my damp hair. I close my eyes and sigh deeply as she does.

The action always calms my nerves, despite what I have to say. I take another deep breath.

"Lee-Lee?"

"Mhm?" I look up at her and she smooths my hair back before scratching my scalp lightly. "I love you."

She smiles and leans down to kiss me tenderly, "I love you, too, Richie." The corner of my mouth stretches just a little, then the guilt comes back. "I love you so much, you have no idea."